The word that stumped him was “quaquaversal.”  How these kids survive as long as they do in the Scripps National Spelling Bee is beyond me!  Ten-year-old Tony Incorvati of Ohio made it to the third round a few days ago, until he ran into that amalgamation lurking in the bowels of some dusty dictionary.  And no matter how hard he squinted, it wouldn’t come out right.

History was made Tuesday night, when Barack Obama was declared the winner of the Democratic presidential primaries, thus becoming the first African American to be nominated for President of the United States by a major political party.  And given the painful history of race relations in this country, Americans of all parties, races and faiths surely hope this is a harbinger of better days to come.

“Scientists at loss to explain busy, severe tornado season.”   So read Wednesday’s headline in the South Bend Tribune.  “‘Right now we’re on track to break all previous counts through the end of the year,’ said warning meteorologist Greg Carbin at the Storm Prediction Center.  And it’s not just more storms.  The strongest of those storms—those in the 136-to-200 mph range—have been more prevalent than normal, and lately they seem to be hitting populated areas more, he said.” Just another fluke of unpredictable Mother Nature?  Perhaps.  But a week ago I went to

Several years ago someone gave me a book on humility.  I love a gift book, but does it have to be that personal!  But as it turned out, the gift book was truly that.  And it has become a gift that has continued to give.  It’s Andrew Murray’s little classic, Humility.  I’ve brooded my way through it three times now, and I’m certain it will bless your own soul as it has mine.

What shall we do with our frozen emotions?  The litany of natural disasters that have hit this planet over the last few days—with a 100,000 plus dead or missing from the cyclone in Myanmar to 19,000-and-climbing dead from the earthquake in western China to the twenty-plus who died in tornadoes across our southland—after awhile the television images of such poignant and massive suffering eventually become just another bit of suppertime news, don’t they?  After all, how much can the human heart tolerate of suffering, even when it’s the suffering of strangers far away from us?

Way to go, graduates! Ah, the power of saying Yes! As the 561 of you Andrews University graduates gather for this memorable academic rite of passage, I and the rest of us here at Pioneer want you to know that we’re cheering you on with the power of a Yes! After all, it’s your graduation promise: “For all the promises of God in Christ are Yes, to the glory of God” (II Corinthians 1:20). Did you catch that? As you head out the door of this campus, God is giving you a giant YES for all the promises you’re going to need for your uncharted journey.

The yellow and white flags of the Vatican are down.  But who will forget the unprecedented national fanfare that accompanied the first visit of Pope Benedict XVI to this nation last week?  Personally welcomed and greeted at Andrews Air Force Base by President Bush and his wife, feted at the White House with a regal welcoming ceremony attended by more invited guests than any previous such presidential event, two standing-room-only masses celebrated in a pair of iconic baseball stadiums in Washington and New York, adulated by the news media, an address to the leaders of the w

Are we at war with nature?  E. O. Wilson thinks so.  In his newest book, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth, he offers this intriguing definition of nature:  “Nature is that part of the original environment and its life forms that remains after the human impact.  Nature is all on planet Earth that has no need of us and can stand alone” (15).  I.e., nature is what has survived the global encroachment of the human race.  Is he right?

Want to know why God doesn’t wear a watch?  Probably because it would drive him to the same distraction it drives us!  Ever find yourself racing across a parking lot or down a hallway or into a building or up a sidewalk . . .

Want to know what one of the most contagious human activities is?  Don’t be surprised.  It’s yawning.  That’s right—opening your mouth so wide it feels like your jaw might drop off as you breathe in all the air around you—that six second (on the average) act of yours will lead 55% of the people who watched you yawn do it themselves within five minutes!  In fact, you don’t even have to see someone do it.  The blind will yawn simply from hearing an audio tape of someone else yawning.  In fact, you don’t even need to hear a yawn.  Just reading the word can cause you to yawn (a