By JIM NICHOLS In the Old Covenant writings in the Bible (I Samuel 16) is the important story of the choosing of David as the next king of Israel. As Samuel is considering the candidates, God cautions him not to pay attention to physical height and strength (outward appearance), but to remember that “. . . the Lord looks on

By JIM NICHOLS The two people do not know one another and are different in many ways. On the other hand, each of them occupies a similar position in my mind and both elicit my clear admiration. They are also good illustrations of what Richard Rohr writes of when he talks about the “first and second halves” of life. This

By JIM NICHOLS It is unclear what might qualify as a “cute” robot, but R2D2 from Star Wars fame would come close for most people. This genderless (although the other characters spoke of “him”), short robot seemed reasonable, brave, and even compassionate. It seemed to be, well, almost human. I suspect that I am not alone in feeling nearly overwhelmed

By JIM NICHOLS Is the word “Christian” a noun or an adjective? For better or worse, we owe television and movies for introducing words or phrases that have become part of our popular vocabulary. Nearly thirty years ago an episode of Seinfeld focused on a soup stand dealer who demanded a strict manner of behavior to receive some of his

By JIM NICHOLS The photographer was enthusiastic. “OK,” he said. “This is a lot of people so I will need you to cooperate with me. You all look so good today that I believe this will be a great memory picture for you. Who knows? Perhaps decades from now someone will see this shot and it will trigger wonderful memories

By JIM NICHOLS He loved automobiles. My father said that if you gave Roy enough parts, he could build a whole car by himself. Of course, that was decades ago when cars were more mechanical than electrical as they are today, but it made sense to me. When I bought my first used car (1955 Ford), Roy, my grandfather, helped

By JIM NICHOLS Turning over the calendar presents a good opportunity to reflect on “one-liner” items collected over time. These are phrases or paragraphs that have spoken truths clearly and, often, in unexpected ways. I frequently have these on separate small pieces of paper, and they have no relationship to one another except that, for some reason, they spoke to

By JIM NICHOLS At a holiday time it is a question asked innocently. “Will you be traveling to see family?” I asked my young friend and there was a pause that made me realize that might not have been a good question. His response was, “On the first day I’ll be with my mother and family in one city and

By JIM NICHOLS It was a magical machine from my youth. Through the glass top one could see a hundred records lined up in parallel. Each 45-rpm disc was in a position that matched a number in a keyboard. Following the insertion of a dime (three plays for a quarter), you would push a letter and number combination (“A 8”)