It's winter in Maringá and the weather could not be better (of course I would wish for snow and negative temperatures, but for a place where most of the year you can fry an egg on the heat of the sidewalk, this time of the year is the best). Winter is marked by a period of rest, at least for the plants. It is when they pause their growing and the green is not as strong. But there is a tree called ypê roxo, and it reaches the peak of its beauty during this season. While all ot

When God established his covenant to Abraham, he instructs him and all the males within his household to circumcise themselves. The circumcision from that point, in Genesis, became a sign of God’s covenant. Among many regulations inscribed in Torah, Circumcision, Keeping of the Sabbath, and Dietary laws were considered boundary marks that distinguished the people of God from pagan nations. During second temple period, in general a gentile could relate to the Jewish faith in d

A Devotional Journey Through Joshua 3:15-17 “Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from up the stream stopped flowing...” — Joshua 3:15-16a The Climax in the Details I have a bit of a dual personality when it comes to stories. On one hand, I can be impatient. My mind works fast, and because I can usually anticipate the conclusion before a story