“Joe has entered hospice care”, the text message said. Though not a total surprise, I was surprised by the catching of a sob in my...

It was the summer of 2003. At the end of a very long week in Rochester, Minnesota. I was sitting in the office with my Mayo Clinic doctor...

My mother’s birthday is just a few days before Christmas. December 21st. Looking back, I am guessing the only time her birthday was a big...

There was a time about ten years ago when I, in my human form, came very close to not existing. Complications of a surgical procedure,...

I am standing in the foyer of a good friend’s home. There are 40 or 50 of us there. Songs are being sung in a language unfamiliar to me....

In the beautiful rolling hills of middle Tennessee, I have been given the use of over a thousand acres of old farmland. Creeks and...

I pass by a man on a tractor in the blazing sun, nearly 100 degrees today. Jungle levels of humidity. “Remember to take him a bottle of...

At age 26 my life had fallen apart despite having faithfully, very faithfully, followed the teachings of my culture, the traditional...

I’ve been asked that question a fair number of times over the last few weeks by people I know. I believe what they are asking me is what...

One of my favorite authors, Kent Nerburn, speaks of a moment in time when he was teaching young men and told them that he had been asked...

60-40 Prosocial Non-Prosocial 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The day had finally arrived....

Imagine that you are turning onto a street, a dead-end street, a long dead-end street, that has a number of houses on each side. Now,...

As a young man growing up in a mostly rural farming environment, I was always enthralled by the things that my grandfather, father,...

You say, “Since we will be alone for Christmas eve, I’ve made dinner reservations.” “Great,” I say. We arrive and you notice a 30’...

I was talking with a friend today, a medical doctor, who’s life as he knows it, is over. His career crushed by a system, and his...

Imagine deciding at age 15, you wanted to go to college. Imagine what a big deal that was because only one other person in your entire...

“…… each represented a philosophy of life. Each committed to the death of the other. One - the “old way”– described as self-destructive,...

"Not to be afraid when you are all alone is the only true way of being not afraid" . Olga Jacoby About 40 years ago I was living through...

As a young teacher, in my late 20’s, our school system instituted a curriculum called “Unit Step” that, among other things, divided the...

Two days ago, I got this letter from a person who had attended a listening workshop I conducted for the Gates Scholars Program at...