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It was 19 years ago this week that a powerful tornado slammed into Tuscaloosa, Ala., and killed 11 people. One of the most powerful images from the aftermath of that tragedy was this photo of a man carrying what appeared to be the lifeless figure of a small child from the rubble of her home.

The picture was shot by a Tuscaloosa News photographer and it appeared in newspapers around the world after it was carried by the Associated Press wire. The man is Michael Harris and the little girl is 6-year-old Whitney Crowder.

For years, I had assumed she died that day, but I found out Monday that she is alive and has a happy family of her own.

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Personal growth is a path to alienation from the world.

When I was younger, I assumed that things such as spiritual growth and personal development would allow me to fit in with those around me better. I thought that as I learned to love others and learned to experience God more fully, it would be easier to live in human society.

I’ve realized lately that the truth is just the opposite. It’s easy to fit into the culture around us without emotional or spiritual growth. All it requires is molding ourselves into whatever those around us want.

But finding transcendental meaning and discovering your true self require you to give up what your culture and your friends and your family want you to be — because human culture is ultimately in conflict with what God created us to be.

I’ve realized lately that Jesus told us this 2,000 years ago, but we’ve simply missed the point. Finding the truth — and finding our true self — requires us to be something entirely different from what our culture demands.

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Why would she still be angry enough to say nasty things about me 10 years later?

That’s all I could think about today when I found out — quite by accident — that an ex-girlfriend is still bad-mouthing me 10 years after we broke up.

Even though it’s a long-dead relationship — and it’s one that should have ended long before it did — I still hate the thought of someone speaking badly about me. I’ve spent much of the day trying to figure out why it bothers me.

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