Negotiations failed.  No surprise there.  The war will undoubtedly resume shortly.  And we’re all headed to church.  How do we pray about this?. . .

Artemis II returned home last evening.  It was pinpoint perfection – a fact noted, but unappreciated, by the media.  As with the launch I tried, desperately, to watch network coverage.  I tried them all, but in both cases I quickly found myself watching the direct NASA feed on YouTube.  The reason why was perfectly encapsulated by Anderson Cooper last evening when Neil deGrasse Tyson commented on solar radiation and Cooper said, “I literally don’t know a word you’re saying.”  The anchors and reporters for every network that covered this mission were stunningly, shamefully and sadly ignorant of the science

We are in a post-Christian era, no doubt.  But in recent years the church has moved from simply being viewed as irrelevant to being viewed as dangerous and has come under active attack.  I wrote about it Tuesday and again yesterday.  In both instances I urged the church to repent its own participation in its own demise.  The evidence keeps mounting of a church under attack – from within and from without.. . .

On Tuesday I wrote about how young people seem to be migrating from mainline protestant churches to Catholicism.  I analyzed the trend in terms of an outlook to personal salvation and evangelicalism.  Among hardcore Evangelicals there is a term, “spiritual warfare,” and I think we need to think about it as well.  The world, it would seem, would just as soon not have churches at all.. . .

I find it impossible to make much sense out of things right now.  The ceasefire is apparently based on the immediate opening of the Straits of Hormuz, but from what I can tell at the moment, they are not all that “open” at this juncture about 10 hours later.  All sorts of stories circulating which is why the best we can do is follow the live updates.  We do not know, exactly, who we are negotiating with and Iran is a notably unreliable negotiating partner.  Israel supports the cessation of strikes; therefore, I presume this to be a move in the right direction – but that is about all I can do.  I did learn one

If you are old enough, as I am, to remember the Apollo space program then watching Artemis II circle the moon yesterday came with an odd sense of déjà vu.  Sure the lunar orbit was larger, hence the distance from Earth was farther, sure this spacecraft is far more sophisticated than Apollo was, but still it was eerily familiar.  But that is not what I am referring to in the title.  Rather I came across a startling statistic yesterday, which combined with some anecdotal data I have received in the last couple of weeks is stunning.. . .

Disturbing news, “Over half of all confirmed hate crimes in New York City in the first quarter of 2026 were antisemitic in nature, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed in a press conference this weekend.  Confirmed hate crimes rose overall city-wide by 11.7 percent this quarter, with 55% of them confirmed identified as antisemitic (78 out of 143 crimes), despite Jews making up only approximately 10% of NYC’s population, Tisch added.”  WOW!. . .

He is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!  It is a cry that changed the world. We literally measure time by it, before and after.  But why did the world have to change to begin with?. . .