Make a difference
I am the son of a brick mason. I am the eldest of five children. Which means that my summer options, as a schoolboy, were limited. I could be a hod carrier (mixing mortar—called “mud”—hauling bricks, blocks or stone and…
The art of making fire
A long time ago, there was a man who invented the art of making fire. He took his tools and visited a tribe in the north, where the climate was bitter cold. The man taught the people how to make fire. And the…
Living Wholehearted
Walking the beach one day, Gunilla Norris sees a young child run---determined on very unsteady legs---into the water. The toddler’s intensity is palpable. The mother sits some distance away, outwardly comfortable enough about her child's safety not to interfere with his adventure. With a wet sagging diaper, the young boy runs into the water with the half-weaving, half-stumbling motion of toddlers who have just…
One nail at a time
I just finished watching the Super Bowl. A party big enough to let the rest of the world recede. Except in this case, as you may have needed heart medication. Sorry Atlanta. The pre-game highlight? Did you see the Pope…
Ballroom Dancing and Hope
Robben Island is famous. It is the South African prison where Nelson Mandela and many others were incarcerated because of their struggle to end apartheid. (Mandela served 18 of his 27 years in Robben Island). Margaret Wheatley tells this story of a time that…
Play your cello
Life is precarious. Bombs are real. Sadly, in our world, they feel too common. In April 2015, a car packed with explosives detonated in the busy Mansour district of Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and injuring 27. After this…
Enter fully into this day
In 1914, famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set out from England on an expedition to cross the continent of Antarctica. He posted this brief notice: "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger.…
Healing and a camera
There are moments in our lives that can change everything. For Chris Orwig, it happened in a tent, at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in California. A bachelor party; and he was camping with a group of…
An hour of your time
"Dad," the six-year old boy asks his Father, "How much money do you make an hour?" "Son," the father, short on patience from a long work week, answers, "that is an inappropriate question. You need to learn to be polite. There are certain questions you never ask people." "Okay," the boy responds. Seeing his son's demeanor, the father softens, and says, "Okay, I'll tell you. …
Embrace this life… get in
In June 1859, Jean-François Gravelet (known as The Great Blondin) crossed Niagara Falls walking a tight rope. During his life, he repeated the feat several times, always with a different theatrical variation: blindfolded, in a sack, trundling a wheelbarrow, on stilts,…
