Are we stuck? We struggle with traffic snarls. Where man once ventured to the moon within a decade, we quarrel and sit on our hands. Few write. Speeches reach a new level of nonsense with every wasted word. The world lurches into an uncertain future. We have evolved into hamsters making a wheel going nowhere. David McCullough latest book chronicles an American [...]
You are not rich enough to buy cheap shoes. In a recent renovation, we bought a rug from a man who taught a lesson in value. It was not just about rugs. He described growing up in Iran as an apprentice farmer. It was not long before he knew he needed some work boots. The problem is he had little money. His [...]
The sun sets. Lights go out. The day is over. What do you ask yourself at the end of the day? Whether spoken aloud, jotted in a journal, or a vapor passing through the mind, every person sorts their day. When we ask it, we experience something. Do you feel tired at the end of the day? Or are you torn by [...]
The year 1918 was brutal. It wasn’t due to World War I. It was the flu. Without few treatment options, the flu killed 50 million people worldwide. It was passed from person to person in a “contagion.” Every parent of a sick child asks the question, “Is he (or she) contagious?” Something is contagious if it spreads from one person to another. [...]
Is your life "stuck?" More importantly, how do you get "unstuck?" That is the premise of a fascinating little book written by Laura Vanderkam. Vanderkam has written several books (most of which I have read). She focuses her writing on managing time. Her thoughts do not flow from some pinstriped view of business but from a mom of four children and a [...]
Fanny Crosby wrote church hymns…over 8000 of them. Titles trickle through memories with ease. They include Pass Me Not and Blessed Assurance. With such a gift and exuberance for words of hope, you would assume, Crosby lived a charmed life. And you would be wrong. She lived most of her life in darkness. When she was 6 weeks old, she caught [...]
The Greek poet Homer dresses a modern issue in an ancient costume. In his epic poem, The Odyssey the poet tells the story of Odysseus (also known as Ulysses). On his journey home to Ithaca at the close of the Trojan War, he comes across danger. It is not a monster or a superior army. He encounters something pleasant, enchantresses called The [...]
One of the dawning truths of living long enough is life weaves problems into every person’s life. Paul told the Corinthians of the “light and momentary afflictions” which enter life (2 Cor. 4:17). We exaggerate most of them into overpowering and everlasting. The great tragedy is to hide from them as a child plays hide-and-seek in plain sight. We hide our struggles [...]
Marie Kondo is a rock star. The diminutive, soft-spoken Japanese invaded America in a way Hirohito could only dream of. Do we need to “Kondomari” our lives as well as our homes? Kondo wrote the book The Magic of Tidying Up. The marketing manipulators at Netflix launched her into fame with by paring her with new year resolutions. Her program Tidying Up [...]
I sat in my regular coffee shop booth, hammering away on the keyboard of a powerful computer. It was then, he caught my eye. Seated at a nearby table was a man with an open spiral notebook in front of him. No phone was visible. No computer, no laptop, no electronics at all. He simply scratched out his work with a regular [...]
