“Alaxamenos Worships His God”

In 1857 workers were unearthing a building in Rome on the Palatine Hill which was once used by the infamous Caligula possibly as an imperial palace. As the work proceeded they came to a room where they found what may have been the first known depiction of the crucifixion in Christian worship. But the graffiti artist was no fan of Jesus.

Taming the Tongue

News out of the Netherlands is that the Dutch National Police force has begun training eagles to intercept small drones during an emergency, when another capture device might put people below at risk. Working with a raptor-training company called Guard from Above, they are teaching eagles to recognize small drones and swoop in and grab them with their powerful talons. The belief is that eagles might be used when rouge drones or those being intentionally used for nefarious purposes are presenting a security risk. (See video) .

Hanging on His Words

This week’s post was written by my wife, Sheila.

When I picked up my Bible today, my eyes fell on the following passage:

“Yet they [the chief priest, the teachers of the law and the leaders of the people] couldn’t find any way to do it [kill Jesus] because all the people hung on his words.” (Luke 19:48)

The statement that “all the people hung on his words” hit me. It seemed like a modern day idiom. I doubted that this is what it literally said. So, I asked my husband, Tom, “Is this an exact translation of the phrase ‘hung on his words’”? He looked it up and said, “Yes it is.”

Lottery Fever

Last week the nationwide “Powerball” lottery in the U.S. was offering a jackpot that had grown to $1.5 billion.  That is $999 million plus another $501 million. That is a staggering number of millions. This largest jackpot in history drew tremendous publicity and sometimes long lines made up of ticket buyers.  If you live in the States, no doubt you heard about it.

Wonderfully Made and Full of Purpose

Every 60 seconds, 258 babies are born across the globe.  In the next hour that means there will be 15,480 new lives on earth. A year ago those would have just been interesting statistics. However, in one of those seconds and in one of those hours in November, one of those babies was our first grandchild. Most of our peers already have quite a collection, but this little girl was our first.

A Christmas Story

One of our Mind Change Moment readers, Toni  LaGatta, shared this story with us and we wanted to share it with all of you. Thanks to Toni for letting us pass this along.  It is a bit longer than our usual posts but well worth your time. Merry Christmas and may God bless you in the New Year.

Christmas of 1979 will always be very special to me. I was a single mom with two boys, 4 and 7. I worked in Kissimmee, Florida, as a dental assistant, making $110 a week. Our 1973 Chevy worked most of the time, and through a special program I had managed to move into a small three bedroom house. It was our first Christmas in our new home, and I was wondering how I could make it special for the kids. I couldn’t afford to go home to Virginia where my family was, and none of them could afford to come to Florida. I had been divorced a few years and the kids’ dad lived in Texas. It was going to be just the three of us for Christmas.

Maximum Choice, Minimum Meaning?

Jonathan Sacks, writing in his new book, Not in God’s Name, says we are living in a century that “has left us with a maximum of choice and a minimum of meaning.”  That is a powerful, although sad, description of what it is a like in a world that is increasingly secularized.

One tech website says they identified 3,997 different smart phone models available in the world today.  With TVs you can pick a 24-inch flat screen or go up to 110 inches or land somewhere in between with dozens of brands to choose from. If you are into music you can use iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, Sirius/XM radio and dozens of other means.  We could go on, ad infinitum, but that is enough to make the point: A maximum of choice.