Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

Here's a sermon in motion, an ex situ passion play, an evangelical moment, and a statement of faith.  "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24. Today, we celebrate the empty cross. Easter is Resurrection Day! [1994]

Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Dozens of murals make Cincinnati's downtown and the neighborhoods so much more livable. Who paints them? Teen artists like this one. Since 2007, the city has put youth to work and given them something to be proud of. This mural is called "Mr. Tarbel Tips His Hat." [2012]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Fleur-de-Lis: so New Orleans!
Color Coral: so New Orleans!
Balcony (Faux): so New Orleans!
Wrought Iron: so New Orleans!
Gas Lamp: so New Orleans!
Buskers Busking: so New Orleans!
Washboard Strum: so New Orleans!
Bourbon Street: so New Orleans!
[2011]

Goldsboro, Pennsylvania,USA

Goldsboro nestles between the Newberry Township hills and the Susquehanna River. Not far off shore lies an island that hosts a nuclear power station: one that went berserk on this date in 1979 precipitating the evacuation of 144,000 people. The name of the island is shared by the nuclear installation. What is it? [2007]

Liverpool, England, UK

How far is Liverpool from London? 2 hours and 19 minutes. How far is Paris from London?  2 hours and 19 minutes. In time-space, Liverpool and Paris are equidistant from London. In geographic space, Liverpool is 60 miles closer to London. How do you explain these equations? [2011]

Ürgüp, Cappadocia, Turkey

It looks so simple today, but the invention of the potters wheel represented a major step forward in civilization, and that was at least 5,000 years ago. Don't you wonder how much different his pot is than the one made by his ancestors in the Bronze Age?  [2007]

Victoria, Gozo, Malta

Fruits and vegetables add color to otherwise drab sidewalks, but too much of that color is hiding behind those greenish bins (hardly a hue out of nature's palette). If you are going to show off your produce, do it right. Let it molt. [2009]

Franklin, Tennessee, USA

Rusty is a monument to moving on after deindustrialization. His organs are recycled mechanicals: water tank for a bladder, time clock for a watch, and car horns for a nose. He is only five years old, but already 20 feet tall! Behind him is The Factory, his former workplace but now a boutique shopping mall. Name on his birth certificate: Rusty Mechanism. [2010]

Laie, Hawaii, USA

Boardshorts (preferably color coordinated with the board) are a part of surfing culture. They must offer more coverage than briefs in order to protect the hair on the back of the legs while sitting on the board waiting for the next wave. What would this dude be wearing if he were surfing in California? [2011]

Waiheke Island, New Zealand

. . . sand/shell . . . dark/light . . . lithogenous/biogenous . . . volcanic/organic . . . plural/dual . . . random/regular . . . particulate/arcuate . . . dusk/dawn . . .  [2006]

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Building those high rises isn't easy. But, when it's done, we love the convenience high density brings to our workaday lives. Never, though, do we write a thank you letter to men like this. Picture for a moment the people who built your city. Who do you see in that picture? Do you put them on a pedestal – or construction elevator – where they belong? [2012]

Chincoteague, Virginia, USA

The fishing industry is divided into three sectors: recreational fishing, subsistence fishing, and commercial fishing. Which one is going on here along Virginia's Atlantic coast? [1992]

Resafa, Syria

Inside his tent, an Arab sheikh presides over a clan gathering in the Syrian Desert. Not that anyone in the clan lives there. The desert's function now is to provide a setting for families to reunite and affirm the wisdom of traditional ways. Nearby Resafa (a city called Sergiopolis under the Byzantines) was abandoned centuries ago. [1993]

Resafa, Syria

Cauldron after cauldron of stewing lamb, and not a woman in sight. Unfortunately, the heavens opened up before the meal was served. The raindrops liquefied the desert floor and everyone went home. Since no paved roads lead this way, the evacuation was accompanied by a chorus of spinning wheels singing their way out of the mud. [1993]

Resafa, Syria

These men aren't nomads. They are simply celebrating their tent-dweller past, complete with qahwah, or coffee, served in the smallest of cups and flavored with cardamom. [1993]

Sosua, Dominican Republic

Natural rubber was never a major Dominican export, but two decades after this picture was taken, the industry has just about expired. You can see how labor intensive rubber production was. Trees were scored by hand, and the latex collected in old 'coffee' cans. It's just easier to synthesize rubber from petroleum. [1992]

Encamp, Andorra

Tourism is now the leading industry in Andorra, and it has been for decades. Agriculture has been on the decline. Still, small fields of tobacco hang on. In fact, they mesh with the tourism industry. They are used as a design element to make the valleys more picturesque. [2005]

St. Peter's Square, Vatican City

St. Peter's Square was brimming with humanity yesterday as white smoke rose from the Sistine chimney. A new pope was elected by the Cardinal Electors. The geography of the choice made news: the 366th Holy Father is the first from the Western Hemisphere and the first from the Southern Hemisphere. Godspeed, Pope Francis I. [2002]

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Markets days were Tuesdays and Saturdays when the Adelaide's City Market opened in 1869.  In 1902, gas lighting gave way to electrical lighting.  In the 1960s, the market was virtually rebuilt and renamed Central Market.  Today, it is an anchor of the CBD.  [2011]

Dublin, Ireland

The Brazen Head is a foundation of Irish culture. It's proclaimed as the oldest pub in Ireland, founded in 1198. Location makes the assertion believable. It's at the oldest crossing point on the River Liffey, but it pre-dates even the first bridge there. [2004]

Madrid, Spain

In 1975, the Whopper arrived in Europe as Burger King secured a toe-hold on the continent in Madrid. Unlike France, which eventually got angry with the Whopper and expelled it, Spain decided it could sell an angry Whopper. [2009]

New York, New York, USA

Buy a big apple in the Big Apple. A pome like this, especially if it is organically grown, will fetch a high price if can find a lift into Manhattan, where market tables and scales await. Demand for fresh produce in the city stimulates production in the hinterland, and consumers have demonstrated their preference for anything that is locally grown. [2012]

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Dozens of Moorish Revival theaters and auditoriums opened across the United States in the 1920s. None of them were praying places for Muslims. In Atlanta, the Fox Theatre has survived only because Atlanta Landmarks organized a preservation drive which saved it from demolition. Next door is the AT&T Midtown Center. [2013]

Chicago, Illinois, USA

From the top of the Willis Tower, you can see all of the tallest buildings in Chicago, many of which are among the tallest buildings in the United States and the world. Which one stands tallest among its peers in this photograph? (A) Trump International Tower, (B) Aon Center, (C) John Hancock Center. [2006]

Delhi, India

Is there a better place to find a steady supply of customers than outside where everybody can see the quality of your work? Ironing requires rudimentary skills, minimal capital investment, and a little entrepreneurship. Processes of specialization that create urban economies begin in neighborhoods like this. [2011]

Ramsey, Isle of Man

If the Manx are really so super, they should have x-ray vision just like Superman. We need them in the world's airports. Given that they're faster than a speeding bullet (yes, acceleration is worshiped on the Isle of Man), they would be able to work at LAX or IAD and go home every night for dinner. Have you read Supermanx Versus the Terrorists? [2011]

Quneitra, Syria

Today, U.N. Peacekeepers are stationed in 15 locations around the world, most of them in the Middle East and Africa. With their blue berets, they have been patrolling the demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel on the Jaulan Plateau/Golan Heights since 1974. In the 1990s, the Poles were a prominent part of UNDOF (U.N. Defense Observer Force). [1996]

Paris, France

Unsettling, isn't it? Water is the symbol of life and Godliness. Water spouting from a serpent's mouth becomes venom, the symbol of death and devilish evil. [2005]

Athens, Greece

Looks like fun, doesn't it? And, who can say they've had a view of the Parthenon from that vantage point? The years leading up to the 2004 Olympics meant that Greece had to catch up with a lot of deferred maintenance. [2001]

Taipei, Taiwan

Just a guess:
Father and son?
Out for some fun?
Deterred by the rain?
Or how they keep sane?
Umbrella for two?
How communal: it's true!
Shared time! Shared Space!
Inspirational view
Of the whole human race!
[2011]

Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

The Nebraska capitol houses the core components of the state's governing apparatus. Surmounting the tower is a gold dome; surmounting the dome is a statue called The Sower. If it were built from black granite, it might remind you of Lincoln's stovepipe hat. Nebraska became a state on March 1, 1867. [2008]