An ordinary Wednesday with family, a walk through a labyrinth, and an unexpected visitor outside my office window became a meditation on attention, gratitude, and the quiet freedom of not having every answer.
Why Empty Time Matters More Than We Realize “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” — Mahatma Gandhi There was a time when waiting was simply waiting. We sat in doctor's offices and looked around the room. We stood in grocery store lines and noticed other people.
A few days ago, thousands of people gathered in Chicago for the official opening of the Obama Presidential Center. Organizers described it as a celebration of democracy, culture, service, and hope—a place intended not simply to preserve history, but to encourage people to participate in
“The best balm for the soul is friendship.” — Eddie Jaku Imagine losing your wallet. Not a hypothetical wallet. Your wallet. Driver’s license, credit cards, perhaps a little cash, and all the small things that accumulate over time. How likely do you think it is that a stranger
What Thomas Merton Learned at Fourth and Walnut On March 18, 1958, Thomas Merton was standing at the intersection of Fourth and Walnut in downtown Louisville when something unusual happened. Merton had spent years in a Trappist monastery in rural Kentucky pursuing silence, prayer, and the inner
A collection of reflections on isolation, meaning, friendship, solitude, aging, and human connection. Loneliness in later life can arrive suddenly and disrupt our sense of stability. This can happen when a loved one dies, a marriage ends, we leave a job for the last time, or
What artificial intelligence can do—and what it can never decide for us Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, once described his company’s ambition as creating “magic intelligence in the sky.” The phrase was memorable and perhaps intentionally provocative. An invisible intelligence, available on demand, accessible from anywhere,
What an ancient Jewish teaching suggests about faith, change, and seeing what was there all along In the Jewish tradition, there is a passage in the Talmud, a collection of ancient teachings and discussions, that describes Moses watching the Torah as it is being written. He
Forgive me at the outset. I like puns. Years ago, my best friend’s mother would say they were the lowest form of humor. We disagreed. A good pun, if it holds, does more than play with words. It carries two meanings at once and lets them
What success can hide—and what keeps a life open There is a particular risk that comes with success. Not failure. Not struggle. Success. When things go well long enough, something begins to change. People listen more closely. They defer. They assume you know what you’re doing—not