My parents taught me the value of saving money. Old-school saving – don’t spend everything you earn, set aside a little each week or each month. Over time, those small amounts accumulate and carry over. It’s a great lesson that’s served me well. I learned, for example, to “save up” for a big expense. Work […]
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Why You Should Show Your Work
Students typically don’t like to show their work. Often when I asked students to explain HOW? their explanation sounded a bit like the cartoon. “I did this…then a miracle occurs…and I got the right answer! Cool, huh?” Sounds silly, but I think we often do a similar thing when we share our stories. I think not-showing-our-work […]
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These Three Remain…
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” When you spend some of your final minutes making this kind of point, it’s probably pretty important. Earlier Jesus said it’s THE MOST IMPORTANT commandment, the one upon which everything else depends. LOVE is clearly Jesus’ most central, most […]
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A Living…Or A Life?
I recall only one detail from my 1969 campus tour at Iowa State University. Friendly student ambassadors explained procedures and traditions as they showed us around the main buildings. Here’s ISU’s Memorial Student Union, a wonderful, grand building dedicated to graduates who perished during WWI. Lots of history, a place of beauty and reverence. In the […]
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Just Tell Me The Answers
“Can you help with homework?” The former math teacher occasionally gets a call, often on a weekend. And while I love to help, I’ve discovered I’m not a very good tutor. I was a big-picture type teacher, never believed in recipes or easy shortcuts. I wanted kids to work things out, figure it out for […]
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Couch Courage
BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS! Are you? We’d like to follow this biblical encouragement passed from Moses to Joshua to all of us. Who doesn’t want to be *courageous*? Stand for justice? Save the kid from a burning building? Take a bullet for a friend? Followers of Jesus are courageous…right? “Take courage. I AM. Don’t be […]
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Are The Times A-Changin?
“Those kids are INCREDIBLE!” Maybe you’re heard a similar sentiment lately. Maybe you’re among those who are surprised as passionate, articulate young people step forward following another tragedy to claim #neveragain. We’ve heard all about how these spoiled, entitled millennials with noses buried in their phones would be the end of civilization. Sort of like […]
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When You Need A Shepherd
Grief’s a funny thing. Not funny/haha but funny/ironic. Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross demonstrated that grief progresses through similar stages across cultures, but no two individuals navigate their grief in precisely the same manner. It’s a completely universal human experience, yet we each experience it in our own unique manner. In a recent memorial service the pastor […]
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A Tale Of Two Tests
Psych 101, Iowa State University, Fall 1969. Maybe 200-300 students in a creaky old lecture hall, professor droning, me taking notes with one question in mind: Will this be on the test? Came home (yes, I lived at home) from my very first college midterm exam and told my mom I was going to flunk […]
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Marking The Trail
How did the story go from there to here? My friend asked about RELENTLESS GRACE. She wanted to understand the process that led from injury to despair to depression to 1500-mile bike ride to FREEDOM TOUR. It’s a story I’ve told countless times, but on this occasion I used a brand new description, one that […]
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I sometimes imagine conversations with famous (often dead) people. When I visit a museum or memorial I often visualize conversing with Lincoln, Jefferson, or Kennedy. As I learn about them I wonder what they’d say about a given topic or how their ideas might have evolved. It’s one silly way of exploring my own notions. […]
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Confusing Notions About Respect
Lots of talk these days about respect, or really lack of respect, in public discourse. I think a lot of people confuse and conflate “respect” with other ideas. Here are some thoughts adapted from a 3-year-old post and ideas I owe to my friend Eric Larsen. When you step into the blue circle you agree […]
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