Religion

Latkes, presents, dreidels, jelly doughnuts. But what would Chanukah be without the menorah? A lot has to do with history, symbolism and a miracle.

Back in the days when the Israelites were wanderers in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, God commanded Bezalel to design a candelabrum or lampstand (Exodus 25: 31) to be placed in the Tabernacle (the Israelites’ portable sanctuary) to serve as a visible symbol of God’s presence.
 

A deep voice startled Braulio from his sleep. Sitting up on his large, leaf-stuffed mattress, he briskly rubbed his eyes and tried to determine where he was. Surrounding him were high open ceilings, vine-covered rafters, and bizarre fruit in a bowl on an intricately carved table. Then it hit him. This was not all a dream. He was in a bedroom high up in a treetop village full of giants, two bearded wizards, and an annoying roommate, who at the moment was snoring loudly. — excerpt from “Early Earth: Elemental Connections” by Brian Norman (Xulon Press).

Lauren Henry
Greenville Sun
GREENVILLE, Tenn. — When Kojo Abakah was 12 years old, he received a shoebox.

This shoebox did not contain shoes but rather toys, a yoyo, clay, toffees, a pencil, a small notebook, and a Gospel tract.

Ten years later, Abakah puts together similar shoeboxes, which will be given to children like himself.
 

Editor’s note: This is the first of two columns on the current debates about Holy Matrimony and civil unions.

If the American public is truly changing its mind on marriage, then it’s time for Catholic priests to start saying, “We don’t,” instead of continuing to endorse the government’s right to legislate who gets to say, “I do.”