Peter and the Wolf is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. It is a symphonic fairy tale where a narrator tells a children’s story while the orchestra illustrates it. Each character of this tale is represented by a corresponding instrument in the orchestra: the bird by a flute, the duck by an oboe, the cat by a clarinet, the grandfather by a bassoon, the wolf by three horns, Peter by the string quartet, the shooting of the hunters by the kettle drums and bass drum. ...

  An expression that we often hear these days during the pandemic is that “we are in unchartered waters.” Water is frequently used as a metaphor. Water itself is a remarkable compound, H2O, that is put together by a hydrogen bond, which in itself is unique. Water is so special that it is sometimes used to explain the theological concept of the Trinity: one substance that has three states: solid, liquid, and gas. In Hebraic teachings water is sacred. The Book of Genesis starts out...

The Star Thrower There is a story told by scientist, philosopher Loren Eiseley (1907-1977) that tells a story for all of us to heed: “Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster...

The Hebrew word SHALOM is commonly understood around the world to mean peace. But our English word peace doesn't quite do this word justice. Interestingly, in Israel, where there is little in the way of peace, the word SHALOM is used as a greeting to say hello and good-bye to someone. But there is much more to this word than a common greeting of hello and good-bye. The word SHALOM means…Completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness,...

Valentine’s Day is a day reserved to remember ‘Saint Valentine’ the patron Saint of Love. Actually if it were not for Hallmark, we would most likely have lost the story of this “Saint”. Who was he anyhow? The following is a “nice and heartfelt story” of Saint Valentine not proven and not vetted, but in its own way tells us of a story of love for us all to enjoy! "The story of Valentine's Day begins in the third century with an oppressive Roman emperor and a humble Christian Martyr. The emperor...

December 25th is the traditional anniversary of the birth of Christ, but most scholars are unsure about the true date for Christ's birth. The decision to celebrate Christmas on December 25 was made sometime during the fourth century by church bishops in Rome. Having turned away from worshiping the one true God and creator of all things, many early cultures in the Roman Empire had fallen into sun worship. Recognizing their dependence on the sun's yearly course in the heavens, they held feasts...