The 4.74 degrees of separation between you and me
So, apparently, the six degrees that used to separate you and me has shrunk. The number of people separating anyone from anyone else in the world is now 4.74
So, apparently, the six degrees that used to separate you and me has shrunk. The number of people separating anyone from anyone else in the world is now 4.74
This past Thanksgiving, we were watching The King’s Speech and someone sat on the DVD remote. The screen froze. And in the midst of the commotion of looking for the remote, a funny thing happened..
Robert Putnam’s substantive findings on religion and civic engagement give us more than enough food for thought
Peter Mathieson, in his book, Birds of Heaven, made the comment that one “one way to grasp the main perspectives of environment and biodiversity is to understand the origins and precious nature of a single living form” (Mathieson, xv). Following that advice, I’ve taken up an interest in whooping cranes and am seeking to learn all that I can them in terms of their life, habitat, and conservation efforts to save them. In addition, I’m hoping to visit various places in this country where those efforts are ongoing and write about them in the future. In the meantime, I ran across this really nice video from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Service that highlights their graceful beauty and sonorous bugling
by Bruce Schuchard “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me’” (Jon 3:1–2). But Jonah was not happy. In fact, Jonah was most displeased (4:1–3), disillusioned, and determined not to ..
In preparing for a class on “The Bible as Literature,” I discovered again how time and space are transformed by one written word
E.J. Dionne raised the question at a recent lecture at nearby Washington University. Perhaps the better question to ask is this: Can I love my neighbor?
In the last post, I mentioned a few examples of human influence on earth that have prompted many to now speak of the Anthropocene Epoch, the age of human transformation of the planet. But as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words (or more. Since then, I’ve run across several things that help us to visualize the extent of our impact upon the earth, both for good and ill
What happens when we use the term “mercy” to describe our actions toward our neighbor or the church’s orientation to the world?
We’ve done it. We’ve remade creation according to our own needs, desires, and vision. And so it is now different than it has ever been before
The disciples inspected the oars, while Jesus made a bench. It gets dark after that . .
Minute by minute, the details of the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University are becoming more appalling, despicable, and sad. Among other things, Joe Paterno gives us a textbook definition of t
Seven billion people as of Oct 31, Reformation Day. The world’s population has more than doubled in my lifetime. For that matter, it’s increased three billion since I was in high school. It has increased by one billion in the last twelve years
Last night, Robert Putnam, America’s foremost social scientist, spoke at Wash U about his latest research into the “puzzle” of American religion. Could there perhaps be a paradox at the heart of the p