The news on Syria changes daily. “Western military sources warned Saturday, July 14, that not only Israel, but additional strategic targets in Middle East lands deemed enemies by Bashar Assad should prepare for him to launch surface-to-surface missile attacks.

Looking at old family photos, especially ones concerning church-related affairs, a person is struck by how well people dressed. Many people were poor, but when it came to how they dressed for occasions where God was involved, they wore their best. These were God-fearing people and they took Proverbs 3:7 to heart: “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.” Here, the word fear, in the original Hebrew, means to have respect or awe for something. Do we have that special type of fear?

“Challenging more than a decade of scholarship, a study out of the University of Texas has found that adults raised by same-sex parents reported significant differences in the quality of their lives compared with children of married, heterosexual biological parents” (Statesman, June 11, 2012). This study is “the largest nationally representative study” of its kind, carried out by highly trained faculty from a prestigious research institution.

A generation ago, Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) enthralled audiences around the world with epic poems, short stories and novels. His experiences growing up in British-controlled India provided a rich source of colorful folklore and inspiration for children’s stories, such as the Jungle Book. Kipling received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

Of all of his many poems, my favorite is the inspirational poem If, which he wrote in 1895. It poses questions or conditions on how one develops the qualities of good character and balance embodied in a successful life.

On June 11, 2012, Catholic Archbishop Dominique Mamberti addressed European ambassadors at a meeting ending Denmark’s six-month rotation in the EU presidency (L’Osservatore Romano, June 12, 2012). In his speech, the Archbishop made it clear that Europe needed to rediscover itself, in order to have a successful future.