Sportsmanship – fair and generous behavior and treatment of others – has been as important an aspect of my participation in athletic competition as an athlete and as a spectator as any other aspect of the game. In fact, good sportsmanship supersedes every other feature of the game in any sport and at any level. …
Category Archives: Spirit
Love of Country
Fifty-one years ago – nearly to the day – I read Leon Uris’s novel of Berlin in the aftermath of WWII, Armageddon. I still retain that first edition though the dustcover no longer exists. I read the book over a weekend in the spring of my senior year at the United States Air Force Academy. …
Wildness
Nearly 200 years ago, Henry David Thoreau wrote, “In wildness is the preservation of the world.” In his essay “Walking,” Thoreau encourages people to be ‘wild,’ which he likens to ‘absolute freedom’ in contrast to ‘limited freedom,’ which we all experience 24/7 in civil culture. My longtime and perennial friend Dwight and I experienced ‘wildness’ …
And Still They Come…
When my friend first suggested that each of us ‘needs a break,’ I blew him off. He’s right – as he usually is – but each of us has so many things to do that effect so many people. Still, the more he talked about it, the more I felt like it would be good …
First Responders Rising
Within hours of posting our plea earlier this week to support the Barefoot School – our learning center in Cité Soleil, Haiti – I received a call from Gail Megaloudis Rongen, Chairman of the Board of the Nicole Megaloudis Foundation. I am more than pleased to announce that Gail has authorized the Nicole Megaloudis Foundation …
Who’s Gonna Do It?
In the ‘Gethsemane’ scene in the 2003 rock opera !Hero that considers “What if Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?” Hero – played by Michael Tait – sings a powerful anthem that asks the question, “Who’s gonna do it, if I don’t step to it?” It is a formidable and intensely personal question. In my …
Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted and opened for signature and ratification in November 1989 by the UN General Assembly. It was officially ‘entered into force’ almost a year later in September 1990, over three decades ago. Article 42 states that governments must actively work to make sure children …
Unconditional Healthcare
unconditional Jesus and the leper
Sustainable Development
Together, we can save the world from itself. I am willing to join you in assuming this responsibility because I have concluded that no government, no organization, and no religious tradition has the leadership and capacity to save the world from itself. The closest it gets is the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of …
Time Does Not Stand Still
One year ago as we entered the 11th year publishing this website, I wrote, “In 2021, we hope to corral the pandemic and turn our backs on the cultural and political discord that threatens to destroy the goodness that is inherent in each of us.” Alas, as a race, society, and culture, we failed on …