Earlier this year, thousands of workers crowded into a huge building known as the Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This building housed several clothing factories, where workers endured deplorable working conditions not uncommon in many developing countries. As the workday unfolded, the building suddenly began rumbling and shaking. However, this was no earthquake, but the imminent collapse of the shoddily constructed building itself!

Many historians have written about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. From Edward Gibbon’s epic work to modern books on the subject, numerous reasons are offered for Rome’s decline that offer interesting parallels to America’s declining power and prestige. Could America also fall?

From the barbarian hordes and the over-extension of the military to moral and political decay, the reasons given by historians for the Roman Empire’s decline and fall are wide-ranging.

My wife and I once had the opportunity to rescue a baby deer, which had become separated from its mother and was on the verge of dying. While we were driving to and from a deer rehabilitation center in North Carolina, we began discussing our experience, and it became quite apparent that there is a great deal of responsibility and joy associated with taking care of God’s creation. We saw this experience as a God-given opportunity to help us learn some vital lessons in how important it is to tend and keep the earth.

It seems that every generation has its own style of music. Someone who grew up in the 1940s probably enjoys the sounds of the “big band” era. Then, in the late 40s and early 50s, the plaintive sounds of country music filled the airwaves as tales of heartache and hard times were set to music. From the classics to the singing celebrities of the “Grand Old Opry” to the age of electronica today, music certainly seems to “tug at the strings” of the human heart.

The ability to see is a wonderful, incredible gift from our Creator. You may have an eye exam to check your vision. What about your spiritual vision? How well do you see?