There may be some question about how long you are to speak. On such occasions I remember that a certain economics professor had a reputation for long speeches. His wife said, 'After you have heard one of my husband's speeches you may not be any wiser but you're certainly a lot older.'

There seems to be a momentum that drives unsubstantial rumours on the web, through undiscriminating tabloids, all the way to supposedly responsible newspapers. We have not yet learned, any more than those in Congress have, how to build in a pause to consider the likely consequences of actions before they are taken.

This bold grandmother compares her latest move - a call for a UN World Day of At-One-Ment - to a dandelion seed. 'I keep blowing hopefully in different directions and ask God to bless the thought which he put in my head until it finds fertile soil.'

Veteran American journalist Charles Overby encountered more than he bargained for on a recent trip to West Africa. He met - and was challenged by - America's past.

The Pope believes that the Church's 'culture of remembrance' can save the media culture of transitory news from becoming a forgetfulness which corrodes hope.

Many African Americans will tell you that Portland and Oregon are the most racist communities they have ever been in, and most can cite racist hurdles and language they have encountered.

When her husband Medgar was killed, Myrlie Evers-Williams realized, she says, that it's not what happens to you that matters; it's how you deal with it.

Nobody said that healing history or treading the path of forgiveness would be easy.

Even to ruminate out loud about Clinton, Starr, Lewinsky, etc. is to venture into a minefield of reactions. I discovered that at my tennis club. It is even risky at my church.

1998 was the year of Mitch for some. The year of Monica for others. Natural disasters and unnatural disasters. Yet, to me it was the year of Mandela-type attitudes and actions, people who rose above the unfair hands dealt them.