The images are arresting. A rhesus macaque monkey tenderly rests his head against a dove as he strokes its feathers. Another macaque monkey protectively hovers over a yellow kitten as they both thoughtfully consider the camera. A fierce Rhodesian Ridgeback dog, bred to hunt lions, softly nuzzles a pot-bellied piglet.…
“Remember, Oh Man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return” Millions of people around the world heard that charge as a thumb smudged an ashen cross on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday. Not exactly an admonition that sends one scurrying to the mall to buy the newest…
Sure, I prepare for Christmas as care- fully as the next guy: put up the tree, string up some lights around the mantle, set up the creche on the bureau with the Three Wise men w-a-a-y across the living room, ever so slowly making their way over the furniture, hopping…
What was there not to like? A crowd of marchers estimated at around 2,000, accompanied by dancers decked-out in dazzlingly blue, green and gold costumes, festooned with ostrich feathers; three elaborately decorated floats, a bright crisp autumn day, and nine miles of pavement. The annual Our Lady of Guadalupe pilgrimage…
By Steven Worden Striking reversals play a major role in Christianity: the First Cause of all Existence takes the form of a helpless baby in a stinking stable. The Lord of the Universe suffers a humiliating death. The poor and the meek shall be rewarded while the rich will struggle…
By Steven Worden It’s around this time of year, when a chill wind begins to scatter the leaves across the fields, that we begin to think about building a fire in the fireplace, sitting around the hearth and nursing a cup of hot apple cider with the family. That homey…
By Steven Worden We see them on TV frequently: preachers speaking in front of huge crowds packed into arenas. We listen as they hawk their latest books, CDs and DVDs. Although some may gripe at these pastors’ mass appeal or their marketing, these preachers are actually following in the footsteps…
