Saturday Mornings

I've noticed ...so many times, when it feels like someone is making something about me, it really isn’t. Often in these situations, it...

Based on years of spiritual direction, I have observed that conservatives must let go of their illusion that they can order and control the ...

The rest  here ....

In respect of all that has happened before and after the significant events that took place 57 years ago today... Our only chance ...

All we ever really have is the present. The present eclipses the past. But, our awareness and presence in the current moment impacts ou...

We really can't help anyone else , if we are sabotaging our own selves. "Well, I don't do that!" Well...I'm guessi...

Leadership is not a journey to rise in the ranks. Leadership is a journey to help those around us rise. -- Simon Sinek It seems to me,...

Ever noticed ...how much the equation changes, if you pull  politics  out of it (not to mention how much the conversation changes)? You ar...

let the wise listen and add to their learning ,     and let the discerning get guidance -- Proverbs 3:5 Wait, but don't they alre...

[T]his president and those in power — those who benefit from keeping things the way they are — they are counting on your cynicism. They k...

' Poem for the week' -- "Now and Then": “All life is built from song”    In youth’s young morn I sang; And from a top...

Expertise is not as much what you  know , but how you apply what you know.

Another school-year has begun; what a privilege to watch my wife teach this way year after year.

The bulletin moved just after 1 p.m. on Aug. 18, 1920, conveying the breaking news that the 19th Amendment had been ratified giving women ...

I'm wondering ... about the relationship between two words (representing two ideas)—intuition and paranoia. Given what seems to engage...

The composition of spiritual gifts in the local church can look a lot like a meal in the fellowship hall. Sometimes, the church has an abu...

I've noticed ... I am less and less interested in what people, who get paid just to talk, have to say. Give me a break (please!); do...

 In the end, what you did will be overshadowed by how you did it.

We spend much of our lives avoiding things, often subconsciously, that we have negatively experienced ; things we don’t want to be perpetuat...

On the Lighter Side :

What If ...there is nothing else to say? Sometimes, this can happen rather suddenly.  In a conversation, an awkward pause; uh oh, what to ...

Peaceful change starts within us and grows incrementally from where we are. Our social and physical location will influence the problems ...

NOW MORE THAN ever in the US, your money defines you. If you’re rich, you’ve splurged on enough canned food and TP to ride out severa...

' Poem  for the week' -- "Wild Geese": You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred...

You only know as much as you do . --  St Francis of Assisi

Everything going on in your world right now is just as important to you as what is going on in my world right now is to me. The irony is t...

Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested from a crutch. -- J...

Ever noticed ...why using consistency as a measure of the quality of something is so attractive to us? It seems to be the case for both th...

Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The way to trouble God is not to come at all. -- D...

Visual   - "Pines, Flowers, Mountains": Glacier National Park , MT Will nature's wonders ever cease? More pics ...

Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real. -- Iris Murdoch

People don’t tend to really believe in something, until it’s personal. The fascinating part is about what makes things personal. Much of ...

Too often...we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. -- John F. Kennedy

I've noticed ...that I don't need a lot more information (though I suspect I will always be interested in more); I have so much alre...

Instagram:  nakedpastor

July 7, 2020 The below letter will be appearing in the Letters section of the magazine’s October issue. We welcome responses at letters@har...

Instagram:  bobgoff We can't fix what we won't take the time to understand. -- Bob  Goff

' Poem  for the week' -- "Patience": Patience is wider than one once envisioned, with ribbons of rivers and distant...

Some believe that setting boundaries is not loving .  But setting boundaries can be one of the most loving things you do, certainly for your...

In some ways, in spite of our general aversion to change , we are highly adaptable to what is around us, especially over time. It is easy ...

The ultimate value of personal growth work is not to feel better about ourselves but to contribute to how those around us feel about themse...

Ever noticed ...that people are always recreating orthodoxy? A conceptual oxymoron, it seems to me; but at the very least, a rather  human...

No matter what falls away, no matter what shifts, no matter what breaks down, no matter what questions you were asking today that you wo...

There is substance, or essence, and then there are the ideas that animate it. I read a profound and disturbing book recently, Educated .  ...

Visual - "Sunrises": Myrtle Beach, SC More here ....

There are many difficult situations in life that have, seemingly, no easy solutions. So the question may not be quite as simple as which one...

We don't like to admit it, but we pretty much tend to think that other people should be more like us and, if they would, things would be...

It’s possible that you no longer need to get better at your craft. It’s possible that you need to be braver instead. -- Seth Godin

I'm wondering ...we often speak from what we know (or what we think we know); what if ...we spoke more from wonder ?

Nobody has a corner on God;  so, nobody should act like they do. Few would overtly disagree; so, why does it feel like this still needs to...

Fear of radical changes leads many citizens of our nation to betray their minds and hearts. -- Bell Hooks I’m not even sure changes ...

' Poem for the week' -- "Dignity": And what, in fact, is dignity? In those Who have it pure, it is the soul’s repose, ...

Racist. Socialist. Those pretty much sum things up right now—how the divide in America is described.  But, we have even more sub-labels...

Truth be told, none of us really know what we’re doing. We're all juggling—when to trust experience and where to take risks .

Seems like this doesn't apply just to business....

Ever noticed ...that resistance can lead to refinement—not necessarily efficiently, but effectively.

It is amazing how religion  has turned the biblical idea of faith into a need and even a right to certain knowing , complete predictability...

A gifted orator, Douglass wanted more than to convince the crowd of hundreds gathered to celebrate Independence Day about the hypocrisy o...

Massive crises have one great advantage: They show you where you stand. The sight can be distressing and shocking. But it would be wrong to...

Instagram:  enneagram.kam The Enneagram is not a tool for self-absorption, but instead a map for self- liberation . -- Christopher ...

Is at the root of loneliness, a desire for connection? Is the strength of our desire for connection based on the fundamental, interdepend...