By Jim Nichols The forestry worker was carrying a red container of fuel. As he poured out the fuel, he simultaneously pulled a trigger that sparked a flame that ignited the fuel. Walking through the forest, he was setting it on fire—on purpose. Why would that be a positive act? A clearly distinguishing feature of pine trees is, of course,

By Jim Nichols We humans like our rhythms. There seems to be an inbuilt comfort for us that we move through a day, a week, a month, even a year and have certain responsibilities, pleasures, and even requirements that occur with a degree of predictability. When our expected pattern is interrupted, it throws us off a bit, does it not?

By Jim Nichols If you have children, the birthdays of the children are special not only to the child, but also to you. Whether it is their first or second birthday or one much later (even as an adult), the memories of the past and joys of the present flood our parental brains. Our firstborn, Amy, is no longer a

By Jim Nichols “TIME OUT!” The umpire shouted and took off his mask. The catcher removed his also and walked toward the mound where he and the pitcher had a brief conversation. If it went too long, the umpire would head out there to shorten the break in the action.  I am glad that it is almost baseball season. Have

By Jim Nichols “Yes, I used to have a ‘church home’ (as you have called it), but that was earlier in my life. These days I don’t really connect with religion much. I have so many negative things about it in my past that I have found it easier and less stressful just to ignore it these days.” Those words

By Jim Nichols The variety of people in our lives is amazing when you think about it. Sit and reflect for a few minutes about various qualities and activities of your acquaintances and how knowing about them has enriched your life. Sometimes what they do or think causes me to wonder what adjective to use—charming, quirky, imaginative, or daring for

By Jim Nichols The punchline question for this article is “What can you and I give?” The response is “Every gift is acceptable to God.” You and I tend to rate gifts as to their relative value. Of course, this is based on our own eyes and judgments that are clearly related to our own experiences. In fact, it is

By Jim Nichols One of the most avoided human experiences is the feeling of vulnerability. We may make a mistake, but we can often recover from that. We may put our foot in our mouth, but an explanation or apology might smooth it over. We may even become angry, but we have learned that apologies work wonders there. When we

By Jim Nichols The wind can be frustrating. It often has an unpredictability as to its velocity and direction. One moment it seems calm and pleasant and the next it increases to what are dangerous angles and speeds. Airplane pilots pay high attention to the wind and its variabilities. The wind on a lake merits similar awareness; the variations in