“Rob, are you sailing with the winds of God today?” I was recently reminded of my mentor’s question years back. At the time, he shared that he was borrowing the question from his long-time pastor, Roger Frederickson; he called it “Roger’s question.” I can’t recall how I responded then, but I have not forgotten the […]
One way to express the spiritual crisis of our time is to say that most of us have an address but cannot be found there. – Henri Nouwen __________________ Adam and Eve have just eaten of the tree that God has commanded them not to eat of—perhaps the most disruptive moment in the history of […]
Jesus tells a story of a person who was traveling down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Along the way the person gets attacked, brutally beaten, robbed, and left in a ditch on the side of the road. Three people come across this dying man. The first two, as Jesus tells it, are respectable people in the […]
Each Tuesday morning we meet as a VP3 team over Zoom. And each Tuesday morning one of us brings a focusing thought. This morning Pam brought a prayer. As we read it aloud to each other, twice through, I think it quieted us and centered us a bit, which is not necessarily easy in this […]
As we come alongside others, we are invited by God to become living reminders of this startling reality––their story is unique and it matters deeply to God and us. I have been reminded recently that meaningful conversation with another must be rooted in a sense of wonder or reverence for the person. Few things are worse […]
I have been thinking a good bit this afternoon about “the why” of mentoring and spiritual friendship in the Christian life. And as I let my mind go with this question once again, I found myself circling back to an essay I read years ago by Annie Dillard entitled “An Expedition to the Pole” (not […]
God has ordained things that we grow in faith only through the frail instrumentality of one another. St. John of the Cross Our growth in Christ does not occur in isolation; it takes place within the company of others who provide presence and perspective along the journey. One specific form of being “in the […]
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6 No book we read, no conversation we have, no sermon we hear, no spiritual discipline we practice, no Journey process we take can be transformative unless we have a thirst for a deeper life with God—and are prepared to […]
“Is it possible for people to miss their lives in the same way one misses a plane?” Walker Percy asks in his novel The Second Coming. With his character Will Barrett—a lonely widower, recently retired from a very successful business career—Percy confronts us with a person who has confused all the activity of his life […]
So, it’s really cold. I woke up this morning thankful for a warm house. Most days I take this warmth and safety very much for granted, but not this morning. The kids are home, the cartoons are on, and as I sit next to Rosie, all wrapped up in her new mermaid blanket, I am […]
“Our story is meant to reveal the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.” This week I have found myself returning over and again to these words. Here is their context. In a 2014 interview author and psychologist Dan Allender was asked, “Why is it critical for a person to understand his or her own story?” Allender […]