J Clay Norton

Well, here we are, the end of the 2025-2026 school year… You pause mid-step, caught between where you are going and where you have been. Your body faces forward, but your head turns back over your shoulder, eyes fixed on something no one else can see. It is not a single memory. It feels like a collage. Faded laughter, a door closing, sunlight through a window that no longer exists. The past…

Recently, the Stennis-Montgomery Institute for Public Policy and Administration at Mississippi State University held its 50th anniversary. During the evening, many accolades and comments were shared and given by those in attendance. Most importantly was the keynote speaker (that’s what I’m calling him anyway)… Dr. Dallas Breen, Executive Director. During the final part of his speech, he spoke…

  If you would like to download a printer friendly version of this with the above picture as a washout watermark background, click here: Where is the Lamb? God will provide. Where is the Lamb? God will provide. Abraham ascended the holy mountain, obedience measured step by step. Isaac followed, bearing the wood, bearing the question placed upon every faithful heart… “Where is the Lamb…?” Abraham…

Recently I came across a piece from Hillsdale College’s Imprimis titled Recovering the Lost Art of Diplomacy. The article reflects on how diplomacy, once considered an essential leadership skill, has gradually given way to something very different. Instead of patience, listening, and relationship-building, we often see speed, reaction, and public positioning. Reading it made me think about how…

With the Winter Olympics this year, I believe I watched more than ever before. I am not entirely sure why, but I got caught up not only in the scoring, but in the timing of events, the degree of difficulty, and the razor-thin margins separating victory from defeat. And the fact that so much of the scoring is subjective made it even more compelling. There were a few times I found myself thinking,…

As a former math teacher, I could fundamentally explain that two negatives make a positive, but that would probably bore you. However, when it comes to leadership, the equation is far more interesting. In leadership, many negatives can actually yield profoundly positive results. One of the most powerful and most underutilized tools in leadership is the word “no.” Or perhaps it is simply…

One day last week, while driving to school and listening to the radio, I heard a broadcaster joke that he had a “face for radio.” It is a familiar phrase, but it caught my attention in a different way this time. As I listened, I started thinking about how often we talk about “face” in leadership, the face we put on, the face we show in difficult moments, or the face others come to expect from…

The older I get, the more sentimental I become. I’ve always had a touch of it, but time has a way of deepening emotions and sharpening memories. I love Christmas, and I often tell Heather how happily sad I feel when we wake up on December 26th. The celebration has passed, the house is quieter, and the season officially closes. Still, life moves forward, and that particular Christmas becomes a…

Well, the ACME Math guys are back… This year we read our fan mail from the past year and answer a young person’s question regarding Santa and his intake of calories…  Allen Marett and I stated doing these videos a few years ago and  just wanted to have some fun and spread some Christmas Math Love. Anyway… Here is our video for 2025. Hope you enjoy, The Santa Conundrum    Here are the links to…

Merry Christmas everyone… Christmas Thoughts 2025 We will pick back up in 2026.  See you then… If you would like to download a printer friendly version of this year’s thoughts with a washout watermark background, click here: Shekinah in the Manger Shekinah in the MangerThe Shekinah stirs…the Dwelling Presence of God that once thundered on Sinai’s summit,that once filled the tabernacle and the…

Hope each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving… Hope you enjoy my Thanksgiving Thoughts 2025… If you would like to print and have a paper copy of this, click here: Eternal Promised Land Eternal Promised LandThe seasons turn, slow and certain,teaching us patience with what we cannot rush.Every day… the road runs from daylight to dusk,a long stretch of maybe and mercy.Some days bloom with…

Let’s be honest, this time of year can roast or fry even the best of us. The stretch between Reformation Day (aka Halloween) and Thanksgiving often feels like a sprint to the Christmas break finish line in sight. Evaluations, budgets, conferences, holiday events… and somehow, we’re all still smiling or plastering a smile through it (mostly). But here’s the truth… leaders get tired, too. And when…

In all of society today, it seems, leaders regularly navigate both tension and conflict, and then, maybe some do not. While the two are often used interchangeably, understanding their distinct nature is key to sound leadership. I’m currently reading the leadership book, Pivot or Die, by Gary Shapiro. In it, Shapiro emphasizes adaptability and agility in leadership, arguing that in a rapidly…

I am currently reading The Barn – The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson. If you have not read the book, I highly recommend it. The book honors both personal heritage and the enduring lessons drawn from the story of Emmett Till that continue to shape the South’s identity and hope. On a personal note, as I mentioned to a friend the other day who is also reading the book,…

The other day, while playing tennis with Heather, we paused during a side switch. As we sat, I noticed a single ant on the ground. It was moving steadily but with no obvious direction, as if searching for something. I asked Heather, “I wonder what it’s looking for? Water? Food? Maybe other ants?” And then it hit me: aren’t we all a little like that ant? Moving, striving, searching, sometimes…

C. S. Lewis, in some of his sermons and in Mere Christianity1, described pride as “the great sin.” Unlike other vices, pride stands in direct opposition to God because it refuses to acknowledge anything greater than itself. Yet it is important to distinguish between two forms of pride. A healthy sense of self-pride, rooted in the acknowledgment of God-given worth and responsibility, is not wrong.…

I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s The Bomber Mafia, and I was particularly interested in one idea (the entire book is full of fascinating knowledge by the way). Gladwell describes how ideas and memories rarely remain with the individuals who first hold them. Instead, they move, transitive in nature, living on in the lives of others. Though he applies this concept to military visionaries,…