Breath is life. Inhaling… Exhaling… Things come together and things fall a part. Into every life comes pain & suffering, and joy & pleasure. Suffering is not Divine judgement any more than pleasure is God’s reward. Both are part of
“When I heard about spiritual direction, I felt as if I was seeing an old friend I had never met. Spiritual direction (this new old friend) led me deeper into the love of God. Spiritual direction helped me experience more
We have one month to get ready for the UN-Habitat’s Urban October. UN-Habitat is engaging people and groups from all over the world to think about where they live and how they live where they live, with an eye to
Last night Lynette introduced me the following excerpt from a conversation between Dr. Bettina Love, author of We Want to do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom and Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, award winning Associate Professor
Leading Ideas Talks brings to the table cutting-edge leaders on subjects you care about — navigating change, reaching younger people, financing your ministry, communicating effectively — to help you be the leader God is calling you to be. Dr. Ann Michel,
This year marks the 25th anniversary of one of the great records of all time – in my opinion – Beck’s Odelay. Lynette and I went to this show when he came to Seattle… amazing. Beck is not only a
The good folks over at Circlewood released interviewed me for their Earthkeepers Podcast. Its Episode 36, “For a Greener Future.” Their site says: In this episode, Forrest talks to the authors of a book called 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for
Earlier this week the sixth assessment report (AR6) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is a well researched and carefully documented report coming in at nearly 4,000 pages. While I haven’t finished reading the full report yet,
Dr. Ann Michel, associate director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary recently shared an excerpt from, 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change, on its “Leading Ideas” blog &
Flipping the Script on Stewardship: COVID-19 & the Shift from Church Property to Kingdom Building For more than a year, your church’s building has been unused. Yet, not having access to it didn’t stop your faith community from being a
During our first trip to visit my sister and her family since they made the seismic move from Calgary, Alberta to Birmingham, Alabama – which happened to be our first flight anywhere since the beginning of the pandemic – they
Lost by David Wagoner Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, Must ask permission to know it and be known.
Annually, at the end of the Spring term at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology we gather to hear TEDish-styled presentations from graduating seniors. While most of the presentations are made by graduates of the school’s theology programs, some counseling students
June is Pride Month. Which is the perfect opportunity to highlight some of some of the important LGBTQ+ theological writings followers of the Way of Jesus the Christ are researching, writing, and reading to help us love God, love neighbor,
Breathe Again by Joy Oladokun The Devils in the basement in my homeA flight of stairs is way too closeHe comes for me when I’m aloneCollecting debts that I don’t oweFollow me down where the waters run deepI’ll let you
I invite you to watch the above video with an open heart. Attend to your own curiosity as you watch it. Every one of us come to data dumps like this with our uniqueness and particular hermeneutics. This is is
“The practice of justice is at the center of God’s purpose for human life. It is so closely related to the worship of the living God as the only true God that no act of worship is acceptable to [God]
Jazz stands for freedom. It’s supposed to be the voice of freedom: Get out there and improvise, and take chances, and don’t be a perfectionist – leave that to the classical musicians. Dave Brubeck Today is the tenth Annual International
I just received the May issue of WIRED in the mail, and one of the articles titled “Internet Boom” by Lily Hay Newman caught my attention. The piece offered a brief introduction to Barrett Lyon’s trippy visualization which charts the
Spring trimester at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology begins today. I will be serving as the guide along the course of three learning journeys. My three classes this trimester include: Integrative Project: Exploring the Future Intersections 3: Textual
My spiritual lineage has is a pretty straight line back to the earliest days of the Anabaptist peace movement… often referred to as the “radical reformation” within Christianity. The older I grow the more I appreciate aspects of my heritage.
The Guest House by Rumi This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein Happy Earth Day! You and I live somewhere. Faithful presence invites us to discover a way of living in harmony with all of life… people, animals, ourselves, and the earth. The acceleration
Thanks be to God, an American police officer was held accountable for murdering an African American man… George Floyd. The officer was found guilty of all three charges. May this nation not turn back from the much overdue reform of
…every human being – without distinction of sex, age, race, skin color, language, religion, political view, or national or social origin – possesses an inalienable and untouchable dignity. Dr. Hans Küng Sadden to learn of the death of the great
Where I’m From By George Ella Lyon I am from clothespins, from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride. I am from the dirt under the back porch. (Black, glistening it tasted like beets.) I am from the forsythia bush, the Dutch elm whose
Last week during my school’s Wednesday Holy Communion & prayer time a student shared some beautiful words at the Table. It appears these words were first used at Mt Hollywood Church in Los Angeles, California on Palm Sunday, 2020. If anyone
Start Close In by David Whyte Start close in, don’t take the second step or the third, start with the first thing close in, the step you don’t want to take. Start with the ground you know, the pale ground
Blessed Maundy Thursday… …God’s invitation to, “wash up before dinner!” Imagine a God who doesn’t demand your worship, mindless obedience, or tithes but actually serves you out of love, simply because that’s who God is… Imagine a God, so located
How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us. Fred Rogers Growing up in Canada when I did, I watched and loved the Mr. Dressup show. I’ve come to learn that Mr. Dressup was
