Stephen De La Vega

  The Parthenon. Not the famous one in Greece, but “the world’s only exact-size replica of the original Parthenon in Athens” ( https://www.nashvilleparthenon.com/ ). You can visit it in Nashville, Tennessee. It seems like the one in Athens would’ve been a great place to exchange wisdom. It certainly looks like the perfect venue, but the Parthenon is not known for that. There is a place where wisdom and truth was taught at a temple where similar columns once stood. It’s called the Second Temple, a rebuilding of Solomon’s Temple. It’s also known as Herod’s Temple, and it’s where Jesus taught at times when He was in Jerusalem. There, at the Second Temple, Jesus shared His perfect wisdom with Jews and Gentiles alike, depending on where he was on any given day. He spoke about life as He expressed the truth of God to eager listeners ( Mark 12:41 , Mark 14:49 , John10:23 , Luke 19:47-48 ).   I’m pleased that we have the opportunity to hear from Jesus in a few resolutions begi...

  The Stanley Cup . One of the most revered trophies in professional sports. The cup itself has never changed, and it is the only professional trophy to display the names of every player of the championship team each year. As a hockey fan, I’ve seen this trophy in person. Not as my home team skated around the ice with it after winning the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That hasn’t happened yet. I’ve seen it in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto where it stands protected and honored most of the year. One thing I appreciate about the great sport of hockey: There isn’t a lot of glory outside of teamwork. Don’t get me wrong, the sport has its share of superstars, but, in its typically low-scoring gameplay, even the superstars thrive only within well-managed, cooperative team play. Teammates continually support and assist each other with humility as they work in unison to get the puck past the opposing goaltender. I imagine most hockey players are not in the game for individual glory. Maybe t...

  Some countries have already celebrated Thanksgiving this year. My country will celebrate next week. It’s a time of looking back with family or friends to acknowledge our blessings (or harvest, historically). But it’s not always a positive reflection. Sometimes there’s baggage. Maybe often. Sometimes it’s our baggage or our shortcomings. We might even feel like walking away from God. Or maybe we already have. If we carry this into Thanksgiving week, or just in life, this Resolution 11 is for us.   We began our “ Journey to Resolve ” in July 2024. (Sorry it’s taking so long to cover all 15 resolutions!) The articles in this series have been New Year’s resolutions throughout the year, not just at the beginning. So far, we’ve enjoyed some very brief book surveys and stories that highlight important parts of Israel’s history. And our last two resolutions were drawn from two books of poetry and wisdom: Job and Proverbs. We circle back now to a sweeping look at Israel’s history...