A big surprise for me when we moved to Tyler was how many people here travel all over the world. I expected a relatively small town in rural Texas to be more isolated and provincial. It remained puzzling until discovering that during the Great Depression there were very few places in the country with a strong economy and liquidity. Tyler was one of them and became an early example of venture capital and private equity. Families invested in properties on every continent and while many people assume the wealth of this community is built completely on oil, a good percentage of the wealth comes from those early investments. In many…

Star Trek lasted only three seasons on television. NBC cancelled it due to poor ratings but the show grew a cult-like following with much of the credit due to Leonard Nimoy’s portrayal of the unflappable Mr. Spock. The fan tributes to Nimoy after his death show that his character on Star Trek has remained a folk hero since the 60’s. While he understood the irrationality of our species and even struggled with his own half-human nature, Spock always said what he thought and was bewildered by how humans complicated and confused issues with emotions — anger, fear, love and attachment. In one episode, he said, “May I say that I…

Most of us are first made to read Shakespeare before we have enough life experience to even partially understand his genius. It wasn’t until I was teaching King Lear in senior English – and had a daughter of my own – before I realized King Lear was so much about his tangled relationship with his daughters and desperate attempt to pass off responsibility without giving up privilege. It was the tragic tale of a father demanding love and honor – things that could only be earned. Years went by and I didn’t reread King Lear until much later when I was co-teaching “The Wise Art of Giving” with Os Guinness…

A cardinal rule of teaching is never open with a line that makes it impossible to say anything more about the topic. That’s especially true if it is a lecture and you have 45 minutes to fill. In a discussion class you can always make the statement and then say “talk among yourselves” for the balance of the time. Of course, I am always suspicious that no one ever talks about the lesson but more likely goes straight to politics, sports or the kids. That’s the predicament I found myself in preparing a lesson on Isaiah 40 and the qualities of God. What can anyone say about the incomprehensible –…

“Thank God the evangelicals are a single issue bloc of voters.  I don’t know what we would do were they not.” My friend, the aspiring politician, had read the tea leaves, put his finger to the wind, and digested all the polls for coming to that conclusion making it easier for him to send the right message. In some areas of his district, he would not even spend money and time campaigning as long as the religious voters knew he was solid on that single issue. Nothing else mattered. Find the one issue about which they were united regardless of their other differences in denomination, worship, theology, and history. Pound…