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A Hindu chaplain from Nevada was shouted down before and during his prayer to open up the U.S. Senate this morning. History was made in the Senate today. "Let us pray. We meditate on the transcendental glory of the deity supreme who is inside the heart of the Earth, inside the life of the sky, and inside the soul of the heaven." Those were the words of a chaplain with the Indian Association of Northern Nevada, Rajan Zed, who delivered the first Hindu prayer ever on the floor of the U.S. Senate. However, that prayer did not go off without...

For what is believed to be the first time in its history, the U.S. Senate will on July 12 be opened with a Hindu prayer, the Senate Chaplain's Office confirmed Monday. For more than 200 years, the Senate has opened each workday with a prayer usually delivered by the Senate Chaplain, currently Barry Black, a Seventh Day Adventist. It is common, however, for senators to recommend religious leaders from their home states to serve as guest chaplains. Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain from Nevada, on will become the first Hindu to deliver the morning prayer. In a statement announcing his...

          KEEP MOVING A college class was graduating on a hot and humid day. As the graduates walked across the platform and received their diplomas from the president of the college, he smiled, shook their hands, and said loudly, "Congratulations!" Then, in a much lower voice, one that was firm and could be heard only by the graduates, he would say, "Keep moving." He was only trying to keep the line moving across the stage, but his words were good advice for a lifetime: "Keep moving." After every achievement growing up, graduation, marriage, job promotion,...

    Father's Day, 2007 A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America On Father's Day, we reflect on the many ways that fathers contribute to the lives of their children with spoken words and unspoken kindness. Fathers are one of the most important influences in the lives of children, and their unconditional love is an indispensable anchor of certainty and strength. By placing their family's well-being above their own, fathers provide children with an example of what it means to be a responsible person. Through unwavering devotion and daily sacrifice, fathers work to create an...

        TIPS FOR THE PITS What are the signs of depression? Dragging through the day, wondering how we will get through it; getting bogged down at the least little obstacle; thinking negatively about everything all we see are pessimism and gloom. It's looking at life and seeing only emptiness, hopelessness, and no way out. But friend, there is hope! Let me suggest tried and proven help from Scripture. These are "Tips for the Pits." 1. We must first check our thinking. Often we feel the way we think. We must live by our convictions, not by...

The story just won't go away, mainly because the man pictured left won't let it. ISU's militant atheist religious studies professor, Dr. Hector Avalos, continues his effort to block Gene Chizik's plan for a chaplain for the football program. That means our publisher will continue his effort to stand up for the program. As you might imagine, the piece I wrote last week generated a lot of response. In fact, it generated more response than anything else in the history of this website – with the exception of my temporary "retirement" from CN back in 2005. In case you missed...

        SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT Psalm 23 "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want" - the crowd would listen attentively. And then, at the conclusion of the psalm, they would rise in thunderous applause in appreciation of the actor's incredible ability to bring the verse to life. But one night, just before the actor was to offer his customary recital of Psalm 23, a young man from the audience spoke up. "Sir do you mind if tonight I recite Psalm 23?" The actor was quite taken back by this unusual request, but he allowed...

           MAKING ASSUMPTIONS  A story making the rounds this past week told of a policeman who was heading home after a long, hard day on patrol. He had dealt with a whole succession of difficult people, and a mountain of frustrating paperwork. All he wanted at this point was to kick back, unwind, enjoy some peace and quiet, and maybe watch a few innings of baseball on TV. But, as he neared home, he was startled by a vehicle that came careening around a sharp curve and narrowly missed his squad car. As the car...

The Rev. David McGuire, priest of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Oceanview, presides over a May Day ceremony near the church's Grotto before one of his last Mass services Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot NORFOLK - The Rev. David V. McGuire smiled fondly on a recent morning as Catholic schoolchildren lay flowers before a churchyard Virgin Mary. Standing closest were 7-year-olds in suits and white frocks who'd take their first Holy Communion from him on the coming Saturday. "The Air Force wanted me earlier," McGuire recalled, "but I said no - I've got to be here for that weekend."After four...

          THE REAL MEANING OF PEACE There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for the peaceful towering mountains all around. Overhead was a blue sky fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other...

          THE WOMAN WITH THE ROSE "John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose. His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and...

          CONFLICTING LOYALTIES An interviewer once asked the late Senator Sam Ervin, Jr. how he had developed such insight into human behavior. "I had a good teacher, Henry Horace Williams," replied Ervin. "He said the things that try people's souls do not consist of choosing between good and evil. The thing that tries a person's soul is having to choose between conflicting loyalties." Ervin went on to say that understanding that concept had not only helped him to make better decisions, but to judge other people more fairly as well. Sometimes unwise choices were simply...

KER KHOT CASTLE, Afghanistan, April 10, 2007 – Army Chaplain (Capt.) Andrew Shriver dedicated the first “expeditionary portable chapel kit” on Good Friday, April 6, during a ceremony at a small forward operating base in the southeastern region of Afghanistan. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Andrew Shriver stands next to his expeditionary portable chapel kit in preparation for its dedication and first worship service on Good Friday. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Shriver, 864th Combat Engineer Battalion chaplain, developed the chapel kit as a means to provide religious service to this small FOB. The kit is the middle-ground...

A brazen upstate Army chaplain made a British woman his sex toy to "spice" up his boring marriage and threatened to kill her when she wanted to break away, officials said yesterday. Capt. John Lau, 50, told a military court he took Amanda Tyler into his Fort Drum home, turned her into his "second wife," "married" her in a mock Niagara Falls service, and took her to live with his real wife and family. But Tyler, 34, described the ordained Southern Baptist minister as a sexual sadist who controlled and terrified her. But in September, while Lau was deployed in...

(snip) During the stalemate in March 1952, elements of the 40th Infantry Division were occupying positions on the central front. Among the men assigned was Episcopal Chaplain Robert M. Crane. The 40th Division was a National Guard unit that had relieved the 24th Infantry Division little more than a month before. Although Crane, like many of the men he served, had had previous Army experience, his second tour had begun only 12 months earlier. He spent most of that time in Japan where the two National Guard divisions, the 40th and the 45th, trained and provided security while high-level commanders...

A Navy chaplain said Thursday he was dismissed from service following his public protest of the branch's policy on nondenominational prayer. In September a military jury found Lt. Gordon Klingenschmitt had disobeyed a superior officer's order not to wear his uniform to a political protest at the White House in March 2006. Klingenschmitt argued he was allowed to wear his uniform if conducting a "bona fide worship service." He said he believes he was punished for making a political speech in uniform because he prayed in Jesus' name. William Farley, Klingenschmitt's attorney, said the Navy's decision violated his client's constitutional...

          ISN'T IT OBVIOUS? This warning label (among about a half dozen warning labels) appears on my son's baby carriage: Do not fold carriage with baby inside! " It may seem funny to state something so obvious, but I suppose to cover themselves against lawsuits from people who couldn't figure out to first remove the baby, they put on the warning label. The Prophet Micah gives us easy-to-follow instructions for a good life that seem so obvious and elementary we wonder, is that all we have to do to live happily and peacefully? The answer...

A year ago, he was a Pentecostal Christian minister at Camp Anaconda, the largest U.S. support base in Iraq. On July 6, he applied to become the first Wiccan chaplain in the U.S. armed forces

          A HUMBLE SPIRIT It's always surprising to me when someone, in an honest and unguarded moment, confides that God could never use THEM. They may keep up appearances most of the time, but, down deep, they just don't feel worthy. Have you ever felt that way? If so, you're in luck; God places a high value on humility!  In fact, your sincere recognition of your own need may just be the key that opens the door to a deeper, more genuine and rewarding spirituality. Isaiah wrote, "For thus says the High and Holy One...

TIKRIT, Iraq, Feb. 16, 2007 — Soldiers of the U. S. Army learn to endure the hardships of training and combat. They adapt to operating effectively while stressed, fatigued and hungry, but there is one task that they can never fully ready themselves for. "I make sure we render the proper courtesies and respect for the fallen, and after the ceremonial aspects I bring the crews together and debrief them, provide pastoral care for them and offer a prayer for peace," Chaplain (Capt.) Ray Santillano Saying goodbye to a fallen comrade is perhaps the most daunting challenge that any soldier...