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Learning from Failure According to The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird, failure is a key to effectiveness. The authors explain that we learn from our missteps. “Failure is a critical element of effective learning, teaching, and creative problem solving. Mistakes teach us to focus on the specific task...

Blood, Frogs, Gnats, and Flies One of the most popular attractions at the Bronx Zoo is its one-of-a-kind Bug Carousel. Instead of mounting horses or other animals, children climb aboard 64 different types of insects, such as fireflies, grasshoppers, and ladybugs. They can even ride a monarch butterfly and a dung beetle! Each insect has been...

Dead Livestock, Boils, and Hail In 2003, the Xinjiang region in northwestern China experienced a devastating plague of gerbils. The “great gerbil” of Central Asia can grow up to 16 inches long and is basically a large rat. Hordes of them devoured eleven million acres of grassland, an area about the size of Switzerland. Plagues can do a huge...

Crossing the Red Sea In art, literature, and music, African Americans have often made reference to the Exodus narrative, comparing it to their own pursuit of freedom. In the folktale, “The People Could Fly,” for example, the story is told that Africans used to be able to fly but during slavery had forgotten how. An old man appears in a field...

The Celebration Song The New England Primer was one of the most popular books in 17th- and 18th-century America. It sold more than three million copies and taught generations of children how to read and spell. The letters of the alphabet were linked to Bible stories, for example, “A: In Adam’s Fall, we sinned all.” M stood for Moses: “Moses...

Worship Through Giving When King Joash, guided by the high priest Jehoiada, was restoring Solomon’s temple, he ordered a chest to be placed outside it and issued a proclamation asking people to bring gifts (2 Chron. 24:1–16). Everyone “brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full” (v. 10). The money collected...

A Holy Priesthood Have you ever seen the commissioning of a pastor or missionary when church leaders lay their hands on the person’s shoulders and pray over them? When Paul and Barnabas set out on the very first missionary journey, the church at Antioch commissioned them with prayer, fasting, and the laying on of hands (Acts 13:1–3). They...

Intercession and Mercy Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in 1849. The next year, she returned and led her niece and two children to freedom. She went back 13 times and led approximately 70 slaves to freedom, becoming the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad. She was never caught, and she never lost a “passenger.” She also spied...

The Altar of God The “stolen goods” lawsuit threatened in yesterday’s illustration was not the first time this has happened. The Talmud tells a story about a similar claim lodged in the court of Alexander the Great. A man named Geviha ben Pesisa, representing the Jews, asked about the source of the claim. “The Torah,” the Egyptians answered.

Thanks and Praise Are Contagious A hamburger and french fries. A weekend and ideal weather. Each one is pleasing on its own, but they are better when paired together. Yesterday we talked about giving thanks; today we’ll discuss the second topic of this month’s study: praise. Giving thanks is an act of gratitude and appreciation. A person...