By Jim Nichols The first of this year’s version of the Presidential Debates is now over. Many of us wrestled with whether we wanted to watch. Did we not know what each candidate would say? Should we even bother to spend our time on this? What we got was two candidates of whom neither seemed to be a preferable choice.

By Jim Nichols “It was a dark and stormy night. The wind was blustery, and the clouds hung low. One had the impression that this was not a good night to be lost.” I have always wanted to begin writing a piece in that way, and now I can say I did. It certainly was a dark and stormy night,

By Jim Nichols I felt that I was a larger person after talking to her. Have you ever had that experience? When I approached her front door, I was smaller than I was when I returned to the car. My part of the conversation was minimal; she did most of the speaking and I am not sure what got her

By Jim Nichols Character counts. Personal morality counts. Truthfulness counts. Influence for God counts. For me, these count a lot. Writer and Christian thinker Henri Nouwen said succinctly: “There are no times or places without choices.” Most of the choices we make are of low consequence—a choice to get up today, a choice to stay home or go somewhere, a

By Jim Nichols Are you a Luddite? I suspect I am, at least in some ways. I also suspect that you are too. Perhaps being a Luddite is not necessarily bad. Generally meant to describe a person opposed to modern technology or ways of working, the term dates to the nineteenth century; it has a derogatory feel. Apparently, there was

By Jim Nichols Here is an odd suggestion for you. Sometime soon read a series of published obituaries online or in a newspaper or magazine. Notice the words early in that article that describe what happened to the person of concern. That is, the person who is no longer alive—what occurred to him or her? I have been following an

By Jim Nichols There was a light pink stain on the kitchen counter. As I have many times, I reached under the kitchen sink for the Comet cleanser powder. I had done this often in my life—wet the spot, sprinkle on a little Comet, rub it lightly with a sponge, and the stain disappears. As I reached under the counter,

By Jim Nichols There is a strong tendency for us to get side-tracked by issues that may be only relatively important. This happens in our personal lives and in our lives as followers of God. Each of us, for example, has suffered significant frustration concerning the way our chosen local congregation has addressed (and continues to address) issues. Whatever the

By Jim Nichols In many ways he is kind of a “pastor’s pastor.” His career in ministry is filled with helpful and inspiring teaching and acts that have been both engaging and edifying as he has tried to be God’s person. One of the aspects of his ministry has been to be involved in and conduct an uncountable number of