We all begin our adult lives climbing the first mountain. The summit, the goal, of this first mountain is the establishment of our identity. This is the premise behind David Brook’s book The Second Mountain. Good book. Good writer. It’s one of a number of books I recommend in what I call destiny literature. Back...Read More

What have you read lately that has inspired you? Let me tell you what lit my fire a few days ago. Shortly before his death in mid-July, John Lewis, the U.S Representative and civil-rights leader, wrote an essay that was published in the New York Times just days after his funeral. I had been deeply...Read More

There was a huge “boom!” and the whole building shook. I ran outside in fear that something horrible had happened. It had. We were preparing for a fun night of BBQ and worship with the men of our church. Hundreds were signed up. As the pit crew was finishing up the food prep, a freak...Read More

What jobs did you work in your growing up summers? I worked in a steel mill. It was dirty, dangerous and vintage Pittsburgh. But it surely helped fund my first few years of college! I look fondly on those first 20 years of my life in southwest PA. That strange dialect. (“yinz”, n’at). The food...Read More

Is there a silver lining to the whole pandemic thing? That question is moderately disturbing to me. Too much death. Too much fear. Too much isolation. Too much controversy. Too much politics. Too much grotesque selfishness. Silver lining? Right. But I have noticed some things that I find quite remarkable in the middle of the...Read More

I can make you cry. Here’s how. I tell you a truth. That you are incredibly unique. A masterpiece, in fact. You have a unique life story, a uniquely wonderful personality, a powerful set of skills and a passion to do something great. Then I say something like “I’ll bet you aren’t doing what you...Read More