Never an Original Thought

Before the Pilgrims ever set foot on the shores of Plymouth, God was already at work preparing their survival through the most unlikely of instruments, a young Native American named Squanto. He was born in 1596 in what is now Maine. In 1608, Squanto and others were kidnapped by an English sea captain and taken to Spain. He and his fellow natives were kept in chains below deck for six weeks. They were barely given enough water, raw fish, and stale bread to survive. Arrivin

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” -- Psalm 136:1 “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.” The idiom is used to describe an almost impossible task. The earliest known use of similar words comes from Cervantes in Don Quixote in 1605. Picking through a pile of straw to find something that resembles a piece of straw has apparently been challenging people since the 17th Century. My engineer father used to tell me that laziness is the mot

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” -- Psalm 107:1 Despite the challenges that certainly exist, we live in an amazing world. Take for instance, how interconnected and complicated our economy is. To make that point, the economist Leonard Reed published an essay in 1958 entitled, “I, Pencil.” Reed considers the myriad of components that come together in the making of a simple pencil such as cedar, lacquer, graphite, ferrule,

In my life, there has always been something special about Thanksgiving. There are no cards, presents, costumes, or egg hunts, but still, it remains one of my favorite times of the year. The family was all there, and everyone joined in the preparations. Before and after the meal, there were plenty of distractions, but for a fleeting moment, we were present with each other. We took a moment of Sabbath in our busy lives to gather together. Do you remember the Norman Rockwel