It was early evening, just after dinner. The teacher and I were sitting by the campfire along with others. He was holding a cup. "An empty cup," He said. "How do we get rid of its emptiness? There is only one way . . by filling it." So the teacher went over to the fountain and filled the cup with water. "We have successfully removed the emptiness," he said with a slight smile, "not by focusing on the emptiness or by concentrating on removing it. We removed the emptiness

(from Pastor Robinson, of IN) I read on an obscure post this morning that pineapple is considered lucky on New Year's Eve. I knew about cabbage and noodles, but not pineapple. So, I did a little more digging and found a cornucopia of options (not sure if that's the right word): fish for abundance, pork for progress, greens for wealth, lentils and black-eyed peas for luck, grapes, and even cornbread. Alas, nachos and pizza aren't on any list I could find. It’s a charming tradi

Scrolling Facebook posts this morning, I stumbled across a simple question: What is one thing you are looking forward to in 2026? A few people mentioned warm weather or summer, and I understand, especially given our recent dip, but it seems to me that it will change without us ... and then we'll complain about the heat. Some wished for better health. Weddings, anniversaries, and vacations made the list. There were a couple of wishes for happiness. Still, it’s an oddly timed q