Category Archives: Spiritual Formation

November 28, 2015 · 9:05 am

The Slow Work of Story Listening

I’ve long held to the belief that we all have a story that’s waiting, sometimes needing, to be told. Our story comes forth in bits and pieces, fragments of paragraph and run-on sentence. It is being written on the landscape of our days and recorded in the memory of our conscious experience; yet, increasingly, it seldom emerges in full form.

In the rush and hurry of today’s way of living, it’s rare that one gets to know a full chapter, let alone the greater book. We live in a world of tweets and posts, and video sound bites that have all but reduced our ability to listen and focus for any length of duration. (For example, you may be wondering, by now, if you even have time to invest in the remainder of this article!) Continue reading →

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Filed under Ministry, Pastors, Spiritual Formation

October 27, 2015 · 8:40 pm

Sabbath Keeping . . a Mental Health Spiritual Practice

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Yesterday I took what I named a “nearing the end of the season” bike ride out to Harrison Lake.  This is a beautiful ride in the autumn of the year – one I’ve made each of the last three years in late October or early November.  Once again I was not disappointed by the artistry of God’s paint brush.  The picture hardly does justice to the hues of yellow, orange and red that bounced off the earth’s canvass against a perfect blue sky.  I was reminded, once again, that one of my four favorite seasons is Fall!

Added to this Sabbath Monday experience (as a pastor Monday is usually my Sabbath) was the challenge and thrill of the ride. Continue reading →

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Filed under Christian Faith, Spiritual Formation

April 1, 2015 · 3:51 pm

God Speaks

Daffodils  The attached picture is a scene from my morning walk from parking lot to office during these early days of Spring.  It was taken today, during Holy Week, as we make the annual pilgrimage with Jesus through the events of his passion.  It captures both the essence of where this week is headed – the hope and promise of new life; and reveals the residual holdings on of the what the next few days of the week bespeak – death, decay.

Notice the crumpled leaves hidden in recesses and alcoves of building and landscape that have clung through the winter. It’s so hard to let go of that which mires us down in the stuff of our lives and selves.  It’s always hanging on, around the edges, in the crevasses and the shadows – like a dead leaf that just won’t give in and blow away. Continue reading →

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Filed under Holy Days, Spiritual Formation

December 4, 2014 · 2:08 pm

Lo, Woe, Go . . . a Response of Advent

During these early days of Advent, as Thanksgiving has given way to Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, ushering in the secular season of sales and anxious economic forecasts; one is left to ponder another response. Rather than unleash the credit or debit card, joining the throngs of holiday consumers, why not recover a little of the spiritual side of the season?

This season of waiting, expecting and hoping is pregnant with promise. It draws us to the nativity story and its fascinating cast of characters. Among them we find the shepherds, the true working men of this tale. They, like the other characters, have a story to tell, and a particular angle from which to tell it. Do you remember the shepherds? These character actors are discovered in Luke 2 between verses 8 and 20. A description of their brief foray unto the Nativity stage might be summarized in the words “lo”, “woe” and “go”.

Having drawn our attention to these shepherds abiding, Luke, Continue reading →

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Filed under Christian Faith, Holy Days, Spiritual Formation