China and the United States are two big countries with very different ways of doing things. Imagine China as someone painting with a brush—slow, careful, and steady. Now picture the U.S. as a jazz musician—fast, creative, and always changing the tune. China plans far ahead. Its leaders build cities, trains, and technology with long-term goals.…

I’ve been reflecting on something that science and faith seem to agree on: when the brain goes quiet, consciousness doesn’t disappear—it returns to something bigger. A 2025 study published in Nature Human Behaviour found that under deep anesthesia, the brain’s unique “fingerprint”—the pattern that makes you you—completely fades (Nature Human Behaviour, 2025). The networks that…

I grew up with coffee not just as a beverage, but as a ritual—an inheritance steeped in memory. My grandmother, Lola Margarita, cultivated her own beans in South Cotabato, on the island of Mindanao. She roasted them over fire, ground them by hand, and brewed them with reverence. Her coffee was bold, aromatic, and deeply…

Lakepointe Church senior pastor Josh Howerton delivered a sermon titled, “How to Vote Like Jesus.” In it, Howerton “repeated GOP rhetoric in a veiled attempt to convince his Dallas-Fort Worth congregation how to cast their votes in November’s election.” Howerton recommended that Christians “should rid themselves of the idea that presidential candidates, including former President…

I have a daily routine. Part of it is taking my blood pressure before making coffee. After I pushed the blood pressure monitor’s start button in the morning of the 20th of March 2024, Ruth caught me leaning towards my left side with my tongue sticking out on one side of my mouth. “What’s happening…

In the quiet chapel, where stained glass whispered stories of saints and sinners, I find solace. My footsteps echo, a rhythmic cadence that matches the beat of my heart. Each pew holds secrets—some whispered, others shouted in prayer or lament. But today, I carry a unique burden, one that weighs upon my soul. The man…

Oh one! Oh one! Whose birth falls on January one!At this age what have you already done?Perhaps that’s the wrong question to ask an old manA better question to ask such a man is ‘Are you a grown man?’ But what do we mean when we ask an old man if he’s a grown man?Physical…

By Ed Fernandez I don’t know when this sad feeling began gnawing deep within my old yet still conscientious soul. I just know that it was long after I made that stroll in a new-found little forest of tall trees that wasn’t there before. In the farm that then already brought joy to a child’s…

Are you apprehensive about what others might say because you are already happy with what you believe to be true, and don’t want to change? Such uncomfortable feeling is usually felt when you see others as having more knowledge in certain areas, and you feel that you can’t effectively defend your position. For example, we…