Every morning when my father stepped inside his office he looked directly at a wall with six portraits and below the pictures was a mirror. When he was younger he had carefully picked six individuals with specific character traits he wanted to emulate and weave into his life. He added the mirror to help him determine if he was making progress. I did not set out to do that but as I look around my o ...[Read More]
A Cautionary Tale
The Ring Will Break Your Heart
Thirty years ago we convened a group of friends from around the country and they became the “Dream Team” charged with thinking about the possibility of what would eventually become The Gathering. We spent two days filling up newsprint sheets and hanging them on the walls of the hotel conference room. Following all the usual steps of brainstorming and strategic planning, we asked great questions an ...[Read More]
The Ghost in the Machine
William Bridges wrote “Transitions” 35 years ago and reading it helped me think about the difference between “change” and “transition.” It did not seem like much at the time but the distinction is important. Change happens all the time, and it doesn’t matter if it is small (switch grocers) or large (death of a spouse or a loss of a job). On the other hand, transition is psychological and is ...[Read More]
A Closer Walk
Marilyn and I often pass each other walking in the mornings. She comes out her front door and turns to the right going up the hill as I am coming down from my home. Sometimes we only wave and smile as I am always listening to something on headphones and distracted. Other times I stop and briefly ask how she is doing. She doesn’t have the same compulsion to make this time well spent with podcasts o ...[Read More]
A Guide to the Perplexed
Many years ago, a friend and I set up a new fund for our giving to ministries. While both of us had our favorites, we wanted to do something other than simply write checks to those select few. We started looking for a way to create categories for our giving, thinking that would give us some guidance and diversity. After a search, we landed on Matthew 25 and the parable of the sheep and the goats. ...[Read More]