Most Mondays I dedicate the postings to articles dealing with death. The reason? To remind us that tomorrow is promised to no one, and “that man is destined to die once, and after that to face Judgment.” Our society sanitizes death, erases its terror, and denies its existence. The urgency of the Christian mission to
From its first use, there has been debate as to whether the guillotine always provided as swift a death as Dr Guillotin hoped. With previous methods of execution, there was little concern about the suffering inflicted. But where the guillotine was invented specifically to be “humane,” the issue was seriously considered.
Furthermore, there is the possibility that the very swiftness of the guillotine only prolonged the victim’s suffering. The blade cuts quickly enough so that there is relatively little impact on the brain case, and perhaps less likelihood of immediate unconsciousness than with a more violent decapitation, or long-drop hanging.
Audiences to guillotinings told numerous stories of blinking eyelids, moving eyes, movement of the mouth, even an expression of “unequivocal indignation” on the face of the decapitated Charlotte Corday when her cheek was slapped.
I invited my friend Mike Mellein and his 11-year-old son, J.C., to join the evangelism team for a one hour excursion into Lake Arrowhead Village while on this past weekend’s Men’s Retreat. Dad was a little hesitant, but J.C. was rarin’ to go. “C’mon Dad,” J.C. encouraged. “Watch and learn!” And Dad did!
The 55-year-old owner of a home for sale was found dead in her bed by two potential buyers inspecting the house. Justin and Colleen McKeen were walking through the house, while real estate agent Linda Chabucos-Galow, stood in the dining room. She then heard Colleen McKeen scream. “I thought, ‘What’s wrong?’ Maybe it was a
About six months ago I decided to organize a block party in my North Redondo Beach neighborhood. I’d been living at my home for 7 years, but only knew the neighbors around my house. I thought it would be a great idea to bring the whole block together and to fulfill the 2nd greatest commandment