FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"Study:  Areas with more fast food restaurants report more heart attacks." Drudge Report, 8/13

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE . . . CALIFORNIA

"Facial recognition mistook 1-in-5 CA lawmaker for criminals." Drudge 8/13

GRATITUDE

Of the ten lepers Jesus healed on his way to Jerusalem, there was only one who stopped to recognize the significance of the man behind the miracle. For this one, it was not simply a life-changing moment of being healed of leprosy; it was a life-changing invitation into a kingdom and a community, into life as a new creation. Falling on his face at Jesus's human feet, he saw the Son of God who made him well. And Jesus said to him: "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well." --Jill Carattini, Slice of Infinity

THE APPEAL OF CHRISTIANITY

But perhaps the greatest appeal of Christianity is simpler. It takes seriously both the reality of sin & the possibility of redemption. --Michael Gerson, "The beauty of Amazing Grace," Omaha World Herald 8/10

MOTIVATED BY FEAR

If this one thing doesn’t happen, our country is finished. If this law isn’t passed, people will die. If this policy isn’t ended, the economy will collapse. Our very democracy teeters on the edge of the abyss, and lives are at stake! To listen to the news these days, it’s over, everything. The only thing we don’t know is the manner of our destruction. Will it be a trade war, some white supremacist, a movie, or the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man?

Of course, the thing about life is, no matter what you throw at it, it goes on. Even without you. Every death is a tragedy, and economic hard times are never easy, but our species has endured much, much worse than anything being dangled like a string in front of a doomsday cat now by politicians and journalists hoping to motivate you through fear. While it may seem like mass shootings are happening with an alarming regularity (one is too many), and anti-Second Amendment groups and their media allies are touting absurd stats like there are more of them than days in the year, we are safer than we’ve ever been. People telling you otherwise are selling something. They’re selling you security at the price of liberty. Just a little piece of it, they only ever want a little piece of it. But it’s a little piece you’ll never get back, and they’ll be back for another soon enough. --Derek Hunter, Townhall 8/13

INVESTIGATING EPSTEIN

It would be a convenience, to say the least, for Epstein to be out of the way before his trial and it wouldn't be the first time someone got knocked off in prison for revenge or to guarantee their silence. Whitey Bulger, the Irish-American crime boss, was killed by inmates shortly after arriving at the U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton, in West Virginia, last October.

An old joke says, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you." And just because conspiracies might make you suspicious, doesn't mean this might not be one. Let the investigation begin, let it be thorough and let it be conducted without favor to anyone. --Cal Thomas, ditto

ANOTHER THOUGHT FOR TODAY

In my travels around the country, one thing has become crystal clear to me. Christians are not prepared for the social consequences of the profound cultural shifts — especially in more secular parts of the nation. They’re afraid to say what they believe, not because they face the kind of persecution that Christians face overseas but because they’re simply not prepared for any meaningful adverse consequences in their careers or with their peers.

C. S. Lewis famously said that courage is the “form of every virtue at its testing point.” In practical application, this means that no person truly knows if he possesses any virtue until it’s tested. Do you think you’re loving? You’ll know you truly love another person only when loving that person is hard. Do you think you’re truthful? You’ll know only when telling the truth hurts. Soldiers are familiar with this phenomenon — most men who travel to the battlefield believe themselves to be brave, but they know they’re brave only if they do their duty when their life is on the line.  --National Review Online 8/14