The September 2000 issue of Carolina Country magazine reported the story of an unusual funeral home in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The have installed a drive-through viewing window. People can view the body of the deceased without ever getting our of their cars. Of course that misses the point of funeral home...

He had been swindled out of his home in Washington, D.C. and he was homeless, one Sunday he was standing in front of the National Cathedral when then President George Bush and his wife Barbara were going in. "Pray for me," he said to the President. "No," said President Bush. "Come in and pray for your-self." He did, and...

In J. K. Rowling's now famous novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone there is a warning engraved on the doors of the bank: Enter stranger, but take heed - Of what awaits the sin of greed - For those who take, but do not earn - Must pay most dearly in their turn. It is good advice for anyone anytime, but it is...

Our word pittance has come to mean a very tiny gift, but that was not its original meaning. In the Middle Ages the term referred to a very substantial sum, given "out of piety and pity." Often the interest from the fund was used to provide a splendid dinner for the monks in the monastery. But as time went on and inflation took its...