Category: Meaning

[033] Living the Questions: My Spiritual Story Begins

Are you religious?” It’s a question I hear often. My answer follows the arc of a romantic comedy—boy sees girl from a distance, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, reconciliation. Except in my story, it’s Boy Meets God. Here’s Act One.

[032] Ascend: Rising Above the Ugliness of Our Cultural Divide

My business partner and I were the dearest of friends—people compared us to Laurel and Hardy. Then we went from bosom buddies to barely speaking, casualties of the cultural divide. I deeply regret that we didn’t push through. Now I’m having weekly calls with another colleague I admire but profoundly disagree with. We’ve agreed to ascend above our ideological differences in honor of our humanity. It isn’t always easy, but it’s necessary. Here’s why our third act demands we rise above the ugliness—and how to begin.

[031] Agapé: The Crown Jewel of Thriving in Our Third Act

For most of my life, I thought love was something to find out there in the world—an elusive emotion I could control about as well as the weather. Later, as a follower of Jesus, I tried to build it like a muscle through sheer willpower. Neither approach worked. Then a friend said something that spun my head around: “Love is always present, but we rarely are.” As I put finishing touches on my book about hiding in plain sight, I’ve realized that shame has been the source of my impulse to hide. But here’s what I’ve discovered about agapé—divine, transcendent love—and why revealing it (not creating it) is the crown jewel of thriving in our third act. What hospice patients know that we need to learn now.

[030] I’ll never forget the night I tried to count the stars…

I’d never been so eager for the sun to set at Scout camp. That night, our astronomy instructor had us frame a piece of sky with our fingers and try to count the stars. As I stared, more and more came into view—too many to count in that tiny frame. Then he said: “There are billions of stars in that space if you had a powerful telescope.” It was a transcendent moment that’s sustained me for decades. Now in my third act, I understand why awe isn’t just a pleasant experience—it’s essential armor against cynicism, a bridge back to meaning, and a reminder of the incomprehensible privilege of being alive.

[029] Alignment: Finding Common Ground Without Agreement

Last week’s post on authenticity struck a nerve—some readers thought I was discouraging speaking up against injustice. Let me be clear: I’m not. But watching my nephews pivot from near-fistfight to teamwork in seconds revealed something profound about how we navigate disagreement. The secret isn’t converting people to our viewpoint—it’s discovering alignment. Here’s the difference, and why mastering it might be the most important skill for our third act.

[028] Are we all siblings having a national tantrum?

At 68, I thought I’d finally escaped the pull of conformity that plagued my teenage years. Instead, I’ve discovered something more unsettling: we’re all still teenagers, desperately seeking approval from our chosen tribes. From my perch in Washington DC, I’ve watched our culture devolve into pure sibling rivalry – and realized that breaking free from our “They self” isn’t just personal growth, it’s cultural survival. Here’s why authenticity might be the antidote to our collective possession.

[023] Awareness: The Hidden Portal to Thriving in Your Third Act

Acceptance is often served up as a quick fix for life’s struggles — just accept it and you’ll find peace. But true acceptance isn’t a shortcut. It’s a process, often the last stage of grief after denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. In this article, Max J. Miller shares how mistaking fake acceptance for the real thing led him through a personal crisis, and how discovering authentic acceptance opened the path to peace — even in the Third Act of life.