(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) In case you haven't read The Odyssey or seen one of the films, let me sum it up: Odysseus (also known as Ulysses) and his crew have been fighting in a terrible war in Troy (of Trojan Horse fame). As they attempt to sail home to Ithica on the Mediterranean Sea, they are blown off course by mighty storms. Adventures and misadventures follow. One of those misadventures involves some Sirens—creatures who sing a song that, legend held, seduces sa

For many years we lived in Papua New Guinea at an altitude that was over one mile high. We got used to it, although I would feel uncomfortable in my breathing if we were over 10,000 feet for a while. I did a lot of jogging and running for years and even when it was tough to breathe, I could keep going for a while longer. However, I am now in my 90s and when I walk about a mile every morning, it is not a “brisk” walk. Nevertheless, and even at my slower pace, I sometimes nee

(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) Nothing in this life lasts forever. Even the mighty fall. Whether it’s a corporation, a political leader, or a superstar, there comes a day when they are no longer on the top of the heap. Do you recall when you first realized this? For me, it was when as a teen I read Shelley’s little poem about mighty Ozymandias. Arrogant and grandiose, his hubris was off the charts. See the link, below, to read the poem and learn his fate.* Later in life

If I was talking literally about a person having “one foot in the grave,” it might be a scene for a horror movie. But idiomatically speaking, I am saying that the person is very ill and may be close to death. It is not uncommon for people to visit the grave sites of their loved ones. They often erect tombstones with the dates of the dead etched on them, perhaps a word of scripture, a quote, or even a picture of the “departed.” Flowers are often left at the site, and loved o

(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) I clearly remember the first time I heard—and was shaken by—a rocket engine. The testing of them is a fairly common experience for those of us living near SpaceX. That deep-throated roar has been known to shake pictures off walls, objects off shelves, and nappers off couches. During that first test, there was one question on the mind of every person: What is happening?! It kept happening, though. In time, our adrenaline levels eventually

After the death of his wife, Joy Davidman, C.S. Lewis wrote “A Grief Observed.” It was first published under the name of N.W. Clerk in 1961, and is an emotional, highly personal account, of Lewis’s struggle with her death. We may think of Jesus standing at the door and knocking, ready to come into our house and dine with us. (Revelation 3.20) Lewis, however, in prayers for his dying wife, found the door slammed in this face and bolted (double-bolted) from the inside. It wa

(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) The first thing I was taught when learning to juggle: Start with “balls” that don’t bounce. That's how real jugglers start out. Long before they juggle complicated things—like pins or chainsaws—they must first learn the craft. They start small, with two or three balls. Preferably, those “balls” are actually small stuffed bags that don't bounce away when they—inevitably—fall to the ground. Most people can learn to juggle three small, same-

C.S. Lewis wrote a short story called “The Man Born Blind,” which was published in 1977, by that title. It was an early draft of a version later called simply “Light,” and both versions were studied by Charlie W. Starr in his book “ Light, C.S. Lewis’s First and Final Short Story .” In the story, the man born blind continually hears references to something called “light,” but is left wondering and confused about what it is. He has an operation that restores his eyesight an

(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) " The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted ." The quote is from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, one of my favorite novels. I highly recommend it to anyone who has children or who loves baseball, or anyone who loves Stand by Me or Shawshank Redemption (by the same author), or who loves an excellently written suspense tale. Or who loves God. Early in the novel, 9-year-old Trisha becomes lost. A wrong turn

The prefix re- tells us that something has happened again, or that it has returned. There has been a return to an original condition. It appears in hundreds of our words, including revival, meaning something was once alive and vivid has become alive again. When it occurs in renewal, we can guess that something has happened to make something new again and when we die that it is exactly what happens. Nicodemus was confused when Jesus told him he had to be “born again,” t