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Second-generation immigrants often struggle to know where they belong. In Affinity magazine, one second-generation teenager said: “I feel too American to be Chinese and too Chinese to be American.”

Since the earliest recorded history, humans have wanted to know the future. Some of the earliest written texts are attempts to forecast the future by tracing the pattern of the stars or through examining the entrails of a sacrificed animal. The desire to know the future is just as strong today. From forecasting the future of the economy to...

“Don’t forget where you came from!” This advice is often given to first-generation college students, people moving to another area of the country, or those who become more financially successful than their parents and grandparents. It is a call to remember that they have not achieved everything simply because of their own effort. Rather, many...

A person’s will usually reflects what they value as most important. In 2007, hotel owner and businesswoman Leona Helmsley died with an estate worth an estimated $4 billion. Much of that money went to a charitable trust; however, she also left a $12 million trust fund for her dog, Trouble. She left two of her grandchildren $5 million each (contingent...

Moses and the Burning Bush In the opening passage of her book Dakota, writer Kathleen Norris described its “spiritual geography”: “The high plains, the beginning of the desert West, often act as a crucible for those who inhabit them. Like Jacob’s angel, the region requires that you wrestle with it before it bestows a blessing. . . . Nature,...

Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration The end of today’s narrative says, “The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen” (v. 36). Later, however, Peter put the Transfiguration at the center of his claim to be an apostle: “We did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the...

Foolishness in the Valley of Eshkol In a book about parenting, Paul David Tripp described the nature of foolishness in the book of Proverbs: “The fool has the world inside out and upside down. The fool looks at what is foolish and sees it as wise. The fool looks at what is good and sees it as bad. The fool looks at what is false and sees...

Wisdom in the Valley of Achor David’s adultery with Bathsheba was no private matter (see 2 Samuel 11–12). An individualistic culture such as ours might see only two consenting adults, but this transgression of God’s law affected many others. Uriah lost his life. Joab became an accomplice to murder. The royal court witnessed David’s sin and...

Facing Goliath in the Valley of Elah The world record for the largest hamburger is held by a café in Sydney, Australia. It took twelve hours to cook and four men to flip the 178-pound burger, which was served with 120 eggs, 150 slices of cheese, beetroot, lettuce, and tomato—these are preferred hamburger fixings in Australia—all on a giant...

Facing Baal on Mount Carmel The hymn writer Isaac Watts wrote these classic lyrics: “I sing the mighty power of God that made the mountains rise, That spread the flowing seas abroad and built the lofty skies. I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day; The moon shines full at his command and all the stars obey.” There is only...