"Cast Away": Living with Purpose

In the movie Cast Away, Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems troubleshooter, played by Tom Hanks, is stranded on a South Pacific island, the sole survivor of ...

Value of a Person

What is the value of a person? Can we measure this value by a paycheck, a retirement benefit, or a stock option?

Some years ago I purchased a Hummel Christmas ...

George Clooney's Insomnia

In Men's Journal, writer Doug Stanton talks about actor George Clooney's obsession with work:

"Most of the time," [Clooney] says, "I ...

What Kids Can't Appreciate

In 1997, Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of aviator Charles Lindbergh, was invited to give the annual Lindbergh Address at the Smithsonian Institution's ...

An Ant’s Publishing Life

I see clearly that I have achieved practically nothing. The world today and the history of the human anthill during the past five to seven years would ...

Everything Under the Sun Counts

Frank Capra, who directed It's a Wonderful Life, was asked years ago about the central message of his classic film. After thinking a few moments, ...

Receiving the Gift of Life

Salvation isn't what liberals or conservatives in this country think it is. It's about getting my life straight. It's not about ultimate significance. ...

Delayed Recognition

On a plaque marking Abraham Lincoln's birthplace near Hodgenville, Kentucky, is recorded this scrap of conversation:

"Any news down t' the ...

You Are Never Too Small

If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.

Filling the Hunger for Significance

Two years ago, a woman in my audience wrote to invite me to visit her, if I could. A few weeks ago, I was in her home city, along with my teammate and ...