Author: Rick Bellingham

For my 75th birthday, a friend gave me a T-Shirt with a quote on the front  by Walt Whitman:  “Resist Much, Obey Little.”  I get more comments on that T-shirt than any other I regularly wear.  And I wear a lot of T-shirts.  Just the other day, another friend took a picture of my well-worn sartorial statement, and said she was going to order one just like it.  The quote “Resist much, obey little” appears Read More

I was recently browsing through some files and stumbled across a piece I had written in April 2013, before I started writing this blog.  It was a reflection about a trip I had taken to the Holy Land to deepen my understanding of Jewish history, to get a better understanding of the conflict brewing there, and to discover some potential paths to peace.  I thought I would share it here because it still seems relevant.   Read More

What if there was a magic pill that filled you with hope, fueled your innovative juices, and enabled you to trust the people and organizations that impact your life? Sadly, there’s no magic pill, but this possibility is a choice you can make.  In this post, I want to suggest that you have the power to create norms of your own choosing…

The underlying cause of many of our overlaying issues is our culturally reinforced tendency to be more emphatic than empathic.  In this post, I explore this idea more deeply through asking some key questions.

Even though there are dozens of columns describing the recent protests through different sets of lenses, I decided to share my perspective because I was involved in the seeds of this movement 56 years ago in Vietnam.

America was founded with the purpose of creating liberty and justice for all.  Millions of people around the country pledge their allegiance to that purpose in schools, athletic events, and government meetings still today.  And yet, based on budget allocations, the US is essentially an insurance company with a military.  What does that say about our purpose? 

On April 8, 2024, the day of the Great Eclipse, people around the world experienced the differential effects of identity and infinity.  Children, adults, republicans, democrats, blacks, browns, and whites all experienced the magical, mystical and mysterious possibilities in our ever-expanding universe.  This is what happens when infinity dominates. 

“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being.  With freedom comes responsibility.  For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his or her own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”  —Eleanor Roosevelt “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” —Martin Luther King, Jr. “It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.”  —Voltaire “The only Read More

“Donald, following the lead of my grandfather and with the complicity, silence, and inaction of his siblings, destroyed my father.  I can’t let him destroy my country.”  Mary L. Trump “I came to poetry through the urgent need to denounce injustice, exploitation, and humiliation.  I know that’s not enough to change the world.  But to remain silent would have been an intolerable complicity.”  Tahar Ben Jelloun, a Moroccan writer One of my favorite songs is Read More

“The wise man looks into space, and does not regard the small as too little, not the great as too big; for he knows that there is no limit to dimensions.”  Lao Tsu A dear friend of mine just passed away.  She was 76 years old and had been struggling with dementia.  She recently suffered a fall and related complications.  She died in peace in a beautiful hospice setting surrounded by her loving family.  She Read More

“These are the times that try men’s souls.”  Thomas Paine “The science of psychology has been far more successful on the negative side than on the positive side . . . It has revealed to us much about human shortcomings, illnesses, and sins, but little about human potentialities, virtues, aspirations, or health.”  Abraham Maslow “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community.  Our ambitions must be broad enough Read More

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”  Margaret Wheatley “By three methods, we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.”  Confucius “Research is formalized curiosity.  It is poking and prying with a purpose.”  Zora Neale Hurston “It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a Read More

In this post, I’m going to make the case for higher taxes.  Yes, very popular subject.  At the end, I will share what my 12 year old grandkids have to say—ahh, from the mouths of children.  The case for raising taxes encompasses concerns for social justice, economic stability, and environmental sustainability.  When governments implement progressive tax policies, they are able to reduce income inequality, fund essential public services, confront global challenges, and invest in natural Read More

Sometimes I feel like a pundit without pedigree or platform.  I guess that makes me a lonely voice in the wilderness.  I often wonder about how many people actually read this blog, but I’m less concerned about broadening my reach than deepening my connection with the people I care about.  To make myself vulnerable by openly communicating my thoughts and feelings.  To invite meaningful conversation.  Writing not only helps me clarify my own thoughts, but Read More

“Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible—the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family.”  Virginia Satir, American author and therapist “The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences.”  Ruth Benedict, American anthropologist Evidently, we are suffering from a shortage of nurturing families, and anthropology has failed.  Feelings of worth are Read More

“If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists – to protect them and to promote their common welfare – all else is lost.”  Barack Obama “You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible.”  Anton Chekhov   Here are the results of a 2023 Gallup Poll Survey on Institutional Trust.  The numbers represent the percentage of people in the United States who have a great deal Read More

Every summer, my wife and I visit my childhood friends, Bob and Norma.  Bob lives on 25 acres of farmland near Grand Rapids, Michigan, which includes a small pond with the most delicious blue gills ever hatched.  No hyperbole here.  Bob spends all year catching, cleaning, and freezing the fish so that when we visit, he is prepared for a feast.  Well, we are not the only beneficiaries of his generosity, but he does reserve Read More

“It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.”  —Eckhart Tolle “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.  We have guided missiles and misguided men.”  —Martin Luther King, Jr. “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.”  —Buddha “You have to be in the world to understand what the spiritual is about, and you have to be spiritual in order Read More

As we begin one of the most consequential years in history, I wanted to reflect on three themes that may play a big role in how the year turns out: Access, Excess, and Success.  I’m sure there are many other words that might capture what’s most important at this particular point in history, but these three, for me, seemed to cut to the chase of what we face. The questions I’ve been wrestling with that Read More

“It is easy to romanticize poverty, to see poor people as inherently lacking agency and will.  It is easy to strip them of human dignity, to reduce them to objects of pity. This has never been clearer than in the view of Africa from the American media, in which we are shown poverty and conflicts without any context.”  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of Americanah   “It is the consistency of the information that matters for Read More

The problem:  Global carbon dioxide emissions from the fossil fuels industry exceeded 37 billion metric tons in 2022 – their highest level ever.  Since 1990, global C02 emissions have increased by more than 60 percent. Based on a business-as-usual trend, C02 emissions are forecast to increase to some 43 billion metric tons in 2050.  Even if many of the agreements to decrease C02 emissions that came out of the COP28 conference were implemented, a recent Read More

My father and grandfather were both farmers for much of their lives.  They prepared the soil, planted the seeds, pulled the weeds, nurtured the plants, and harvested the produce that resulted from all that care and hard work.  I’m sure it must have been very satisfying for them to see the fruits of their labor.  They never longed for a life defined by titles, trophies, or treasures.  Their goal, as I want to imagine it, Read More