All the marbles. Before Madden 2007 and PlayStation3, children enjoyed playing marbles. In most neighborhoods, it wasn’t very sophisticated. There were only two types of games – funsies and keepsies. “Funsies” is where – at the end of the day – everyone picks up their marbles and goes home. “Keepsies” is winner take all. You…

So sorry. “If my remarks offended anyone, I sincerely apologize.” Heard that one lately? The pope is the latest in a lengthening line of public officials who have crafted a novel form of apology that feels like no apology at all. For example, Senator George Allen is apologizing profusely for using the word “macaca” to…

Would a hunter’s maxim clear up some of the contentiousness surrounding abortion?

Unpaid, unorganized amateurs. It receives millions of hits everyday from around the world. It’s viewed by many to be at least as authoritative as Encyclopedia Britannica – if not more reliable. The compilation process demonstrates the remarkable ability of a community to be self-correcting. And it has challenged the experts who found it inconceivable that…

Falling leaves & towers. When you first saw the terrorist attacks of 9/11, what was your candid response?  Most of us can recall exactly where we were and what we were doing.  But what did you feel?  If we polled a hundred people, we’d hear the same three or four responses – horror, shock, disbelief,…

Written by Thomas Schaeffer Nelson My emotions and my rationality are very fond of each other. Quite possibly, too fond of each other for their own good. I descend from a line of moody-but-practical Minnesotans and, although I have never inhabited their state, I fully bear their state of self. Thus, I am someone who…

The big picture. In the upcoming September issue of GQ, Washington University scientists Desiree White and Richard Abrams report on an uncanny similarity between the immortal Babe Ruth and current day St. Louis Cardinals baseball slugger Albert Pujols.  In 1921, when Babe Ruth was 26 and at the top of his game, he was put…

Fall colors. In Maryland, we’re already deep into the fall colors.  I’m not talking about leaves turning various shades, but the splendiferous array of candidate’s signs that litter the landscape.  We’re in the political season again.  And that always raises the thorny question of the relationship between religion and politics.  At present, we have three…

Parking lots. If a company has a "values statement," it could be the culprit if the organization experiences an ethics scandal one day.  If a church has a "values statement," it could explain why many believers have difficulty connecting Sunday to Monday.  The key is in knowing when the idea of "values" surfaced.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Those remarkable words, penned by Thomas Jefferson, caused the patriot physician Benjamin Rush to declare: "’Tis done! We have become…