By JIM NICHOLS My brain is odd because it remembers single phrases that seem to be just the right statement at the right time. Professor Harold Hill was a shyster. He was the “Music Man” from the same-named musical and he traveled from small town to small town (“You Really Ought to Give Iowa a Try”) and duped the townsfolk

By JIM NICHOLS The previous article ended with a suggestion that competition between humans has significant negative consequences; collaboration and cooperation are preferable. As usual, however, suggesting alternatives (collaboration and cooperation) requires identification of their inherent problems also. Working with one another rather than against one another is difficult to accomplish because of our competitive nature. Whether that nature is

By JIM NICHOLS Here comes a compressed story, a punchline, and some reflections. A bit over twenty years ago I moved for a year from teaching to research responsibilities. I was engaged in a research laboratory in Atlanta and was one of several workers in what might be called a “research group.” The group had a boss who was about

By JIM NICHOLS Fellow Spirit of Abilene contributor Nancy Patrick recently referenced the book Hind’s Feet on High Places. It is a story following the character Much-Afraid as she encounters guidance from God. Hearing about that book I had read long ago, I searched our bookshelves at home and found our yellowed copy. As I opened the cover, I was

By JIM NICHOLS That question was implied in a devotional item I was reading, and it caused me to wonder how I would answer it. My first connection was an ecology illustration that I have mentioned before. Ecology considers how forms of life relate to and interact with their environment. Their environment consists of the other organisms plus the physical

By JIM NICHOLS The newspaper, radio, and television headlines speak about returning to normal when this pandemic wanes. It is worth asking what this means. What is the definition of “normal”? One of the curious aspects of the early Genesis stories is that God tells Adam to “name” all the other creatures. A reasonable explanation is to understand this was

By JIM NICHOLS One dictionary defines “platitude” as a “remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful.” Examples would include “Forgive and forget” or “It is what it is.” The list goes on and most of us do not even really hear these phrases because, although they once

By JIM NICHOLS It was a perfect place on a sunny day. The asphalt was black and smooth. White lines were painted with precise slants with four parallel rows stretching the length of the parking lot. It was bounded by a residence hall on one side and academic buildings on the other three. Driveways led into the area, but there