Image: Logjam on the St. Croix River, Minnesota. As timber companies harvested America’s forests in the late 19th century, one of the easiest ways to get logs to the sawmills was to set them afloat in local rivers. But these tree-sized logs would snag on things and on each other, creating logjams. In fact, logjamsContinue reading “Streaming Traffic or Bottlenecked Logjam: Finding Miracles in Large Datasets. Numbers 2.”
Category Archives: When you read the Bible, you travel a road others–many of your heroes–have been traveling for centuries: come to the table! Join the amazing conversation of ideas!
No Written Records? Close the Deal and Slap the Children: Ezra 6:1-2.
Imagine a world without writing. People simply talk. They make promises. They shake hands. When the matter is really important, they employ rituals to ensure that everyone remembers. In pre-literate England, the sale of real estate included an elaborate ritual: go to town and round up a couple of little boys, then go to theContinue reading “No Written Records? Close the Deal and Slap the Children: Ezra 6:1-2. “
On Modern Art. Ezekiel 41:1-12.
Image: The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali, 1931. I attended law school at the University of Houston, a campus littered with abstract modern art, much of it consisting of odd-shaped works in iron. One day while walking across the campus with a student whom I knew to be a lover of modern poetry, weContinue reading “On Modern Art. Ezekiel 41:1-12.”
The Trail of Tears. Jeremiah 27:12.
Image: “The Flight of the Prisoners” by James Tissot, 1896, a painting of the people of Judah being driven from Jerusalem to Babylon, a Biblical “Trail of Tears.” Americans love the Bible. We print Bible verses on our tee shirts and coffee cups, stencil them on our walls, bumper-sticker them on our cars. The BibleContinue reading “The Trail of Tears. Jeremiah 27:12.”
The Fear of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 28:15.
Image: the famous “Earthrise” photo captured by the crew of Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve, 1968. Part One: a Challenge to Put Some Effort into Your Bible Reading. Most of us believe we ought to read the Bible. Many of us start. But finishing is a real challenge and a significant accomplishment. The Good Book,Continue reading “The Fear of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 28:15.”