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!
Head!
Another case of a Frenchman and his head.
Henry IV (1553–1610) was the King of France from 1589–1610, the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon, and grandfather of Louis XIV (aka the “Sun King”).
Henry was a popular ruler, greatly appreciated by his people for his concern for their welfare: he promoted agriculture, drained swamps, encouraged education, built highways, promoted arts, etc. Apparently he’s the guy who gave rise to the phrase “a chicken in
Turnaround!
Last week I was in Chicago, speaking at Moody Bible Institute’s Pastors’ Conference. Lots of fun.
I also had a free afternoon and I decided to take The Chicago Architecture Foundation’s River Cruise on the Chicago River.
Chicago, they say, began where the river meets Lake Michigan. Trade and industry flourished on its banks, and the city was born.
The river is memorialized on the flag of Chicago in the two horizontal blue stripes.
(Another noteworthy feature of the river
Cleansing!
For all of its fancy cathedrals and cafes, chocolates and cheeses, museums and emporiums, Paris, like any other city, has a dark underbelly.
And you can see it all in Le Musée des Égouts de Paris—the Paris Sewer Museum. The museum is underground—yes, in the sewers—and yes, the sewers are functional—but no, it is only moderately stinky—and at €4.50, certainly worth checking out.
(Proves that the French can make a pretty good museum out of anything!)
Until the
Head?
The left portal in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (the west façade) (Portal of the Virgin) has a number of saints on either side of the doors. One of them is St. Denis. The dude is easily recognized: he is carrying his own head!
St. Denis (or Dennis or Denys or Dionysius) was, in the third century, the Bishop of Paris. Denis had been sent from Italy to convert Gaul and was having quite a bit of success in Paris. This enraged the pagan priests in the vicinity.
Sacrifice!
Col. Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr., (1901–1944) of Quanah, TX, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1925, and was part of the WWII Allied action closing in on Chartres, France, which was in the hands of the Germans.
Chartres is the location of Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), about 50 miles southwest of Paris. The cathedral, built between 1194 and 1250 is one of the finest examples of French Gothic
Rebuff!
The 1,050 foot-tall Eiffel Tower (La Tour Eiffel) is the iconic lattice structure on the Champ de Mars in Paris, designed and erected by Gustave Eiffel in 1889. One of the most recognizable edifices on earth, the Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world (and I, too, shelled out my €14.00 earlier this year). In 2010, the Tower welcomed its 250 millionth visitor.
All kinds of fun (and weird) things have happened in this symbolic piece of construction.
In
Luck?
They keep asking him if he feels unlucky.
Joe Berti ran the Boston Marathon last week. He was running with Champions4Children, a charity that works with children afflicted with rare diseases. Joe was one of eight from Austin who ran the Marathon for C4C, each running for a particular sick child—“training partner”—who would track his/her runner’s progress online from home.
The last four miles were tough for 43-year-old Berti, and he slowed down. But he thought about
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. 