In early September, the Supreme Court allowed a Texas statute to remain in effect before lower courts battle to see if it is constitutional. The statute prohibits most abortions in Texas after six weeks of pregnancy. The Court voted 5-to-4 to allow the statute for now.

The statute also empowers private citizens, not state officials, to enforce the ban on abortions after six weeks. This innovation helped the statute stay viable and not be struck down. Other states have been unsuccessful in doing what Texas has done because they lacked this innovation.

We are all aware of the dangers of traumatic events. These events—like physical, sexual, or psychological abuse—can impact victims for many years. Research into this field is also addressing how certain trauma can be passed on generationally.

Generational trauma entails maladaptive behaviors and patterns passed down from parents to children. Let me give you a couple of examples. One would be when a parent has experienced childhood abuse of some sort. Once they have their own children they begin abusing them in the same way they were abused. Children often mirror or replicate what they learned from their parents in so many ways.

As I exited my local grocery store recently I noticed a large truck near my vehicle. As I got closer there were some store employees milling about the vehicles. After putting my groceries in my trunk I realized the driver of the truck had recently imbedded his Ford Silverado into the right front grill of my Toyota Corolla. I had been hit and my car got the raw end of the exchange.

In July I attended a family reunion in Nashville, Tennessee. My cousin’s home was picked because of the centrality of his location to relatives in the east and west. He also has done very well for himself and he has a very large backyard with a huge pool. This reunion was for family members on my father’s side of the family. The last time I saw so many members of my family at an event was a funeral. It was good to see everyone on a more joyous occasion.

You might wonder how a blog on house hunting can get spiritual. Well, please give me some time to explain.

It all began on a Saturday night in June as I decided we should drive all night to get a good head start on our cross-country drive. The destination was California to search for a home. We made it in about 53 hours with one hotel stop somewhere in Oklahoma. We were driving from Maryland. Upon our arrival in California we set out on three consecutive days of house hunting for about eight hours per day. By the end of that first weekend on the trip we put bids in on two houses.

Last summer, the Defense Department issued a news release with the following headline: "Establishment of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF)." The mission of the UAPTF is "to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security," according to the Pentagon.

A few months after this, as part of President Trump's spending and pandemic relief package, the Senate Intelligence Committee included a provision calling for the director of national intelligence to help produce an unclassified report on everything government agencies know about Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), including many unusual sightings reported by military pilots. The report came out in late June 2021.

In early May, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon promised to push ahead with another Scotland independence referendum after her party gained a strong result in Scottish Parliament elections. Sturgeon commented that an independence referendum was the "will of the country" when her Scottish National Party (SNP) and pro-independence allies took a majority of the 129 seats in an early May election.

The SNP wants another try at an independence vote, which it lost in 2014 by 45 to 55 percent. The SNP feels views have changed since the 2016 vote to break with the European Union (E.U.) (Brexit), which 62 percent of Scottish voters opposed. Since 2014, Scotland has voted overwhelmingly against Brexit, 62 percent to 38 percent.

Luke 21:20 says this: “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh (KJV).” I have run into a couple “church people” over the past few weeks who have been concerned by the recent fighting in and around Jerusalem. They are concerned if this could be significant in regard to biblical prophecy. My opinion at the moment is, no.

Over the past few weeks 232 Palestinians and 12 Israelis died due to rocket and precision bombing. A cease-fire was reached on May 20 between Israel and Hamas militants after 11 days of violence. But let’s not forget about the violence between Palestinians and Israelis in 2014. During that conflict, which lasted weeks, thousands died. Prior to that, there were many more days of deadly violence between these two peoples.

As I prepared to set off for Worcester, Massachusetts during the week prior to Pentecost weekend (May 15-16, 2021) I was alarmed to find most of the gas stations in my community were out of gas. I was wondering how far up the east coast this condition would go. Lucky for me, when I picked up my rental car it had a full tank of gas, and once I got north of the outer Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C. the gas stations were operating normally.

But what I want to discuss is what caused the gas stations around me and in many states south of me to run dry of gasoline during the week of May 9-16, 2021.

The United States (U.S.) birthrate fell 4 percent last year, making it the most significant annual decrease in many decades. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show the U.S. birthrate dropping for the sixth consecutive year. The biggest drop happened in the last part of last year, showing some influence by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Before the pandemic, U.S. birth rates were on the decline due to people having fewer children, having children later, or choosing not to have kids.

Only about 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2020. In 2019, there were 3.75 million babies born in this country. This is the lowest number of births in this country since 1979. This is the biggest one-year drop in births, in percentage terms, since 1965, according to Philip N. Cohen, a sociologist at the University of Maryland.

What is mercy? One definition is compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone within one's power to punish or harm. This obviously makes mercy a characteristic of God.

In Joel 2:1-3, we read the following: "Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity."

The number of Americans who consider themselves members of a church, mosque or synagogue has dropped to 47 percent, according to a recent Gallup poll. In 1937 when Gallup first began asking Americans if they were part of a church, mosque, or synagogue—membership was at 73 percent.

In a recent blog from November (https://www.cgi.org/news-and-events/2020/11/17/losing-our-religion) we provided other survey data on the lack of religious commitment in the United States (US). The Gallup poll is just another new indicator of this. Some analysts say this is going to have major implications for politics, business, and how Americans group themselves in the future.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) China has surpassed the United States (US) as the world's top destination for new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). New investments into the US from foreign companies fell by almost half in 2020. The US was down to $134 billion last year. Of course, some of this is due to the Covid-19 situation, but FDI in the US has been declining since a peak of $472 billion was reached in 2016. Since then, US FDI is declining.

Chinese companies jumped 4 percent in FDI last year, surpassing the US as number one in the world in that category. In 2016 China had only $134 billion in FDI, but last year led the world with a total of $163 billion. In 2019, the US was at $251 billion while China received $140 billion.

With winter finally over, we enter into our Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread season. During this season, we are reminded to examine (1 Corinthians 11:28-29) ourselves and figure out what elements of our character need to be changed and improved. But let's be honest with ourselves. Are you still trying to work through issues you remind yourself of during each Passover season?

Change is a difficult process. Most change takes time, and there are a variety of reasons for that. Let me give you one big reason why change is hard. Our brain's area that handles routines (the basal ganglia) requires little energy to operate effectively. A different part of the brain is used to process new information or new options (the prefrontal cortex). In a change situation, the prefrontal cortex is used much more, and it is very energy-intensive. Continual demands on its resources are uncomfortable.