From “Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life” by Richard Rohr The second insight about steps and stages is that from your own level of development, you can only stretch yourself to comprehend people just a bit beyond yourself. Some theorists say you cannot stretch more than one step above your own […]

From “The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of Our Hearts” by Jeff Crosby  In the years since first reading The Grand Essentials I’ve worked with Patterson on other writing projects and shared meals with him. In a recent conversation, he conveyed his late-career reflections on Chalmer’s “grand essentials of happiness,” distilling

From “Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most” by Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun, and Ryan McAnnally-Linz It can be surprisingly difficult to keep the Question clear. For a moment, it seems we’ve got it. A moment later, it’s slipped through our fingers. A conversation about what sort of life is truly worthy of

From “Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith Writing everything online, where it’s eternally visible to everyone, forever, has value. Even if each video you post or each article you write convinces only a few people, that’s a pretty great way to build

From “Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment” by J. Brent Bill Put your spiritual imagination to work: Why does God use you? What good qualities can you place at God’s disposal? What quirks? Using our imagination and spirit enables us to see ourselves as pilgrims entrusted by God to do noble work.

From “Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Help Others, Do Work that Matters, and Make Smarter Choices About Giving Back” by William Macaskill When Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, the committee suggested that he’d saved one billion lives. Was he a politician? Or a military leader? Or

From “Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation” by Parker J. Palmer As often happens on the spiritual journey, we have arrived at the heart of a paradox: each time a door closes, the rest of the world opens up. All we need to do is stop pounding on the door that

From “Trust the Whisper: How Answering Quiet Callings Inspires Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary Grace“ by Kathy Izard When I first noticed these God Dots, I was simply amazed by each connection, and I wondered about the likelihood of these seemingly serendipitous moments. Over time, I’ve come to believe that these remarkable stories are not simply

From “Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life” by Henri Nouwen with Michael J. Christensen and Rebecca J. Laird Life is God’s initiative and can end or change suddenly, unexpectedly, and unpredictably. When we humans are ready to give up hope and resign ourselves to inevitability, God intervenes and reveals completely new beginnings. The resurrection

From “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol S. Dweck, PhD No one knows about negative ability labels like members of stereotyped groups. For example, African Americans know about being stereotyped as lower in intelligence. And women know about being stereotyped as bad at math and science. But I’m not sure even they know