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

By JIM NICHOLS One of the results of high definition, large televisions and the abundance of sports on the screen is the ability for a viewer to see a player become injured. The pain of the injury is sometimes severe enough that we viewers can see these adult players fighting back or giving into tears. Since each of us has

By JIM NICHOLS The Meals on Wheels client was complaining about the expense and size of the local newspaper. The price had gone up and the size had gone down, and she wondered whether it was still worth taking. “The only reason I take it anymore is for the comics and the obituaries,” she said. I used to think people

By JIM NICHOLS This patient room was strategically positioned near the nurses’ station. Closed circuit television cameras made the room visible to the nurses. The first time I visited the ventilated patient was surrounded by several hospital workers, so I retreated to read the patient chart. There had been a car wreck as the young man had lost control, hit

By JIM NICHOLS It was just a green postcard that appeared in the mail. It read “Official Jury Summons” and identified a time, date, and place that I was to report to help construct a jury pool for an upcoming trial. I had occasionally received such a summons but was usually dismissed after reporting because I was not needed or

By JIM NICHOLS It is reasonable that few of us live with much sense of urgency. Occasionally, we find ourselves having to make specific plans and implement them with care, but, generally, what we have as tasks today can wait until tomorrow. Even with important tasks it is our tendency to delay them or build them into some plan. This

By JIM NICHOLS In an earlier column, I mentioned my appreciation for one of my elementary school supplies, the Rub Clean Green eraser. That eraser represented a tangible indicator of God’s grace because it allowed me to remove errors with hardly a remaining sight. My clearest memory of its aid was during a spelling mistake I made, but during that