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!
Double?
A strange story hit the news the other day.
Here she was: a 38-year-old successful physician (a dermatologist), blonde, photogenic, married to another doctor (also a dermatologist), mother of three. Well-loved, well-traveled. Enough to induce envy in anyone.
Her online presence (on Facebook) shows her celebrating a birthday in the Turks and Caicos. Another photo has her dressed formally with her husband, to which someone commented: “Wow! What a good-looking couple!”
Punch!
We were born to be violent, saith the good doctors Horns, Jung, and Carrier.
Well, not exactly.
These scientists from the University of Utah determined that human hands evolved to—among other actions—punch!
“In vitro strain in human metacarpal bones during striking: testing the pugilism hypothesis of hominin hand evolution,” in the Journal of Experimental Biology, asserts that, compared with other primates, chimps et al., hominins (bipedal apes)
Selfies!
Talking about sharks ….
A new study has revealed that there have been more deaths from selfies than there have been from shark attacks. Yup, selfies overtake shark attacks as a cause of death!
So think twice before you selfie. Getting that right angle for that right shot can have fatal consequences.
There have, as of now, been 12 deaths due to selfies this year. And only 8 from shark attacks.
The most recent casualty of the former activity occurred inside, of all places,
Good!
Eugene Finney. A most fortunate guy. For having had a dangerous encounter with a shark.
Yup, the man had a potentially fatal run-in with the species of deadly beast—a rendezvous that, paradoxically, ended up saving his life.
Mr. Finney was visiting his parents in Huntington Beach, in ye olde state of CA, with his girlfriend and two kids, Temple and Turner (aged 10 and 6) in tow.
The family hit the beach at the beach midmorning, and Eugene and Temple decided to go for a
Seen!
The diesel deception!
A couple of weeks ago the German car giant Volkswagen, that owns not only VW brand, but also Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, Škoda, and motorcycles under the Ducati name, came under fire for their nefarious acts.
Apparently, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), some of the VW and Audi diesel vehicles (specifically, the Jetta, Beetle, Golf, Passat, and the A3) sold in the U.S. had devices that could detect
Still!
Everyone used to tell me to sit still. I was always a fidgeter. Twisting, turning, drumming, tapping, fretting, fuming, stamping, shuffling, itching, raring, chafing, champing, ….
Now I can tell them all: Fidgeting is good for my health.
So think twice before you admonish your kids to quit fidgeting: It is good for health.
At least, that’s what studies from the University of Leeds and the University College, London, suggest. “Sitting Time, Fidgeting, and All-Cause Mortality
Pity?
Feeling sad? Somerville, in ye olde state of Massachusetts, is the place you need to head to.
Why? They had a “Pity Party” last week! (I’m not kidding.) In Union Square. MA 02143. Two miles northwest of Boston.
(Only in Mass.! Maybe they’ve a lot to be sad about?)
Local artist Greg Cook had the bright idea. People who are sad, he declared, should be together. So the Somerville Arts Council decided to sponsor the shindig.
On the event’s Facebook site:
A pity party
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. 