By Jim Nichols The scene has been replayed throughout history probably. The family sits around whatever they use as a supper table, and one of the children states with seriousness an opinion on a topic that is generally not considered in this family.  Stunned, a parent asks with some sharpness of voice, “Where did you ever hear that?” The child

By Jim Nichols Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to make a decision, and it just seemed like an impossible one? On the one hand, this direction seemed to be the best but, on the other hand, the opposite appeared strongly attractive. What if the decision is not just about an ordinary aspect of your

By Jim Nichols It is strange what we remember. They are just incidents (or thoughts) of the past that had little importance at the time, but they stuck in our mind. Sometimes we were the recipient of the incident or thought; other times we were the donor. When I was a boy, I was fascinated by helium-filled balloons. It was

By Jim Nichols I am not a golfer, but I have played it a few times and understand the game to an extent. In what seems now a lifetime ago for me, I was in a locker room with colleagues after exercising. It was the fiftieth birthday for one of them and, included in the banter he said, “Yes, I

By Jim Nichols It is impressive when one sees how someone else has solved a problem with minimal skill but with great logic. Adding to that is when the action reminds or teaches us about something that has widespread application and significance. The sound, frankly, was deafening. The construction of the building involved two primary areas. One was predictable looking

By Jim Nichols Are ladders for climbing? Must we climb? There were two small turbines on our roof; their responsibility was to turn in the wind and to draw hot air from within the attic to the outside. It was part of the cooling attempt during hot Texas summers, and they made good sense to my scientific mind. The complication

By Jim Nichols Here is the punchline for this article. I believe Donald Trump is bad for our country, but I most fault him for damaging the witness of the church. Governments have often had uneasy relationships with religion. Putting them together seems at first like a positive idea; when implemented, however, it often ends in disaster. A small example

By Jim Nichols Classroom valentine parties were an exciting time during my early boyhood days. My parents would buy me a multipage scrapbook that contained both valentine cards and envelopes for them. My task was to use my blunt-end scissors to cut them out. The envelopes were the most complicated because they had trim on them that was to be