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| Venezuelan Christmas Dish (Photo by Sosuna27) |
Claiming to defend the Venezuelans' “right to happiness,” President Nicolas Maduro decreed that Christmas 2025 shall begin on October 1st. One recipient commented that a prolonged and ghoulish Halloween might be more reflective of the general mood.
Resources
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| Where there's smoke... (Photo by Tomasz Sienicki) |
So it should come as no surprise that caches of what are currently believed to be “the world’s oldest mummies” have recently surfaced in – of all places – Southeast Asia and China. And never mind a long, drawn-out process of natron desiccation. These newfound mummies were likely smoke dried without further ado.
A sooty solution which seems to have worked out just fine… Scientists estimate such rituals to have occurred a whopping 10,000 years ago.
Resources
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| Moses and the Golden Calf (Painting by William Blake) |
Some may talk the talk, and even walk the walk, but have they strayed from the path of enduring faith?
If you profess to be a Christian, ask yourself this question: “Are you merely religious, or are you truly born again?” Joseph Mattera lists a number of ways that people tend “to deceive themselves about their faith.”
These include the following: going through religious motions but lacking “inner transformation,” viewing baptism as an endpoint rather than as a progressive beginning, feeling near to God but not actually with God, dabbling in spiritual gifts without developing spiritual fruits, railing against God rather than conversing with God, reciting prayers rather than taking them to heart, and mistaking idolatry for love.
Mattera concludes: “You can be sincere – and sincerely wrong.” Beware the self-deception that threatens “a believer’s walk.”
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| Schloss Goldenstein (Photo by Eigenes Werk) |
Although nursing facilities are often called homes, they rarely feel like such. Elderly folks especially thrive upon the familiarity and congeniality of their actual home-sweet-home.
Three Austrian nuns who were “moved to a Catholic care” facility, “a decision they claim was made against their will,” returned to their convent home “with the help of former students and a locksmith.” All in their 80s, each had felt “homesick and out of place” while away from the convent they had lived in for decades. One claimed the right to remain in the convent “until the end of our lives,” a promise which she then stated “was broken.”
Church authorities have been “highlighting concerns about... health and safety,” insisting that “the nursing home provided essential medical care.” The nuns, however, have resumed their daily convent routines with the loving assistance of community supporters. Such mutuality may very well outweigh any so-called care that clinicians might provide.
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| Saint Ambrose of Milan (Public Domain) |
This adage was allegedly first utilized by Saint Ambrose of Milan while mentoring Saint Augustine and his mother, Saint Monica. The two had been planning to visit 4th-century Rome and were wondering whether to adhere to its Saturday fasting schedule, which differed from that of Milan.
If some of today’s impetuous tourists were to seek wise counsel, much angst could be avoided. This past summer, an Australian Instagrammer thought he’d entertain online viewers with a video of him drinking from a can left on a Japanese headstone as a likely offering to the ancestors. “He’s then seen burping in front of the grave.”
This, plus many another tourist breach, has resulted in public outcry all the way up to embassy levels and online apologies. What the world needs now is not only love sweet love, but also wisdom sweet wisdom.
Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_in_Rome,_do_as_the_Romans_do
https://news.yahoo.com/news/articles/anger-japan-instagrammer-drinks-burial-062859207.html
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| (Photo by Richard Ricciardi) |
Contrary to popular opinion, dying is not just a fearful affair. According to Dr. Christopher Kerr, a decades-long hospice physician, this final phase can provide a “unique vantage point” that “changes one’s perspective and perception.”
In his study of “more than 1,500 end-of-life events,” Kerr found that “most dying patients” experience intense visions and/or dreams that provide transformational closure. These experiences are marked with clarity, rather than with the confusion that often accompanies medication-induced states.
Although sometimes wracked with cycles of guilt and remorse, such processes allow for the release of unresolved relationship traumas, which often results in loving feelings of peaceful completion.
Resources
End-of-life doctor reveals what people say right before death
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| People's Crusade of 1096 (Public Domain) |
The kind of religion that helps to sin is the kind that falls very far from its holy roots. It’s the kind that human history has borne way too often. It’s the kind that has fostered the Salem Witch Trials, the (so-called) Holy Crusades, the Branch Davidian Disaster, the Thirty Years War, the Mass Deaths of Jonestown, and many other such tragic events.
Yet the misuse of religion does not mean that religion itself is no good. Much like water and air, religion can be essentially life affirming when not tainted by humans gone mad.
Resources
https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/10-worst-things-religions-have-ever-done/vi-AA1FKd6K?ocid=winp2fptaskbar&cvid=8853bb290dca43bfb6619593424fe482&ei=31
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| (Photo by Airwolfhound) |
Come to find out that this was your friend’s final request. Having been a successful businessman, he wanted to share “5,000 in cash” with the help of a handy helicopter. His funeral attendees were invited to partake of this free-floating bounty.
All this occurred within a busy section of East Detroit. Yet iHeartRadio was happy to report, “Despite the potential for chaos, the crowd remained calm and respectful. All’s well that ends well!
Resources
https://www.iheart.com/content/2025-07-10-dead-mans-life-savings-dropped-out-of-helicopter-fulfilling-his-dying-wish/?mid=1513639&rid=98364581&sc=email&pname=newsletter&cid=NATIONAL&keyid=National%20iHeart%20Daily%20NewsTalk&campid=headline7
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| (Public Domain) |
Yet when it comes to spiritual absolution, there are some stark differences among religious perspectives. Catholics, for example, believe that “confessing sins to a priest is a sacrament” because “priests have been given authority by Christ to forgive sins.” Protestants instead attest to “the priesthood of all believers,” and state that confession among believers yields accountability rather than true forgiveness. That is why Protestants confess directly to God, rather than to priests and/or saints.
Nevertheless, human-to-human accountability can go a long way toward keeping destructive behaviors in check. Coupling this with confessional prayer can be a source of incredible strength.
Resources
https://mikesignorelli.com/the-7-key-differences-between-catholicism-and-protestant-christianity/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22485390191&gbraid=0AAAAAoWiDOzc4XgUJqw2x4SW-7Pao9bKU&gclid=CjwKCAjw4efDBhATEiwAaDBpbh7_yBJOy6eCy5JkQKddMoAzhKQ31mjVUTe3KdOxApQzEAOyFshu9xoCciEQAvD_BwE
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| (US Naval Academy, 1890s) |
Although there might be more than one way to skin a cat, the pathway to Heaven remains decidedly straight and narrow.
Nevertheless, humans have tried to find upsy-daisy shortcuts throughout the ages. One such contrivance has been the sport of extreme pole-vaulting. Not content with simply bouncing about from one ground-zero to another, the Dutch have been leaping skyward for centuries.
They don’t let a little thing like a canal get in the way. This potential deterrent simply adds to the thrill of defying earthbound forces. After soaring to “the height of a four-story building,” it’s then time to hope for a smooth landing. If all goes well, you walk away unscathed. If all does not, you either walk away wet or not at all.
Resources
https://news.yahoo.com/news/sports/article/dutch-canal-leaping-pole-vaulters-053959922.html
Today’s
thrift shops have become a counterpart io yesterday’s
Macy’s or Gimbel’s. Just as those two
giants did not habitually share information, neither
do average folks while dropping their household
dispensables into anonymous bins.
An 1889 word to the wise...
All well and good until one such donation happens to contain a sprinkling of human remains. This occurred at a Goodwill shop in Vancouver, Washington. When said urn with its unusual contents was discovered by a curious employee, the local police were alerted. Attempts at locating its past owner appear to be met with dead silence.
As if that weren’t enough, another thrift store wound up with a locket containing – you guessed it – more of same. These heart-shaped cremains indefinitely hung above the unwitting buyer’s sink, who referred to them as her “spooky little friend.”
Resources
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/reminder-check-urns-cremated-remains-donating-resale-shops-201426653.html
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| Fruit Bat (Photo by Lietuvos zoologijos) |
Take “blind as a bat” for instance. Are bats really blind, or is that just something optometrists use for effect? It turns out that some bats are more or less blind, whereas others are less so than more so. Fruit bats are said to “have huge adorable eyes that work very well. “
And how about those buckled top hats that “Pilgrims” wear within many a school play, along with all-black outfits? Did European denizens of the “new world” really sport such garb while chasing down summertime deer? Or did they instead don multi-colored linen shirts and shifts?
So is the Great Wall of China really visible from space? It might just depend upon how well “visible” and “space” are defined. “NASA has gone on record saying it’s not visible from the moon and barely visible from low-earth orbit.” This popular trope is likely just a PR stunt to promote human dominance over all else…
Resources
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| Narcissus at the Spring (Painting by Jan Roos) |
Northwestern Medicine reports that many “aged 7 to 18, are using an average of six different products daily [which] often contain ingredients that can lead to skin irritation and allergies…” The mixing and matching of such potions not only yields health risks, but also financial ones. These elixirs don’t come cheap, “averaging $168 per month, with some exceeding $500.”
Social media tends to emphasize outer rather than inner beauty, and teens are especially vulnerable to such propaganda. Bankruptcy doesn’t stop at the bank - it can overrun emotional bulwarks and drown bright futures within a deluge of depression.
Resources
https://www.iheart.com/content/2025-06-10-tiktok-skincare-crazes-loved-by-teens-could-be-harmful/
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| (Public Domain) |
Routinely dousing your body with fats, sodium, calories and carcinogens is one way to hasten the inevitable. Nevertheless, foodies are seeking ever more renditions of this guilty pleasure.
Gabby Romero of Delish.com was apparently bored one day, so he came up with a list of the yummiest French fries. Checkers/Rally’s won the day, due to its “beer battered… savory, salty spice blend.” This dubious distinction gave it the one-up as far as taste or tastelessness is concerned.
Resources
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/14/the-unfortunate-health-risks-of-french-fries/
https://www.iheart.com/content/2025-06-11-best-fast-food-french-fries-for-2025-revealed/
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| Fanjingshan, Ghizhou, China (Public Domain) |
Stubborn has gotten a bad rap over time. Rather than eliciting praise for being dedicated, it’s been maligned for being “pigheaded” and “uncooperative.”
Yet there are certain things not worth cooperating with. When outside forces threaten to turn your ancestral village into a tourist trap, it might be wise to summon up a heaping helping of stubborn.
Which is exactly what Chen Tianming did when authorities came after his “family’s humble stone bungalow” within China’s beautiful Guizhou province… Amidst a “flurry of demolition notices,” Tianming not only remained in place, but also expanded upon his existing home.
Continuing onward and literally upward, Tianming painstakingly added one story after another to his original structure. Taipei Times reported: “He now presides over a bewildering 10-story, pyramid-shaped warren of rickety staircases, balconies and other add-ons,” all of which ironically attracts way more tourism than the surrounding bulldozed landscape.
Resources
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2025/06/09/2003838309
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| (Public Domain) |
If eternal life is your goal, it could be best to ignore the temptations that a serpentine figure might offer. If physical life is your perceived end game, it still might be wise to proceed cautiously through slithery terrain. In either case, advance preparation is key.
An effective “antivenom” for slippery slopes can be devotion to a Truth that could ultimately yield freedom from all vicious cycles. Or, you could instead spend precious days, months and years encouraging snakes to bite your temporal flesh.
The latter is what a fellow named Tim Friede is all too familiar with. After becoming comatose from self-induced poisoning, Friede later declared, “I know what it feels like to die from snakebite.” He went on to repeatedly defy the adage “Once bitten, twice shy.” After more and more bites, Friede was finally ready to abandon the Serpent. And yet, he then wistfully uttered, “I do miss it.” An all-too-common feeling we humans tend to have while loosening the grip of toxic habits...
Resources
https://news.yahoo.com/news/man-let-snakes-bite-him-025559322.html
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| Andes Mountains (Photo by Jorge Morales Piderit) |
Far
from being yellow-bellied, the yellow-striped
This stalwart species has managed to survive within Chile’s frigid mountain streams by wedging between rocks and surfacing only at night.
Its adaptability offers possibilities for the long-term survival of other endangered groups - perhaps including hope for humanity itself.
Resources
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/rare-creature-found-after-130-years-in-the-chilean-mountains/ss-AA1ECqy6
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| Commercial Chicken House (USDA Photo) |
Why buy eggs when you can simply rent hens? Although hosting hens is certainly no cheaper
than plucking eggs from a market bin, it can be more educational, and even more nutritious.
Kids who know nothing about eggs outside of Humpty Dumpty might
be tickled to learn that omelettes
originate from the same orifice as chicken droppings. They might also be strengthened from eating
fresh eggs rather than by waiting a month or two for the oldies to arrive from farm to grocery.
If you’re wondering how to care for hired hens and your
wallet is bulging with Los Angeles wealth, there’s a solution at hand. Just call upon “Rent a Chicken,” and your yard
may soon be transformed into Hen Central, “predator-proof coop” and all.
Resources
https://news.yahoo.com/news/lifestyle/backyard-barnyard-rising-egg-prices-015348903.html
We all eat
to live (and then some), celebrities included.
The difference is that our daily bread does not appear as breaking news,
whereas the pope’s sometimes does.
Diocese of Chiclayo
(Photo by Frank Coronel Mendoza)
When
waiters in the Peruvian city of Chiclayo were recently asked what then-Bishop
Robert Prevost used to order, their tongues went a wagging. One recalled that, back around 2015, the menu
read as follows: Breakfast consisted of “fried chicken or pork belly… washed
down with orange juice and coffee.”
Lunch “was sometimes stewed goat; dinner was chicken broth.”
Prices
weren’t divulged, yet one server couldn’t help but add: “He didn’t tip you,
that’s for sure, but he gave you his blessing.”
Resources
https://news.yahoo.com/news/blessings-not-tips-pope-leo-210016026.html
According
to many religions, life as we perceive it can be quite illusory. 
(Photo by Bernard Spragg)
Case in
point: Those who appear to be drunk may not have imbibed a single drop of
alcohol. They may instead suffer from a
rare condition known as auto-brewery in which the body converts carbohydrates
into ethanol.
This can
occur when “microorganisms capable of fermenting alcohol outgrow normal gut
flora.” Probiotics
plus a low-carb diet have been effective for restoring gut health.
Sometimes a rose is a rose is a rose, but sometimes it’s a horse of a different color. Investigating before assuming can avoid mistaking manure for perfume.
Resources
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/doctors-repeatedly-told-this-toronto-woman-she-was-drunk--but-she-never-had-a-sip-of-alcohol-what-is-auto-brewery-syndrome-194746438.html
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| Eve in Paradise (1305 Armenian Icon) |
Case in point: Eve. When the Bible speaks of all humans descending from one woman named Eve, many respond with cynicism. Yet when scientists speak of all humans descending from one woman “who lived 200,000 years ago in Botswana,” many respond with assent.
These scientific findings stem from mitochondrial research, which is why this “Mother of all Folks” came to be known as “Mitochondrial Eve.” At least the name stuck, even if the belief didn’t…
Resources
https://en.as.com/latest_news/scientists-discover-that-all-humans-come-from-the-same-mother-who-lived-200000-years-ago-in-botswana-n/
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| Salty Stone at Dead Sea (Photo by xta11) |
These days, business leaders have been utilizing salt to separate the sheep from the goats. During lunch interviews, potential hires may be sneakily subjected to a “salt test.” They are closely watched to see whether they salt their food before tasting it. If they dare to commit such an offense, their chances of joining the company are immediately reduced to zero. Why? It is believed that those who hastily salt their food before analyzing the need for this may do the same with weighty on-the-job decisions.
Although minor choices sometimes do foreshadow major problems, a hasty hiring decision based upon one such narrow point seems already tainted.
Resources
https://www.ladbible.com/community/boss-salt-pepper-job-interview-trick-906471-20240509
https://www.gotquestions.org/salt-and-light.html#:~:text=Jesus%20used%20the%20concepts%20of%20salt%20and,role%20of%20His%20followers%20in%20the%20world.&text=In%20the%20same%20way%20that%20salt%20enhances,the%20flavor%20of%20life%20in%20this%20world.
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| RFK Jr. in 2000 (Photo by John Mathew Smith) |
Let’s face it: The outcome of compliance very much depends upon who’s complying with what, and why.
When RFK Jr. sought to align his everyday choices with higher-ground morality, formerly addictive trends transformed into uplifting ones. Inspired by Carl Jung’s book Synchronicity, RFK Jr. began to carefully revise the daily decisions that were subtly feeding his heroin habit. One such change: Rather than dwelling upon depressing thoughts while lying around in bed each morning, he instead chose to quickly switch gears upon awakening.
At first it was a matter of repeatedly “acting as if,” but after a while his better-angel choices gathered a momentum of their own. This momentum began to include synchronicities, which Jung defined as “chance occurrences from a statistical point of view, but meaningful in that they may seem to validate paranormal ideas…”
"Acting as if" type compliance with wholesome options can therefore morph into a series of virtuous habits, which can eventually lead to faithful belief.
Resources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJB1Ym2APbk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity_(book)
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| Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Photo by Gerd Eichmann) |
Many can recall Mary Magdelene’s encounter with “the gardener” standing outside Jesus’ tomb. A recent archaeological discovery lends credence to this well-known story.
An Independent headline reads, “Discovery of ancient garden beneath Jesus’ burial site backs up Biblical account.” This discovery includes “2,000 year-old olive trees and grapevines… under the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.”
John 19:41 clearly states, “Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb...” Scholars have associated this garden with the original Garden of Eden, likening it to the rebirth of Creation.
Pastor Brian Zahnd explains that Jesus is a “gardener cultivating resurrection life in all who will come to him… Gardeners have their hands in the humus. (We are humans from the humus.)”
Resources
https://brianzahnd.com/2018/03/mistaken-as-the-gardener/
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| Easter Lily (Public Domain) |
Although many have moved on to merry thoughts of May, it’s actually still Eastertide. It will remain so until Pentecost Sunday (aka Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun), which isn’t until 49 days past Resurrection Sunday (or 39 days past within Eastern Christianity).
Easter is not confined to a particular day, no matter how joyous. It instead encompasses an entire season during which the joy heightens and deepens.
In the weeks before the risen Christ ascended into Heaven, numerous encounters occurred on earth. Acts 1:3 states: “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”
This therefore is a sacred time in which to seek confirmation of Eternal Life. For it is Jesus Himself who declared: “Seek and you will find.”
