I broke the kitchen window of our house. I was mowing the lawn when the mower struck a rock and threw it into the window, shattering it. I consider myself very lucky. The rock could have flown in almost any direction. Had it struck me, there would have been a significant injury, probably to a foot or leg. I’m cautious not to mow when our grandchildren or pets are around, but my imagination quickly reinforced that practice. The flying rock could have hit a child. Previous owners of our home did quite a bit of landscaping with small rocks and pea gravel. We have removed some of those rocks, but others remain. They don’t often get out into the grass, but once was enough to send us on a window repair journey.

Yesterday I read an online story about something found in the grass at a home a couple of hundred miles east of where we live. According to the Grants County Sheriff’s Office, a 3-year-old found a live World War II-era grenade in the front yard of their home and brought it inside. The child’s parents called 911, and the Washington State Patrol Bomb Squad was dispatched. They determined that it was indeed a live grenade, and it was removed from the home and safely detonated in a remote area.

That story got my attention. I have a 3-year-old grandson who loves to dig up things in the yard. I have to supervise him because he likes to pull weeds, but lacks discretion and occasionally pulls out flowers and other plants we’ve intentionally planted. I’m grateful that the grenade found by the 3-year-old was dealt with safely, but I’m betting those parents are going to keep a close eye on the child for some time whenever outside play is involved.

Then I thought, “Imagine hitting that with a lawnmower!”

It's a hassle getting the window repaired. It is a double-paned window, and only the outside pane is broken. We may need to replace the entire window. It’s on my list of projects to tackle before winter sets in. I don’t want to have workers trying to replace a window when it is raining. Our lawn is small, and I usually only sharpen the blade once a year. However, this year I’ll be replacing it early.

Still, good fortune has been on my side, and I can count my blessings that no one was hurt. I have a spare blade for the lawnmower, so I can replace it and sharpen the one I removed at my leisure.

Another article I read online reported a FBI raid that discovered 57 victims of forced labor living in cramped quarters at a lavish Florida mansion where a church leader lived. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the leaders of the Kingdom of God Global Church have been accused of forced labor and money laundering. The scheme involved forced laborers working in call centers collecting donations without being paid for their work.

I worked as a pastor for my entire career and still serve congregations with pulpit supply from time to time. None of the churches I ever served managed to receive enough donations to purchase a mansion. Of course, it never occurred to us to establish a call center to solicit donations. We asked our members to support our ministries and learned the art of careful budget management.

I consider myself fortunate that I was never involved in any large-scale financial operations during my time as a pastor. We conducted several capital fund drives to cover the costs of building upgrades and repairs, and became proficient at estimating income and planning expenses to match. The reserves of a congregation are held in the accounts of its members and are only tapped when a genuine emergency exists. We never needed to have large endowments or significant cash reserves in the churches with which I was affiliated. I never experienced an FBI raid. Had one occurred, I would have probably offered the agents coffee. I was friends with several FBI agents when we lived in Rapid City.

Like others, I find reading the news to be anxiety-producing. The main headlines of major newspapers often report stories that cause me to worry about the health of our planet, the rise of violence, the increase in authoritarianism, the spread of disease, attacks that kill innocent victims, children who are starving, and hundreds of other world events that cause me to feel unease. When the headlines get to me, I skip the articles and head to the bottom of the page on the computer where human interest stories are located. There, I find stories that make me chuckle. I find out about the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship, and curling’s biggest scandal, and that Amazon still sells a t-shirt labeled “wife beater.” That’s a product I’d never buy. I’ll copy a recipe for red lentil soup, but then I'll fail to make the soup. Sometimes I read reviews of movies I’ll never see and books I want to check out from the library. From time to time, I come across a story that inspires a journal entry. Sometimes I combine several stories in a rambling, disconnected piece.

The Mona Lisa is arguably the most famous painting in the world. I braved the crowds to get a glimpse of it when we visited the Louvre in Paris. The painting hung on the walls of palaces for 400 years. It was a popular painting. At one point, it had its own mailbox to receive people’s love letters, but it didn’t truly gain world fame until August 21, 1911, when it was stolen. The theft became front-page news. It took over two years for it to be recovered. By then, there were many more people who wanted to see it. According to museum officials, approximately 30,000 people view the painting each day.

It never occurred to me to write a love letter to a painting.

There will be numerous tributes and kind words written in honor of the life of Jane Goodall. She had an amazing presence. The closest I ever came to her was to hear her speak to an auditorium of over 1,700 people. She was an inspiration to each of us. At that point in her life, she was using her fame to travel extensively and promote environmental stewardship, as well as raise funds and awareness about various projects and programs she had initiated. She said she was traveling 300 days a year at that time, which amazed me. It is a pace that I know I couldn’t match. And she just kept going day after day, year after year. In the spring of 2024, when she turned 90, she celebrated not by gathering with family and friends to celebrate the occasion, but by granting interviews and raising funds to support the Jane Goodall Institute.

Her death allows me to reflect briefly on the nature of hope. Finding hope is a challenge in the chaotic world in which we live. It has been less than three months since another activist and scholar, Joanna Macy, passed away. Macy popularized the term the Great Unraveling” to describe the time in which we are living. Major systems are breaking down. We can no longer depend on the institutions of our society. As the world faces and struggles with its response to a looming global climate crisis, the systems to which previous generations turned to address crises are not providing the change that is needed. Cultural, economic, and political systems are also in unprecedented turmoil. Our environmental crisis and our social crisis are interconnected. The problems of society and environmental issues are interconnected. The climate crisis exacerbates social injustice. Income inequality and ecological destruction are in a dangerous loop. This is evident in the world’s consumption of petrochemicals. Gas and oil extraction profits a select few at the expense of the masses. A few people become very wealthy while others have less. At the same time, the increased use of petrochemicals contributes to global warming. More environmental destruction leads to greater economic injustice, and vice versa. It is indeed a “great unraveling.”

The current crisis, resulting from the shutdown of the government due to a failure to reach an agreement on spending, illustrates the crisis. The senators at the center of the crisis are connected to systems of wealth that are unaffected by the resolution of the crisis. While other governmental employees face financial crisis by being laid off or forced to work without pay. Those whose actions have created the situation continue to receive their paychecks. Their personal wealth continues to grow exponentially beyond the salaries they receive. Those tasked with solving the crisis are benefiting financially from the crisis. Whether the shutdown lasts days or weeks, average citizens are facing a decrease in health benefits and an increase in the out-of-pocket cost of care. More average citizens will face bankruptcy due to healthcare costs, regardless of how the crisis is resolved. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer.

Another aspect of the great unraveling is that we cannot see the outcome. While the trends are clear, we don’t know what will happen politically. Will the trend toward authoritarianism and the destruction of democracy continue? Will environmental destruction result in mass extinctions that include humans? We don’t know. We are entering a period that seems unpredictable, with catastrophic dangers surrounding us.

It would be easy to write about this great unraveling as an alarmist predictor of doom. Joanna Macy, however, did not respond that way. She wrote about hope. She wrote “Coming Back to Life” with Molly Brown, offering inspiration and meditations that empower readers. She wrote “Active Hope” with Chris Johnstone, inviting people to see hope as much more than an emotion. Hope involves finding the power to respond to the crisis that is before us. It is discovering how to become involved and to offer alternatives to despair.

As we grieve the deaths of these two great women, their lives invite us to move through grief to genuine hope. Both of these women engaged in work that has outlived them. Their lives continue to inspire new generations.

One of the gifts Jane Goodall has given the world is her “Roots and Shoots” program. Over 8,000 local groups in 140 countries worldwide involve more than 150,000 youth from preschool to university age in environmental, conservation, and humanitarian work. Since founding the organization, Goodall has taken the stories of children and youth to each of her audiences. She continued to tell the stories of the chimpanzees she had observed, but she also shared the stories of children who were directly involved in identifying local problems and solutions. Children are providing leadership by planting trees, conserving energy, protecting pollinators, mapping communities, learning and teaching land management, and participating in thousands of other projects.

One of the gifts of hope that Jane Goodall has given the world is her passion for empowering children and young people. Her work will continue long beyond the span of her life. Those young people will grow and share inspiration with future generations.

While rich and powerful senators argue about billions of dollars, children are planting trees. While billionaires extend their wealth despite inflation, pandemic, and economic collapse, children are building and deploying habitats for bees and other pollinators. While elders live on the border of despair, children are picking up and recycling trash. While health care systems are collapsing, children are creating green spaces in cities. Jane Goodall taught the world that anyone, anywhere, can make a difference for people, other animals, and the planet we share.

Jane Goodall was a charismatic leader at the center of a worldwide movement, but she never made the movement about herself. It was always about others. While we will miss her stories and inspirational writing, we know that the work she began continues. That ongoing work is a more eloquent testimony to a life well lived than any words I can write.

The elementary school in Boise, Idaho, that our children attended had a dedicated and capable leader. The principal of the school could be found doing virtually any job within that institution. If a lunch server were out sick, she might be wearing an apron and gloves and serving lunches to students. If a playground attendant needed an emergency day off, she would be out on the playground, ensuring the safety of the children. She was an excellent classroom teacher.
Additionally, she handled all the administrative tasks of the school. She was involved in hiring, placing, and supporting staff. She met with parents and was an active member of the Parent-Teacher organization. She helped develop independent educational plans for students with special needs. Her staff, parents, and teachers were all confident that she was capable of doing every job in the school and doing it well.

One day, when I was volunteering at the school, a student erupted in anger. We later learned the reason, but at the time, all I knew was that he suddenly turned violent, upending a desk, throwing a chair at another student, shouting and screaming. I was unsure of what to do. Because I was the closest adult to the child and because I was big enough to do so, I picked him up and held him at arm’s length while I carried him out of the classroom into the hallway. I had no idea what I should do next. Fortunately for me, the principal heard the ruckus and responded quickly. She met me at the doorway of the classroom, took the child in her arms, and calmed him. Later, when all the children were safe and the angry student’s mother had come to care for him, I told the principal how grateful I was that she saw her job as being present throughout the school, not just sitting in her office.

Not all administrators are that competent. Since it is my profession, I will use the ministry as an example. I have known mid-level judicatory officials who shuffled paperwork, met with boards and committees, but could never do the job I did. One Conference Minister made no apology for preaching the same sermon every Sunday. Because he traveled from church to church, he managed to get away with it for nearly a year. A preacher’s job is to make connections between the Biblical texts and the lives of the members of the congregation. He was unaffected by the events in the lives of those he led in worship. He did not research the congregations in his conference. He didn’t understand the dynamics of the pastors' lives. I used to say, “He wouldn’t last a month in my job.” There is more to the story, but I’ve witnessed plenty of ministers who rose to positions in conference and national settings of the church who, frankly, were not very good at being ministers. As a local church pastor, there have been times when I was embarrassed by the lack of competence and unwillingness to do the hard work of ministry exhibited by some of my colleagues.

I have never served in the military. It is easy to imagine, however, that the military leaders who were summoned to Marine Corps Base Quantico yesterday to listen to a rambling speech from President Trump, who never served in the military, and an hour-long lecture on woke culture by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The event occurred on the eve of the shutdown of the United States government, which raises numerous issues and problems for the US military. Although service members are essential and will continue to receive pay, the support they receive from civilian contractors is in question. Those generals return to their commands facing a wide range of questions and problems today.

They don’t need a new set of guidelines for the physical fitness of troops. It isn’t as if either of the speakers at their event could pass a PT test. Hegseth made a big deal of physical fitness and grooming standards. He seemed not to know that all women serving in combat positions have been screened for physical fitness and their ability to perform their jobs. It isn’t as if Hegseth knows how to land a jet on an aircraft carrier, or pilot a drone from a remote base. The women currently serving in combat positions in the United States military are qualified to do so.

Hegseth entered military service in the Minnesota National Guard as a commissioned officer after graduating from university. His deployments included guarding detainees at Guantanamo Bay, serving as a civil-military operations officer, and a training officer. He didn’t rise to his present position because of combat experience. He gained recognition as a co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend, leading to his appointment to his current job by the President. Even though cabinet positions are authorized and named by acts of Congress, he is proud of the “name change” from Secretary of Defense to Secretary of War. He speaks of lethality as if he doesn’t know that suicide is the leading cause of death for active-duty military members. He called for “changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records,” signaling that bullying and unprofessional behavior are acceptable.

The dedicated women and men of the United States military are faithful to their oaths of loyalty to the Constitution. They are consciously apolitical in their official function. They serve all presidents regardless of party affiliation or political position. I am confident that the generals assembled yesterday demonstrated professional behavior and will continue to serve with honor and integrity as they return to their commands today. They know that they will continue to face unexplained actions from their political leaders, including cuts in the number of general officers, firings of other top military leaders, and deployments to US cities without clear-cut missions. They know how to train troops, and they understand that deploying them to US cities without adequate support and without a clear-cut mission is ineffective training, despite what their leaders say in speeches.

We live in dangerous times. Unfortunately, we currently have leaders who lack the skills to accurately assess the dangers and respond effectively. On the other hand, they do less damage when making speeches than when issuing policy orders. Perhaps we need to create more opportunities for speeches for those who appear incapable of undertaking the actual hard work of leadership. Like my conference minister colleague, they are likely to deliver the same speech over and over again.

The year I was born, US physician Jonas Salk tested the vaccine for polio on himself and his family. The following year, clinical trials were held involving 1.6 million children in the US, Canada, and Finland. The results of that trial were announced in the spring of the following year, and the vaccine was licensed. I can’t remember the first time I received the vaccine. I have a vague memory of an oral vaccine, which was probably not the Salk vaccine, but rather another one developed by Albert Sabin. Two years after the Salk vaccine was licensed, the annual number of polio cases dropped from 58,000 to 5,600. A decade later, only 161 cases remained.

Polio is an ancient disease. There are ancient Egyptian images showing children with malformed limbs walking with canes. The year before I was born, a polio outbreak killed over 3,000 people in the US. Beyond those killed by the disease, thousands more were paralyzed. Treatments were devised, including the use of an iron lung to aid breathing, but no cure was found.

The medical breakthrough that turned the tide on this disease was the development of an effective vaccine. Dr. Salk never sought profit from the vaccine. In a 1955 interview, he was asked who owned the patent for the vaccine. He replied, “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”

Several other vaccines have enhanced my life. I have avoided tetanus even though I have had injuries where the bacteria could have entered my body. The injection I now receive every ten years also protects me from diphtheria and pertussis. Because of my age, I am now considered to be “at risk,” and therefore receive a high-dose flu vaccine each year. Although I know it does not provide complete immunity, I have received COVID vaccinations according to the schedule recommended by my doctor, including the updated 2025-26 vaccine administered yesterday.

I have listened to arguments against vaccination, but I have not been persuaded that they are backed by the same rigorous scientific inquiry that has produced the vaccines and the schedule of recommended vaccinations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is a challenge, however, to participate in current public debates over vaccines because there are so many high-profile speakers, including governmental authorities who not only lack scientific discipline and training but also do not rely on experts for information and guidance.

Despite a rambling press conference by the US President, there is no evidence of a connection between Acetaminophen and autism. Unlike polio, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, flu, and COVID, autism is not a disease. It is not “caused.” Autism refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by variations in social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication. There is no single type of autism. It can be helpful to think of autism as a spectrum. Autism spectrum disorder is the preferred way of referring to a set of conditions that appear different in each person affected by it. People with autism need varying levels of support, depending on how the condition affects them. Some people who live with autism have other conditions that can be medically treated.

I am not a doctor. I am not a biologist or researcher. I am not an expert in Autism. What I am is a person who lives in a community with friends who have been identified as being on the autism spectrum. I am grateful for these people in my life, and I can’t imagine why anyone would want to live in a world without autism. I do, however, support research to understand better the conditions associated with autism. Understanding can lead to supports that help people with autism pursue their dreams and lead the lives they choose.

We human beings are incredibly complex. There are a few simple solutions to the problems we face. One of the tools we have in dealing with life’s challenges is generational wisdom. We have benefited from the information gathered and insights developed by those who lived before our time, and we have a responsibility to add to their knowledge and pass it on to future generations. Until the current administration was inaugurated, we could count on governmental agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Library of Medicine to be stewards of our collective knowledge and wisdom. However, current policies of replacing experts with those whose only qualifications are loyalty to the President and the ability to garner media attention threaten our collective ability to retain the information and experience of previous generations. It is especially alarming that these leadership changes have been accompanied by direct attacks on universities, which have traditionally been centers of sharing research and wisdom.

The challenges of the current political situation are not the first or only challenges that research and discovery have faced. In our country, we have a heightened awareness of the precariousness of our situation in part because the rise of authoritarianism has been so sudden and dramatic. And now, the administration and the party that controls the legislature seem intent on creating a government shutdown as an excuse for more dramatic firings of dedicated public servants and more drastic cuts to genuine research and discovery.

In response, I am trying to hone my critical thinking skills. I try to practice judgment and discernment as I wade through the barrage of information from the Internet. I write essays every day without the use of large language models, also known as artificial intelligence. I am only one person, but I belong to a community of individuals who continue to engage in challenging research and critical thinking. In the face of the challenges posed by the disintegration of constitutional democracy, individuals and informal groups of concerned citizens are becoming increasingly essential stewards of research and generational wisdom.

And I try to retain my sense of humor. As it turns out, I haven’t needed any medication for the slight pain of yesterday’s injection. Had I felt the need, however, the medicine of choice for me would have been Tylenol. Unlike some public figures, I am willing to trust clinical trials and careful research. Also, unlike those figures, I don’t fear autism or those on the spectrum.

A dear friend of ours is a patient in a rehabilitation facility as he recovers from a stroke. The stroke occurred in an area of his brain that has to do with mobility. He has lost much of his ability to control the right side of his body from the shoulder down. Fortunately, the bleeding in his brain was minimal, allowing him to make a relatively quick recovery in terms of thinking, memory, speech, and facial expression. His therapy includes exercises that have the two sides of his body mirror each other. For example, he places his hands together and presses them from left to right, then from right to left. At first, he could only go one direction, but now he can go in both directions. He is slowly regaining his ability to move his thumb and fingers on his right hand. His therapy is hard work, and he is diligent in his exercises.

As he recovers, a race is underway at his home. His husband is working with contractors to complete the remodeling of their home, making it more accessible. Their home is an older building, and some of the remodeling is extensive, involving extensive work on plumbing, electrical systems, and construction. The work is being rushed with the hope that construction will be completed before our friend is discharged from the rehabilitation facility.

Meanwhile, we can visit and share our friendship. That friendship includes acknowledgment of his recovery and adjustment to the challenges of disability. Furthermore, we have gained a great deal of insight into his medical history. I am not a doctor, and I do not know all the technical details, but as has been the case when I have visited others, I have learned a great deal about the complexity, beauty, and resilience of the human body. We human beings are a fantastic combination of strength and vulnerability.

Our friend had a brain condition known as AVM. That is short for Arteriovenous Malformation. I can’t seem to remember the extended version and have to look it up to get the spelling correct. It is a rare condition that occurs in only about 1 in every 100,000 people. An AVM is a tangle of blood vessels in which arteries and veins make direct connections without the typical capillaries connecting the vessels. This results in high blood pressure from arteries flowing directly into veins, which do not usually receive high-pressure blood. Our friend’s condition had been diagnosed before his stroke, so doctors had MRIs and other clinical evidence about what was going on. He was receiving specialized treatment, but before the stroke, it was felt that a surgical remedy was not an option because of the location of the AVM.

Before his stroke, our friend’s symptoms included headache, numbness, dizziness, and occasional seizures. These were being treated with medication. Careful monitoring of his blood pressure and medicines for blood pressure were also part of his treatment.

I don’t know all of the details, but the AVM and the stroke are related. When the stroke occurred, the AVM floated slightly away from the surface of the brain, allowing surgeons to remove it. The procedure was very delicate, lasting 9 hours. He then had to remain sedated in the operating room for an additional period of time for special monitoring and control of his blood pressure as his brain adjusted to all of the changes. The surgery was successful, and the slow process of recovery began. After five weeks of hospitalization, he was released to rehabilitation, so he can now receive care close enough to home for us to visit.

Among the amazing things we have learned from this friendship is more about how the human brain works. Not only are human brains capable of surviving a condition such as an AVM, but they are also capable of learning enough about how brains work for surgeons to train and remove the AVM in a manner that allows the patient’s brain to continue functioning.

We humans take pride in our brains. While it may be hubris, we have been led to believe that our brains distinguish us from all other life on earth. We acknowledge that there are other intelligent animals, and some researchers question whether certain animals, such as dolphins, are as intelligent or even more intelligent than humans.

Our complex and capable brains, however, may not be the best thing for our planet. Human activity has caused an incredible amount of damage to our planet. For example, human activity is responsible for species extinction at a rate that rivals the impact of an asteroid hitting the Earth. We are on track to become more destructive than an asteroid when it comes to the loss of biodiversity. Human intelligence has been detrimental to the planet and the animals that inhabit it, including humans. It is now clear that human activity is capable of rendering this planet incapable of sustaining human life.

Our friend’s remarkable recovery, however, is a source of profound hope for me. If human brains are capable of devising techniques and treatments for significant problems within the brain of another human, it seems we might have the capacity to reverse and rectify some of the damage that we’ve caused to others and to this world. If our friend’s brain is capable of recovery from an AVM and a stroke, perhaps this planet is capable of recovery from human environmental destruction.

On the one hand, I am sorry that our friend had to suffer a stroke. Bleeding in the brain is a serious matter, and recovery is a difficult process. On the other hand, being with our friend is a powerful source of hope for me. I feel deeply grateful that I can visit him and learn from his experience. I am awed by observing his recovery. I am so thankful for his friendship.

I know that there are many difficult days for him. I know that it is hard for him to be patient with himself and the pace of recovery. I hope that the community of his friends will continue to support and encourage him. We are all growing through his journey. I need to be sure to tell him how grateful I am.