Category Archives: CHANGE

For our country

From the Book of Common Prayer: Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will.  Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners.  Save us from violence,Continue reading “For our country”

Hope

My dear friend Ken put me onto this little ditty on YouTube: Enjoy! Notes on the video from YouTube: With only a matter of weeks until the pivotal US Presidential Election in November, and the Democratic National Convention having begun today, we decided to revisit the magnificent Eddy Grant’s controversial and catchy anthem about internationalContinue reading “Hope”

Bruni

Frank Bruni’s column this past week is worth posting here. Here’s a script with which Kamala Harris could explain her evolution There’s sustained criticism that Vice President Kamala Harris hasn’t provided detailed answers to questions about changes in her positions. Why can’t candidates own that kind of transformation? What would be wrong, in Harris’s case,Continue reading “Bruni”

Wesley Bell

I’ll be voting tomorrow for Wesley Bell in the congressional seat primary. From the Post-Dispatch editorial board: Missouri’s First Congressional District, encompassing St. Louis city and northern St. Louis County, is our region’s most direct connection to the federal government’s seat of power. For the past four years, the district has been in the handsContinue reading “Wesley Bell”

People with guns

Let me say from the outset: I am a bleeding heart liberal, most of the time. And people with guns kill people. End of argument. There is no way a teacher nearing retirement would be gone today if she had not stepped in the line of fire yesterday to shield her students. There is noContinue reading “People with guns”

Relevance

One of my university students asked me this week how I was doing. I unexpectedly launched into a brief riff about the quest to maintain relevance as a professor. Gary Burge, in his fine book Mapping Your Academic Career: Charting the course of a professor’s life, speaks of the trials of having achieved the rankContinue reading “Relevance”

Another prayer

A prayer for Thanksgiving Eternal One, we give thanks this day for all the goodness and kindness of this year, and for the illness and madness too, for in the darkness we are reminded of light, and in the agony of our days the ecstasy quickens and provides deeper meaning. We give thanks for theContinue reading “Another prayer”

Inspiration

From Howard Thurman (1899-1981) — There is in every person something that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in herself. And more: Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. Follow the grainContinue reading “Inspiration”