“We ache for self-acceptance, and it is often a friend accepting us as we are which enables us to begin to accept ourselves. But the acceptance has to be genuine. I want the deepest part of me to be accepted, not my sanitized, plastic, cosmetic self. Only in companionship with fellow pilgrims can I begin … Continue reading The Deeper Acceptance We Long For
Ministry Exhaustion
My heart was hard, and my mind was fuzzy. Nothing proved a comfort, and I remained for that wretched season shut in on all sides, stifled, gasping for breath. Regardless, the grace of God arrives rushing to the soul when its endurance is exhausted. Of a dreary morning, I stood gazing round the courtyard, pleading … Continue reading Ministry Exhaustion
In Search of a Spacious Place
He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. Ps. 18:19 Aren't we all longing for a spacious place? Aren't we all longing for a place to run free, to breathe deeply, to spin round and round with our arms wide open? Don't we all desire relationships where … Continue reading In Search of a Spacious Place
a reminder to take care of you
The older I get, the more the old saying of Jesus "Physician, heal thyself" makes sense. I've spent more than two decades doing a lot of caring. But the more attend to myself, the more sadness I find, the more anxiety I feel, the more trauma I notice. The more I realize that I desperately … Continue reading a reminder to take care of you
Hello Depression My Old Friend
May is Mental Health Awareness month. May began by saying goodbye to my dear mother-in-law, whose mental health story is not mine to tell, but whose heartache was evident to all of us who had the privilege of knowing her. Both on the long drive to Iowa and during our time there, I felt a … Continue reading Hello Depression My Old Friend
You Can Have It All vs. It’s All Already Yours
First Sunday in Lent Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it … Continue reading You Can Have It All vs. It’s All Already Yours
Dignity and Dust
She sends an email to me with an anxious energy to it. In it, she writes, "Seriously, I've not given any thought to Lent this year, and I'm not sure what I should give up." "Why don't you give up being so anxious?" I say. She isn't amused. We know each other well enough for … Continue reading Dignity and Dust
Rediscovering Nouwen | On Power and Intimacy
I'm continuing to reflect on Henri Nouwen's 1972 book The Wounded Healer. Now 46 years later, it's as important as ever to wrestle with Nouwen's invitation, particularly when it seems that our political and ecclesial leaders operate more from a posture of power rather than intimacy, particularly as we see our own propensity to live from … Continue reading Rediscovering Nouwen | On Power and Intimacy
Becoming a Wounded Healer
"The great illusion of leadership is to think that one can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.” Henri Nouwen I've been re-visiting an old friend recently - Henri Nouwen - who is easily in my Top 5 most formative modern spiritual writers. The lanky Dutchman was a complicated … Continue reading Becoming a Wounded Healer
The Lost Pastor
I got the call again a few nights ago. It's the same call I get quite often, often by anxious pastoral colleagues or overwhelmed elders or frazzled denominational executives. It's a call I get amidst a pastoral crisis, and it arrives with a familiar cadence and pattern which goes something like this: "Hey Chuck, I … Continue reading The Lost Pastor