N. Thomas Johnson-Medland

When we stand in the presence of the natural world of creation, something very powerful occurs. Our heart senses a raw and vital connection between ourselves and the handiwork of God revealed in the trees and rivers. Our eye catches some small detail and we are opened up to union with the world around us and to the Creator of that world. It does not take a magnificent vista; it could be a snowdrop or the sound of the wind. Our lives are informed by the wonder, the awe, and the radical amazement...

Cairns have decorated the landscapes of cultures throughout time. Piles of stone-one stone placed on top of another-are set in place all over the earth to recall battles, identify burial sites, mark trails, and spur hearts and minds to remember sacred, noble, and critical events. They are landmarks. They are sacramental presences in space and time. Our lives are littered with markers of meaning. They all reveal who we are, where we have been, and offer us a jumping off point for the future. In...

Apparently, in 1338 and well into 1339, Death showed up for a grand performance at a little village of Nestorian Christians. The village was known as Issyk-Kul; it lay south of Lake Balkhash, Russia. The cemetery headstones made clear a major work of the macabre had taken place in that short year. Three of the stones actually told us that the THE PLAGUE killed the people buried there. It was etched into their epitaph. THE PLAGUE. And so it began. One of Europe's largest choreographed...

Having grown up in the shadow of the Bomb and having provided supportive care to post-Cold War generations of children and their parents (both in crisis), I have seen a lot of distrust and instability in people–individually and in communities. I have seen how the shadow of impending doom can rewrite a way that people live. This distrust and instability is not a personal issue. It is a sign and symptom of having lived in a time when the imagination can harbor not simply notions of tribal decay...

Space and time are not just terms and functions of the bigger/larger objects in our lives, but intricately woven into the cells that make up our spleen and the neurotransmitters that carry our sense of truth and integrity (or some other thing that carries that–which we have not yet figured out how to find or name just yet). The mercurial and hermetic principle that everything above operates on similar principles as the things below (inside as well as outside) holds true in this conversation, as...

There are a lot of books about leadership out there. I wanted to stir the pot and make some suggestions that I have not heard yet. Leadership is not about sticking qualities all over yourself, like dozens of «yellow sticky notes»: «Today I will learn time management. Tomorrow I will develop integrity.» Mere information is not enough to change us. Data may lead to transformation, but it is not enough to transform us on its own. Leadership is not about «trends» and «buzzwords.» Leadership is...

Along the Road-Tales from the Journey is a practical guide for patients and families going through some very serious and difficult issues. It is here to enable focus and meaning in a time that is fraught with confusion and pain. It is also for people who are not involved in hospice–people that recognize the value of keeping track of the journey for others to have «in case» they should suddenly be removed from the trail of life. It is for those who recognize the personal value in journaling their...

The notion and phrase of «entering the stream» has long been an image for merger and union. Most often it is meant to sum up the idea of union with the Divine Principle or God. Less often, yet still common, it is used to image the union of ideas, bodies, and movements. The sense that one thing folds into or flows into another and gets lost is still a major underpinning toward the belief that there is some «ah ha» moment in life where we are able to drift out of simple, commonplace existence...