In just a few short weeks, I’ll begin my new position at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. And…I…am…completely…and…totally…thrilled! When folks ask me about the job, they almost always ask, first, about the start date and then, second, about the commute. When I tell them it’s an hour drive door-to-door (with good traffic!), they almost immediately ask what I’m going to do with the time and I just as quickly answer, “Thank goodness for podcasts!” And it’s true. I love listening to podcasts. While many have commented that we’re in a new golden age of television – and I totally agree – I also think...

I took this picture just a few moments ago. It’s the view from the porch of a summer cottage that’s been in our family for more than a hundred years. Our cabin, named Ogontz by my forebears generations ago, looks over Lake Otsego, a nine-mile long lake in mid-state NY that ends (or starts, depending on your point of view) at Cooperstown, NY. Long before Cooperstown was known for the Baseball Hall of Fame (which I’ve gone to a dozen times, though almost always when taking visiting guests to the museum), it was home to the stories of James Fenimore Cooper, one of the earliest America novelists. The town was named for...

Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED Talk on what she calls her “stroke of insight” is one of the top two or three most viewed Talks of all time. And for good reason. A brain scientist, Dr. Taylor suffered a stroke and immediately became aware of, and an informed witness to, what was going on in her brain as her brain-controlled abilities to speak, move, and ultimately be consciously aware shut down one by one. What she learned, how that experience changed her life, and what she invites us to consider, is well worth the eighteen minutes of this talk. (And if you enjoy the Talk, you may be interested in her book about her experience: My Stroke of...

Every once in a while during our decade-plus sojourn in the Upper Midwest, I’d wonder where all the fireflies were. Because it always seemed that I rarely saw them. I don’t know if that’s peculiar to the Twin Cities area, or Minnesota, or the Upper Midwest more generally, but it just seemed like there were very few fireflies (or, as we called them as kids, lightning bugs). I’d assume that I was imagining that phenomenon (or lack of one, I suppose), except that on moving back to Pennsylvania I was struck once again by how we can watch the fireflies dance every summer evening. They’re everywhere and always something of a mystery and...

We live in a world that seems tailored to extroverts – a world, that is, where the ability to connect with others easily, persuade others convincingly, and flourish in social settings regularly is of enormous value. As a result, introverts – essentially people who recharge and find energy from more solitary and contemplative pursuits rather than by interacting with groups of others – often feel overlooked and undervalued. Lately, however, more and more research shows that the world is changing and, with it, the value introverts may hold and influence they may exert in this new world. In particular, there is increasingly a great need...

What would you dedicate to your mother? Mother’s Day is, of course, just around the corner. It’s a day – along with Father’s Day – that I’m a tad ambivalent about. While not actually invented by Hallmark, as the common lore has it, the day’s founder – Anna Jarvis – soon became quite resentful of how Hallmark and others exploited the day to their gain. Given that history, one wonders why we need a special day to honor our mothers (or fathers) – I mean, why not honor them every day? At the same time, I think I have a great mom (and dad!), and I think my wife, my sisters, and my...