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!
Dead?
Dead or alive?
Janina Kolkiewicsz, 91, of Poland, spent the best part of a day in a cold storage of a mortuary. She had been declared dead by her family doctor: “I was sure she was dead,” said Dr. Wieslawa Czyz.
Mortuary staff later noticed movement in the body bag.
Ms. Kolkiewicsz is now back home, complaining of feeling cold. They are warming her up with a bowl of soup and two pancakes.
But the poor lady is clueless about her close brush with the grave. “My aunt has
Moody?
Yup, it’s time to crank up those tearjerkers on your playlists, folks. Visit iTunes, Spotify, whatever, and buy a few of those albums that stimulate the lacrimal gland.
Because—scientists tell us (and they’re always right)—melancholy music can actually lift your spirits.
That sounds pretty counterintuitive, but apparently it is true, according Liila Taruffi and Stefan Koelsch from the Psychology Department of the Freie Universität Berlin, in an article they wrote
Efficiency?
Are you a hater or a liker? Glass-half-empty kinda person or a glass-full kinda one?
Apparently it can all be attributed to your “dispositional attitude,” either negative (with a strong tendency to dislike things) or positive (with a strong tendency to like things). So saith those in the know, in this case an article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: “Attitudes Without Objects: Evidence for a Dispositional Attitude, Its Measurement, and
Shower!
Aqua Notes sells one of these: waterproof notepads.
The shower has long been held as the best place to spark ideas and creative inspiration. But it’s always been a challenge to remember shower ideas, and writing in water is a struggle. That is until now! AquaNotes® is a waterproof notepad that allows you to record your great ideas while you’re in the shower. It’s so durable you can even write underwater. They’re recyclable, environmentally friendly,
Comfort?
Here’s a new one for you: a drive-through casket viewing! Yup, you don’t need to attend no memorial service or anything to view the remains of your friend, co-worker, loved one …. You can just … drive through!
Says Ivan Phillips, president of Paradise Funeral Chapel, in Saginaw, Michigan:
As you enter into the drive-thru, you’re going to see a memorial box where you can drop a memorial card or a monetary contribution. Once you push the button, the register box
Honesty!
Ethics and coffee. Java-inspired honesty has just been demonstrated.
Scientists from the University of Washington, University of Arizona, and University of North Carolina have established the moral effects of caffeine! Yup, that’s what we need. More coffee. And we can live happily ever after.
In a new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, aforementioned researchers show how caffeine aids sleep-deprived volunteers to resist unethical influences
Design?
Some time in early 2013, a detective story, The Cuckoo’s Calling, was released, to excellent reviews. In light of the fact that it was a debut novel by a former British military man, Robert Galbraith, this was good news.
Except for a couple things: It wasn’t a debut novel. It wasn’t a man who wrote it. And “his” name wasn’t Robert Galbraith.
Her name? J. K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame. (Though, yes, she’s British.)
The Sunday Times art editor, Richard
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.