It’s difficult to be in a place wherein the majority if not all of the people around you are speaking another language – one that you don’t understand.  I remember distinctly some experiences I had in Germany while I was on a graduate exchange program. …

“This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”…

“At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark, and he sent out a raven, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth…
Then he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.…

So, we continue with the very first book in the bible, Genesis (Gn 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10), today hearing the story of Noah and the ark.  We have moved from the awe-inspiring and wonderful account of the creation of the earth and all life on earth, the extreme goodness associated with all this, to the “disobedience” of Adam and Eve who ate the forbidden fruit, and then hear of the first murder occurring between their two sons Cain and Abel, ending up today with what could be interpreted as the dire consequences of so much “not getting it!” …

 How do you win favor with someone? This may be a sub-conscious, unconscious, and even sometimes a very conscious question.  From a negative standpoint, a conscious version of this question could involve manipulation.  As humans, we are prone to competition, which is not a “bad” thing. …