RaMbLeS
Welcome to RaMbLeS, a collection of weekly musings on life and Scripture. It all began in 2005 on Google’s blogspot as the aBeLOG (a name now recycled), a semi-autobiographical devotional that attempted to keep well-wishers abreast of my activities as I relocated to Scotland for a few years. Since my return, I’ve continued my RaMbLeS, and here’s its most recent incarnation on Homiletix, as random reflections usually based on current news articles and travel experiences and whatever else takes my fancy!
Flash!
Kuwait is now in the Guinness Book of records.
That’s the place I was born—in دولة الكويت , Dawlat al-Kuwayt (State of Kuwait).
(No, that’s not why it’s in the Guiness book!)
Though I am ethnically Indian, I happened to be born in that country many decades ago, when my father worked for the Kuwait Oil Company. The rest, as they say, is history.
Kuwait gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1961 and, soon thereafter, became a constitutional emirate.
Help!
The largest Atlantic hurricane on record and the second-costliest Atlantic hurricane in history, Hurricane Sandy, devastated parts of the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern coast of the United States.
The Wall Street Journal estimated total losses ranging from $30 to $50 billion. The number of lives lost and families shattered from this big storm continues to climb, with the death toll now at more than 110.
In the US, New York was particularly hard hit: the subways
Breathe!
The other day, there was a strange report from New York City. (Of course, pretty much any report from New York City is strange, at least to those of us here way down south. But this was real strange.)
Apparently you don’t have any idea what you are breathing up there in the Big Apple.
Scientists have made a remarkable discovery. NYC’s air is “a bizarre brew of bacteria, pollen, clothing fiber, fungus, tire rubber, dead skin cells, cooking fat and carbon emissions.”
(I
Borne!
The other day my father celebrated his 85th birthday.
His older son (my only sibling) and his two grandkids surprised him by flying in to get the festivities going. (My sister-in-law was out of the country.)
Of course, one of the obligatory activities for guests visiting ye olde city of Dallas is the visit to the Cowboys stadium. Opened in 2009, this massive structure seats 80,000 (and another 20,000 for standees) and is one of the largest NFL stadiums. Apparently it is
Revert!
If you thought all McDonald’s outlets (30,000 now in a hundred countries) were the same—golden arches, play pens, commonplace awnings, standard storefront entrances, run-of-the-same-mill façades, and habitual signage, you have another think coming.
Take for instance the establishment in New Hyde Park, NY (see picture). Hardly what one would expect of a McD undertaking. Stately and smart. Sober and subdued. Sane and stylish. (Not adjectives one would casually employ
Everyone!
Last week I was in ye olde city of New Orleans, LA, enjoying the collegiality and fellowship of like-minded folks at the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Homiletics Society, on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS). Our plenary sessions were held in NOBTS’ Leavell Chapel (pictured).
It was a great time, though your humble blogger (y.h.b.) didn’t particularly enjoy the seafood buffet served for dinner Friday night. I have never been a fan of
Isolation!
Stuck for ideas? Stalled in a project?
Most of us do get stuck and stalled in the beginning or middle or towards the end of endeavors. Now what do I do?
But then have you had this happen to you? You are explaining your difficulty—your “stuckness”—to someone else and, all of a sudden, the solution comes up, either in the other person’s comment or question, or even as you were detailing your problem. It’s like the very act of sharing an issue created the atmosphere
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching. 