Brian Allain

An Act of Will

From “Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation” by Parker J. Palmer Vocation, the way I was seeking it, becomes an act of will, a grim determination that one’s life will go this way or that whether it wants to or not. If the self is sin-ridden and will bow to truth […]

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The Fixed Mindset

From “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol S. Dweck, PhD Believing that your qualities are carved in stone – the fixed mindset – creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character – well, then you’d

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The Music of Your Life

From “The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of Our Hearts” by Jeff Crosby The music of your life is subtle and elusive and like no other – not a song with words but a song without words, a singing, clattering music to gladden the heart or turn the heart to stone,

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Getting involved saved my life

From “Embracing Your Second Calling: Find Passion and Purpose for the Rest of Your Life” by Dale Hanson Bourke General Claudia Kennedy was the first woman to achieve the rank of three-star general in the U.S. Army. She is attractive, feminine, and rough. She was successful in a man’s world at a time when it

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discernment was a daily practice

From “Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life” by Henri Nouwen with Michael J. Christensen and Rebecca J. Laird For Henri, discernment was a daily practice. In fact, it was a moment-to-moment practice, because he found no model, no pattern for what he felt called to do. He stepped into the unknown like a tightrope

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