Jumping Over The Lines

About nine years ago, a neighbor and I painted a labyrinth in the cul-de-sac in front of my house. Our labyrinth is a 54 foot diameter replica of the eleven circuit labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral in France. During this COVID-19 shelter-in-place we decided to repaint the labyrinth, and over the course of several evenings we were able to get…

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Cruel To Be Kind

In 1979, Nick Lowe released “Cruel To Be Kind” which peaked at #12 on the US charts that summer. The video for the song was played on MTV on the first day of broadcasting and was shot during Nick and Carlene Carter’s wedding (shooting the video actually made him late for the wedding.) The refrain…

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Excellence Of Every Kind

When Hercules was a fair-faced youth with his life before him, he went out one morning on an errand. As he walked, his heart was full of bitter thoughts because others no better than himself were living in ease and pleasure, while his life was full of labor and pain. He came to a place…

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Happy New Year?

When we wish someone a ‘Happy New Year’ it is not the emotion of happiness we are invoking, rather we are wishing them a fortunate and lucky year. Interestingly, a wish is a strong desire for something that probably won’t happen. So as we welcome in the new year, we are (mostly inadvertently) saying, “I…

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Overcoming Inertia

“Nothing happens until something moves.” ― Albert Einstein Newton’s First Law tells us that an object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force. This is sometimes referred to as the Law of Inertia. Objects tend to keep on doing what they’re doing. This natural tendency…

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Risky Business

In the 1983 movie by the same name, Joel Goodsen (Tom Cruise) nearly makes a career out of misunderstanding the risks associated with several decisions he makes while his parents are out of town. Unfortunately, this is not just the purview of coming-of-age comedy films. We often fail to understand and accurately assess the risks…

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I Like Ike

I was privileged to spend last Monday and Tuesday with 55 young men and women from 11 different private Christian schools. The event we were attending is the Presidential Leadership Institute, held annually at York College in York, NE. PLI is a collaboration led by Strata Leadership, York College, People to People International and the National Christian School Association.…

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White Water

We just got back from our annual trek to Colorado. For me, the time we spend there each year is an important opportunity to unplug from my responsibilities at work. I love the mountains and being there helps me recharge so I can come back refreshed. As leaders, it is vital that we take time…

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Good Is Hard

Author Scott Alexander wrote, “All good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity is easy. Stay away from easy.” I recently read some articles related to something most of us could very possibly have lived our entire lives without ever knowing. I was attracted to the article, “The Speedrunner Who Wasn’t:…

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Rubber Band Man

Yes, that is a song by the R&B group, The Spinners, released in 1978, but that is not the point. Donna is a 1969 Mustang Coupe. Her family includes both the Mach 1 (250 hp) and the Boss 302 (290 hp), but Donna was born a “base” model. She has the 302 cubic inch block…

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