by Oliver DeMille What if there were an award for “The Book of the Decade”? It would celebrate the most important book of the past ten years, the one that could have made, and still could make, the most positive difference in the world. If there were such an award, I know what my pick would be. Some books deeply matter. They change their … [Read more...]
Choose Your Allegiance With Care
August 30, 2013 by 1 Comment
I knew it was wrong. I grappled with my choice. But in the end, my allegiance was wrong. Many years ago while attending college I auditioned to be in a play. Since the play was a comedy, I had high hopes of being cast. I had discovered some time earlier that the only sound sweeter than applause was applause mixed with laughter. I was elated when … [Read more...]
An Audience of One
June 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
She knocks on the door to my office and waits until I motion her in. Politely she asks with expectant eyes if I'd like to visit her "gum store." For once making the right choice (trying to remember if I've put her off earlier for the same request), I rise from my work and take her by the hand. Her big brown eyes and freckled face are all … [Read more...]
Freeing the Prisoner in My Skull-Sized Kingdom
May 27, 2013 by 1 Comment
It had to have been a conspiracy. It was as if every force in the universe was aligned against us. Everything that could go wrong was going wrong. But not in the way I first thought. The ordeal started while enjoying a family tradition of taking the kids to our favorite restaurant each week. The restaurant was unusually busy that evening, … [Read more...]
When Society Makes Sex its God
April 12, 2013 by 1 Comment
It’s time to bring to light a forgotten text that may be the definitive work on the rise and fall of civilizations. The book is called Sex and Culture and British anthropologist J.D. Unwin published it back in 1934. Unwin set out to test the idea put forth by Freud that civilization is born out of repressed sexuality. He studied 86 different … [Read more...]
12 Ways to Live the Second Great Commandment
March 29, 2013 by 1 Comment
“Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said unto him, “thou shalt love the lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt … [Read more...]
The Corruption of the Word “Hero”
March 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Words tend to change over time. These changes mean that once-clear definitions are at risk of gradually becoming corrupted. Though our language is always in a mild state of flux, it appears that the word “hero” is now numbered among those terms most rapidly losing their true meaning. It used to be that a hero was a celebrated figure who … [Read more...]
Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast
December 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment
By Kevin Mogavero One of the best soldiers I met during my time in the Army was First Sergeant Zackary. He was my First Sergeant during our deployment to Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I’m sure you remember when we invaded Afghanistan and then, a short time later, we declared war with Iraq. My unit deployed the day we declared that … [Read more...]
The Leadership Search
December 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment
By Orrin Woodward I searched for him half my life, named with an uncommon sound. I looked for him around the world, but this person refused to be found. Thankfully, I discovered him, the good news is, you can too. However, it won’t be easy, as he reveals himself to just a few. You can search our government assemblies, and only … [Read more...]
Width or Depth? Less May Be More
December 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment
By Cris Brady A good book, I think, is distinguished by its ability to transport the reader to 'somewhere else.' By this, I mean more than pulp fiction escapism. I mean a place of new thought, philosophical territory as yet unexplored by the reader, fields of new information, lands of epiphany, skies of new considerations. One such … [Read more...]
