John Schlimm

"My 87-year-old friend — a cloistered nun and artist — Sister Augustine always told me: 'I’m only a messenger.' As I recount in my memoir, Five Years in Heaven: The Unlikely Friendship That Answered Life’s Greatest Questions, Sister Augustine showed…

"It has taken me almost three decades to be able to admit that I was mercilessly bullied during middle school and high school in my 1980’s Small Town America. It happened long before “bullying” was the buzzword or call to…

"Making a hard decision — about money, relationships, which job to take, which pathway to travel in life, you name it — becomes a war waged across the battlefield of our hearts and minds. You don’t have to be a…

"If you’ve never heard the term neuroplasticity, you are in for such an exciting treat. I confess, I’m a bit of a science nerd. I’m fascinated with how the universe and our bodies work. I also crave every morsel of…

"I once delivered a speech to 200 parish volunteers, thanking them for their generous service and remarking how giving of ourselves to help others is one of the pathways to the promise that God is making us beautiful in our…

"Trigger: any spark of annoyance — from the more serious to the downright petty — that ignites your blood to boiling, incites comments you’ll later regret saying, and/or makes you act in ways that only worsen the situation. Also known…

"It’s so easy in today’s world to fall into that slump. You know the one: where you think everyone else is passing you by, you wonder where you were when God was handing out all the talent, you convince yourself…

"When I’m working on a new book, especially during the editing process, I set a goal of reading and re-reading the manuscript until I can read it straight through without finding a single typo or other mistake. Even with a…