Spiritual

The small train station is particularly busy today. The long war has finally ended and people are rushing to leave the countryside towns they have been sheltering in. Now returning to the cities in hopes of reuniting with loved ones and rebuilding their lives, everyone is eagerly listening for the sound of the arriving train ...

I wrote my first computer virus in 1993. I spent countless hours learning how to build it, and how to make it infect floppy disks that, when put in a computer, would make random, obnoxious kissing sounds. In a way, this makes me a hacker. (I blame my father for that; he is a hacker ...

In the book of Acts  (Acts 8:26–40) we find an interesting “special mission.” An angel of the Lord suddenly appears to Philip, giving him an assignment: “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” Having accepted the mission, Philip then receives further instructions: “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” ...

The book of John tells a parable not mentioned in the other Gospels (John 9). One Sabbath Jesus met a man who had been blind since birth. His disciples asked if whether the man or his parents committed some sin for him to have been afflicted with such a condition. Responding that neither was the case, ...

In the parable of the sower (Matt 13:1–23; Mark 4:1–20; and Luke 8:4–15), Jesus tells the story of a farmer sowing his seeds, scattering them into both good and bad soil. Jesus then interprets the parable, explaining the outcome for each terrain where the seeds fell. Interestingly, the farmer in this story seems quite inept. We ...