• Scripture Study

    Creation and Creativity

    The Power of Speech Christians and Jews often use a lectionary to choose readings for worship. This Sunday, Christians can choose to read from the very beginning of the Bible, where God creates the universe with words. In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water. Then God commanded, “Let there be light”—and light appeared. Gen 1:1-3 Good News Translation Then God speaks sky and land into existence. Words, you see, have power; creative power. We see this, also, in the Gospel of John. He…

  • Political Events and Recovery

    AI and Being Human

    Modern Inventions Some modern inventions are so dangerous, we choose not to use them. Developed in the 1940s, for instance, the pesticide DDT and other persistent organic pollutants were either banned or restricted in a 1996 world treaty negotiated in Stockholm. Exemptions exist so countries can use these compounds to control mosquito populations where malaria is a problem, but otherwise we have decided their benefit is not worth their harm. Nuclear weapons haven’t been used since the United States bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945. So far, although over 13,000 of these bombs remain in the world, no one has chosen to wreak such disaster upon the world again. We’ve…