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What Kind of People Help a Nation Flourish? “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King Jr. John and I were recently in Claremont for his 60th reunion at Pomona College. By the time people reach their 60th reunion, seems like they’ve lost a lot of the need to impress and readily reveal their challenges, their passions, their concerns, their foibles, and in the process... a lot of wisdom.

“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” — Martin Luther King Jr. The Interfaith Justice Coalition is inviting me and others in the area to attend a candlelight vigil tonight for Alex Pretti. I am mulling over where I stand during this turbulent time. What wisdom do I draw on? Two stories, two incidents, from the sixties help. They were incidents that happened in my memory of the Civil Rights era that seem to rise

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” — Socrates Not long ago, psychologists ran a simple test. Participants were told to imagine a friend calling to say he couldn’t go on living. What would they say? It wasn’t a cruel exercise but a study in wisdom. Researchers weren’t measuring IQ or cleverness. They were looking for something deeper: the capacity to make sound judgments guided by empathy,