By Jim Nichols In the American Midwest of the 1950s, if a family wished to buy a different house or move to another neighborhood, one starting point was the Sunday local newspaper. Moving was a momentous activity for the family and involved not only finances, but school districts, work commute distances, and concerns about friendships. “House-hunting” did not occur for

By Jim Nichols One of the better decisions I made as a youth was to conclude that I was not a sprinter. When children are learning to walk, they also learn to run. Once they learn to run, it seems that they run everywhere. It is really quite amazing as an adult to watch children run from one activity to

By Jim Nichols Every school day began in the same predictable manner. Mrs. Scanlin got everyone’s attention and began singing as we all joined in. The chorus of the song from the musical Oklahoma included:  “Oh, what a beautiful mornin’,Oh, what a beautiful day.I got a beautiful feelin’Ev’erything’s goin’ my way.” We sang with full voice multiple verses and the

By Jim Nichols The thesis of this set of comments is that each of us can do certain things, but we seldom do them perfectly. Even more alarming as we age is that things we used to be able to do earlier in life have now become difficult if not impossible. If this distresses you, you and I are thinking

By Jim Nichols Do you get tired of having to make choices? We do not want our life to be completely determined for us, but having to choose everything wears us out. At Hogwarts Academy, at least one major decision was made for the students. You will remember there was a Sorting Hat that identified which one of the four

By Jim Nichols Art forms can expose us to truths in unexpected ways; sometimes they can expose truths about God. DaVinci’s Last Supper stimulates understandings about Jesus and the disciples in a way that other formats miss.  Music is one of the powerful carriers of insights into God. Occasionally, words and notes form an amazing parallel to the Bible itself.

By Jim Nichols Silence is a word that demands an opposite. We each understand what is meant by silence, but we would probably define it as the absence of something. We speak about silence “being broken” by noise, by a racket, by music, by applause, by clamor. Some of the methods of breaking the silence are gentler while others are

By Jim Nichols We have two small children in our extended family right now; one is four years old and the other is two. They learn amazing things quickly and are generally delightful, though sometimes challenging. Hearing them learn language is one of the most fascinating aspects of their growth. Particularly right now, the four-year-old shows some surprising early maturity

By Jim Nichols Every conversation does not need to be an argument.  I observed two individuals yesterday in a discussion that went in an unnecessary direction. They apparently knew each other and ended up in the same place at the same time physically. Person A clearly asked Person B for an opinion on a topic. Person B’s response elicited disagreement