Studies in recent years have found that employees increasingly want employers to take a stand on social issues and be involved in the community. Smart employers have embraced that sentiment and offer paid time off that allows workers to pursue their passions. The Star Tribune noted this in a recent article. (My employer, Medica, is mentioned.)

High school and college students view the world this way, too. Meanwhile, enlightened college professors provide counsel that guides tomorrow’s leaders to pursue their passions.

During a college visit with my son, Spencer, this past fall, we met with a business and economics professor at Morningside College, a private liberal arts school in Iowa. The professor, Ngamboko Muzinga, an emigre from the Congo, asked us to call him “Larry.” He spoke directly to Spencer and told him that as a future leader he was called to be four things: king, warrior...

Patterns. Everywhere a pattern. A left turn brings me to the lake. On the lake the wake of a boat moves and dipsy-doodles.

The opposite shore. On the shore a deer. His pattern brought him to the water’s edge. He tilts his 10 points into the water. Refreshing, cool water.

A plane buzzes overhead. Higher still, a jet with its frozen contrails leaves a pattern in the sky. The small plane bisects, but does not intersect, the jet’s trail.

Back to the dock. My car takes me to a local tavern. Surprise: an old friend awaits. He hasn’t been in this part of the woods for 20 years. His pattern brought him here today.

The people who pass through our lives, like a dot-to-dot puzzle, connect, create our patterns.

When my late wife Kay first started her brain tumor journey, she was treated and seen by a neurosurgeon in Iowa City who performed her first two (of four) brain surgeries. This still was the case when I entered the picture. She would have a check-up with him every six months or so, depending on how things were going.

After one of these checkups, which brought a good report, Kay, her mom, Irene, and I were driving through the countryside on the way back to her parents’ farm, a little more than an hour or so southeast of Iowa City.

We were in good spirits. I was behind the wheel. As we flew over a hill we noticed a deputy sheriff parked, on the opposite side of the road, at the bottom. We passed him and he quickly turned around and pulled us over.

He went through the usual drill of asking whether I knew we were speeding, where we were coming from and where we were headed. I admitted...

Spring has arrived in Minnesota and as the ice disappears from our waters, I’m struck by how the lakes that dot our landscape are a lot like life itself.

Like a lake, life is something to reflect on and dive into. We can stare at the surface and see images of ourselves. Yet to find the wonder that’s within we need to probe deeper.

Underneath the oft-calm surface, a lake is teeming with life. Within each of us, an abundance of life exists and whole other lives may be waiting to be lived. Call them the riches of the deep. Sometimes they need to be lured out. And other times they surface on their own like a fish splashing out of the water in search of an evening meal.

But lakes and lives aren’t always calm. Sometimes there are waves. We must learn to ride the waves, much like a seagull bobbing along the waters on a rough lake. Waterfowl know that fighting the waves is often futile...

Written in 1994
Bandaged, bloody feet – where have we been?
What path did you lead me down,
Why do you hurt me so?
Where did we go?

Bandaged, bloody feet,
The course grows long.
How did the course go wrong?
Where have we been?

Bandaged, bloody feet.
Why, oh why, have you led me astray?
Carry me, support me,
Show me the way.

Bandaged, bloody feet.
The cuts are deep,
Crimson trail that makes me weep.
Why have we taken this path?

Bandaged, bloody feet
We now must heal.
For it is the heart that feels,
And in the soul do we choose which way to go.