Lifelines was originally a series of meditations broadcast on local radio stations over a thirteen-year period in my thirty-year career as a parish minister. My hope was that the series would speak to human experience generally and appeal to people broadly on a wide range of topics, using diverse sources of inspiration. My aim was to prompt reflection and to encourage the human effort to find meaning and live well. I selected the title of the series with two meanings in mind. The first meaning is expressed by Webster's definition of the word lifeline. A lifeline is "a line or rope for saving life." It is "something to grasp when there is danger of falling or being washed away." I hope in some meaningful way Lifelines has this life-saving benefit.