One was a wanderlust and failed general, another was a failed businessman, who tried his hand at politics and lost in every national election he entered but one, and the third was an aristocrat who married his second cousin. From this unlikely trio emerged our three greatest presidents. Such is the genius of the American dream on its 250th anniversary. If your dreams and your ideals match those of the American people, and if you work very hard, then you too can be elected

It's rare indeed, when a really great motor racing movie comes along; rarer still when that movie turns out be a really great motion picture. Because the movie stars an actor of Brad Pitt's magnitude, and because the man responsible for pulling all the principles together, is seven-time world champion driver Lewis Hamilton( who is among the riches and best-known drivers in the world, as well as one of most influential), helped at the box office. While the ancient Greeks exh

Okay, all you would-be abolitionists out there, here's a book for you. The book makes clear that slavery in the US was dealt a serious death blow when John Quincy Adams (not widely known as an abolitionist) argued a case before the Supreme Court that would put "the peculiar institution"on the road to extinction in the United Sates. The date to remember is March 9, 1841. That's the day the U.S Supreme Court issued its ruling in "United States v. Amistad". To whit, in a 7-1 r

I've read countless books about George Washington, but this one is different. The author is a well-read historian, with a passion for the sea, and for travel. Indeed, his book is about Washington's various trips around our infant republic, while he was president. The author uses John Steinbeck's "Travels With Charlie" as something of a guidepost. Following in Washington's footsteps, his account (like Steinbeck's) is highly personal, humorous, and vastly entertaining. If y

Hollywood loves a road picture, where two buddies hit the road and find adventure. "Green Book" is just such a movie, although the two principle characters are not exactly buddies, not in the beginning. In fact, they couldn't be more different. Tony Vallelonga (a.k.a. Tony Lip) is a white street-smart loudmouth Bronx native who earns his living as a bouncer at the Copacabana Nightclub. He is also prejudiced against black people, which is clearly demonstrated in the first

This book includes over 80 verified accounts of healing, including healings of alcoholism and addiction, appendicitis, a variety of infections, colitis, broken bones, epilepsy, heart disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, pneumonia, rheumatic fever: yes, all the ailments mortal man is heir to. Many of the healings includes various quotations from the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, Prose Works, and the Christian Science Hymnal. O

"England is a nation of shopkeepers." Thus spake Napoleon. Napoleon Bonaparte was not being complimentary. It was a put-down, his way of saying England was no France, and certainly no match for his Grande Armee that was planning an invasion of England. Napoleon was wrong. England was not a nation of shopkeepers but a nation of inventors whose work led to the standardization of parts and a decided edge in weapon's production and in shipbuilding, giving the English army and

The Age of Enlightenment began in an English coffee house. The Enlightenment was about ideas, and what better place to talk about ideas than at the local coffee house? They were also known as “penny universities.” For a penny cup-of-coffee you could sit in on what amounted to a college course conducted by, say, Adam Smith or David Hume, or whomever happened to drop in that day. It started in Cambridge, moved on to London and Edinburgh, then across the English Channel to Pari

by Mary Baker Eddy, published in The Ladies’ Home Journal, 1905 To me Christmas involves an open secret, understood by few — or by none — and unutterable except in Chris- tian Science. Christ was not born of the flesh. Christ is the Truth and Life born of God — born of Spirit and not of matter. Jesus, the Galilean Prophet, was born of the Virgin Mary’s spiritual thoughts of Life and its manifestation. God creates man perfect and eternal in His own image. Hence man

Below are their views on slavery, of the seven most influential Founding Fathers: GEORGE WASHINGTON Washington was born at a time when slavery had yet to be questioned anywhere in the colonies. As a young man, he was a tough task master, but as he grew older he began to change. Whippings stopped. He encouraged marriage among slaves, and to keep families together resolved not to sell or trade slaves without their consent. Since consent was rarely given, the General found h

After buying tickets and waiting almost a year, we finally got to see “Hamilton,” the smash Broadway musical. It was midweek, and the line of ticket holders waiting to get in stretched halfway around the Richard Rodgers Theater in New York City. The music is hip-hop, the cast is young and multiracial, and the wry and witty lyrics are delivered in faultless diction. But that alone doesn’t explain its magic, or the effect it’s been having on audiences since it first opened o

The three men I admire most . . . To Thomas Jefferson, they were Francis Bacon, John Locke and Isaac Newton. They were, the Virginian proclaimed, “the three greatest men who have ever lived, without exception .” Strong words. Who were the three greatest men who have ever lived, without exception? ” FRANCIS BACON (1561-1626) - To some, Francs Bacon was the real author of Shakespeare’s plays. He was himself a noted playwright, and a player in Queen Elizabeth’s court, by turns

The Summit Christian Science Church is an active member of the Christian Science Institutional Services (CSIS) of New Jersey. Our church member (Heather Blacker) is a CSIS coordinating chaplain meets with regularly with prison Inmates in the Jersey State Prison of Newark. Below is her report given at the CSIS Fall 2025 Meeting: ● Heather’s work has been expanded, so every week she conducts two Bible Groups on Sunday, and two Bible Groups on Monday. In addition Heather is o

Their names may not be easily recognizable, but each of these Southern Ladies has left an indelible mark on American history. Their names are Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Helen Keller. Harriet Tubman is slated to have her face replace that of Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill. Rosa Parks and Helen Keller, both natives of Alabama, will be the first women to have their faces be depicted on the Capitol grounds in Montgomery. Harriet Tubman (1820-1913) was born into

It couldn’t get a whole lot worse. For the “crime” of practicing Christian healing in accordance with the teachings of Christ Jesus, and in the presence of a violent mob, they’d been arrested, beaten, and thrown into an inner dungeon, where their feet were locked into stocks. These weren’t characters in a fictional adventure story. Paul and Silas, the two early Christians going through this extreme experience, were real people. The Bible reports that their response was to pr

The vital lesson of the Civil Rights Movement, is that all of the people who tried to stop it are largely forgotten, while a National Holiday celebrates Civil Rights' leader Martin Luther King's Birthday. His right hand man was Andrew Young, who was shouldered with "the dirty work" of getting things done. A gentle, singular man of infinite wisdom and undeniable integrity, Mr. Young led an remarkably diverse life. Not only was he a key player in the Civil Rights Movement, h

It’s the most famous room in the world. It’s where Presidents address the nation, especially in times of crisis. It’s the room where history is made. It’s the Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House. At one end of the Oval Office, filling in the southern curve, behind the President’s desk, are three great windows, each eleven and-a-half feet high, with special layered glass designed to stop an assassin’s bullet. Visible through the windows is a great white marble

by Isaac Ayozie As a journalist in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria, I spent several months filing stories for a news organization based in Lagos, the former capital. Eventually, however, I lost my job due to a reorganization in the company. Of course, the situation gave rise to loss of income. One thing led to another, and I was compelled to return to my home state of Imo I was brokenhearted over the job loss. Shortly after, well-meaning suggestions poured in about ho

The Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, may not have been an institutionally educated scholar of the natural sciences, but I find her insights about the laws of nature and their applied advance to health and human affairs to be breathtaking. Take her statement in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures , "Mortals must gravitate Godward, their affections and aims grow spiritual . . . (p. 265). An early career in education gave me many opportunities to learn