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!
Alone?
They say that “loneliness” is the pain of being along. And the glory of being alone is “solitude.”
Over the past few years, for most us—and not just for some who have chosen singleness and celibacy as a lifestyle—being alone has become quite a reality. Sheltering in place. Socially distancing. Exposure and infection quarantining. Etc.
Whether this becomes loneliness or solitude is a different question.
The last few years have also brought out significant research
Speech?
Egyptian mummies are strange and mysterious and intriguing.
[And BTW, we have one here in Louisville, in the Boyce Library of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, that dates back to 700 BC (the mummy, not the seminary). More about that another time.]
A few weeks ago, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that two ancient mummies, one male, one female—unearthed at a site in Mimya, Egypt, as part of an excavation under the auspices of the University
Generous!
If you are a kid reading this, spoiler alert!
They think they’ve found the tomb of the original Santa Claus!
“They,” meaning Turkish archaeologists. And they found it—nope, not at the North Pole. But, appropriately enough the remains of that portly, jolly, white-bearded, bespectacled, red-and-white-clad seasonal character is believed to be underneath Saint Nicholas Church, a 1,500-year-old edifice in the Demre district of Turkey’s southwest province, Antalya (on
Enemies!
The other day, a 60-year-old Australian guy went fishing on his property in Cape York Peninsula, far north of the continent. He found a nice spot by a river, a bull was grazing there. He shooed it away. He began casting.
That was when the crocodile struck!
The good news first, from Matt Brien of the Queensland state environment department:
There was a struggle and he fortunately escaped the grip of a four to four-and-a-half-metre [almost 15-foot] crocodile. The odds of doing
Weight!
Herbalife Nutrition commissioned OnePoll to conduct a study recently.
Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. is a global multi-level marketing corporation selling dietary supplements. Accused a few years ago of operating a “sophisticated pyramid scheme,” Herbalife agreed to “fundamentally restructure” its business (but only in the US) and pay a $200 million fine to the US Federal Trade Commission as a result of complaints received by them. In any case …
This was the fourth such
Junk?
How little we know!
Scientist David Comings was the one who applied the term “junk DNA” to all DNA that did not code for any protein (or even RNA). About 98% of all human DNA is, thereby, “junk.”
Said Francis Crick, one of the co-discoverers of DNA:
Junk DNA has little specificity and conveys little or no selective advantage to the organism.”
Clearly, the term ”junk DNA” is based on a strong a priori assumption of non-functionality. Some biologists have recommended
Grace!
Norman Rockwell painted an iconic cover for the Saturday Evening Post (November 24, 1951) called “Saying Grace.” (It was auctioned a few years ago for $41 million!)
The picture shows a young boy and an older woman in a diner, heads bowed, saying grace before their meal. Other patrons, smoking and reading the newspaper, appear to be curious about that “strange” ritual. One might have thought that that “strangeness” has only increased in the intervening 71 years.
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. 