(a Steve Orr Bible Reflection) Many people want to be the people other people think about. There’s a preoccupation with being the topic of every conversation, being the focus of every moment, being the Main Character. Part and parcel: certain phrases we toss about on social media posts, in self-help books, and in our real world conversations. Likely you’ve heard them: "If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch!" "Go big or go home!" "Cookies are for closers

Have you ever been with your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife or husband, with a beautiful, harvest moon in view? If so, you may have had the opportunity to be romantic. You might have said, “I love you to the moon,” a poetic metaphor that represents love, mystery, and a connection to unseen things above. Myths about the moon often have forbidden lovers chasing each other across the moon-lit sky and the poets, such as Emily Dickinson, Robert Loouis Stevenson, and Percy Bysshe S

(a Steve Orr Bible reflection) World War II in the Pacific officially ended when Japan surrendered in August 1945. But that didn’t end the war for everyone. Lieutenant Hiro Onoda was one of several specially trained Japanese soldiers assigned to occupy small Pacific islands. They had been ordered to disrupt and sabotage enemy efforts—and never surrender or take their own lives. Lieutenant Onoda was a man who followed orders. Despite several attempts by the post-war Japa

The colors and majesty of sunsets and sunrises are wonderful. During the “dry season” in the mountains of Papua New Guinea I would often contemplate the beauty of God’s creation, available in technicolor, with shadows and clouds reflecting through the sunshine. “God made a home in the sky for the sun; it comes out in the morning like a happy bridegroom, like an athlete eager to run a race. It starts at one end of the sky and goes across to the other. Nothing can hide from it

(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