Wonder on the Web

Links to amazing stuff

Healthy Habits of Awesome People

You don't have to be a genius to see divine wonders all around us. But it doesn't hurt. This review in the Harvard Business Review looks at Daily Rituals: How Artists Work. Author Mason Curry examines the schedules of 161 painters, writers, composers, philosophers, scientists, and other exceptional thinkers. The most surprising idea came from Ernest Hemingway: stop when you're on a roll.

Another habit of many geniuses is a daily walk. It apparently has some science behind it, as reported in "Walking Helps Get the Creative Juices Flowing," on the Stanford Graduate School Website.

Graces Small and Large

One thing that fills us at The Behemoth with awe is how God manages to rescue all manner of people from all manner of trouble. Like a bank robber suffering from addiction and depression. Among the lines that made us smile: "Prison is not a place for personal growth. But there were small graces."

Survival of the Beautiful-est

One problem with non-theistic evolutionary theory it provides no place for the beauty of the natural world. We read about how living things adapt to their environments and how the fittest survive. But why is the world so beautiful? "Our Generous God" suggests the world is fashioned not just to meet our physical needs, but to enhance our "desires and pleasures."

The Practical Parrotfish

On the other hand, some beautiful creatures of God can do useful and practical things—like balancing delicate ecosystems. The authors of "Meet the Sand-Pooping, Reef-Saving, Hermaphroditic Parrotfish" would not see God's providential hand in Hawaii's reefs, but we do.

Tattoo Trendsetter

Just when Christians think they are on the cutting edge by getting tattoos, along comes the news "Been there, done that." When? About 1,300 years ago. A tattoo of Michael the archangel was recently found on the inner thigh of a Sudanese female mummy. The Telegraph article notes, "The letters on her inner thigh spell out M-I-X-A-H-A, which is "Michael" in ancient Greek. Researchers say that she probably died around A.D. 700 and lived in a Christian community on the banks of the Nile River."

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Also in this Issue

Issue 2 / August 7, 2014
  1. Editors’ Note
  2. When the Eyes of the Blind Are Opened

    New science shows us what exactly Jesus healed in the man born blind. /

  3. A Behemoth from Winnipeg

    How the band The Guess Who inadvertently sounded a gospel note. /

  4. Revival of the Frozen ‘Dead’

    The common wood frog is anything but common /

  5. God, LSD, and the Summer of Love

    The unusual (to say the least) conversions of four San Francisco hippies: an excerpt. /

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