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

By Jim Nichols It is unfortunate that John Donne in 1624 did not use gender-neutral language, but the power of his short poem remains the same. He is writing about the interconnectedness of humanity and, specifically, the impact of loss. On a high shelf in a spare bedroom, we have several photo albums. If I were to peruse through them

By Jim Nichols I cannot believe that I am the only person who feels this way occasionally— “I have no idea what I am doing.” It is not always true, certainly. For years I could walk into a college biology classroom and feel confident about the known science I was about to try to explain to captive students. Occasionally, they

By Jim Nichols It all started at 5218 Olive when I was six years old. My father planted two small elm trees in our back yard. One officially “belonged” to me and the other to my only sister at the time. One thing I learned was that getting trees started successfully after transplantation was uncertain. Indeed, my sister’s died within

By Jim Nichols How many loaves do you have?Why are you afraid? Who are my mother and brothers?What do you want me to do for you?Who do you say that I am? A quick Google search for “questions Jesus asks” yields a staggering 135 and who knows how accurate that is. It is a topic worth considering at another time, but

By Jim Nichols Most of us are occasionally impressed by what we sense is a true act of creativity. A Brahms symphony arose spontaneously from the mind of Brahms. Something or some idea that did not exist previously now blossoms. I have no doubt that true creativity does occur, but I suspect that much of what we deem as creativity

By Jim Nichols Most people have a small number of Christmas memories that sit in their mind and bring joy, despair, concern, or absolute delight. It is, admittedly, a mixture of emotions. We remember people and events and treasure who was present and where we were. One of my Christmas memories concerns a person I had not met at the

By Jim Nichols “In the unlikely event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the panel above your head. Please be sure to secure your own mask before helping others.” If you have traveled to a destination (for example, the mountains) where the altitude is 10,000 feet or higher, you have realized that it is

By Jim Nichols It spreads like a bad infection. “This will be the best Christmas ever! If you thought that gift was a surprise, wait until you open the rest of these!” Or “Whatever decorating we did last year, this year will be even greater and brighter.” It is difficult to avoid getting caught in some type of race during