In love with living
In 1995 Volkswagen ran an ad. The ad conjured up what it felt like to drive their car. Taking it around fast curves. Or over rocky desert roads. It felt liberating and precarious and unbound. What I do remember best are the…
Kindness is still alive
It is pumpkin time. And our leaf theatre amazes and soothes and mesmerizes and charms. It has been our best October ever. And yet, our emotional earth shakes. Again. The news—the mail bombs, the hate crime in Louisville, the Tree…
Enter at your own risk
We walked along the shore of Lake Michigan, on the campus of Northwestern University, our backdrop the straight-edge line of a powder-blue horizon toward the east, and the Chicago skyline to the south. My friend and I had nowhere to go, and weren't in…
Our better angels
I’m in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with my Father, my son Zach, my brothers and their sons. It’s an all boy vacation summit—10 of us—time to impart wisdom to the young men. Now we need to remember what we wanted to…
The power to say yes
New to both the town and the church, Ellen wanted to be involved, to give of herself, to share her gifts. As it happened, the parish needed a new tapestry for one of the smaller chapels. And as a seamstress, Ellen considered…
Invest in this life
Perusing the shelves of one of my favorite independent bookstores some time back, I found a title that gave me pause. "What if I wake up and discover I'm living the wrong life?" (Mercy. This is a good way to throw a…
Courage to live wholehearted
A rather unsophisticated man endured a medical operation with a 20% chance of survival. When told about his condition and the odds that were against him, he engaged in no calculations and did not consult with another physician. He said simply,…
Stand up. Stay Woke.
This past week we remembered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Four years ago I stood in the kitchen of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Parsonage, the home to Dr. King and his family from 1954 to 1960. By the time the…
Live with a large soul
A friend shared her recent conversation with a four-year old. “Happy New Year Julian.” “We get a new one?” “Yep, we get a new one.” I’m guessing that most of us are ready. I know I am. I saw a…
Just one to make a difference
"Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a coal-mouse (a small bird) asked a wild dove. "Nothing more than nothing," was the answer. "In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the coal-mouse said. "I sat on a fir branch, close to its trunk, when it began to snow--not heavily, not in a raging blizzard--no, just like in a dream, without a wind, without any violence.…
