PUT YOUR OWN MASK ON FIRST! Imagine sitting in an airplane with your kids and your oxygen mask drops down. Your first impulse is to get the masks onto your kids. But you remember the very clear instructions: “Put your own mask on first!” So you do. Let’s unwrap that...
Reverse-Engineer Your Happiness!
REVERSE-ENGINEER YOUR HAPPINESS The kind of religious culture I grew up in taught me that pursuing my own happiness was wrong. Not just wrong. Sinful! I had to pursue God’s happiness and then he would make me happy. Maybe. Once I left that toxic religion, I had to...
Growth Means Expansion
GROWTH MEANS EXPANSION I know I’ve spoken about this before, but I really do think this is important for us. I used to think of personal growth as linear. In this case, we progress along a line, a continuum, like a snail, slowly but surely. We leave our past behind us...
Are We Less Neurotic Now?
I pre-ordered a book because I was excited about it. I’m a fan of the Benedictine monk, Thomas Merton, and have read lots of what he wrote, but I’ve read all his journals. The book I just received is by Mary Gordon, On Thomas Merton. She’s a writer and she’s...
What’s the Meaning of Christmas Anymore?
"What's the Meaning of Christmas Anymore?" Lisa and I were relaxing over the Christmas holidays. I think we were having a glass of wine, listening to music, and reading in front of the wood stove. Ya. Nice. She abruptly asked me a question. She does this once in a...
YOU DON’T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE EXCEPTIONALLY NICE
YOU DON’T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE EXCEPTIONALLY NICE Maybe like me you grew up in a religious culture that valued superficial syrupy relationships rather than real authentic ones. It was our responsibility to be exceptionally nice, always forgiving, forever reconciling,...
You are Perfect
This is something I’ve always believed to be true. It’s something I have taught many times before. But I always need reminding, and I love reminding others. So I’m reminding you right now. You plant a kernel of corn in the ground. You let it germinate. You let it...
Be With Me, Be With You
One of the things I came to learn over time as a pastor is that when you give people space, they will heal themselves. Some may do it quickly, while others may take a while. But it never fails: if people are provided a safe space and they desire wholeness, they will...
You’re Not a Failure!
You're Not a Failure! Recently, Lisa and I met a good old friend who used to go to my last church that I was the pastor of, and we had a little chat. I was telling her about that dream I had about my snowblower that I wrote to you guys last week. In a nutshell, one...
A Weird Story about a Dream I Had!
I just have to share with you a bizarre story. Winter’s coming. About this time of year I take my snowblower in for service just to make sure it’s operating properly, the belts are okay, and that it’s ready for a hard winter. I took it in yesterday morning. The NIGHT...
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