(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) Everything about that morning was unexpected. First, it was cool. That summer had been one of the hottest in recent memory, triple digits for days on end. So, by "cool," I mean it was a pleasant morning to take a stroll in a short-sleeved shirt. Also, I was early. Unexpected. I often needed to hurry from the commuter rail station to my office. But not that morning. Morning was still dawning. The sun had yet to crest the buildings, the tall

Have you ever had your “feelings” hurt or have someone tell you that you hurt their feelings? Do some people “get on your nerves”? How do you respond when someone asks, “How are you feeling?” They rarely want to know, it is usually just an idiomatic greeting. When we want to feel something physically, we can touch it. However, feelings can also occur in a metaphorical sense, as for example when, “all Egypt began to feel the famine.” (Genesis 41.55. The Israelites also kne

(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) How do you face the day? Do you need Gordon Lightfoot’s proverbial second cup of coffee? Or maybe you need a battle cry to get your motor running? Conventional wisdom tells us to seize the day: Carpe Diem! When I hear that phrase, it conjures those stirring last lines of William Ernest Henley's poem, Invictus: "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." People everywhere urge us to seize the day. They write about it, m

We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, strength, and “soul.” Furthermore, we are not to be afraid of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the “soul.” It is only God who can destroy both (Matthew 10.28). But what is the soul and how does it differ from the spirit? One Internet answer (gotquestions.org) puts it like this: “The soul and the spirit are the two primary immaterial parts ascribed to humanity in Scripture.” Nevertheless, discerni

(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) In the summer of 1962, I met a god. It was a comic-book god, but the encounter was thrilling just the same. That’s when Marvel changed the world, launching Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor: The God of Thunder. I was a "tween"—not yet a teenager, no longer a little child. Junior high and high school still loomed ahead. I was a ripe target for the angst-filled storylines of Spider-Man and his alter-ego, high school science nerd Pet