hen scientists first discovered a higher-than-expected concentration of microplastic in New York’s Lake Tear of the Clouds, often described as the highest source of the Hudson River, they initially attributed the findings to airborne deposition. But follow-up research this year points to a different source for the contamination: hiking shoes and clothing. 
The concentration of microplastic particles, which are harmful particles ranging from 1 micrometer to 5 millimeters in size, poses significant threats to the environment by contaminating ecosystems and disrupting food chains.  ...

The post New Research Suggests Hiking Boots and Gear Are Polluting Wild Areas With Microplastics appeared first on The Trek.

This morning I woke up to the feeling of the tent walls closing in on me. I opened my eyes and realized that they were starting to sag inward. Because the tent walls were covered in so much sleet and snow! I shook them off and the tent expanded magically. It was currently raining or sleeting still, and had clearly accumulated to some degree. I was so glad to be in Sprinter’s tent though, and to not have to worry about packing mine up, ...

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Christians are being called to stand against the darkness at Halloween with prayer and worship events.

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All too frequently, the concerns of life, the anxieties about tomorrow, or the wounds from the day can leave our minds in turmoil.

Rooted in Scripture and filled with simple action steps, this resource is perfect for tucking into your Bible, taping to your mirror, or sharing with a friend who’s struggling.

Find a way to slow down the speed of life.

Kevin Rideout, an American missionary with U.S.-based Serving in Mission (SIM), is the latest foreign national abducted in West Africa. Read More

The post Pray for US Missionary Kevin Rideout, Who Was Kidnapped in Niger appeared first on Christian News Now.

The basic principles of a motion picture film camera should be well understood by most readers — after all, it’s been well over a hundred years since the Lumière brothers wowed 19th century Paris with their first films. But making one yourself is another matter entirely, as they are surprisingly complex and high-precision devices. This hasn’t stopped [Henry Kidman] from giving it a go though, and what makes his camera more remarkable is that it’s 3D printed.

The problem facing a 16mm movie camera designer lies in precisely advancing the film by one frame at the correct rate while filming, something done in the past with a small metal claw that grabs each successive sprocket. His design eschews that for a sprocket driven by a stepper motor from an Arduino. His rotary shutter is driven by another stepper motor, and he has the basis of a good camera.

The tests show promise, but he encounters a stability problem, because as it turns out, it’s difficult to print a 16mm sprocket in plastic without it warping. He solves this by aligning frames in post-processing. After fixing a range of small problems though, he has a camera that delivers a very good picture quality, and that makes us envious.

Sadly, those of us who ply our film-hacking craft in 8mm don’t have the luxury of enough space for a sprocket to replace the claw.

Access technology offers people with disabilities adaptive tools to use computers, smart phones and other devices. I am a blind Catholic professional with experience in academic political science. I also have training and program management experience in access technology; helping other blind and low vision users solve difficulties with their devices. As I have engaged with AI and Faith, I have noticed that the community has few current links with the conversation around accessibility, and I hope this article will begin to change that.

I will be focusing on the types of access technology I know best: screen readers and dictation. Screen readers (known as text to speech) allow the user to hear the device talking to them. Screen readers usually require the user to have some level of comfort with keyboarding or use of a touch screen. Dictation (known as speech to text) allows the user to talk to the device. Users can optionally receive a vocal response during the dictation process. To better understand the difference, note that for an iPhone, Siri is entirely voice activated while Voice Over requires the use of a touch screen by the user. Smart phones have built-in settings which allow more seamless integration of screen readers and dictation than is present on computers, for those who have a high comfort level with them (Voice Over for Apple, and Talkback for Android). Blind users often use a combination of screen readers and dictation when using AI. Because AI applications often have their own dictation abilities which also offer voice feedback, there are more options for those less comfortable with screen readers.

I hope that future articles by others more qualified will delve into access technology issues with other disabilities; adaptations for those who cannot use their arms, closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing, magnification and contrast for those with low vision, and bioethics issues around artificial body enhancements and Neurolink.

History of faith and accessibility

One of my reasons for interest in the conversation between faith and accessibility is that faith has already played a major part in uplifting people with disabilities; in particular, advancement for the blind. Technology originally for the blind has greatly impacted technology for all, as detailed in a great chapter of Andrew Leland’s book Country of the Blind. Louis Braille (1809-1852), the blind inventor of the braille reading code, was a devout Catholic who used his invention to create a larger library of sheet music for blind church organists. Religious groups took a leading role in producing and distributing braille books throughout the twentieth century, including the Xavier Society (of which I am a board member), the American Bible Society, and the Theosophical Society. Braille’s ingenuity and his attempts to develop an early version of the typewriter tested the boundaries of language and technology. Audio books, which were initially produced for the blind, are now used by many sighted readers, and many early audio books were religious.

Image description and faith

One of the lesser known uses of AI is its ability to describe images. You can share a picture or an inaccessible file with an AI application and it will provide information about what is in the image including any discernable text, along with the ability to ask further questions and share the image with another application or another person. The more common AI tools can describe images, but many of us in the blind community prefer to use apps built for the blind, including Microsoft’s Seeing AI and the blind-founded Be My Eyes. These apps predate the development of what most people think of as AI; Be My Eyes started off as an app to call human remote volunteers, while Seeing AI initially focused on reading labels; but they both received major updates in 2023.

The use of image description to benefit people of faith are numerous: from gaining a practical orientation of a sacred space, to providing a better understanding of religious art than blind people have had before. In my experience, AI applications can correctly identify the names of religious items, but continued collaboration is necessary to make sure models do not contribute to subtle misinterpretations.

Research and writing tools

Accessible AI tools allow blind users to research questions about religious doctrine, scripture, history, prayers, and current events, whether for personal study or professional work. The most common AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini have accessibility teams which use WCAG and ARIA accessibility standards. One of these is the use of headings, especially for computer users. If I press the “H” key on my computer, I can move between my prompt and the various sections of the AI’s response. Buttons to copy, share, or download a file are also relatively easy to find.

I have used AI to shorten the process of finding traditional Latin mass propers that I sing in my Church choir. As for writing, I have found ChatGPT’s ability to generate a prayer plan based on a particular faith to be helpful. Of course, like anyone else, screen reader users need to avoid pitfalls of AI-driven research that come from asking the wrong questions, and hallucinations.

One project that needs further work is making sure smaller apps designed for a particular religious viewpoint are accessible. Many of them, in my limited experience, are mostly navigable but could use improvements for better user experience, especially making certain elements more clearly labeled.

Where do we go from here? Bridging Ethics and Accessibility

I will conclude by noting that like any other group, blind people (and the smaller group of blind people who identify with a religious faith) will have a variety of opinions about AI. Some of these are influenced by our life as blind people, but also come from our other deeply held personal and intellectual commitments. As a young father, I want to limit my children’s exposure to AI at an early age, primarily because it contributes to a preexisting problem of too much time spent in the virtual world. I am concerned with over-reliance on AI among students and others who need to continue developing their skills in critical thinking and various content areas. I think we should encourage our religious leaders to avoid using AI to write sermons; rather, it should be used for background research only.

Accessible AI has opened the world of information to blind people, in some ways building on the successes of search engines and human curated projects like Wikipedia (which I was an admin for when I was a teenager). I do not want accessibility to be the reason that someone does not use AI, even if it is for a purpose I personally disapprove of.

I look forward to continuing the conversation; I’m happy to receive emails (covich7@gmail.com) and LinkedIn messages with any thoughts, especially about improving religious apps.

Views and opinions expressed by authors and editors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of AI and Faith or any of its leadership.

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“… hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:5 NASB

Artificial intelligence isn’t a guest visiting for a season, it has moved in and set up shop. It lives in our phones, churches, hospitals, and homes. It curates our playlists, predicts our spending, suggests our prayers, and sometimes even writes our sermons. Coexistence, then, is not optional. The question is whether we can coexist in a spiritually healthy manner, one that deepens our humanity rather than dilutes it.

To coexist faithfully means to let neither fear nor fascination rule us. Fear convinces us that AI will replace us; fascination tempts us to let it. Both miss the point. People of faith are called to live alongside technology with discernment and humility, resisting both the illusion of control and the despair of irrelevance.

For all its predictive brilliance, AI cannot pray, weep, or wonder. It can mimic compassion, but not surrender. It can analyze human emotion, but not experience it. The Franciscan imagination reminds us that creation, including the human-made world of code and circuitry, is still part of God’s world. But only humanity bears the capacity for soul, for longing, for love that suffers and redeems.

Coexistence, then, is not a negotiation with machines, it is a spiritual practice among humans about how we use them.

1. Hope as Surrender, Not Optimism

Faith-based hope is not the same as optimism. Optimism is a weather forecast; hope is a covenant. Optimism predicts outcomes; hope surrenders them.

In the Franciscan tradition, hope emerges not from certainty but from trust, trust that divine love continues to work even in confusion and disruption. As St. Francis taught, we find God not in control but in relinquishment. Hope, for Francis, was not a rosy confidence that things would turn out fine, but the willingness to walk barefoot into the unknown, trusting that God’s presence would meet him there.

When we mistake AI’s forecasts for faith’s hope, we confuse data confidence with spiritual trust. An algorithm might predict recovery rates for the sick or estimate climate outcomes for the planet. These forecasts can be useful, even inspiring, but they can’t teach us how to sit with grief, how to pray through uncertainty, or how to love what we may lose.

Hope begins where prediction ends. It is born when we choose faithfulness over control, willingness over willfulness. The AI age tempts us to measure everything, to optimize, to manage risk, to secure results. But the Franciscan path teaches that surrender is not passivity; it’s the deepest form of participation. It is the art of letting God’s grace do what our grasping cannot.

2. Solidarity as the Face of Hope

Hope in the Christian imagination is never solitary. It is, as the prophets declared, born in community. Hope is sustained not by certainty but by companionship. The Franciscan way calls this being with rather than doing for.

Solidarity is where hope breathes. It is incarnational, embodied in listening, touch, and shared presence. In this light, AI can make hope more accessible and actionable by connecting communities across distance, revealing hidden needs, or amplifying marginalized voices. It can process massive amounts of data to show us who is being left behind. It can remind us, through pattern and prediction, that our neighbor is closer than we thought.

But solidarity must remain human. A chatbot can send comforting words, but it cannot keep vigil at a bedside or shed tears that sanctify suffering. Yet it can free human caregivers from administrative burdens so that they can show up in love. When technology serves relationships rather than replaces it, it becomes a partner in the work of hope.

Francis of Assisi would recognize this: the holiness of proximity. To “be with” creation and each other is the heart of hope. Even the best-designed algorithm cannot incarnate presence. It can only point toward it. And perhaps that is its highest ethical calling, to remind us of what only we can do.

3. Prophetic Hope in Disruption

The Hebrew prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos—offered hope not in comfort but in collapse. They dared to believe that God’s newness could rise from ruins. Walter Brueggemann calls this “the horror of the old collapsing and the hope of the new emerging.”

Our era’s disruptions: climate change, displacement, and digital isolation find a mirror in the age of AI. The prophetic task is not to resist technology outright but to reclaim its direction. Faith communities have a prophetic imperative to ensure that AI serves justice, mercy, and shared flourishing.

AI can go beyond prediction when it feeds real hope: when it exposes injustice, reveals truth, or helps imagine new economies of care. Imagine algorithms that prioritize the hungry over the profitable, or systems that help restore ecological balance rather than exploit it. Prophetic hope transforms technology from a mirror of power into a window of possibility.

Yet prophecy always begins with lament. We must name the pain of our age, the loneliness, the disconnection, the temptation to substitute simulation for presence. In naming it, we keep it human. The prophets of Israel didn’t offer quick solutions; they offered faithful witness. Likewise, our hope for AI is not that it will save us, but that through it, we might rediscover what needs saving: our compassion, our humility, and our sense of shared destiny.

4. A Future Worth Coexisting With

To coexist with AI faithfully is to remember that intelligence is not wisdom, and power is not love. AI may analyze vast datasets, but faith invites us into mystery, the space where surrender becomes strength and community becomes salvation.

A spiritually healthy coexistence doesn’t idolize AI nor exile it. Instead, it consecrates the tools of our age for the service of God’s reconciling work. Technology, like fire or language, can both heal and harm. Our task is to keep it lit with compassion, humility, and justice.

This is not nostalgia for a pre-digital past; it is a call for moral imagination. Coexistence means insisting that progress must serve presence, that algorithms must bend toward mercy, and that the ultimate measure of intelligence is love.

The Franciscan tradition, with its emphasis on humility and relationality, offers an antidote to the empire of efficiency. It invites us to see AI not as a rival intelligence but as a mirror reflecting what we value. The question is not, “Can AI love?” but “Can we?”

Conclusion: The Stubborn, Sacred Hope

Artificial intelligence can calculate probabilities, but it cannot kindle hope. Hope is the province of the soul, the stubborn, sacred belief that life can be renewed even when the data says otherwise.

If we approach AI with humility, we may yet find that it sharpens our awareness of what is uniquely human: our vulnerability, our longing for connection, our capacity for grace.

In the end, coexistence with AI is less about technological control and more about spiritual formation. The future worth coexisting with will be one where our tools amplify love rather than efficiency, justice rather than profit, and wonder rather than fear.

Machines may forecast the future, but only people of faith can hope their way into it.

Views and opinions expressed by authors and editors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of AI and Faith or any of its leadership.

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A compact and rugged LoRa repeater designed for long-range communication and 5+ years of off-grid operation using only alkaline batteries.

Why do so many Christians crumble under cultural pressure? Why do churches so often resemble spiritual daycare instead of boot camp? The Church cannot afford to raise spectators. We must raise soldiers. The devil prowls like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). In the animal kingdom, a lion doesn’t roar merely to frighten its prey, but to isolate it from the herd. The enemy thrives on deception and distraction, eager to divide and destroy.

Discipleship isn’t about showing up to church and checking boxes. It’s about being shaped into people who can stand firm in battle. Warren W. Wiersbe said it plainly: “The Christian life is not a playground; it is a battleground, and we must be on our guard at all times.”[1]

In other words, discipleship is war.

The War We’re In

Paul reminded the Ephesians: “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:10–11, NIV). Paul wrote these words while imprisoned in Rome, guarded daily by soldiers of the empire. He would have seen their helmets, shields, breastplates, and swords up close. For Rome’s elite, armor was not optional; no soldier entered battle without it. Using that imagery, Paul described the armor God provides for every believer.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Ephesians 6:12-18, NIV)

And over it all, prayer makes the armor effective, because we do not fight in our own strength but in His.

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“Be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

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C. S. Lewis warned us: “There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”[2] If you don’t recognize this reality, you’re already losing ground to the enemy.

Jesus as Our Model

At His baptism, Jesus heard the Father’s voice: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17, NIV). And then, before He preached, healed, or carried the cross, He walked into the wilderness and confronted Satan. In the wilderness, Jesus didn’t rely on clever arguments or dazzling displays. He stood firm with Scripture on His lips and obedience in His heart. Martyn Lloyd-Jones emphasized that our ultimate confidence must never be in ourselves, but in the Lord.[3]

Discipleship Demands More Than Comfort

Too often today, discipleship is reduced to “being nice.” Safe. Respectable. Comfortable. But Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). When Jesus spoke of the cross, His listeners knew He was describing Rome’s most brutal execution. To “take up your cross” meant embracing suffering, shame, and even death for His sake.

A young woman once confessed to me, “I thought following Jesus would make life easier. Instead, it made the fight inside me more intense.” She was right. But in that dying to pride, to escape, and to old patterns, the Spirit began to rebuild her into something stronger.

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“Too often today, discipleship is reduced to ‘being nice.'”

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Wearing the Armor

Paul’s image of armor is not for admiration; it is for action. Each piece must be put on daily. That means choosing truth when lies press in, guarding your heart with righteousness in a world of compromise, bringing peace into conflict instead of shrinking back, raising faith when doubts attack, resting in salvation when despair whispers defeat, wielding Scripture in moments of temptation, and praying persistently as your lifeline to God.

Neil Anderson captured it well: “The battle for the mind is the battle for the Christian life. If Satan can control your thoughts, he can control your behavior. That’s why taking every thought captive to Christ is essential.”[4] John Piper echoed the urgency: “Life is war. That’s not all it is. But it is always that.”[5]

Training Grounds

Discipleship doesn’t happen by accident. It grows through training: grounding in identity, practicing prayer and fasting, walking in accountability, and learning obedience. Oswald Chambers explained it this way: “Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person. Our devotion is not to a cause or a principle or a program, but to the Lord Jesus Christ.”[6]

Community is essential. Charles Spurgeon urged: “Give yourself to the Church.…If I had never joined a Church till I had found one that was perfect, I should never have joined one at all.”[7] I once witnessed a believer who had never prayed aloud finally whisper a prayer in front of others. It was shaky. It was simple. But it was powerful, and that moment became her training ground.

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“Discipleship grows through training: grounding in identity, practicing prayer and fasting, walking in accountability, and learning obedience.”

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From the Early Church to Now

The first believers lived under constant pressure from both Jewish leaders and the Roman Empire. In Jerusalem, they faced arrests and threats from religious authorities (Acts 4–7). Later, under Roman rule, persecution intensified, sometimes costing them everything. And yet they prayed, rejoiced, and advanced. Stephen preached with courage and saw heaven open (Acts 7). Paul sang in prison and chains fell off (Acts 16). Ordinary disciples scattered under persecution and carried the gospel wherever they went (Acts 8).

I’ve walked with women who came to Christ still weighed down with addiction, shame, and despair. Some expected a quick fix. Others just wanted the pain to stop. But discipleship is not a bandage. It’s a battle. True clarity comes when disciples become warriors, not spectators.

Marks of a Battle-Ready Disciple

A battle-ready disciple:

• Responds to lies with truth.
• Walks in obedience, even when it is costly.
• Uses spiritual authority in prayer.
• Listens for God’s voice and acts on it.
• Lives with eternity in mind.

As David Platt observes, today’s church often settles for a version of Christianity that “revolves around catering to ourselves” when Jesus actually calls us to abandon ourselves.”[8] This is the essence of discipleship: not escape from the battle, but Spirit-empowered strength to endure and overcome.

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“This is the essence of discipleship: not escape from the battle, but Spirit-empowered strength to endure and overcome.”

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The Church does not need more consumers. It needs more soldiers. Jesus never promised ease, but He promised His presence. He never promised safety, but He promised victory.

Paul urged Timothy: “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called” (1 Timothy 6:12, NIV).

It is time. Armor up. Stand firm. Advance the Kingdom.

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[1] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1989), 56.

[2] C. S. Lewis, “Christianity and Culture,” in Christian Reflections, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans: 1967), 33.

[3] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1965).

[4] Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1990), 75.

[5] John Piper, “Let the Nations Be Glad,” Desiring God, October 15, 2011 https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/let-the-nations-be-glad-session-3.

[6] Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, ed. James Reimann (Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House, 1992), 306.

[7] Charles H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1875), accessed October 3, 2025, https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/spurgeon/Lectures%20to%20My%20Students%20-%20Spurgeon.pdf, 21.

[8] David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah, 2010), 18.

Updated October 24, 2025.

One of the most important figures in the New Testament is the apostle Paul. Once a zealous persecutor of Christians, Jesus came to him in a vision and commissioned him to take the gospel to the Gentiles. The author of nearly half of the New Testament, his influence on the shape of early Christianity in undeniable.

Paul was his Roman name. He was born in Tarsus, a city in Asia Minor, as Saul, the son of a strict Pharisee. At some point in his childhood, the family must have moved to Jerusalem because it was there that Paul was given admittance into the school of one of the most respected teachers in Jerusalem, Gamaliel.

Under Gamaliel, Saul was trained in all the finer points of Jewish law and practice, advancing “beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.” (Galatians 1:14, NIV). One would assume that it was under Gamaliel that Saul learned the swift and harsh brand of justice he became known for as he persecuted the church. But that is very unlikely.

Gamaliel the elder, Saul’s teacher, is traditionally understood to be the grandson of one of the greatest Jewish rabbis, Hillel. Hillel became famous for his generous and compassionate interpretation of Torah. His school of thought emphasized humility and grace over the strict legalism of another leading contemporary, Shammai. Gamaliel continued this tradition, leading the more liberal wing of the Pharisees at the time Saul’s upbringing.

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“Hillel became famous for his generous and compassionate interpretation of Torah.”

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Saul would have listened to many of Gamaliel’s teachings which have survived to this day, recorded in the Talmud. Gamaliel took a special interest in the marginalized of society, granting several protections to widows and women having been divorced by their husbands. He personally wrote letters to Jews in distant lands informing them of the correct dates of festivals and feasts to help encourage their attendance. Typically, Gamaliel would begin his teaching with the phrase “for the benefit of humanity,” centering his students on the role Israel played as a light to the nations.

But perhaps the greatest mercy recorded by Gamaliel is recorded in the book of Acts. When the apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin for preaching in the name of the recently crucified Jesus (Acts 5), the leaders of the Jews were furious with them and cried for their death. But the highly-respected Gamaliel stood up and talked some sense into the roaring mob.

“Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you’ll only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:38b-39, NIV)

Gamaliel’s speech was not only wise and gracious, but it was consistent with his lifelong teachings on justice. He taught that everyone should have the opportunity to testify, no voice should be suppressed. He taught that fair execution of justice was critical for God’s people.

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“Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin it will fail.”

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So right about now you are probably wondering.…How on earth did Saul sit at Gamaliel’s feet learning about humility and grace and end up as the fire-breathing sword of the Pharisee’s wrath, pursuing Christians from town to town in order to arrest or stone them to death? That is a fair question, and one which no one has a great answer for.

However, there is one more interesting historical tidbit about rabbis like Gamaliel. The Talmud records that even the greatest rabbis in the school of Hillel could occasionally encounter students who were obstinate, difficult, and even known to challenge their teacher. Some scholars have suggested that one student with such a disposition may have been the young, zealous Saul of Tarsus.

If you use your imagination, it is not hard to picture a young, brash, ambitious Saul trying to climb the ladder of religio-political success in Jerusalem. Pushing back at his teacher for being too “soft.” Demonstrating his zeal by volunteering to chase down these heretical followers of the Galilean blasphemer. We can only speculate that Paul was one such student, but it is not hard to imagine.

Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. Saul will become Paul. He will be physically blinded to symbolize the spiritual blindness he has been living in. Then he will receive back his physical sight and as a result will never see the world the same way again. The old man is dead. The arrogant, violent, and prideful man is gone.

And who is left? Who will this new Paul be? This is a critical question. Because in just a few years the church will be overwhelmed with Gentile converts, and many believers, from Peter all the way down, will struggle with a legalism that demands these Gentiles submit to circumcision, Temple worship, and dietary restrictions just like the Jews.

Who will be the voice that calls for humility, reason, and grace for these new non-Jewish converts? You know the answer. It will be Paul.

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“Who will be the voice that calls for humility, reason, and grace for these new non-Jewish converts? You know the answer.”

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You see, all those years that Paul sat under Gamaliel and learned Hillel’s principles of compassion, patience, and humility, God was giving Saul the building blocks for his new identity as Paul. That’s right, God was working way out ahead the whole time. So, when Jesus remakes Saul, God has already put into place all the raw material needed to make the new man.

That gives me hope. Most days, I am pretty sure I am not who I would like to be. Even on my best days, I barely measure up to what Jesus Christ calls me to. Sometimes I even wonder if I will ever be able to get myself together and grow into the person I would like to become. But guess what? God is already out ahead of me. He is giving me everything I need for life and godliness according to his purpose. He is already at work making me into someone new. Just like he did with Paul.

Almost all of us are afflicted with one of these climbing disesases, and sadly, many of these go undiagnosed and untreated. Every day, at crags around the country, people are climbing with the burden of an unchecked, treatable illness. It’s a national tragedy.

Thankfully, with better medical technology and improved diagnostic abilities, we’re now able to identify these diseases in their early stages. But we still need your help. Our hope is that this document may raise awareness and help prevent needless suffering.

Onsightis

This condition generally presents as obsessiveness with the act of climbing every route on the first attempt, every time. Mild onsightis does not often cause the patient any discomfort and can actually be seen to provide some modest benefits, however it has been known to suppress redpoint grades in chronic sufferers.

Signs and Symptoms

• Noticeable lack of enthusiasm for repeated attempts
• Demanding/needy, especially at new crags
• Resistance to attempting overly difficult routes
• May display aggression toward unwanted beta in advanced cases

Treatment

• Gentle application of harder routes for the purpose of stimulating the red and pinkpoint glands.

Cragger’s Malaise

Just like the common cold, this common climbing disease is surprisingly rampant for the simple fact that prevention is so difficult. Little is known about the causes of cragger’s malaise and its effects can be shockingly debilitating, leading sufferers to view climbing as more of a social pursuit than an athletic one.

Signs and Symptoms

• Overly chatty
• Maximum of 2-3 routes in one session
• Patient displays preference for beer over climbing
• Usually accompanied by low level of skill or ability

Treatment

• No definitive cure exists. Most professionals recommend tolerance rather than intervention. Occasionally resolves without treatment.

Obsessive Tick-Listive Disorder

Also known as “Buzzfeeding,” damage to the right mesial prefrontal cortex can result in abnormal collecting behavior. In the sport of climbing, this lends itself to list-ticking and peak-bagging, practices which value completion of an arbitrary list over objective quality of the routes contained therein.

Signs and Symptoms

• Patient climbs horrible shit for no good reason
• Often accompanied by shameless guidebook fetish
• Acquired choss resistance and skewed risk acceptance

Treatment

• An immediate course of crags with horrific rock quality or protection
• Most cases will be resolved with a one-time application of loose Eldorado Canyon “classics” or Fisher Towers mud climbing.

Boltulism

Doctors and scientists have been unable to reach consensus on a definitive explanation for this very unenjoyable climbing disease. High-functioning patients have been known to produce many quality routes, despite the odd squeeze or contrivance, whereas severe cases can manifest in full-blown grid-bolt mania. All patients are grouped by the overwhelming desire to “get their name in the guidebook.”

Signs and Symptoms

• Often financially unstable due to hardware purchases
• Observes “phantom lines,” a condition similar to colorblindness, in which vague and spurious routes are reported by the patient.
• Often results in link ups.
• Sometimes narcissistic
• Places bolts in unstable geological formations

Treatment

• Removal of drill privileges, followed by bedrest

Partneraphobia

Essentially a condition which results in anti-social tendencies, mild cases often present as a preference for “exploratory missions” to “scope lines” and “check conditions” in wilderness areas, in which partners are not invited. However, if left untreated, this disease can lead to some really weird shit like bouldering alone and rope soloing.

Signs and Symptoms

• Patient avoids human contact
• Unexplained disappearances
• Strong odor, questionable hygiene
• Often found in possession of unusual gear, including but not limited to traction devices and aid gear

Treatment

• Gradual reintroduction to social stimulus and bathing
• Proven effective if paired with a high-quality single-pitch cragging experience

Human Projecting Virus (HPV)

It has been hypothesized that HPV was spread to humans through contact with bats. Proponents of this theory argue that this is the reason for which HPV sufferers tend to spend a majority of their time in caves, flapping their arms about in a sort of interpretive dance known as “sequencing.”

Signs and Symptoms

• Pallid appearance and engorged forearms
• Fixation/obsession with a single route. Can often last months, sometimes years
• Speaks only in numerals
• Comfortable hanging upside down, yet finds walking difficult

Treatment

• Exposure to multi-pitch adventure routes where prior inspection is impossible.
• Prescription of a broad-spectrum ticklist which can remedy deficiencies such as slab and crack

Malignant Ego

Inflammation and swelling of the ego can lead to an inflated opinion of oneself. If left untreated, the inner asshole will expand and devour other elements of the patient’s character. Among climbing diseases, this one is considered highly contagious.

Signs and Symptoms

• Holier than thou
• Toothy appearance, snarls often, occasional frothing at mouth
• Unable to refrain from unsolicited beta-spraying
• Calls all your hardest ticks “soft for the grade”
• Denigrates every style of climbing except for their own

Treatment

• Patients will need to undergo a delicate medical procedure where their head will be removed from their anus.

Chronic Overseriousness

If you find yourself offended by any of the above descriptions, you may be suffering from Chronic Overseriousness. It may be possible that you’re taking climbing too seriously.

Signs and Symptoms

• Offense taken
• Currently limbering up fingers to launch a blistering social media tirade
• Often found in comments sections of websites/social media
• Sufferers tend to insist that climbing is not a “sport,” but a “form of self expression”

Treatment

• Chill out
• Get off the Internet and go outside

If you observe any of these symptoms in your friends or in yourself, don’t delay. Consult your crag doctor as soon as possible. Together, we can beat common climbing diseases.

The post 8 Common Climbing Diseases and Their Cures appeared first on Climbing.

The following two-day recipe for Barley and Pork Hocks is from SurvivalBlog reader Richard T. Equipment: A small cast iron pot, a soup pot, and a rectangular glass cake pan (or a similar pan). Ingredients Two fresh pork hocks ½ cup of  barley grain ½ cup of white vinegar Cayenne or hot pepper flakes (to taste) Pepper (to taste) Salt (to taste) Directions Day one: Simmer a couple of fresh pork hocks in ½” of water in a lidded cast iron pot for half a day until the meat can be separated from the bones. Refrigerate overnight. (The extracted bones …

The post Recipe of the Week: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

For the next three weeks we’re sharing the finalists from the Paddling Kids Story Contest. Read their stories and vote for your favorites to crown a winner! Comment below, or like and comment on Facebook and Instagram to register your support (maximum one comment per week per user). Voting for “San Juan Madness” is open […]

The post San Juan Madness appeared first on Paddling Magazine.

For decades, Grey Owl Paddles has been a fixture in canoes across Canada. Now, as the brand marks its 50th anniversary, it’s found a new home. The acquisition is the perfect off-season match to complement an already thriving hockey stick manufacturing business, says new owner W. Graeme Roustan, executive chairman of Roustan Sports Ltd. Grey […]

The post Grey Owl Paddles Set For Expansion Under New Ownership appeared first on Paddling Magazine.

We awake early in the tent, mentally prepared for the daunting crossing of the Sermilik Fjord. My partner, Julie, and I dismantle the polar bear perimeter guard, grab the rifle and walk out to our launch point to reassess the crossing. Chris Christie dodges icebergs in East Greenland The marine fog is burning off, revealing a […]

The post Chris Christie Dodges Icebergs In East Greenland appeared first on Paddling Magazine.