Free Range Deep Fried Salvation?

There’s so much going on in 2025, and 2026 isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Sitting here taking it all in, people are scurrying in every direction possible trying to cope, keep up and survive. It’s exhausting, and it's human to look for ways to lighten the load.

When we're overwhelmed like this, those pesky values we've learned along the way can feel heavy and cumbersome. There’s little time or energy to think about the right way or the best way or even the multiple ways to get things done, so we keep moving, heads down, not asking too many questions, looking for the paths of least resistance. Subsisting; not having the energy to do much more than the minimum to get by. It's draining. Unsatisfying work. Second-rate results. A recipe for burnout. 

This week I caught an Ice Road sequel on Netflix. It's a throw-away Liam Neeson film, but it made me sit up and take notice when the Spike character, facing his demise after a harrowing hijacking attempt, looks into the eyes of his assailants and says, “It’s easy to live as an atheist…but not to die as one.”

From the predictable formula of an action movie, this line jumped out at me…not as a religious reference, but as a point made about the role of values in how we experience life…and so I write today.

It’s empty going through our days doing what we’ve got to do to get along, without regard for what is right and best for ourselves, our colleagues, friends and family, and the children we serve. What feeds us and sustains us through difficult times…what has lasting impact…isn’t what’s quick and convenient…it’s the things that withstand the tumultuousness; that keep us grounded and resilient. Our values.

Why cultivate your brand if it doesn’t stand for something greater than an easy way out? How personal can it be if it’s just a facade for sale?

The new KFC ads say “the colonel lived so we could chicken.” Does that make him the founder of some new age free range deep fried salvation? Of course not, but it sells chicken. When they hold nothing sacred, they can get away with saying anything they want to line their pockets.

It may seem convenient to be agnostic in this age of disruption, believing there is no higher expectation than just getting through each day, but if that's all there is...and anything goes and nothing matters...what do we have to show for it?

Here's my point:

Those that are dismantling public education are doing so without regard for the consequences. Our values are the difference in how we respond: leveling the playing field or claiming the higher ground. Think we're able to do both at the same time? Sounds like something they would say...

So what are our values?

Are they reflected in our choices and actions?

How do we stay focused, energized and resilient?

These are important questions.

And the answers matter.