The world was stunned this past Monday morning when in his weekly meeting with Vatican cardinals, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation: “ . . .

What a fitting text our Black History Committee has chosen for the theme of this Black History Sabbath and month—the words of our Lord Himself: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Have you been following the debate about change—the change in your pocket, that is? In order to save money President Obama is recommending that the composition of the U.S. penny be reconsidered.  All because of a long word nobody can spell, let alone pronounce: “seigniorage” (and that’s not Spanish for “Mr. Age”). Seignorage is the technical term that describes the difference between the value of a currency and its production cost.

So now that the pomp and circumstance of the Inauguration are past and the last remnants of paper flags and confetti have been swept away, what shall we learn? The frequently repeated reminder about the peaceful transition of government in this land is worth restating, I suppose. And the old adage about memorizing your lines was proven true in the President’s momentary slip in repeating the oath, giving comfort to all of us who have done the same. But the music—it was majestic, wasn’t it?—by any standards, one could argue. The U.S.

It’s Sunday evening. Tomorrow I fly to the East Coast where the General Conference is convening the first meeting of the new Theology of Ordination Study Committee (TOSC). These 102 men and women from around the world will gather for four three-day meetings over the next two years. Our task will be to prayerfully examine what the Bible teaches about ordination and the role of both men and women in the gospel ministry, come to a conclusion at the end of the two-year study, and recommend a course of action to the leadership of the world church.

I realize not everybody believes in “global warming.” And it isn’t the point of this blog to plunge into that academic and/or scientific debate. But the flurry of headlines this past week over our nation’s record temperature deserves some reflection. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced that 2012 was the hottest year on record for the United States.

I found CNN.com’s departing religion editor Dan Gilgoff’s observations this week insightful. His final blog before joining the National Geographic team lists “5 things I’ve learned” from his blogging on religion for CNN these last few years. Can we learn something from what he’s learned? (http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/31/my-take-5-things-i-learned-editing-the-belief-blog/): 1.

On this day after December 21, 2012, the good news is we’re still here! Bands of New Agers, in particular, have been holding their collective breath as our civilization approached the fateful date: 4 Ahaw, 3 K’ank’in.

On Tuesday the Daily Beast website announced the latest Gallup poll findings with this headline, “Gallup Survey Finds a Majority of Americans Still Religious.” Based on 300,000 interviews the survey found that seven out of ten Americans consider themselves “moderate or very religious.” That’s 70% of this nation!

I’m afraid I have to agree with the blogger who commented: “Black Friday—the most embarrassing day of the year for me as an American.” He then embedded in his blog someone’s video clip of shoppers in a real, live melee at Wal-Mart last Friday. Embarrassing? You be the judge (http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/). But perhaps even more embarrassing is the latest sales report from retailers.