People

Listen to “Talking to Elephants” by Fred Smith   As a young man stationed in Italy in the Navy I invited my family to come and join me for a tour of the country. One day in Rome [...]

Listen to “Do the Next Thing” by Fred Smith   Now and then I host what Quakers call a Clearness Committee for an individual working their way through an issue about direction or [...]

Listen to “Is It Too Much To Ask?”   It’s not just me but a growing number of people have made comments about a theme running through commencement speeches for the last several [...]

Listen to “More” by Fred Smith   Periodically, I think about full retirement and what that might mean. I asked one friend about it, and his response was, “Retire from what? You [...]

Listen to “What’s the Outlook?” by Fred Smith   The difference between weather and climate is important. Weather alters constantly while climate changes are slow but the [...]

Listen to “The Gospel Drone” by Fred Smith   In 1967 film maker (and devout Christian) Irwin “Shorty” Yeaworth  produced “The Gospel Blimp” as a send-up of the craze [...]

Listen to “Gods in Disguise” by Fred Smith   It was not even a major miracle. No one walked on water or fed five thousand. As far as miracles go it was almost incidental. A [...]

Listen to “Paper Dolls” by Fred Smith   There is no topic more widely discussed and fretted about in family philanthropy than that of donor intent. Horror stories (both true and [...]

Listen to “Neighbors” by Fred Smith   Like most of us, I’ve heard the Parable of the Good Samaritan since childhood and one thing has remained constant: the Samaritan has always [...]

Listen to “An Open Hand” by Fred Smith   In the middle of the crippling cold snap in Texas the store manager of the HEB grocery store had to make a decision. With hundreds of [...]