The World and Everything in It: May 15, 2024

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like me. I'm Kristen Golson. And I serve as a missionary in Knysna, South Africa where I teach computer classes at our skills development center. I've listened to The World and Everything in It for many years and I finally got my daughters to listen as well. So girls as you get ready for your day, six time zones behind me. I hope you enjoy today's program.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! The Supreme Court is in its final weeks handing down decisions, including whether to do away with deference to government agencies.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: We’ll review pending big decisions with a legal expert on Washington Wednesday. Also, World Tour.

And, God’s provision for a family whose children needed multiple organ transplants.

SCHMITT: It really worried me early on about the money, but you get to a certain point that you don't care anymore…

And contrasting heroes of Greek mythology to the ordinary heroes of the Bible.

REICHARD: It’s Wednesday, May 15th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

MAST: And I’m Lindsay Mast. Good morning!

REICHARD: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

BLINKEN-ZELENSKYY GREETING: So good to see you./Good to see you and welcome./Wonderful to be back. 

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Ukraine/Blinken » Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy welcoming U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Tuesday in Kyiv.

The secretary made the unannounced visit in a show of support … as Russia ramps up its attacks in the border region of Kharkiv.

BLINKEN:  A strong, successful, thriving, free Ukraine is the best possible rebuke to Putin, uh, and the best possible guarantor for your future. And for all of that, the United States is and will remain a committed partner.

Meanwhile…

SOUND: [Artillery fire]

Russia’s Defense Ministry releasing new video it says came from the battlefield. Russia claims to have captured a residential area in northeast Ukraine’s Kharkov region.

Russia is hurrying to capitalize on Ukraine’s ammunition shortage as renewed military aid from the U.S. gradually arrives in the country.

He also praised the courage of Ukrainians, telling students at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute:

BLINKEN: The spirit of Ukrainians cannot be destroyed by a bomb or buried in a mass grave. It cannot be bought with a bribe or repressed with a threat. It is pure. It is unbreakable. And it is why Ukraine will succeed.

Israel/U.S. weapons » Meantime, on Capitol Hill, some Republicans are calling on President Biden to ensure that weapons arrive promptly in Israel.

Sen. Mike Rounds is among those denouncing the Biden administration’s decision to withhold certain bombs, and possibly other ammunition, until or unless Israel abandons plans for a ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah …

ROUNDS:  He is telling them how they should run their war. He is also then releasing that information of a private conversation, uh, to the world. In doing so, he is sending a message to Hamas, which gives them an opportunity to, to play with it.

Republicans in both chambers are pushing legislation that seeks to force the administration's hand on providing weapons to Israel without restriction.

The Associated Press reports that the Biden administration is planning to send more than $1 billion in additional arms and ammunition to Israel. The shipment will reportedly consist of more than 3,000 bombs, though there was no immediate indication … that the shipment would include the 2,000-pound bombs the administration has been withholding.

IDF destroys Hamas command center » Meantime, Israeli fighter jets have taken out a Hamas command center near Rafah, killing 15 people. WORLD’s Mark Mellinger has more.

MARK MELLINGER: Israeli officials say at least 10 of the 15 killed were Hamas fighters.

They added that the center was set up in a school run by UNRWA. That’s the United Nations Palestinian relief agency. Israel believes the agency has employed Hamas members within its ranks.

Israeli Defense Forces, or IDF, says it planned the strike carefully to minimize risk to civilians.

Meantime, Israeli tanks pushed deeper into Rafah Tuesday, reaching some residential areas.

Since the start of the ground offensive, the IDF says it’s killed around 100 Hamas fighters, recovered weapons, and discovered close to a dozen hidden tunnels.

Axios reports Israel has promised not to expand its Rafah operations until after U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visits Israel this weekend, but the White House won’t confirm that.

For WORLD, I’m Mark Mellinger.

China tariffs » President Biden says his administration is slapping new tariffs on numerous products from China including steel, solar equipment, lithium-ion batteries, and electric vehicles.

The president says Chinese companies in these sectors have an unfair advantage, because they’re backed by government subsidies and can operate at a loss, undercutting global competitors.

BIDEN: The fact is American workers are, can outwork and outcompete anyone as long as the competition is fair. But for too long it hasn’t been fair. 

Biden also took a shot at his Republican rival, Donald Trump, saying Trump’s trade deal with China didn’t result in the Chinese buying more imported goods as promised.

But Trump fired back:

TRUMP:  On the electric vehicles that Biden is pushing down everybody's throat, even though people don't want ‘em. He wants to put a big tariff on China, which is a suggestion that I said, Where have you been for three and a half years? They should have done it a long time ago.

Mike Johnson, GOP at Trump trial/trial latest » Trump spoke from the Manhattan courthouse where he’s spent much of his time for more than a month now. This is week-five of his trial in New York’s criminal business fraud case against him.

Republican lawmakers stood outside the courthouse today in a show of support including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who called it a “sham of a trial.” He said prosecutors could have brought this case years ago, but they didn’t.

JOHNSON:  Why is that? Because there's no crime here. Now, eight years later, suddenly they've resurrected this thing. They brought it back. And why is that? Well, just apply common sense. Everyone can see it's painfully obvious they were now six months out from an election day. 

Inside the courthouse, Defense attorneys cross examined former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who testified against his former boss. Johnson said Cohen is someone who “has a history of perjury and is well known for it,” adding, “No one should believe a word he says.”

SOUND: [PROTESTS]

Georgia foreign agents law » Protesters have flooded the streets outside Parliament in the nation of Georgia, outraged over a new law they say threatens free speech and the country’s hopes of joining the European Union.

Under the Russian-style law organizations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from foreign sources have to register as agents of foreign influence.

The government says the law is aimed at increasing transparency. But protesters, like political analyst Alex Petriashvili, say this law drags the country back to its Soviet roots.

PETRIASHVILI: It is important to demonstrate that the Georgian society and Georgian people will not accept blocking its path toward the European Union in going back to the USSR. 

Georgia's president says she’ll veto the law, but Parliament can override that with a simple majority vote.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Reviewing big cases before the Supreme Court on Washington Wednesday. Plus, World Tour.

This is The World and Everything in It.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: It’s Wednesday the 15th of May, 2024. Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Lindsay Mast.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Time now for Washington Wednesday.

Over these last months, we’ve covered big Supreme Court cases over issues like abortion, guns, presidential immunity, homelessness, and online censorship. No doubt some of the final decisions will be unpopular with some people.

MAST: But, as Justice Brett Kavanaugh told a law conference on Friday, time can turn unpopular decisions into cherished parts of American law. Speaking to justices and clerks from the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals, he pointed to the Warren Court of the ‘50s and ‘60s. It expanded civil rights in ways that were unpopular at the time, but are now well respected, in particular the decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

REICHARD: One of the biggest issues before the court this term is what’s known as Chevron deference. It allows federal agencies to take an ambiguous law and write unambiguous rules. The doctrine arose from a landmark case in the 1980s called Chevron v Natural Resources Defense Council.

MAST: Just last year, Biden administration agencies issued more than 3,000 rules. Compare that to only 65 bills from Congress signed into law.

Several justices on the Supreme Court have said it’s time to clip Chevron back.

REICHARD: Well, joining us now to talk about this and other cases is Alexander Volokh, a law professor and former Supreme Court clerk. He now teaches at Emory University School of Law.

Professor Volokh, good morning.

ALEXANDER VOLOKH: Good morning.

REICHARD: How do you assess the trouble with the Chevron Doctrine from a legal analysis perspective?

VOLOKH: That is an extraordinary doctrine. Usually, we assume that judges are completely neutral between both sides, even when one side is the government, the judges read the statute, and they come up with their best view of what the statute means. If it's ambiguous, they have to consider everything and figure out what reading is best. The Chevron doctrine says no, you actually have to accept the government's interpretation. And that puts a huge thumb on the scales on the side of the government. And over the last 20 years, the Supreme Court has been gradually limiting the scope of Chevron. And basically saying that there are many cases where we should not defer to the government; rather, judges should use their independent judgment. Of course, you should listen to the government, government agencies might have expertise. So it'd be irresponsible to not consider what they think. But the idea that you should allow the agencies to have binding authority as to the interpretation of a statute that Congress passed? That just seems like a recipe for the growth of the executive branch. And so it's not surprising that many justices today are willing to limit or in fact, even throw out entirely, the Chevron Doctrine. 

REICHARD: This Supreme Court term several challenges to Chevron have come before the court. Can you roughly sketch the facts of one and how you think it might go?

VOLOKH: So one of the cases involves an agency called the National Marine Fisheries Service. And the National Marine Fisheries Service, as its name indicates, regulates fishing and whether people are fishing consistently with their permits, and so on. And sometimes there are fishing boats that have to have observers actually on the boats to make sure that they're following the proper regulations. Well, one big question is who has to pay for the observers? Does the fishing boat have to pay for the observers? Unfortunately, Congress did not express itself clearly on this question. And this is a case where the evidence kind of goes both ways. But the government said, No, we don't have to pay for the observers, you guys have to pay for the observers. So the question is, should we take the government's word for it? Or rather, should judges use their independent judgment? And so that's really a question where Chevron potentially is going to make a difference. Because if Chevron applies, then you have to accept the government's reading as long as it's reasonable. But if not, judges have to decide for themselves.

REICHARD: It’s always an educated guess, I know, but based on how the justices’ questioned lawyers in those oral arguments…how do you think it’s going to go?

VOLOKH: I don't know whether there's a majority for overruling Chevron outright. There are various ways that the justices could limit Chevron without overruling it. But it does seem that there's clearly a majority for some kind of limitation of Chevron, if not an overruling entirely.

REICHARD: Ok, now let’s move on to another big issue before the high court: Abortion, again. The case is FDA versus Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. Remind us of this one?

VOLOKH: Well, this is a case where there's an abortion drug that had been approved by the FDA. And the challengers say that it should not have been approved by the FDA because they have arguments that it's not safe. But that's not really relevant. The real legal question is, can these people sue, to force the FDA to withdraw the approval of a drug? And this involves a very important doctrine called standing. If you want to sue in federal court, you not only have to have a good argument for that something is illegal, but you yourself have to be injured by the decision that you're challenging. And it has to be such that the decision that you're challenging has injured you and if you win, then that injury gets taken away. The problem is, who exactly is injured by the FDA approval of a drug? No one has to take that drug if they don't want to. And the challengers are these doctors who say, well, because the drug was approved, these women take the drug, and then they have side effects. And then they come into my emergency room, and then I have to take care of them. Now, even if you accept all of that, how can the blame be laid at the feet of the FDA? Because when the FDA approves a drug, all it's saying is the drug is legal, we will not prosecute you if if you prescribe it or if you use it. That doesn't make anybody take it.

REICHARD: Alright, we leave that one and move on to another case with huge implications: Trump v United States. This asks whether former President Donald Trump has immunity from prosecution from events of January 6th, 2021. What do you see as the likely outcome?

VOLOKH: Yeah, well, this is very difficult, and it's hard to exactly read the tea leaves on this. I think everyone accepts that there is some kind of immunity for the President. The question is just how far does that sort of immunity extend? I think regardless of our politics, we all have to be concerned about if we had a decision that said presidents have no immunity for anything, we would have to be really concerned about that. Because on the one hand, you know, maybe if we hate Trump, we might say yes, rah, rah, put Trump in prison. But we have to consider what if Trump wins? And what if Trump decides to prosecute Biden? You know, every president does something that's not only controversial, but something which if a private individual had done it would have been criminal. So could you prosecute Biden for saying that, “Oh, we don't think that you have secured the border well enough. And so you're responsible for inviting illegal aliens into the country. Or we think that you are responsible for genocide in Gaza, because you have supported, because you have provided weapons to the Israelis.” And you know, there, there's so many things where a president who is out to get somebody, especially his former political opponent, would be able to bring all sorts of unjustified prosecution. So there has to be some kind of immunity. The question is just how far does that extend? And so I think even though the justices think that there should be some amount of immunity, but I think there's a lot of disagreement over how to phrase an appropriate rule, which is going to balance the need to hold presidents accountable with–at the same time–the need to prevent unjustified prosecutions of presidents. And I think both of those are kind of important problems on both sides of the scale.

REICHARD: Final question here, Professor, back to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s remarks at the Fifth Circuit conference. He said the Supreme Court should accept more cases for review. They average around 60 a year right now, compared to the more than 100 or so the Supreme Court took in the early ‘90s. Justice Kavanaugh has publicly spoken up about cases the high court declined to hear this term…from split court decisions to conflict over Congressional law. Things like that. What do you think of Kavanaugh’s assessment of the court’s caseload?

VOLOKH: I think this is a question that any sort of Supreme Court has to deal with. And there is such a thing as too much. So I think that where the Supreme Court does the greatest job is in resolving big issues involving important statutes that come up over and over where there's been disagreement between lower courts, and where they can express principles that will really be useful in guiding lower courts in the future and clarifying what the law is. Now, when I was clerking 20 years ago, the court would take about 80 cases, and yet now it's even lower at about 60. I would like to see the court take more cases. But there's an argument that taking fewer cases is better for purposes of having higher quality decisions in those cases that they take. You know, I'm inclined to agree with Kavanaugh, but it's a difficult question.

REICHARD: Have to leave it there. So much to talk about. Alexander Volokh is a law professor and former Supreme Court clerk. He now teaches at Emory University School of Law.

Professor, thanks so much.

VOLOKH: Thanks very much.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

AUDIO: [Chanting]

Tunisia protests — Today’s World Tour takes off with chanting protesters in Tunisia calling for elections and other democratic freedoms.

Tunisian authorities on Saturday detained two journalists for reportedly making critical comments. They also arrested a lawyer who has criticized Tunisian President Kais Saied.

Saied assumed office in 2019. Two years later, he shut down the parliament, took charge of the judiciary, and began ruling by decree.

Opposition leaders have called for a better political climate with more freedoms and a free press. The country is expected to hold a general election this year, but the Election Commission has not announced a date.

Ahmed Nejib Chebbi co-founded the National Salvation Front opposition coalition.

NEJIB CHEBBI: [Speaking French]

He says here that the opposition will boycott the next election if the conditions are unfair.

Tunisian lawyers across the country started to strike on Monday to protest the arrests.

AUDIO: [Protests]

Georgia vote — Next, an update on a story we reported earlier this month. In the European country of Georgia, protesters remained out in the streets on Tuesday after parliament approved a controversial bill tagged as a foreign agent law.

The legislation will require non-government organizations and independent media organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from foreign donors to register as “bearing the interests of a foreign power.”

The Justice Ministry will also monitor them and could require them to share sensitive information.

Supporters have said the bill will help prevent foreign interference in the country’s politics. But critics say it resembles a Russian law that authorities there use to silence independent media and groups.

Nikoloz Samkharadze is a lawmaker in the ruling Georgian Dream party.

SAMKHARADZE: Branding or labeling this law as a Russian law doesn't lead to a constructive engagement, because this law has nothing to do with the Russian law.

Protesters camped outside the parliament overnight ahead of the vote.

Irakli Kakhadze is a 21-year-old student who joined protesters on Monday in the capital city of Tbilisi.

KRAKLI KAKHADZE: [Speaking Georgian]

He says here that students plan to remain on strike until the bill is withdrawn.

Georgia’s president has two weeks to either approve or veto the bill.

AUDIO: [Sound of displaced people setting up tents]

Afghanistan floods — Over in northern Afghanistan, families are still searching for their missing after heavy flash floods last week.

The United Nations has said more than 300 people have died. Rescue workers are still trying to access some of the worst-hit regions, raising concerns that the death toll could rise.

AUDIO: [Truck working]

Damaged roads and bridges have also hindered aid delivery.

Bibi Shereen lost her home in Fulool village.

SHEREEN: [Speaking Dari]

She says she found nothing left when she returned home.

The World Health Organization has warned that water-borne diseases could rise in the flood-affected areas.

Heavy flash floods have also hit Indonesia where at least 43 people have died. And in southern Brazil, flooding killed more than 120 people.

AUDIO: [Welcome music]

Prince Harry in Nigeria — We wrap up in Nigeria, where Prince Harry and his wife Meghan concluded a three-day visit on Sunday.

AUDIO: [Cheers]

The couple dropped by a mental health event at a school in Abuja, joined a basketball event in Lagos, and met with injured Nigerian soldiers in the northwest.

During their visit, Prince Harry spoke about the Invictus Games that he founded several years ago for sick and wounded servicemembers.

HARRY: The power of sport can change lives. It brings people together and creates community. And there are no barriers, which is the most important thing.

Nigeria participated in the Invictus Games last year.

That’s it for today’s WORLD Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: This week Marie Fowler walked across the stage at Howard University to receive her doctorate in divinity.

Fowler told WJLA-TV:

MARIE FOWLER: It was never my thought that I would go beyond maybe one semester because after all, I started school when I had been out of school since 1959!

You heard right. Fowler left school 65 years ago, then came back in the last 8 years to earn her bachelors and masters and now doctorate at the age of 83.

She was partly motivated by the legacy of her parents.

FOWLER: My mom and dad were born in an era when it was illegal for them to learn to read and write.

So now, Fowler holds the honor of being the oldest graduate of Howard University. She says God called her to this, and she has a message:

FOWLER: It is never too late. I want everyone to realize that.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Like the book of Job– “So with old age is wisdom, and with length of days understanding.” Goals!

REICHARD: Indeed!

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, May 15th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: organ donation.

The 2024 movie Ordinary Angels focused on the true story of a three-year-old’s emergency liver transplant during a snowstorm.

Movies, of course, focus on a story’s drama, but may forego the details— like the recovery process after the transplant.

REICHARD: WORLD Associate Correspondent Noah Burgdorf has that story.

ED SCHMITT: When we got back home from Ashley's liver transplant, we got a cardboard box in the mail that was 932 pages long. It was a bill. And the bill was right over $900,000.

NOAH BURGDORF: Ed Schmitt has seen so many medical bills over the last 30 years that he doesn’t even really think about it anymore…

ED SCHMITT: It really worried me early on about the money, but you get to a certain point that you don't care anymore…

Schmitt lives in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1992 he lost his wife to a rare autoimmune disease. But that was just the tip of the iceberg…

ED SCHMITT: Both of my daughters were born with a liver deficiency and both needing liver transplants…

In February, Lionsgate released the film Ordinary Angels, which focuses on his younger daughter Michelle needing an emergency transplant in the middle of a snowstorm, but three years earlier, Ed’s elder daughter, Ashley was the one in need of a liver transplant.

ASHLEY SCHMITT: I had a liver transplant when I was three years old, October 1st of 1991.

Getting an organ transplant is often just the beginning of a very long journey. There are frequent check-ups, complications from medication, and a high susceptibility to illness.

ASHLEY SCHMITT: We did get sicker than other kids more often. And you know, what one kid might take a few days to get over would take us a week or so to get over. Or we might have to go in a hospital for a few days up to a week.

Ed says that the burden of losing his wife and caring for his children took a toll on his faith and stopped going to church altogether.

ED SCHMITT: I did lose my religion. For not just a short amount of time, for a long time. I wouldn't go because I couldn’t understand what I’d done.

Ed says that he started going back to church after his daughters shared their testimonies at a youth group they’d been attending.

ED SCHMITT: So I found it. But I mean, there are still days, I can't understand all this.

Organ transplants are a lot to care for. There are a lot of costly medications intended to keep the body from rejecting the transplanted organ. And those pills can be really hard on the kidneys.

ASHLEY SCHMITT: So in 2011, I got sick, my kidneys were failing. You feel terrible all the time, you know, you're throwing up, not eating well. And then about a month and a half later, Michele got sick and her kidneys started shutting down.

Both sisters ended up needing a second transplant. Ashley received a kidney from a deceased donor, but Michelle’s kidney came from someone they knew very well.

CRYSTAL OLAFSON: They say there's no reason why we have two kidneys except to donate them. [Laughter]

When Crystal heard her friend needed a kidney, she knew she wanted to help.

OLAFSON: I had to do a lot of scans. I also had to talk to my family and bring them in. We had to talk to a psychologist to make sure, you know, this is what you want to do.

The medical team also wanted to make sure Crystal wasn’t doing it for the wrong reasons, but eventually, she was given the green light.

OLAFSON: It wasn't much of anything. I just didn't think much of it at the time. I just knew it was gonna happen.

Ed and Ashley say Crystal was a real God send.

ASHLEY SCHMITT: We've known her since elementary school. So it was just a perfect gift from God, I think that it worked out perfectly that way.

Michelle passed in 2021 from a stomach aneurysm but Crystal’s kidney gave her almost another decade of life. Today Ed, Ashley, and Crystal enjoy telling their story in honor of Michelle. They’ve been on the receiving end of so much, so they now advocate for the many others like them who are on the waiting list—often unseen.

OLAFSON: There's over 65,000 people at the Super Bowl, but over 100,000 People are waiting for an organ transplant. And so when you look around at the Super Bowl, and you see that many people to know that there's way more people out there who need a transplant—that’s a really good visual.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Noah Burgdorf in Louisville, Kentucky.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Wednesday, May 15th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Lindsay Mast.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next: WORLD commentator Janie B. Cheaney on finding the “bright shadow” of Christ in the world.

JANIE B. CHEANEY: As an avid elementary-school reader, I devoured Greek and Norse mythology. A particular book series published in the early 1960s fed my appetite with illustrations of a muscular Prometheus chained to the rock and a willowy Psyche spying on Eros. Gorgeous people, heroic poses, shiveringly gory incidents of a pecked-out liver and a snaky head swiped off. It’s no wonder myths have an enduring appeal, whether retold, resold, updated, or upended.

By contrast, what was I learning in Sunday school? Instead of gold dust we can almost smell the camel sweat on the heroes of the Bible. In Genesis we mostly encounter old men. One hears a voice and builds a boat, another hears the same voice and leaves his city for a life of perpetual wandering. We’re told there were giants in the earth at one time, but they are barely worth a mention. A massive flood sweeps the earth clean of titans. And instead of featuring magical hammers or golden fleece, Old Testament stories often tell of common conniving, contrivance, and everyday ambition.

Many of the Bible’s supernatural events, even a pivotal one like the flood, are just nature stretching itself to accommodate divine will. The holy visions are curiously down-to-earth: a smoking pot passing between animal carcasses and bright angels on a staircase. Heaven shines on dirt and sweat, not on bronze-muscled heroes, epic voyages, or fantastic monsters.

In his spiritual autobiography Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis recalls a key moment in his conversion. It came when he discovered one of the romances of George McDonald in a book stall at a railway station. He picked up the book because it promised epic adventures and supernatural encounters—and he found those, but also something else–an otherworldly light shining on this-worldly commonplaces.

All his life to that point, Lewis had been struck at times by an intense longing for what he called Joy: something that spoke to him from Olympus and Asgard and other mythical places, something that didn’t exist in real life. But through McDonald’s Christian perspective, he says, “I saw the bright shadow coming out of the book into the real world and resting there, transforming all common things and yet itself unchanged. Or more accurately, I saw the common things drawn into the bright shadow.”

The Bible’s ultimate hero, Jesus, walked on dusty roads and ate common food. Most of the miracles, or “signs,” he performed were simply stretching nature to multiply fish or undo a malady. But, as John writes, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” He came to us where we are and his “bright shadow” falls on our ordinary moments—whether we see it or not. But I’m trying harder to see it.

I’m Janie B. Cheaney.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Tomorrow: The UK has reversed course on sex-change procedures. Why isn’t the U.S. learning from Europe on this one? We’ll have a report. And, sharing good news with Alaska natives. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Lindsay Mast.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The apostle Paul wrote of the Macedonian churches: “For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.” —II Corinthians 8:3-5

Go now in grace and peace.

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