In Memoriam: President Jimmy Carter; Washington National Cathedral, December 29, 2024

Washington National Cathedral; In Memoriam: President Jimmy Carter

"Washington National Cathedral and the Episcopal Diocese of Washington join the nation in giving thanks for the life of President Jimmy Carter, whose deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ was the foundation of a public life shaped by compassion, humility and care for the least among us.

Our prayers are with President Carter’s children Jack, Chip, Jeff and Amy, and the extended Carter family.

President Carter exemplified a life of public service rooted in personal faith. Whether teaching Sunday School, or building houses for the poor, or working through the Carter Center to eradicate diseases in Africa, President Carter exemplified what it means to translate faith into action. 

President Carter’s faith was quiet and humble, fueled by a much-needed sense of generosity. His devotion to God was evidenced by his pursuit of peace and his promotion of human rights, especially for the world’s poor. Indeed, on the global road to Jericho, he was often the Samaritan who stopped to help as others passed by.

Undeterred by age, infirmity or political defeat, President Carter rose again and again to offer an outstretched hand. He embodied St. Paul’s admonition to be “afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

We will leave it to others to judge his political legacy, but his graciousness in victory and defeat, his personal decency, and his dogged commitment to public service demonstrated that one need not hold public office to leave an enduring imprint on the fabric of America. Of all the second acts in our political life, President Carter’s post-White House years were among the most inspiring. 

Together with all the saints in glory, we give thanks for the life and legacy of President Jimmy Carter. From his selflessness and humanitarian spirit, we draw inspiration. And from his example of fidelity and generous faith, we find hope that we might yet learn to embody his example of good and faithful service. 

“Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant James. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.” 

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington

The Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith
Dean of Washington National Cathedral"

A truck driver's quiet kindness on the highway leads to gratitude and recognition; CBC, December 27, 2024

CBC; A truck driver's quiet kindness on the highway leads to gratitude and recognition

"When trucker Daljit Sohi spotted a woman drop her purse in a B.C. parking lot, he immediately stepped in to help.

What followed was a three-hour drive to return her belongings, a gesture that would later earn him a generous gift and nomination for a prestigious trucking award...

Sohi, who has been with the company since 2021, hadn't told anyone at work about what happened, not even his family. 

Harpreet Sabharwal, HR Manager at Triple Eight Transport, praised Sohi's humility.

"The gentleman is quite humble to not boast about himself but we were quite surprised in a positive way.""

Toronto Public Library apologizes after refusing to let a lost girl use their phone; City News, December 2, 2024

 Rhianne Campbell, City News ; Toronto Public Library apologizes after refusing to let a lost girl use their phone

"The Toronto Public Library has apologized after refusing to let a lost girl use a phone at one of their branches.

Megan Kinch posted on social media Friday evening after her lost 11-year-old daughter went to the library looking for help."

Climber Sees Wings Trapped Under A Boulder And Saves Majestic Animals; The Dodo, November 13, 2024

Maeve Dunigan , The Dodo; Climber Sees Wings Trapped Under A Boulder And Saves Majestic Animals

"Working together, rescuers removed the heavy boulders and carefully secured both eagles in crates. They swiftly brought the birds to Raven Ridge for further assessment.

Rehabilitators treated the birds’ wounds and tested them for lead poisoning. With continued therapy and care, the eagles recovered. They became increasingly spicy and aggressive, signaling that they were preparing to return to their home outdoors.

The eagles were ready for release by Veterans Day, making the moment especially emotional for all involved...

“By caring for both eagles, we were able to reunite them for their release,” Raven Ridge wrote in a Facebook post. “We believe they are a mated pair, and releasing them together not only honors their bond but embodies the spirit of resilience and hope that Veterans Day represents.”

The things we can control: A personal reflection after Tuesday; The Ink, November 8, 2024

ANAND GIRIDHARADAS , The Ink; The things we can control: A personal reflection after Tuesday

"In times like these we are entering, when it will become harder to have systems that are kind, interpersonal kindness will matter more. It shouldn’t have to, but it will. Having each other’s backs will matter more. Checking in on your friends will matter more. Letting people sleep on your couch will matter more. Cooking for people who are sick will matter more. We should not be in a situation where the burden of care shifts so radically from the center to the edges, from a coordinated system to an ad hoc network, but it is where we are headed. And we will all be called on in the times ahead to be for each other what, in a better time, the system would be.

If you have a spare moment today, text or, better yet, call someone you care about and don’t reach out to enough. And just tell them you will be there in the days that are coming. That’s it. That’s the assignment."

NHL hockey stars to compete in Stamford in memory of Darien's Hayden Thorsen; CT Post, August 2, 2023

Dave Stewart, CT Post ; NHL hockey stars to compete in Stamford in memory of Darien's Hayden Thorsen

[Kip Currier: I just learned about this inspiring Shoulder Check Initiative this Memorial Day from an update story reported on morning television. On this day when we thank all those who gave their lives while serving in our military branches, in furtherance of freedom, this is an important reminder for all of us to reach out to someone, check on someone, and show kindness and compassion.]

"The HT40 Foundation is named for Hayden Thorsen, using his initials and the No. 40 jersey he wore while playing ice hockey.

Thorsen, an avid hockey player, died by suicide in the spring of 2022, and his parents Rob and Sarah created the foundation to “bring people together through kindness and compassion, just as (Hayden) did throughout his life.”...

According to a press release,, the Shoulder Check Initiative “encourages reaching out, checking in, and making kindness a contact sport in the locker rooms, in the halls, on and off the ice.”"

Senator to Pope Francis: Not so fast on AI; Politico, December 14, 2023

MATT BERG, Politico; Senator to Pope Francis: Not so fast on AI

"Congress hasn’t done enough work on artificial intelligence regulation in the U.S. to join Pope Francis’ proposal for a global treaty to regulate the technology, Sen. Mark Warner told POLITICO. On Thursday, Francis called for a binding treaty that would ensure artificial intelligence is developed and used ethically. He said in a statement that the risks of technology lacking human values of compassion, mercy, morality and forgiveness are too great — and that failing to regulate it could “pose a risk to our survival.”

13 presidential libraries from Hoover to Obama warn of fragile state of U.S. democracy; Associated Press via PBS, September 7, 2023

 Gary Fields, Associated Press via PBS; 13 presidential libraries from Hoover to Obama warn of fragile state of U.S. democracy

"Concern for U.S. democracy amid deep national polarization has prompted the entities supporting 13 presidential libraries dating back to Herbert Hoover to call for a recommitment to the country’s bedrock principles, including the rule of law and respecting a diversity of beliefs.

The statement released Thursday, the first time the libraries have joined to make such a public declaration, said Americans have a strong interest in supporting democratic movements and human rights around the world because “free societies elsewhere contribute to our own security and prosperity here at home.”

“But that interest,” it said, “is undermined when others see our own house in disarray.”

The joint message from presidential centers, foundations and institutes emphasized the need for compassion, tolerance and pluralism while urging Americans to respect democratic institutions and uphold secure and accessible elections."

When is it OK to lie?; NPR, August 22, 2023

 Frank Festa, NPR; When is it OK to lie?

"Knowing when a friend or loved one is seeking honest feedback can be difficult. The best way to find out is to ask them what they need — do they want your opinion? Or do they want you to listen to them vent?"

Keeping true to the Declaration of Independence is a matter of ethics; Ventura County Star, July 2, 2023

Ed Jones, Ventura County Star; Keeping true to the Declaration of Independence is a matter of ethics

"How do we keep faith with Jefferson, Franklin and the other founders? Due to the imperfections in human nature, there is no foolproof way, but a good plan would be to have all levels of our government — national, state and local — adopt ethical training similar to that of elective office holders here in California. Periodically, they must participate in ethics training which assumes there are universal ethical values consisting of fairness, loyalty, compassion trustworthiness, and responsibility that transcend other considerations and should be adhered to. This training consists of biannual computer sessions in which they must solve real-life problems based on the aforementioned ethical values.

I believe a real danger for elected officials and voters as well is the idea that certain societal values are so vital, so crucial, that they transcend normal ethical practices. This might be termed an “ends — means philosophy,” the idea that the ends justify the means. Mohandas Gandhi, former leader of India, observed that “the means are the ends in a democracy and good ends cannot come from questionable means.” 

No matter how exemplary our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, we are still relying on human beings to fulfill their promise. Ever since the Supreme Court took the power of judicial review — the power to tell us what the Constitution means and, in the process, affirm certain laws by declaring them constitutional or removing others by declaring them unconstitutional — the judgement of nine people has had a profound effect on our society. Was the Supreme Court correct in 1973 by saying the Ninth Amendment guarantees pregnant women the right to an abortion, or was it correct in 2022 by saying it didn’t?

In the final analysis we must conclude that it will be well-intentioned, ethical citizens and their elected and appointed representatives who will ensure the equitable future of what Abraham Lincoln referred to as our “ongoing experiment in self-government.”"

'Andor' soared — it was about the force, not The Force, of the Star Wars universe; NPR, November 23, 2022

Glen Weldon, NPR; 'Andor' soared — it was about the force, not The Force, of the Star Wars universe

"Force with a lowercase "f"

Karn and his colleagues are dedicated to the cause of fascist oppression (which they're careful to refer to only as "order") with a zeal that isn't remotely macro. It isn't mythic, religious or even passionate. Instead, they're driven by institutional imperatives that scour their souls free of empathy, compassion and understanding, and reward them for ruthlessness, cruelty and — above all — efficiency. 

Who's the showrunner here, Hannah Arendt? Because as we watched season one of Andor play out in a series of mini-arcs across its 12 episodes, we saw the inner workings of the Empire. It's The Banality of Evil: The Series."

In ‘remarkable’ moment, Little Leaguer hugs opponent after scary pitch; The Washington Post, August 9, 2022

Des Bieler, The Washington Post; In ‘remarkable’ moment, Little Leaguer hugs opponent after scary pitch

"“I’m a coach myself,” Austin Jarvis said, “and he hears me tell my players all the time that it’s not just about baseball.”

“Being a good person is more important than being a great player,” he added, “and seeing him exemplify that on the field today, and on television — which I didn’t even know it was on TV in that moment — seeing him do that just makes me really proud.”

“What Isaiah did,” Kouplen said, “is what our whole world should be doing right now: loving others, above and beyond our differences. It was truly inspiring.”"

Remembering Thich Nhat Hanh, Brother Thay; On Being with Krista Tippett, January 27, 2022, Original Air Date September 25, 2003

On Being with Krista Tippett; Remembering Thich Nhat Hanh, Brother Thay

"Tippett: I wonder if you can think of, say, a situation where you think you might have done something differently than you would have before, a concrete way in which it changed your action or reaction in some way.

Ward: When my mother passed away, about seven years ago, I was actually on vacation with my wife and some friends in Costa Rica. And I was in a small village that only had two telephones, one private, one public; the public one did not work. This was around Christmastime. So when I was finally able to get a phone and call, I found out my mother died. And so I went — took three days to get back to Cleveland, where she was, and by that time, she was already buried. And my father was overwhelmed with grief. And he was so overwhelmed with grief that after the burial, he went home and he shut the door and he wouldn’t let any of the children in the house.

So I started sending him flowers and love letters over six months’ time. And I would go visit, and I’d sit outside the house and bring my flowers and put them on the porch — and this is after flying from Idaho or wherever I was — and I knew he was in there, and I’d leave them, and then I’d go on and visit my sister, you know, etc., etc. And finally he opened the door, which was, to me, opening the door to himself. And so now we’re in a totally different environment and a different situation. And I’m certain that without the practice, that is not how I would have responded to an experience of “rejection.”

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. If I’d have been operating out of that mindset of my youth, I would’ve just said, you know, Forget you. And instead, I was able to understand what was happening to my father. I could see and feel his suffering, his tremendous heartbreak. I knew that he didn’t have any training in dealing with emotion — none. And I knew that in my family, my mother was the emotional intelligence, and that when she passed away, he had no skills, no capacity to handle the huge ocean of grief he found himself in. So my practice was to communicate to him that I was there for him, that I supported him, and that I loved him, but my practice also was to hold compassion for him and myself and my family so that we could all go through our grieving process peacefully, and at our own pace...

Tippett: A cynic would say, well, he can give these beautiful teachings about ending violence,  and then there are these individuals who come to a retreat like this, who are clearly taking this seriously and taking this back to their lives, but they’re just drops in the ocean.

Ward: That is true. I am a drop in the ocean; but I’m also the ocean. I’m a drop in America, but I’m also America. Every pain, every confusion, every good and every bad and every ugly of America is in me. And as I’m able to transform myself and heal myself and take care of myself, I’m very conscious that I’m healing and transforming and taking care of America. Particularly I’m saying this for American cynics — [laughs] but this is also true globally. And so as we’re able, however small, however slowly, it’s for real.

Tippett: Larry Ward co-founded The Lotus Institute, a meditation center devoted to the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. In 2020 he published a new book, America’s Racial Karma: An Invitation to Heal."

A Plea from Cleveland Clinic; December 21, 2021

12/21/21 email from Cleveland Clinic:

A Plea from Cleveland Clinic

"This past month has been sobering for many of us in healthcare. Nearly two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, we’re seeing some of the highest volumes of patients with the disease in hospitals throughout the Midwest.

"Here at Cleveland Clinic, we’re caring for more than 800 patients with COVID-19 at our Ohio hospitals. Of these patients, more than 200 are in the intensive care unit. The majority of these patients are unvaccinated.  

Our Ohio emergency departments are filled. We have people waiting to get into our hospitals. Neighboring hospitals in our communities are facing the same issues. 

We’ve had to postpone many non-urgent surgeries in Ohio as we try to leave enough space for patients with COVID-19. Our physicians, nurses and caregivers are working around-the-clock to care for these sick patients. They are exhausted.  

Today, we come to you with a plea. Get vaccinated. Please. Whether you are due for your booster shot, undecided about getting your child vaccinated or have been leery of the vaccine all along. The science is clear. Vaccines save lives. Please, get vaccinated.

For those of you who have lost a loved one to COVID-19 this year, we extend our deepest sympathies. We feel your loss. We share in your grief. We, too, are heartbroken.

The only way we can get through this is together. Please do your part for yourself, your family and your community. Get vaccinated. Wear your mask, wash your hands and stay home if you're feeling ill. 

Cleveland Clinic will always be here for you when you need compassionate, high-quality care. The sun will rise tomorrow morning, and with it will bring renewed hope for a better day. 

We wish you and yours a joyous holiday season & a happy and healthy New Year."

Hundreds of helpless cold-stunned sea turtles rescued by Navy pilots and pickup trucks; The Washington Post, February 18, 2021

Alex Horton, The Washington Post; Hundreds of helpless cold-stunned sea turtles rescued by Navy pilots and pickup trucks

"“Most of these people didn’t have good conditions in their own homes,” he said. “But they came out to help.”

The hardships of the extreme weather, coupled with the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic, compelled the volunteers to do something tangible and positive amid the bleakness, Bellamy said.

“Things have been rough over the past year. It’s fun to see people come together focused on recovering these turtles. People just need it.”"

IT’S ABOUT ETHICS IN COMIC BOOK JOURNALISM: THE POLITICS OF X-MEN: RED; Comic Watch, April 18, 2020

Bethany W Pope, Comic Watch; IT’S ABOUT ETHICS IN COMIC BOOK JOURNALISM: THE POLITICS OF X-MEN: RED

"It’s extremely rare for a run of a mainstream comic to result in a story with as much philosophical complexity and clarity of vision as Tom Taylor’s (shamefully abbreviated) X-Men: Red. Because the author set out to tell ‘the best X-Men story’ he could, and because he managed (somehow) to gain something close to free-reign from editorial (as well as having the good luck of being paired with some truly remarkable artists; most notably Mahmud Asrar) the end result was not only the best continuous X-Man story of the decade, but something which will (in time) surpass Whedon’s revolutionary run on Astonishing in terms of fan-regard. In this article, I am going to pick (a little) at the weave of the story in an effort to isolate and reveal a few of the integral threads which form the weft of the narrative.

The central thesis of these eleven issues is that the act of compassion is a more powerful tool than the most brutally cinematic superpower. Empathy is the thing which slaughters fear. Looking at your enemy and seeing a person, woven through with hopes and loves, fears, the usual mixture of frailties, transforms disparate (possibly violent) mobs into a functional community by revealing that there is no ‘us versus them’. There’s only ‘us’. The X-Men are the perfect superhero group to make this point, because their entire existence is predicated on the phrase ‘protecting a world which fears and hates them’. The X-Men have always represented the struggle that othered groups (racial minorities, religious minorities, women, members of the LGBTQIA community) have faced when trying to live in function in a world that is slanted, dramatically, in favor of straight, white (American) men. Such a group is a necessary force in the current, fractured, geo-political climate."

That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief; Harvard Business Review (HBR), March 23, 2020

Scott Berinato, Harvard Business Review (HBR); That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief

"One colleague mentioned that what she felt was grief. Heads nodded in all the panes.

If we can name it, perhaps we can manage it. We turned to David Kessler for ideas on how to do that. Kessler is the world’s foremost expert on grief. He co-wrote with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five Stages of Loss. His new book adds another stage to the process, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. Kessler also has worked for a decade in a three-hospital system in Los Angeles. He served on their biohazard’s team. His volunteer work includes being an LAPD Specialist Reserve for traumatic events as well as having served on the Red Cross’s disaster services team. He is the founder of www.grief.com which has over 5 million visits yearly from 167 countries...

What can individuals do to manage all this grief?

Understanding the stages of grief is a start. But whenever I talk about the stages of grief, I have to remind people that the stages aren’t linear and may not happen in this order. It’s not a map but it provides some scaffolding for this unknown world. There’s denial, which we say a lot of early on: This virus won’t affect us. There’s anger: You’re making me stay home and taking away my activities. There’s bargaining: Okay, if I social distance for two weeks everything will be better, right? There’s sadness: I don’t know when this will end. And finally there’s acceptance. This is happening; I have to figure out how to proceed.

Acceptance, as you might imagine, is where the power lies. We find control in acceptance. I can wash my hands. I can keep a safe distance. I can learn how to work virtually...

One particularly troubling aspect of this pandemic is the open-endedness of it. 

This is a temporary state. It helps to say it. I worked for 10 years in the hospital system. I’ve been trained for situations like this. I’ve also studied the 1918 flu pandemic. The precautions we’re taking are the right ones. History tells us that. This is survivable. We will survive. This is a time to overprotect but not overreact.

And, I believe we will find meaning in it. I’ve been honored that Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s family has given me permission to add a sixth stage to grief: Meaning. I had talked to Elisabeth quite a bit about what came after acceptance. I did not want to stop at acceptance when I experienced some personal grief. I wanted meaning in those darkest hours. And I do believe we find light in those times. Even now people are realizing they can connect through technology. They are not as remote as they thought. They are realizing they can use their phones for long conversations. They’re appreciating walks. I believe we will continue to find meaning now and when this is over." 

How Pitt is Preparing for the Spread of the Coronavirus; Pitt Wire, February 27, 2020

Pitt Wire; How Pitt is Preparing for the Spread of the Coronavirus

"The University of Pittsburgh continues to monitor the spread of the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, and is taking steps to respond to community needs. As of Feb. 27, no cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Pennsylvania. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that the individual immediate health risk to those in the United States is currently low, communities should prepare for the coronavirus to spread. 

Keeping our community informed

Since the emergence of the virus in December 2019, campus health and public safety leaders have coordinated closely with the Allegheny County Health Department and Pennsylvania Department of Health and are following guidance from the CDC and World Health Organization.
Pitt encourages members of the University community to visit the Public Safety and Emergency Management website, which remains a centralized and reliable source for information on this issue. “Knowing where to find reliable information is important for community members,” said Molly Stitt-Fischer, the University’s biosafety officer. “As the health and scientific communities learn more as the situation continues to change very quickly, access to the most current guidance is critical.”

Great Leaders Understand Why Small Gestures Matter; Harvard Business Review, January 13, 2020

Bill Taylor, Harvard Business Review; Great Leaders Understand Why Small Gestures Matter

"Maybe it’s time for all of us to reflect on the wisdom of Getnet Marsha and the performance of Executive Shine. So much of the business culture remains fixated on strategic disruption, digital transformation, and the meteoric rise (and disastrous fall) of venture-backed unicorns. What if we took just a moment to think a little smaller, to act a lot more humbly, to elevate the person-to-person interactions that lead to more meaningful relationships? Sure, successful companies and leaders think differently from everyone else. But they also care more than everyone else—about customers, about colleagues, about how the whole organization conducts itself when there are so many opportunities to cut corners and compromise on values. In a world being utterly reshaped (and often disfigured) by technology, people are hungrier than ever for a deeper and more authentic sense of humanity...

Small gestures—whether signage or speech, body language or handwritten messages—can send big signals about who we are, what we care about, and why we do what we do. Even (maybe especially) in this age of digital disruption and creative destruction, never underestimate the power of a shine with soul or a well-crafted card. Don’t let technology overwhelm your humanity."

U.S. lab chimps were dumped on Liberia’s Monkey Island and left to starve. He saved them.; The Washington Post, December 12, 2019

Danielle Paquette, The Washington Post; U.S. lab chimps were dumped on Liberia’s Monkey Island and left to starve. He saved them.

 

"Animal testing has existed since doctors in ancient Greece studied the anatomy of rodents — an estimated 115 million creatures are still used each year in research worldwide — but rarely is the aftermath so visible. Rarely is it so hungry.

 

This colony of 66 chimpanzees, which never learned to survive in the wild, eats roughly 500 pounds of produce each day, plus a weekly batch of hard-boiled eggs for protein. They rely on money from a charity abroad and the devotion of men who’ve known them since they lived in steel cages."