(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) The view: breathtaking mountains, sculpted cliffsides, high, jagged peaks—paved highways winding their way through the connecting valleys. All around me were signs of desert life: cacti, scrub, and juniper—dry ground and dry air. To the casual observer, it would appear I was driving through a desert. They wouldn’t be wrong. But it was also an ocean. We’ve been told that if we turn back the clock 265 million years, the area where I was d

I have a Pacemaker and it runs on batteries. The unit was inserted in 2012, and I was told the batteries would last “about 10 years.” Recently (August, 2026), I had my semi-annual checkup at the pacemaker center, and I was told that I would need new batteries very soon. They have been good batteries because I have had them helping pace the heart for 14 years. I have several items that depend on batteries: computer, phone, clocks, flashlights, fire and CO alarms, and so on. Th

(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) "Nothing you confess Could make me love you less. I’ll stand by you." That lyric really grabbed me the very first time I heard Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders sing “I'll Stand By You.” The full lyrics speak to something deep within me. My soul responds to them. “I'll Stand By You” is about someone struggling with life’s most difficult challenges: experiencing deep sadness, suppressing anger, encountering the darkness of this world—an

Recently I bought a very nice-looking peach. It was slightly hard, so I decided to wait a couple of days before eating it. However, later when I went to slice it, it was moldy and I had to throw it away. I have had the same thing happen with mandarins and bananas. What a disappointment. What looked like good fruit had gone bad. It is like the Enemy had crept in and sowed mold, like the story where “One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the w

(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) At the summit, the temperature on Mount Everest never rises above freezing. Most ascents are in May to take advantage of relatively gentler conditions. Wind speeds then are 20-35 miles per hour, temps range from 0° to -2° Fahrenheit, and the precipitation at base camp is rain instead of the usual snow. David Breashears wanted to ascend Everest in May 1996 to make an IMAX film. But long before they assembled the team, long before the fil