This video went viral because it’s considered one of the great “fails” of Family Feud history. Flustered Anna Sass needs only 18 points for her family to win $20,000. That’s eighteen points from five questions, any of which could yield well over 18. Alas, she comes up empty. (You can read the HuffPo article if you want to know if her family ever forgave her. ☺) What struck me, however, wasn’t so much Anna’s minor tragedy as the answer to the second question she was asked: “Name a place where people check their watch.” She said “airport,” an answer already taken, then responded with “restaurant,” an answer...

We all probably have our short list of the great dangers our world faces. Indeed, since the development and use of the atomic bomb, psychologists have talked about the “free-floating” anxiety of our time, an unnamed but nearly all-pervasive concern about the fate of ourselves and the world. So what’s on your list? Environmental degradation? Diminishing fossil fuels and other natural resources? Overwhelming poverty? The chance of devastating war? Certainly those are all on my list, too. But above all of them is my concern that we are increasingly living fractured lives, disconnected from each other and all too-often...

From time to time, filmmaker Anton Hecht sends me one of his short films with the request to share it with you. I’m always glad to do so, as he is reliably creative and produces superb and quite enjoyable films. This one – Happiness is a Harmonica – is part of a wellness initiative of a community inviting people to take five steps toward greater health, wellness, and happiness. I’m still not totally sure how playing the harmonica contributes :), although I think that the various people and folks playing it – actually, learning to play it – are engaged in one or more of the various steps. And all of them...

Okay, so the title of this post is a little more dramatic than I’d intended. When it comes to making predictions, I’m with Yogi Berra, who once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” 🙂 With that caveat in mind, I’d still like to offer two brief thoughts about the future of this blog. 1) I hope to continue posting here, even as I transition to a new call as president of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. I’ve been away from writing here for about a month, largely because of the need to give time to my interviews and conversations with folks at Philly; speaking at several Synod...