As, I assume, is true of just about any culture in which one is raised, my experience of being shaped by a fairly conservative, evangelical culture (in my case it was suburban Mennonite flavoured) gave me much to be thankful for as well as much that was less than helpful. […]
I used to think letting go was about delayed gratification. Kind of like this: the one who loses his life will find it – eventually. But I’ve been thinking that is only the shallowest version of this truth. I’m wondering if the dying and the new life aren’t simultaneous. An […]
Beauty is very important to me. Seeking beauty makes a lot of sense as a human calling, and I believe it to be thoroughly intertwined with spiritual hunger. We need beauty as much as we need food. But just like we’ve often needed several words to clarify types of love, […]
Invite your enemy to talk. Give them a platform to talk because then they will reciprocate. Invite your enemies to sit down and join you. You never know; some small thing you say might give them food for thought, and you will learn from them. Establish dialogue. It’s when the […]
Someone once said that to me in answer to a question of why he engaged in destructive behaviour. I found it surprisingly vulnerable and non-defensive. He seemed to be saying that he would gladly choose something less harmful if he felt like he had options. The need to celebrate can […]
Many trends flourished briefly in the seventies, and, in the therapy world, one of those was “strategic family therapy.” This therapy was great fun for the theorists and those practitioners who were able to work in teams (not sure about the families) because it was so much fun to plan […]
It is impossible to build community if people are not willing to stay in conversation or “at the table” during times of significant disagreement. Our inclination may be to shut down or shut out those who challenge us at tender or important places, but we cannot find resolution without staying […]
Raccoons ate all of our small (admittedly pathetic) patch of sweet corn and they stole a good fraction of our grapes. At 5:00 o’clock one morning, I stood on my steps in my boxers (while Carol helpfully tried to take pictures, which fortunately didn’t turn out) and responded to their […]
Seeking wholeness promises to be about as elusive as seeking happiness. There is something about concentrating on the pursuit that makes the desired goal all that much harder to find. But there are certain patterns, rhythms, and practices that we can build into our lives that seem to make the […]