From “On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old” by Parker J. Palmer One day, Listened to a taped talk that Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk, had given to a roomful of would-be monks at the Abbey of Gethsemane, where Merton was novice master. Addressing the super-pious young seekers in his care, Merton […]

From “Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation” by Steven Johnson Lifestyles or interests that deviate from the mainstream need critical mass to survive; they atrophy in smaller communities not because those communities are more repressive, but rather because the odds of finding like-minded people are much lower with a smaller pool

From “Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner” by Frederick Buechner All the absurd little meetings, decisions, inner skirmishes that go to make up our days. It all adds up to very little, and yet it all adds up to very much.  Our days are full of nonsense, and yet not, because it

From “The Discipline of Inspiration: The Mysterious Encounter with God at the Heart of Creativity” by Carey Wallace A muse may strike us as a more comfortable figure than a god. We might shy away from the spiritual realm because we’re afraid of what we’ll discover there, because we’ve been abused by religious authority, or

From “Walk with Me: A Journey through the Landscape of Trauma” by Ellen Corcella During Christmas break, 1975, my first year in college, I walked with my father and sister up the stairs into the Fayette County Courthouse in downtown Lexington, Kentucky. My father asked me to testify at a hearing over custody of my

From “Dropout to Doctorate: Breaking the Chains of Educational Injustice” By Terrence Lester, PhD Yet the harsher sides of our reality were never far away. During Little League football and baseball practices, Coach Kool-Aid (who played football for Grambling State University, a historically Black college and university – HBCU) used to say, “Not everyone is

From “How AI Changes Your Customers: The Marketing Guide to Humanity’s Next Chapter” by Mark Schaefer Researchers from Muck Rack analyzed 1 million AI responses to help us see how the information is prioritized. Here are some findings:

From “World of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading” by Jeff Crosby Reading is such a spiritual discipline for me that I find it difficult to speak on behalf of others regarding the why and how. The why for me in reading is centered on the selflessness of the act. I admit I read to grow

By Peter Grandich Read the free article here

From “Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons” by Frederick Buechner The earliest sermon in this collection is “The Magnificent Defeat,” which I preached at Phillips Exeter Academy around 1959 or so when, fresh out of seminary, I was starting in as the new school minister. Exeter was for only boys in those days