An Emotional Case-Study of Former Prisoner Richard Pierce

Richard Pierce is a man I learned about years ago while listening to a broadcast of This American Life. The episode was called Transformers and there were several slice-of-life segments about people making a choice to transform their lives. It’s just the kind of stuff I eat up! The story about a man named Richard Pierce is the only one that has stayed with me, however, while I’ve forgotten the rest. His story had a rough start and a hopeful future, but what I was most affected by was the negative trajectory…

Praising my Sons in Their Non-violence When the Odds are Stacked Against Them

My 8-year-old son and I were in the bathroom one night, brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed. While searching the shelves for more flossers, he was going on and on about school and the games he was playing at recess. I was half-listening.

“…And then he pushed me to the ground,” he said.

“What?” Suddenly he had my full attention.

“He pushed me to the ground,” he said again.

“Why?” I asked. (Dare I say “who?” and give away that I wasn’t really paying attention.)

“Because he wanted to take my ball, and I wasn’t giving it to…

I don’t envy leaders right now. Leaders in politics, leaders in schools, business… you name it. One day, when we look back on this period of time, history will have shaped some opinion about what was good and what was bad during the coronavirus pandemic. That’s a history lesson that none of us have access to yet. We all have our opinions. Some have highly educated guesses. But what happens if (and when) that education changes. One can be highly educated and wrong.

The point is, no one knows the best way to lead right now. There are only bad…