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In lieu of our regular monthly newsletter, I wanted to share with you a great learning opportunity for any non-profit leader looking to grow and diversify their revenue.

Though never documented, it is legend that Ernest Hemingway said; to be a man, one must plant a tree, fight a bull, write a book and father a son.

Editor’s note: Simon’s work was the backdrop to my young life. He just had/has a unique ability to bring rhythm and sound to great lyrics. Listening to Slip Sliding reminds me of contemplating whether I was “gliding down the highway when in fact” I was “slip sliding away.” Dude can write, sing and play like nobody else.

Commencement Address

A note from the Author: Below, since we will finally publish on October 27th, is the final excerpt from my book, Empty Abundance; Finding Meaning through Mindful Giving. Appropriately for you, dear reader, it is the last two pages of the book. Thanks for hanging in with me; it’s been a shockingly long process from concept to actual printing. Note: I’ve yet to see the final sample book! The book itself can now be pre-ordered on our site and on www.emptyabundance.org. Next month, I will return to original blogging each month. As always, I’m grateful that you care to read because believe me, it is an honor and a privilege to be read.

Editor’s comment: Some forget that this mid-1980’s album and song were “way out there” for the time. It was experimental, really and the collection of songs on the album would be understatedly called “eclectic”. I loved it then and loved it again the other day when it came up on my ITunes shuffle. Only a few people are as deeply moved by music as Simon, in my view.  

Editor’s comment: It seems appropriate that since my book of the month is one that departs from traditional economic theory, this article of the month should be of similar ilk. Thanks to my good friend, Carl Falb, for passing this along to me. Warsh’s writing is a bit rangy but absolutely fascinating to me in that he incorporates social as well as economic theory into his work.  Just the challenging of our measures and the implications of same makes this excerpt a fascinating read. For the entire text of this September 14th article, and much more, go to www.EconomicPrinciples.com.  

Editor’s Note: This is an easy reading book considering it is written by an economist. It’s also one that I find myself saying “that’s simply not true” when absorbing certain of Galbraith’s theories. But I recommend it highly for anyone trying (as I am) to figure out exactly what is going on in the American and world economy as it gives real clarity to a less-publicized view of what we are experiencing. That is that our most accepted economic premise – that growth is inevitable and eternal – is flawed. Galbraith attempts to underpin his thoughts with history before going onto recommending four actions that could help stabilize our future. But more than anything, I agree and appreciate his premise: that the American economy simply is not on an eternal growth trajectory, as most economists and politicians would like us to believe and that until we accept and address that fact, we are inviting further disaster.  

I know in my soul, as Bogle does, that I have more than enough. And so I spend most of my days working to serve those who serve the poor, but I also enjoy every reasonable perquisite provided me by forty years of discipline and hard work.