There is an Art to writing a good letter of recommendation. A right letter takes time, and thought, and today, we look at both sides of the recommendation writing dyad: the writer and the person of interest. Plus, as a bonus, we dig into the Nebraska Mafia to reveal a hit job that nobody saw coming -- except the superior one firing the gun.

We kneel to show devotion and respect to others. We kneel for forgiveness, in joy, and to confirm deference; but there are those among us who kneel for other purposes of spite and betrayal. We must be vigilant to understand the motivation behind bended knee.

Vision isn't just about viewing, seeing is about knowing and recognizing. How do we determine friend from foe? We learn to observe, and then model behavior to help establish community. We belong by watching each other for cues on establishing morality, duty and courage.

Is gossip gender biased? It may be in the labeling, but not in the active living. Badmouthing and backstabbing are too common today and the end result is mistrust and moral dismay. How can we stop this sort of social brainwashing when it only takes one person, not two, to lift the gossip tide?

Today, we fight for freedom. Today, we vote. Today, we stand up. The vote is the most valuable asset you have that doesn't cost you any money. Your vote is a gift that is everlasting. The trick to creating an effective single vote is simply... the amplification of intention!

We are being assaulted by salt! Sodium is everywhere. We cannot escape its avalanche of prepackaged infusions! Can you limit your sodium intake to 1,500 mg per day? Not bleeding likely! Here's why.

And if he lived, what will the world have lost? Nothing. The love of wicked men converts to fear; That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both To worthy danger and deserved death.

Who decides if you fit or not? Fitting in the world is a personal decision that is often decided by others. Who are the gatekeepers for being part of a group? What happens when the self doesn't fit with the whole? How do we deal with Racists and Bigots who have determined the arc of history spins only toward them and against the best interest of everyone else?

Trust or don't trust? That's the basic question of the human condition. Are you untrusting, and cynical? Or are you trusting and gullible? The negotiation between two extremes is where the lively middle survives, and we owe it to each other to compromise, to get along, and to save ourselves from the collision of the future.

We take on ballast to even us out, not to make us heavier. Ballast is an important part of a divine life that requires acknowledgement, rapture, and the acceptance of a shifting landscape that worries too many lives.