Transformation

I am inspired by chrysalis, the process of caterpillars becoming butterflies. We witness disintegration, creation and invention. Transformation requires hope, vision, action and patience. I think of chrysalis as the auto workers strike for a seat at the table in the...

Steal Second Base

Some adventure thrills us while too much risk terrifies. How do we balance our need for security with a hunger for adventure?  Our daughter gave me a gift with the words “You can’t steal second base while keeping one foot on first.”  The baseball analogy helps me...
The Sixties

The Sixties

I’m offended when comedians and rock stars say “If you remember the sixties, you really weren’t there” as if drugs defined the Vietnam generation. It’s personal for me and more. In 1960 I volunteered in JFK’s presidential campaign and spent the mid-sixties in a...

Good Government is No Substitution for Self-Government

    “Good Government is no substitution for Self-government“ M.K. Gandhi Reflecting on male control of women, racism and economic exploitation of developing countries I am reminded of something Gandhi wrote in 1920; twenty-seven years before Indian...
Set Course by The Stars

Set Course by The Stars

Excellent leadership requires as much self-consciousness as confidence. Omar Bradley’s advice to “set your course by the stars, not the lights of passing ships” reminds me  “True north is the internal compass that guides you successfully through life. It represents...
Gandhi and the One-Eyed Giant

Gandhi and the One-Eyed Giant

Thomas Merton wrote “The white man, says Lauren Van Der Post came into Africa (and Asia and America for that matter) like a one-eyed giant, bringing with him the characteristic split and blindness which were at once his strength and torment and ruin… The one-eyed...