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One of the most important things I think Dietrich Bonhoeffer ever said relates to human prosperity. In an autumn 1931 sermon, this German pastor and theologian told his congregation that seven million people in Germany would be without jobs that wint…
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I moved to Davenport nine months ago. Nine months of time this year feels shorter than nine months last year. It’s a wake-up call, really, how on one end, there’s an objective measurement of time; the speed of sand falling from the top to the bottom…
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Throughout his 14 seasons of playing professional basketball, Rick Barry was known for a lot of things, many of them not good, but chief among them was his ability to make a free throw shot. In 1975, Barry played one game where he successfully made 1…
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A recent news story said that women are now advised to have mammograms regularly beginning at age 40 or 45, not at 50, as previously had been the guideline. At my recent annual physical, my doctor noted that a scan for aortic aneurysm is recommended…
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I love clarity. Waking up in the morning and having a clear sense of the day ahead strikes me as a good way to live. It seems so right to want clear insight for whatever problems the day may bring. That I could have a clear view of how things fit or…
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I first learned about this funny German word “gestalt” in a college video production course. “Gestalt,” meaning “shape” or “form,” refers to the ways in which individual parts come together to make an original whole. Filmmakers use the principles of…
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Kansas City, the city I called home for four years, made headlines this week because of a tragedy. Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old boy, was sent to pick up his younger brothers from a friend’s house. He mistakenly rang the doorbell at Northeast 115th Stree…
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There is a new kind of cosmetic surgery attracting interest. It’s cheaper than a facelift or tummy tuck, and it’s painless. Calligraphers are offering to help people reinvent themselves through a new personal signature. For around $100, these artists…
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When my daughter was a preschooler, she loved the book Wacky Wednesday. We’d read it every day, multiple times a day. Even now, seven years later, I can recite it to you. “It all began with that shoe on the wall. . .” My daughter knew every word yet…
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Two weeks ago, I happened to be hanging out with our high school youth during their usual Sunday evening gathering. It was “Ask the Pastor” night, where teenagers were invited to ask us any question they might have related to faith, theology, the bib…
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The English language is spoken by more than 1.5 billion people worldwide. It is the official first language of 67 different countries and the second language of hundreds of others. English dominates the business world, global politics, and internatio…
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The Ig Nobel Prize is a satiric prize offered annually since 1991, a pun on the actual Nobel Prize awarded in Sweden every year. The ignoble nature of these actual prizes aims to honor unusual achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make…