Sunday Best – September 6, 2026
Friends, I promise that these weekly reflections will not be an endless parade of memorials.
And yet. What a time.
Today I offer short quotes from two lives of wisdom and action – Wendell Berry and Gloria Steinem. It would be easy to think of these two in separate (or even opposite) categories, but both recognized the power of community. Both held clarity regarding where their own time was best spent. Both saw that our nanosecond news cycles run out of sync with our most important endeavors. And, I just realized this week, both advocated for joy as an act of deep and informed hope.
How lucky we are that all they touched is forever changed, as is true for each of us in our own lives.
How lucky we are that their written works can live on, unbound by time.
Be joyful though you have considered all the facts. – Wendell Berry
Laughter is the only free emotion – the only one that can’t be compelled. – Gloria Steinem
*****
Some of my favorite writing by these two includes:
Wendell Berry:
* Manifesto: The Mad Farmer’s Rebellion This poem hangs in a spot in my home where I can see it every day. Each line holds a sharp edged beauty and power.
* The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture
* This Day: Sabbath Poems 1979-2012
Gloria Steinem:
* An Unexpected Life (forthcoming)
Sunday Best – August 30, 2026
When I was a young media analyst, I got to attend a number of star-studded events. Of course it took just one moment for any Hollywood type to size me up and realize that I was not one of them, nor especially powerful, and therefore most looked right through me.
But.
One night I was having dinner with a Very Important Studio Executive, at a Very Shmoozy Restaurant. Just after we ordered from the waiter, who did not even glance my way, a teeny tiny and extremely glamorous woman approached our table.
You guessed it. It was Dolly Parton.
After greeting the Very Important Person, she turned and looked me right in the eye, held out her hand, and introduced herself (as if that were necessary). After their quick conversation, she turned again, apologized for interrupting our dinner, and said goodbye to me. By name.
Since then, I’ve seen Dolly expertly play over a dozen instruments in a single concert. I’ve seen her respond to hostile interview questions with love and grace. I’ve seen her incredible Imagjnation Library grow to over 300 million books. I’ve seen the magic of Dollywood seamlessly combine a bald eagle sanctuary, giant cinnamon rolls, and river splash rides.
But none of that has surprised me as much as the night that she turned my way, and looked me in the eye.
Dear ones, who might we choose to see today?
Sunday Best – August 23, 2026
Enchantment is the oldest form of medicine. – Carl Jung
Years ago, as our jeep in Africa crested over the edge of a steep hill, we saw just below us a family of giraffes, slow-motion galloping across the road, their necks swaying to the rhythm of their own feet.
I was enchanted.
Last week, I turned the corner of my own street in my own hometown, and there before me was a whole herd of elephants, processing down Commonwealth Avenue under the leafy and decidedly un-tropical canopy.
I was enchanted.
And I was not the only one! When I returned in the daylight, crowds of people were weaving in and out of the herd, every single person looking dreamy and awestruck.
Dear ones, heaven knows that we often encounter situations that are decidedly un-enchanting. So when we’re presented with unexpected delights, that’s all the more reason to celebrate.
Let’s pause.
Let’s do a little dance of glee.
Let’s thank our lucky stars.
* Did you know a group of giraffes is called a “tower” when they are standing, and a “journey” when they are moving? A third option for such a group is “kaleidoscope”!
The Great Elephant Migration is an ongoing project to foster understanding of the web (“not a pyramid”) of our interconnected life on earth. The herd can be seen in Boston through September 13.
Sunday Best – August 16, 2026
Joyful news this week! Last Mile Health was awarded the Hilton Humanitarian Prize, for their extensive and effective work to alleviate human suffering.
Years ago I was honored to serve as board chair of this amazing group. On a trip to Liberia we had the chance to meet with a local leader, who was asked whether the area’s community health workers had really made a difference.
His whole face lit up, and his arms and legs shot into the air. Shouting, he declared, the babies, now they come out fat and kicking! Then his face grew more somber and he quietly added, the babies do not die anymore.
Dear ones, we create so many metrics of progress and success, some of them necessarily complex. Heaven knows, I am all for nuanced analysis, and have gobbled up each insightful report that the LMH monitoring, research, evaluation, and learning team has produced. Many of our most interesting challenges in the world’s warrant this kind of thoughtful, careful assessment.
At the same time, our most worthy endeavors also occasionally produce outcomes that are gloriously straightforward.
Friends, when the babies are newly fat and thriving, let’s shout it from the rooftops.
The footnotes can – and should, and will – follow.
Please join me in congratulating the entire LMH team and all of their worthy partners, who save lives in the world’s most remote communities by ensuring a health worker is within reach of everyone, everywhere, every day.
Sunday Best – August 9, 2026
I’ve lived just two hours from Emily Dickinson’s home for many years, but just made my first visit recently. Aside from the crazy patterns of carpets and wallpaper, and some bits of family history that were new to me, the biggest surprise was seeing her writing desk.
Of course there is a sense of awe, to be in the same room where such memorable poems were composed. But friends, this desk was TINY. Teeny tiny. Itty bitty. Smaller than a modern nightstand, maybe 18 inches square.
Dear ones, so often we are waiting for the perfect setting to dive into new endeavors. For me, I’m convinced that I need a quiet room, a perfect cup of coffee, a clear (huge) desk, a fancy new notebook, alllll the post it notes, and a completely clear calendar.
None of us can be Emily, but what if our own creations are not so needy after all? What if we just need a scraps of paper and a teeny tiny desk?
Forever – is composed of Nows –
*****
My favorite purchase from the gift shop is the excellent Helen Vendler book on Dickinson, which offers a few short pages of commentary alongside each poem. Perfect format, brilliant insights.