It’s not too often we get an opportunity to have a do-over in life, but on Sunday afternoon, I had a chance to revise a reader’s theater script I’d adapted from a Tolstoy short story almost 15 years ago. The script was published by Eldridge Publishing as part of a book of short readings and…

“The candidate who is most positive about our future almost always wins elections.” Seems so obvious, doesn’t it? I heard a commentator mention this last night, and it got me thinking. In all the polling and endless analysis, all sorts of other things are measured. Rarely have I heard the media focus on a candidate’s…

Last year as my mom was dying, I was amazed at how very small the world became for her. There were no more trips for her to the nail salon or flea market, no need for the part-time job or her library card, no interest in the subdivision gossip. There was touch. Presence. Prayer. Only…

This is not the chart. See below. I once read an article with a very arresting visual about child development. The chart in question overlaid graphs tracking an individual child’s physical, social and academic development. The article’s writer made the point that it’s optimal for a child if the lines tracing the various areas of…

Just a couple of new pictures. Indulge me…Grandpa and Gabriel, during our apple-picking excursion. All of the apples were off the trees, so we technically didn’t pick apples. We picked them up off the ground. It looks like Lio is screaming his brains out, but he’s just making a face. Flex your face muscles and…

A pet parakeet wanders the yard of author, blogger, North Park University professor, birdwatcher and Cub fan Dr. Scot McKnight. The other backyard birds were terrified of the bizarre blue visitor’s quick movements and strange birdsong. The parakeet made its home in and around the McKnights’ suburban yard most of the summer, and McKnight watched…