"The world is out of joint." ~William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5

On this date (23 January) in 1943 the film Casablanca was released. As an aside, I was in Casablanca... 35 years after it was released... yikes that was almost 50 years ago!

For many Christians the Bible is like their software license. They don't read it, they just scroll to the bottom and check the box "I agree"

For all of us who write, post, comment, speak... good words from Malcolm Guite youtu.be/wZdHij8aAe4

“The universe is not only stranger than we suppose, but stranger than we can suppose.” ~J. B. S. Haldane

When asked, “What makes you tick?” J.R.R. Tolkien responded, “I don’t tick. I am not a machine. If I did tick, I should have no views on it, and you had better ask the winder.”

"The Kingdom (of God) is not the ethereal hereafter. It's right here, right now... This is how we do it" ~Phyllis Tickle

"All power corrupts, but we need the electricity." ~unknown

Despite saying earlier this month that reports of an internet blackout as "mere rumours", the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has told all service providers to suspend internet access ahead of Thursday's general election. You can read more here. bbc.com/news/articles/cevn0ejynj7o

A couple of related quotes: Spiritual formation is not something we master. ~Eugene Peterson We do not want to be beginners, but let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners, all our life! ~Thomas Merton

HAL became operational 12 January 1997 #2001 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_9000

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” ~Isaac Asimov

Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you’re alive, it isn’t.

it doesn't seem to work make-everything-ok.com

The US said it intercepted and seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela... is this an act of piracy?

To highlight challenges in other countries, Giving What We Can imagined a birth lottery to see how you might start life from birth. Spin the globe and see how the country you land on compares against your own in terms of life expectancy, income, and education. www.givingwhatwecan.org/birth-lottery

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair." ~Douglas Adams

Melkam Gena to all my Ethiopian friends

"Of the Empire" was originally published in Mary Oliver's collection "Red Bird" in 2008

New cover for George Orwell's "1984"

The gift of the Spirit is the gift of becoming involved in mission, for mission is the direct consequence of the outpouring of the Spirit. ~David Bosch

Of all the facts, information & stories you will hear today - remember this: You are surrounded by God's perfect love.

In 2026 may... God knead you. God lead you. God feed you. God seed you. God weed you. God speed you. ~Leonard Sweet

“We don’t believe something by merely saying we believe it.” ~Dallas Willard

Metamodernism, the most recent effort to label our post-postmodern era. Metamodernism is “a cultural mindset that oscillates between irony and sincerity, skepticism and hope. It knows that stories are fragile but chooses to live as if meaning still matters.” via Mike Woodruff

For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper Joseph Fasano Now I let it fall back in the grasses. I hear you. I know this life is hard now. I know your days are precious on this earth. But what are you trying to be free of? The living? The miraculous task of it? Love is for the ones who love the work

“China first” is not a Christian value. “Nigeria first” is not a Christian value. “America first” is not a Christian value. “England first” is not a Christian value. Christians are members of a global, blood-bought, multi-ethnic kingdom. And our allegiance is to a global God, not a tribal deity

Canadian Railroad Trilogy was commissioned from Gordon Lightfoot by the CBC for a special broadcast on January 1, 1967, to start Canada's Centennial year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiSF...

inspiring words... www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVVs...

I’m not sure how many emails I have received this morning from ministries & organizations with… an exciting update an opportunity to give or 10 of the most inspiring articles of 2025 or top 10 or 20 or 50 whatevers sorry but most were deleted

Setting your budget for 2026... www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3ZJ...

“Spiritual maturity is going from being thin-skinned and hard-hearted to thick-skinned and soft-hearted.” ~Oswald Chambers

Some nice warmup music this cold morning... Oscar Peterson performing Eight Bar Boogie Blues youtu.be/XhQjwPI6H0k

On a cold, blowing, winter's night... some New Orleans Jazz Doreen Ketchens playing "When the Saints Go Marching In" on Royal Street in New Orleans. Recorded live on April 5, 2012 www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8yd...

Good words from Michael Caine: "Use the difficulty" www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXSV...

The way we deal with uncertainty says a lot about whether Jesus is ahead of us leading, or behind us just carrying our stuff. ~Bob Goff

On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925. web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicd...

Playing a keyboard is easy “There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.” ~J.S. Bach