Would you like to know what a baby born on your Graduation Day can look forward to on this planet? TIME magazine ran this fascinating list of statistics under the headline “Hello, My Name Is Sophia: I’m an American baby born in 2012, and I already know a few things about myself”: ·        I am one of 4 million babies who will be born in the U.S.

In the bottom drawer of my desk is an old cassette tape (now you know how old it is!), with these words scribbled on its label, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Turns out it’s a 1988 a cappella recording of composer-singer Bobby McFerrin, singing and whistling the jingle: “Here’s a little song I wrote, you might want to sing it note for note—Don’t worry, be happy. . . . In every life we have some trouble, but when you worry you make it double—Don’t worry, be happy. . . .

Earth Day is this Monday, April 22. Want a practical way to make an ecological difference on this planet? Let me borrow a page from my 2012 devotional book The Chosen (April 26 reading) and share it here in the Fourth Watch blog:

That was the theme of the Youth in Mission (YIM) Congress that I had the privilege of preaching and teaching at in Mannheim, Germany, this past Thursday through Sunday. Over 1,200 young adults from across Germany and Europe gathered to meet and sleep and eat in a large public school (closed for the Easter holiday) to celebrate their common bond in Christ and His mission for this third millennial world.

I watched a resurrection, a resurrection on video. One of our viewers is a Pentecostal pastor with whom I’ve had the privilege of studying the Bible. It was my turn to visit his church, and no sooner had we sat down in his small sanctuary than he picked up a video and played it, “You need to see this.”

Can you believe this statistic? The April 2 issue of TIME magazine ran a column that reported on prisoner-to-population ratios in some of the developed countries of the world. Japan, for example, has 63 incarcerated individuals for every 100,000 citizens. In Germany there are 90 prisoners for every 100,000. France has 96, South Korea 97 and Britain has 153 prisoners per 100,000 of their population. And what about the United States? In this nation for every 100,000 citizens we have 760 prisoners!

The tornados that swept through, to the south of us a few days ago, leaving vast swaths of devastation and death, also left behind a collection of stories for the ages. Like the one about Latonya Stevens who heard the thunder and lightning in the distance, ran for her four children, but mysteriously passed out—and when she came to, the roof was gone, and so were three of her children—who were found up to a hundred feet away, with only cuts and bruises and a story to tell for the rest of their lives!

That’s what they bill the super-duper burger at Las Vegas’s Heart Attack Grill. No lie. The sandwich is a “massive, one-and-a-half pound burger with three beef patties, cheese, special sauce and up to 15 strips of bacon.” Total calories—6000. The menu touts it as having “a taste worth dying for.” A few days ago a diner walked into the restaurant, ordered the “triple-bypass burger,” and proceeded to wolf it down. During his consumption, the diner suffered a real live heart attack.

Poor God—He isn’t faring very well in American politics these days. The President recently mandated contraceptive insurance coverage, and the Roman Catholic Church rose up in arms, vociferously complaining that such an insurance policy would infringe on Catholic belief that contraception is contrary to divine will (never mind that a majority of American Catholics practice birth control). President Obama then offered a compromise for contraceptive coverage, but (as with most compromises) few are happy.

The tragic headline this week out of Honduras triggered a collective gasp from the world community. Authorities are not sure if the prison fire in Comayagua was sparked by an electrical short-circuit or whether inmate rioting might have been the cause. The grim reality is that fire broke out, and before prisoners could be unlocked from their cells at least 300 of them perished in the inferno. The nation of Honduras mourns. And we grieve their loss.