A few years ago, I wrote that WORLD Magazine was a journalistic offering that faced the tension of being sometimes wide and sometimes deep. A biweekly newsmagazine—with the resources God had given us—could not cover the entire scope of reality or staff bureaus in every major city around the globe. So I wrote that we as journalists had to make judgments about how deep, or how wide, we would go in each article of each issue.

Dec. 14 will be the 100th anniversary of the death of college student George Gipp, nicknamed “The Gipper.” He was a halfback, quarterback, and punter on the 1920 Notre Dame football team coached by Knute Rockne. Cause of death: a streptococcal throat infection and pneumonia. Cause of his being remembered: Ronald Reagan played him in the 1940 film Knute Rockne, All American and ran for president with “The Gipper” as his nickname.

A homegrown app called Triller plans to capitalize on TikTok’s troubles and establish itself as the go-to platform for sharing dance clips—and it’s willing to pay big bucks.

“There’s a Million Things I haven’t done / But just you wait, just you wait.” Those lines in the great musical Hamilton are ones many of us feel, but at some point in God’s choosing our time runs out, and we get to experience greater things. It’s no contradiction for Christians to look forward to heaven but to be in no hurry to get there: Major league starting pitchers know that these days complete games are rare, but they still want to get through seven or eight innings.

On Monday, the last two credentialed Australian journalists in China boarded a flight to Sydney after a five-day diplomatic standoff. The expulsion occurred as relations between Australia and China have deteriorated and the Chinese government continues its crusade to rid the country of foreign reporters.

A church I was a member of 30 years ago published a daily Bible-reading schedule showing several chapters, along with a list of many more labeled “For the Hearty Ones.” I believe those of you who regularly read our Saturday Series are also hearty ones, so this is the place to extend an invitation to the World Journalism Institute’s annual mid-career course. The next course, No. 12, will meet Jan. 7–13, 2021.

Whatever the nature of the voyage’s travails, the Cunard Line steamship company had this goal for its transatlantic steamers a century ago: “to keep the ship sweet.” 

Below deck the stokers could be working 100 men to a shift, shoveling coal to keep the boilers primed, but diners above should be able to murmur in conversation and eat from polished silver unawares. Passengers must journey unburdened by the cares of the ship.