How to “SERVE every person you meet”, according to Peacemaker strategist Ken Sande: Smile (At home, in the office, at the store; even on the phone, a smile changes the sound of your voice and sends a message of warmth and friendliness)Explore and Empathize (Observe others, ask questions, and show interest and compassion)Reconcile (Be aContinue reading "Now you know how to SERVE everyone you meet"

I was reading the news this morning and thinking of the disgraced ...Anthony Weiner Eliot Spitzer Bill ClintonMark SanfordBob Filner... all being mentioned in the last few days for being such bad boys.  And indeed they were.  Indeed they are.And yes, several of them are still popular, very popular.  Trusted?  Well, now that's a differentContinue reading "Put these verses alongside the tawdry news stories of Anthony Weiner, et. al. …"

I can't dance.  Well, not very well.  I did dance with my daughter at her July 6 wedding.  It was sweet and all but we mostly just stood in the same spot and swayed.I was thinking about a different kind of dance the other day.  The dance when we are able to carefully confront othersContinue reading "The dance of peace takes lots of practice"

I've seen lots of TED talks but this is the BEST one I've seen.  If you have 20 minutes to hear Brene Brown (Research Professor, University of Houseton, College of Social Work) ... talk about what it means to "be enough ... ", this is it!  ... I'd say it this way, "God made you. Continue reading "You are enough! … Wow"

News outlets in recent days are reporting the number of increased killings in Baghdad this month, including the following quotation from this story today from the New York Times: One of the wounded, Ali Numan, 33, said: “We got wars from Saddam, we got tanks and rockets from the Americans, and now with Maliki weContinue reading "Will this ever stop?"

I miss things around me all the time.  Most of us do, says peacemaker specialist Ken Sande.  Sande asks what if you saw ... A troubled look on a spouse’s face. (Did she just find a lump in her breast?)A child who drops hints but walks away unheard. (Is he feeling pressure to become sexuallyContinue reading "You CAN learn to be more aware of others…"

Here's my column in today's Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette showing why I believe trust, in the end, in way more important than popularity...

Here's Father Richard Rohr in Simplicity -- the freedom of letting go  ... as he reflects on the mystery of God and Christian community: In my opinion there are three primary things that we have to let go of. First is the compulsion to be successful. Second is the compulsion to be right — even,Continue reading "We we must let go of our need to understand … a key element in understanding God & Community"