Cultivating Truth

From “Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation” by Parker J. Palmer As May Sarton reminds us, the pilgrimage toward true self will take “time, many years and places.” The world needs people with the patience and the passion to make that pilgrimage not only for their own sake but also as […]

Cultivating Truth Read More »

the forces of goodness and life

From “Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life” by Henri Nouwen with Michael J. Christensen and Rebecca J. Laird Resisting the forces of evil and death is possible only when we are fully in touch with the forces of goodness and life. When I try to confront the powers of darkness directly, I often feel

the forces of goodness and life Read More »

You Can Change Behavior

From “The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything” by Stephen M. R. Covey Some people say you can’t change behavior. But there is clear evidence, to indicate that people can and do change behavior – sometimes dramatically – and that doing so often produces extraordinary results. Look at Anwar Sadat, who changed

You Can Change Behavior Read More »

Effort

From “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol S. Dweck, PhD From the point of view of the fixed mindset, effort is only for people with deficiencies. And when people already know they’re deficient, maybe they have nothing to lose by trying. But if you claim to fame is not having any deficiencies –

Effort Read More »

Types of Idolatry

From “Embracing Your Second Calling: Find Passion and Purpose for the Rest of Your Life” by Dale Hanson Bourke A friend sent me the materials from a Bible study on Galatians she was doing in her church in New York, Redeemer Presbyterian. The study, by Tim Keller, was entitled “Idols of the Heart,” and I

Types of Idolatry Read More »

The Face of Christ

From “Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner” by Frederick Buechner I ENTERED UNION Theological Seminary in the fall of 1954. If anyone had told me as little as a year or so earlier that I was going to do such a thing, I would have been no less surprised than if I

The Face of Christ Read More »

a pilates for piety

From “Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment” by J. Brent Bill One of my favorite stories is that of St. Ignatius. Born in Spain in the early fifteenth century, the young Ignatius was no model of sainthood. Ignatius was pompous and obsessed with desire to win glory on the battlefield. Rejecting his father’s wish

a pilates for piety Read More »