All Shall be Well Michael Jinkins Julian of Norwich might be considered the patron saint of pandemics. The Black Death, which emerged repeatedly during the Middle Ages, cut a swath through her part of England in the year 1349 killing roughly one third of the population. She was a child then, and must have […]
Please note: Michael is currently out of the office and this post was scheduled before the current state of emergency. The Deceptive Appearance of Fear Michael Jinkins Fear masquerades as power. That’s how it acquires so many converts. Having served in a variety of leadership roles in the past thirty-five years, this […]
A Longish Apologia for Long Sentences Michael Jinkins Recently I read a book by a psychiatrist about Ernest Hemingway’s mental health (Andrew Farah, Heminway’s Brain, University of South Carolina Press, 2019). It was an interesting book. The thesis was that many, if not all, of the psychological symptoms (depression, paranoia, grandiosity, and exhibitionism) Hemingway […]
Only More So Michael Jinkins Several years ago I took the plunge and got a copy of Julia Child’s classic cookbook. Among the many lessons I learned from Julia is how to reduce a sauce. The flavors not only become concentrated, they actually develop new dimensions in their reduced state. But the thing that […]
What Mardi Gras Can Teach America Michael Jinkins Standing at the back of the ballroom at the New Orleans Hyatt Hotel I learned something that could go a long way toward healing our country during this polarized and mean age. Michael Bell had just finished escorting one of the lovely young women into […]
The School of Broken Hearts Michael Jinkins When Debbie, our children and I were preparing to leave my first solo pastorate in a small town in central Texas, the wonderful woman who cared for our children each day while we worked wept as Jeremy and Jessica clambered into their carseats and we drove away. […]
Silence Michael Jinkins Erling Kagge has journeyed to the North Pole, the South Pole, and climbed Mount Everest: the first person in the world to do so. In addition to being an attorney, an art collector and a publisher, he has written six books on a variety of subjects including philosophy. But I would […]
Buses and Anxieties Michael Jinkins There are some old sayings about the ways in which misfortune visits us. Like late buses, problems tend to come in bunches, we have been told. Another version says that bad things come in threes, which is usually really unnerving if you’ve just been visited by two so far. […]
The Strawberry and the Cardinal Michael Jinkins One day this man walking along the road approaches a farmer tending his strawberry patch. He is enjoying a holiday, hiking from one country inn to another. Each day he sees sights he has never seen before and dines sumptuously each evening on the best foods […]
I Have Done Unspeakable Things Michael Jinkins The man stood before me. He was old, perhaps five feet tall, thin, sinewy and hard as a pine knot. “I have done unspeakable things,” he said, his eyes dark pools that no light known to this world could penetrate. The faces he saw at night […]