A minister friend, aware of ever-growing complications and mounting tonnage at the trough of trivia, often used the expression from the pulpit, in staff meetings and in conversation. He felt strongly about “keeping the main thing the main thing.” It was a serious challenge made so often that friends often referred to him as the “main thing minister.” It’s pretty clear, no matter where our focus centers, that his admonition has been largely ignored. We live in a world awash in minors. In the early going of my 40-year tenure in higher education, brief conversations with college-bound freshmen sometimes led to suggestions about ...