Heirarchies

By Dr. Jim Ferguson What constitutes a life? Arguably, some aspects are more important than others, and lately I’ve been considering the complexity beyond just structural aspects. “We are fearfully and wonderfully made,” but so is the house finch sitting at my bird...

Get Woke

By Dr. Jim Ferguson I assure you that I’m not fishing for comments, but sometimes I wonder if my essays make any difference or are even read. Perhaps I’ve said enough; some say so. According to marketing experts at The Knoxville Focus, the newspaper has a weekly...

Happiness 2020

By Dr. Jim Ferguson I was ready for a new year. But, as I watched the descending ball in Times Square usher in baby 2020, I asked myself, will things be any different after midnight December 31 than before? My wife has a motto, “Attitude is a choice; choose a good...

A Baker’s Dozen or So

By Dr. Jim Ferguson Though I am semi-retired, I’m still on-call for the Holidays, and patients do get sick on Christmas Eve. When I was in traditional medical practice my partners and I rotated holidays and night calls as well as weekend hospital rounds....

Stories

By Dr. Jim Ferguson Like a person’s life, a culture is comprised of stories. And at this time of the year virtually everyone has a Christmas story or a Holiday tradition. To a certain extent, humans are creatures of habit and comfort. We like things as we remember...

Schism

By Dr. Jim Ferguson Recently, a friend and I agreed to disagree. I believe this is possible because we have mutual respect for each other, and we have far more in common than our differences. Unfortunately, the warring factions in Washington have lost sight of this...