Listen to “My Trivial Sins” by Fred Smith   No one would describe me as a product of diversity. As a Southern Baptist, I grew up sure of our traditions and practices but not our doctrine. I had a clear picture of who we were but had no idea what it was – other than hymns, potlucks, and full-immersion  – that distinguished us from the imposters to the true faith around us. Everything we thought and every question we had about salvation, God, the world, and eternity was in the Baptist hymnal, so we sang our way into believing each Sunday. And one of those hymns, “Nothing But The Blood”…

  Listen to “The Four Hundred Pound Day” by Fred Smith   Tiger Woods‘ victory at the Master’s is a myth. I know that sounds like a post on a fringe site but I’m not saying it is fake news. Instead, his winning is a perfect example of what Joseph Campbell in his book, “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” would describe as a myth – a story that symbolizes one of the fundamental themes of our world. It is the theme of the hero’s quest and is not Tiger’s story alone. Campbell believed we each are on a quest. Every heroic story develops in stages. First, setting off from…

Listen to “Over and Over Again” By Fred Smith   A favorite illustration was debunked last week. For years, I have used the image of the grain of sand in the oyster being the source of the pearl. It’s not true and I will miss it! Oysters and other mollusks thrive in the shallows and if a pearl were formed each time a grain of sand slipped through, pearls would not be the rare and prized gems they are today. Instead, because oysters feed by filtering through their gills as much as 50 gallons of water per day they are constantly cleaning their soft tissues of sand and other irritants…

Listen to “Our Little Town” by Fred Smith When we moved from New York to a small town in rural East Texas thirty-five years ago small towns were not trending. That has changed. Today, there is a surge of books, articles and even documentaries celebrating the values and lifestyle of small towns. Local is in and, at least for now, global is in decline. In “The Road to Somewhere,” David Goodhart distinguishes between those who are more comfortable with being citizens of the world but not any particular locale and those who identify with a particular people and place. “Mobility and experience of higher education tend to change people’s worldview…

Listen to “He Told Stories” by Fred Smith   Years ago, as a much younger man, I began a search for wisdom in giving. Although looking back, I realize that I didn’t know what “wisdom in giving” truly meant. I was really looking for advice and a jumpstart – not wisdom. I had read everything available, but I wanted to find a person from whom I could learn not only the practical aspects but also the essential values of philanthropy. I had heard a talk by John Gardner, the author of Self-Renewal, who said, “Some people strengthen the society just by being the kind of people they are.” I knew…

Listen to “The Rich You Will Always Have Among You” by Fred Smith   Like others, I have been disappointed by corrupt wealthy parents and coaches finding a way around the system by helping a scoundrel open the “side door” to admissions to elite colleges and universities. I don’t think anyone familiar with admissions was shocked by the fact that it happens. We have had various forms of favoritism and rule-bending for many years: Scholarships and loyal alumni boosters making under the table payments to athletes, deals for parents of valuable recruits, and prestigious awards given to major donors for little more than writing large checks. While it clearly points…

Listen to “A Sometimes Solitary Life” by Fred Smith   If you read biographies you notice a frequent pattern in the lives of many great leaders. Early success and then years of obscurity and hardship – even rejection and exile. Two good examples are Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln. Writers and artists may show promise – even brilliance – and then languish for decades before creating anything again. One hit wonders are common in music as are novelists who cannot produce a second best seller. In other words, early success is no guarantee of longevity or continued success. These people battle for years with doubt – especially self-doubt. They wrestle…

Listen to “A Living Thing” by Fred Smith   My grandfather was a Baptist pastor with the temperament of an Irishman. Named Matthew Bunyan after John Bunyan, he was always addressed as Brother Smith by my grandmother. Mercurial and unpredictable are likely the right words for his relationships with both the deacons and the congregations he served. Today, we would call him a church planter but the truth is he moved around in his career more than most. I remember my father telling me that Brother Smith had an uncomfortable habit of telling the whole truth about the departed at funerals. Maybe his ill-timed honesty kept them itinerant and poor.…

Listen to “The Reef” by Fred Smith   In “Where Good Ideas Come From” Steven Johnson uses the illustration of a coral reef as an example of a structure that is both fragile and still able to withstand the incessant pounding of waves and storms. He relates Charles Darwin’s first experience with reefs and his amazement they were able to withstand the violent surges of water. “The ocean throwing its waters over the broad reef appears an invincible, all-powerful enemy; yet we see it resisted, and even conquered, by means which at first seem most weak and inefficient…Yet, these low insignificant coral-islets stand and are victorious: for here another power,…