The year is 1953. Eleven-year-old Mike is diligent about his paper route, setting aside money to buy the desire of his heart. His parents tell him that he can spend the money he earns on what ever he wants (as long as it isn’t illegal or immoral). Mike saves twenty dollars. From a working class [...]
It’s already long past departure time. I’m standing near the gate, waiting for the inbound passengers to deplane. There’s nowhere to go, and the plane will depart when it departs. Even so, the passengers (including me) are beginning to huddle, as if our hovering will speed up the process. We form a makeshift column, all of [...]
My friend tells me about a man who takes his son to movie matinees. That is not unusual. Except this: the boy, his son, is deaf. The man is accustomed to questioning. “Why do you do this to your son, if he cannot hear the movie?” Or, “If your son can’t hear, what value is there?” [...]
Brené Brown tells the story of meeting a young woman at a media conference. She is exited to meet the woman–an accountant / jeweler–because she had bought a beautiful pair of earrings from the woman’s online store. “How long have you been a jeweler?” Brené asks. The young woman blushes and answers, “I wish. I’m [...]
“How shall I account for the two, or the ten, missing years on my résumé? How should I explain the gap?” These are these questions asked of Dr. Kimberley Patton, by students at Harvard Divinity School, fretful and uneasy in the application process for doctoral programs, or jobs in parish ministry. In other words, [...]
Mohini was a regal white tiger. In the 1960s and 70s, she lived at the National Zoo in Washington DC. Most of those years she lived in the old lion house–a twelve-by-twelve-foot cage with iron bars and a cement floor. Mohini spent her days pacing restlessly back and forth in her cramped quarters, while zoo [...]
A business executive wanted to encourage his staff to take more risks; to understand that life at its best or fullest, means not always playing it safe. At a staff meeting he passed out little pieces of paper, each stamped “Forgiveness Coupon.” Each employee received two coupons. He told the gathered group, “We keep telling [...]
I read a story about a boy who was asked by his grade school teacher if he wanted a part in the Christmas nativity play. Well, of course he did. “You get to be Joseph,” the teacher told him. The boy was proud what with his friends having to be sheep and cows and such. [...]
Recently I received this evaluation after a presentation, “We were all laughing so hard, I seriously wondered whether we were ever going to get to any important stuff!” I was raised in a world where excess is a dirty word. (We were careful to avoid all things wasteful or extravagant or decadent… excessive laughter included.) [...]
Going through his five-year-old son’s backpack, a father found a picture of a little boy standing under a rainbow crying. His first thought was, “Oh God, my son is having some serious problems.” When he asked his son about the picture, the little boy told his father that he had been playing at school, and [...]
