“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their place. It needs people…
Teachers considered grade school student Gillian Lynne a problem child. You know, one of those students who don't pay attention. Or focus. Age 8 and unable to sit still, Gillian had earned the nickname Wriggle Bottom. This much was clear;…
One my walk this morning, there is a slight lifting of the Spring air so I can smell the earth and the blossoms on the wild cherry trees, and I take possession of my life. (A shout out to May…
Mary had grown up knowing that she was different from the other kids, and she hated it. Born with a cleft palate, Mary would hear the jokes and tolerate the stares of other children (some cruel, others, simply curious) who…
Have you ever heard of Buddy Ball? Beth Campbell started the program in 1994, in Bellevue, Washington. Because of his disabilities, Beth's son Stevie, age 7, was unable to play in the regular t-ball program. So, Beth started a baseball…
A business executive wanted to encourage his staff to take more risks; to understand that life at its best or fullest, means not shutting down, or playing to “I can’t, what will they say?” At a staff meeting he passed…
Once upon a time, a little boy loved a stuffed animal whose name was Old Rabbit. It was so old, in fact, that it was really an unstuffed animal; so old that even back then, with the little boy's brain…
Stories do my heart good. And sometimes stories are more important than food for nourishment. Because they are reminders of sufficiency, and the sacrament of the present, and help us not give way to any restrictive narrative of fear. Today’s…
Once upon a time, there was a boy who didn't like himself very much. It was not his fault. He was born with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is something that happens to the brain. It means that you can think but sometimes can't walk,…
Yesterday, on the 20th anniversary of 9-11, the images seared into our memories are recharged. Front and center.“There is a sacredness in tears,” Washington Irving wrote. “They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently…
