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What it means to have potential

As a minister, when asked to write a letter of recommendation for a young person in our church who is seeking a job, I often find myself using the word “potential.” They have it. They are smart, personable people who have grown up in good families and who understand the value of work. They will be a great addition to someone’s work force, and an investment in their future is also an investment in the future of any employer that they serve. I won’t assert that anyone has “great potential” unless I really believe that they do. Still, when I write those words, I’m reminded ...

A charity kitchen brings hope to displaced Palestinians in the West Bank during Ramadan

TULKAREM, West Bank (AP) — At a makeshift kitchen inside a city office building, volunteers rub paprika, oil and salt on slabs of chicken before arraying them on trays and slipping them into an oven. Once the meat is done, it is divided into portions and tucked into plastic foam containers along with piles of yellow rice scooped from large steel pots. The unpaid chefs at the Yasser Arafat Charity Kitchen in the city of Tulkarem are hoping their labors will provide a modicum of joy to displaced Palestinians trying to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. An Israeli military raid ...

What the Bible teaches about respect

On June 18, 2020, police were called to Dunkin Donuts in Forest Park, IL, after 2 men, one with a knife, threatened an employee. The men were blocking the doors, preventing customers from entering the restaurant. When an employee asked them to move, one of the men pulled a knife and responded, “I don’t like you anyway; you disrespected my girl last week.” While investigating the incident, police learned that the man had been caught in a theft the previous week, and had been asked to leave the restaurant and never return. The man had an interesting definition of respect, don’t ...

Morocco urges people to not buy sheep for Eid al-Adha celebrations

OULAD SLAMA, Morocco (AP) — Sheep come running when Larbi El Ghazouani pours alfalfa and straw into their troughs twice a day. The 55-year-old farmer had counted on selling the bulk of his 130 sheep to Moroccans preparing for early June’s Eid Al-Adha holiday, but now his hopes are ...

Vatican makes new plans for Ash Wednesday as worst is apparently over in pope’s pneumonia battle

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis reached the two-week mark in his recovery from pneumonia Friday as doctors suggested he had overcome the most critical phase of the infection but held out on declaring him out of danger entirely. The Vatican, though, made alternative plans for Ash Wednesday next week, making clear Francis still had a long road ahead. Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, a Vatican official and former vicar of Rome, will preside over the March 5 ceremony and procession that inaugurates the church’s solemn Lenten season leading up to Easter in April. The Vatican’s early Friday ...