If a tree falls in the forest but no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise? Can God make a rock so big he can't move it? Or two mountains without a valley in the middle? Or a square circle? Now add this question to our list of philosophical conundrums: if soccer is played in an empty stadium, is it still a spectator sport?

Today's New York Times reports that the Italian Cabinet approved measures yesterday which could force many of the teams in their top soccer leagues to play in empty stadiums. Only those facilities which have acceptable safety measures will be allowed to host spectators. All this in reaction to a fatal attack on a policeman last week. At least 38 people have been arrested in connection with Filippo Raciti's assault and death.

Speaking of spectators, today's Dallas Morning News tells us that the window displayed for years at The Sixth Floor Museum as Lee Harvey Oswald's sniper's perch is up for auction on eBay. The starting price is $100,000. The eBay ad describes it as "perhaps the most famous window ever offered up for sale in the world." Or it could be the wrong one, taken by mistake from the Texas School Book Depository by a confused worker.

A man who bought the building in 1970 said that he took the real sniper's perch when he lost the property to foreclosure. Several conspiracy theorists agree. But the owner is sure that his father displayed the correct window at his home for years before he died in 1986. His son loaned it to the museum, and is now selling it.

I have no idea whether it's a good idea to play a sport without fans (though the Texas Rangers did it for years). Nor do I have any way to know if the window which The Sixth Floor Museum formerly displayed is the one used by Oswald. I'll bet you don't know much more than me about such things. And I'll bet that your ignorance doesn't trouble you any more than mine bothers me. Neither question will change much about life on this Thursday morning.

Scripture agrees. God's word is far more interested in practical truth than speculative questions. It doesn't tell us how old the earth is because such knowledge is of little pragmatic value. It doesn't disclose what happened to the dinosaurs, since the question won't help you with your problems today. But the Bible is intensely interested in the present-tense issues we face on this Thursday. Since human nature doesn't change, God's word is as relevant today as when it was first inspired. When last did reading divine revelation change your life? When will it next?

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