The Recycle Bin

When James Free looked inside the donation bin, he saw something that he normally sees: a pair of shoes. Free was volunteering with Portland Rescue Mission, the organization that helped him to stabilize and get back on his feet after a season of addiction and houseless living. In his role helping to sort donated goods, […]

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Christmas miracle

In 2018, when Dale and Julie Marks bought their home in the Beaverdale community of Des Moines, they were excited because the community is known for its elaborate holiday lights on all its homes. Julie said, “It was like a dream come true to buy a house here. I’ve wanted to live here since I […]

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Golden Repair

There is a Japanese word, kintsukuroi, that means “golden repair.” It is the art of restoring broken pottery with gold so the fractures are literally illuminated—a kind of physical expression of its spirit. As a philosophy, kintsukuroi celebrates imperfection as an integral part of the story, not something to be disguised. The artists believe that when something has […]

Buoy Band

The first true bell buoy was invented in 1852 by Lieutenant Brown, an army officer assigned to the Lighthouse Establishment. His design was quite similar to the bell buoy of today. He firmly affixed a 300 lb. bell inside the top of the cage of a buoy. Beneath the bell he installed a radially grooved […]

“Hoppin” mad

Next time you judge someone based on their appearance, remember, their value may be more than you can see.

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The Time suck in my pocket

Maybe “making the best use of my time” begins with stepping back and cutting off.

Beauty

“How do you explain beauty?” Charles Darwin, who believed not everything was a result of merciless natural selection said “A great number of male animals, as all our most gorgeous birds, some fishes, reptiles and mammals, and … magnificently colored butterflies have been rendered beautiful for beauty’s sake.” There is such an overabundance of beauty […]

Finding God

Dr. Joel Primack is an American astrophysicist who co-developed what’s called “the cold dark matter theory” (which seeks to understand the formation and structure of the universe). When asked about the alleged rift between science and religion, Primack said, “In the last few years astronomy has come together so that we’re now able to tell a […]

The Eye of the Beholder

The painting had sat unnoticed and passed over for years. It was dismissed. It was ignored. Nobody cared that it was beautiful because of its dubious history. For years it had been housed as part of a private collection in an estate in Scotland. Nobody cared about it because it was said to be a […]

Shepherding

British shepherds often take sheep and rams, one by one, and throw them into a dipping trough, a huge vat filled with an antiseptic liquid. The shepherd must completely submerge each animal, holding its ears, eyes, and nose under the surface. It is of course horribly frightening for the sheep. And if any of the […]