Ken Frantz

We've all caught glimpses of something special which whet our appetite for experiencing more… fragments of conversation, movements out of the corner of our eye, hints of an alluring fragrance, or a teasing new flavor on our palate. Still, we frequently remain unaware, dulled by the ordinary rhythms of our lives and desensitized to stimuli that provoke significant life change. The Apostle Paul recognized this in noting, “Make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing!” (Romans 13:11-12, The Message). For most, being jolted from our slumber usually takes something of great magnitude or import. Attuning ourselves to more subtle indicators requires discipline and practice, activities often incongruent with today's culture.

Volunteerism that is filled with purpose and meaningful encounters changes people. In retrieving an ethos of mutual aid, we adapt our understandings, refining them in new ways for an ever-changing vision and redeployment in the relevant near future. ‘Becoming better stewards' is more than a motto. It is another way of living that shifts priorities while building community.

The rhubarb wars have commenced once again. Decades of infighting among countless varieties have taken a toll. There is no single cultivar (cultivated variety) that can vanquish across time much to the frustration of growers.

The Arecibo Radio Telescope was a 305 m (1,000 ft) spherical reflector radio telescope built into a natural sinkhole at the Arecibo Observatory located near Arecibo, Puerto Rico. A cable-mounted, steerable receiver and several radar transmitters for emitting signals were mounted 150 m (492 ft) above the dish. Completed in November 1963, the Arecibo Telesco

It has been nearly 15 years since I broached the topic of disposing of “retired” or otherwise no longer usable Bibles. Round two.

Call it what you will, but the search for safe space is an ongoing endeavor, a battle of good versus less than good, no matter how we are informed otherwise. Such space can prove elusive, particularly if it is something new and seldom experienced. It is cloaked in vulnerability. How, then, do we recognize it in order to draw upon its positive energy?

There are times when we put off doing something or utilizing others' assistance because we have grown up with an independent mindset. That's not bad, mind you, but it does put us at a disadvantage when we need help and have never learned quite how to ask for it. Others generally see it before we do, but too many of us won't listen to the concerns of others until we experience them ourselves. We all are set in some ways with how we do things, even when they don't always make the best of sense.

Have you ever come face-to-face with a bit of writing or sentiment that so fully describes your understanding that it simply cannot be ignored? Many things claim truth hood without the appearance of bias, yet we all know that same bias lurks around the edges of our lives, content to stir the pot and adjust the temperature at most every turn.

How amazing it was this past week to participate in the largest block party of the ages as the USA turned 250 years old. Contenders for most fireworks of all time, revelries across the country came to life with peoples' need to get out and feel a part of something larger than self, a need lacking in civil society for quite some time.

Growing up with animals was something we took for granted as young kids. Earliest memories evoke warm remembrances of newborn litters of kittens or puppies, fish of various shapes and forms and colors, snakes and frogs, toads and earthworms, birds of all kinds, and even gray squirrels raised on the bottle. Each new animal was a life lesson in how to care for something of value and to marvel at the wonder of God's creative genius.