By JIM NICHOLS Perhaps this might make more sense if I write it out; sometimes that seems to help. I am thinking about how it is possible to be by yourself even though you are surrounded by humanity. My scientific background combines with my social consciousness to cause me to recycle physical material when possible. My current community has not

By JIM NICHOLS This is not really a sports story, although a sports comment was the stimulus for it. As I am writing this, it is the college football “bowl season.”  Teams have played their regular season games and the supposedly best teams now have a bonus game, a bowl game. When I was younger, there were just a few

By JIM NICHOLS Every family has a set of Christmas traditions; they might not make sense to anyone else, but they are important to the family. The traditions are often accompanied by memories that reach outside the family itself. In this case I am thinking of my friends Neal and Bill, folks no longer in my life nor the life

By JIM NICHOLS It is important that we not miss repeated stories and illustrations in scripture. Good pedagogy emphasizes repetition and Jesus certainly knew that. Collectively, many of his parables or descriptions also indicate that he had a different view of mathematics and, in fact, economy, than we do. We would do well to notice how far our views are

By JIM NICHOLS You probably have several of these in your purse or your pants pocket. They are small metal pieces with notches cut out in some pattern along one side. There is a hole in the wider end of the piece, and you probably have them connected by some type of attachment. These pieces can be inserted into the

By JIM NICHOLS It seems as if the political season never ends in our country. We just had a presidential election and already the 2024 hopefuls are beginning to make a case for themselves. Assuming that some of these individuals are nice and capable people, it is already tiring to see them make plays for what some might consider the

By JIM NICHOLS Perhaps because my adult career has included both teaching and science, I am discouraged with our current American cultural climate. Somehow, we have concluded that two of the most positive human endeavors are now untrustworthy. The media are full of conflict voices questioning the basic skills and intentions of people who, historically, have been held with esteem.

By JIM NICHOLS Most people early in life understand the concept of “tying up loose ends.” We all have small and large projects with a proposed ending date, and we are trying to complete the details before that time. What happens if the time runs out when we still have loose ends dangling? Two weeks earlier, he had sat at

By JIM NICHOLS It seems that every year there is a new block-buster superhero movie available. Each one promises, and usually delivers, expanded technologic graphics, noise, and excitement. It is hard to avoid the understanding that being a hero (or heroine—why did we lose that word?) requires events or individuals that are far from ordinary. Do not each of us