By Jim Nichols Character counts. Personal morality counts. Truthfulness counts. Influence for God counts. For me, these count a lot. Writer and Christian thinker Henri Nouwen said succinctly: “There are no times or places without choices.” Most of the choices we make are of low consequence—a choice to get up today, a choice to stay home or go somewhere, a

By Jim Nichols Are you a Luddite? I suspect I am, at least in some ways. I also suspect that you are too. Perhaps being a Luddite is not necessarily bad. Generally meant to describe a person opposed to modern technology or ways of working, the term dates to the nineteenth century; it has a derogatory feel. Apparently, there was

By Jim Nichols Here is an odd suggestion for you. Sometime soon read a series of published obituaries online or in a newspaper or magazine. Notice the words early in that article that describe what happened to the person of concern. That is, the person who is no longer alive—what occurred to him or her? I have been following an

By Jim Nichols There was a light pink stain on the kitchen counter. As I have many times, I reached under the kitchen sink for the Comet cleanser powder. I had done this often in my life—wet the spot, sprinkle on a little Comet, rub it lightly with a sponge, and the stain disappears. As I reached under the counter,

By Jim Nichols There is a strong tendency for us to get side-tracked by issues that may be only relatively important. This happens in our personal lives and in our lives as followers of God. Each of us, for example, has suffered significant frustration concerning the way our chosen local congregation has addressed (and continues to address) issues. Whatever the

By Jim Nichols In many ways he is kind of a “pastor’s pastor.” His career in ministry is filled with helpful and inspiring teaching and acts that have been both engaging and edifying as he has tried to be God’s person. One of the aspects of his ministry has been to be involved in and conduct an uncountable number of

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