Hello, my friend. Let’s stay in closer touch. I’ll go first.
In November of last year, I began writing about Changefulness. My purpose was to preserve for my children—and, in a few cases, their children—insights I have gleaned over a 40-year career in the change sciences. Each week I write an indirection or assay of bias, Polonius’ terms for taking a roundabout path to “find directions out.”
But following a health near miss a few weeks back, I now wish to share more broadly the stories initially intended for a smaller readership. As I lay in my hospital bed pondering ways to extend this middle distance between heaven and heaven, mounting evidence came to mind suggesting the stronger our personal connections, the longer we might enjoy them. I have today, albeit selfishly, chosen to reconnect with you through my pen.
I’m off to a steady start with a few dozen posts in the bag. Given the season, I invite you to check out four of my latest.
Wishing you a “Blessed” Easter, Ramadan, and Passover, I have written this week about a many-layered word whose rarely intended meaning slipped into our language by the skin of its teeth. Wounded Are the Meek brings to mind the depth of healing that emerges each time we are Blessed.
In the hospital, I met a host of angels who brought small joys into my life while also laboring to preserve it. The Kindness of Strangers reflects on the numberless, nameless, and unrequited favors I have received over the years but can never hope to reciprocate. I am committing to become the stranger I wish to meet in the world.
As I practice my new craft, I struggle to use words sparingly. To honor the season, I have this week condensed for republication a couple of adventures I wrote in December on redemption and atonement:
Falling Objects speaks of tumbling from, and eventually back into, grace.
Its sequel, There’s Going to Be an Accident, encircles one such miracle.
Should you accept my invitation to sample my retrospective, you will not be surprised to find there perspectives that might be familiar to you. But if they march not in complete lockstep with your own, I do hope our views can stand alongside each other, whatever their stripe. Connections run two ways, and I hope you will share your comments in response to mine.
Finally, since you did not ask to get back in touch if you’d rather I sent this monthly synopsis to a total stranger (which I trust you have not yet become), just say the word, and I’ll do my best to go out and meet one. (Hehe.)
In any case, it would be nice to hear from you.
Scott