impressions
A hazy morning at a harbor. Chalky, gray mist shrouds the boats, but a peach-colored sunrise warms the scene. Claude Monet captured this scene in his masterpiece “Impression, Sunrise.” Created in 1872, this painting was not well-received. French critic Louis Leroy slammed the painting as little more than a sketch that could barely be considered a finished work. Over time, however, opinions within the art world changed. Today, historians credit Monet’s harbor scene with having sparked the Impressionist movement.
trust in a suspicious world
My bottle of water tastes good, but how can I trust the claim that it was sourced from a mountain spring? It’s reported that nearly 40 percent of bottled water is ordinary tap water. Also, many in the UK and Europe are waking up to the growing probability that their breakfast beef sausage is likely breakfast horsemeat sausage. Tests on meat labeled “beef” have exposed widespread fraud in the food industry as horse DNA has been identified. Stories like these breed cynicism, fear, and mistrust.
friends in the fray
Tim Kreider wrote about modern-day busyness in a New York Times opinion column. His piece titled “The ‘Busy’ Trap” included a personal experience in which he contacted a friend about getting together. The friend replied that he was busy but might be persuaded to “ditch work for a few hours” if “something was going on.” Kreider didn’t press for a rendezvous. He described his friend’s busyness as “some vast, churning noise through which he was shouting.”
creation's call
It’s falling from the clouds,
a strange and lovely sound;
I hear it in the thunder and the rain.
It’s ringing in the skies
like cannons in the night;
The music of the universe plays.
These worship-eliciting lyrics from the song Cannons by Phil Wickham celebrate God’s imprint on His creation. As we experience the beauty of a starry sky or stand by the…
who are you?
Charles Taylor has a big ego. The former president of Liberia once attended an African conference in full combat gear, riding into town as his armed bodyguards jogged alongside his car. When he was accused of being a gunrunner and diamond smuggler, Taylor shamelessly addressed his people clothed in angelic white. But Taylor’s atrocities finally caught up with him and…
not ashamed
"Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, He’s the one to fear" (Luke 12:4-5).
Jesus tells us in Matthew to let our…
