Life Practices • dwight j. friesen

Exquisite Mutuality

If you have just 3ish minutes to watch a video, I commend this glimpse into the heart and mind of Father Greg Boyle. Here, he briefly unpacks his beautiful phrase, “Exquisite Mutuality.” Have a great day… remember, you are not

Dwight J. Friesen December 12, 2021December 10, 2021

Complexifying Indigenous Homelessness

The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness posted a profoundly wise complexification of indigenous homelessness. Indigenous peoples from across nations within Canada identified 12 dimensions of indigenous homelessness. These 12 dimensions expose a few realms inviting my deeper listening. One such realm,

Dwight J. Friesen November 12, 2021September 26, 2022

Collective Leadership by Petra Kuentel

My friend Forrest Inslee recently introduced me to the important work of Dr. Petra Kuenkel. Petra has amassed a very impressive CV investing her life as a leading strategic advisor to pioneering international multi-stakeholder initiatives tackling themes of local and

Dwight J. Friesen November 10, 2021November 6, 2022

Uncertain Times

Is it just me, or does the Jenga-like quality of life feel especially close to the surface these days. Precarious. Teetering. Unstable. Somehow just looking all that is changing can fill, even the heartiest of us with fear. “It could

Dwight J. Friesen November 8, 2021November 8, 2021

UN Climate Change AD & Human Extinction

Did you happen to catch the latest public awareness AD about climate change made by the United Nations. It is worth checking out. The UN has many very helpful resources for learning more or finding actionable practices postures for making

Dwight J. Friesen November 7, 2021November 7, 2021

Remembering Jack

Today was a very sad day. We had to put our beloved Jack down. One-eyed Jack. We think he was part Havanese and part Shih Tzu… but we’re sure he was all love. Not sure how he lost his eye

Dwight J. Friesen October 28, 2021April 24, 2024

The Future of Seattle

This is worth checking out. Peace, dwight

Dwight J. Friesen October 12, 2021September 26, 2022

Becoming More Walkable

I stumbled across this article by David Malone highlighting some of the intentional steps – pardon the pun – that the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is taking to make it a more walkable city. Walkability is a vital to

Dwight J. Friesen October 7, 2021September 26, 2022

Discovering Your Mezzo Parish

Guiding your faith community into even greater faithful presence within its parish invites discernment of the collective. Where and how to focus time and energy is a vital and ongoing journey of listening and adapting. Sometimes we get sidetracked by

Dwight J. Friesen October 6, 2021November 12, 2021

You up for a Chat?

One of my great joys is engaging in conversation with leaders & groups seeking to discover the church that is emerging after Christendom. So many followers of the Jesus way can feel the many ways that our times are changing.

Dwight J. Friesen October 3, 2021November 3, 2021

“Listening” by William Stafford

Listening by William Stafford My father could hear a little animal step, or a moth in the dark against the screen, and every far sound called the listening out into places where the rest of us had never been. More

Dwight J. Friesen September 29, 2021December 14, 2021

Fall Classes are Start’n Up

The 2021 Fall trimester begins today at The Seattle School. If my math if correct term marks the starting of my 53rd trimester at this school. In the off chance that anyone needed a reminder of the impermanence of all

Dwight J. Friesen September 20, 2021November 4, 2021

Go Back, Engage, Bring It Forward

Earlier this week The Seattle School held its 2021 Instructional Team Orientation retreat, during which Dr. President Derek McNeil delivered an address. He organized his talk around “Sankofa.” Which as you may know, is a word from the Akan Twi

Dwight J. Friesen September 10, 2021November 4, 2021

“Staying Alive” by David Wagoner

Staying Alive by David Wagoner Staying alive in the woods is a matter of calming down At first and deciding whether to wait for rescue, Trusting to others, Or simply to start walking and walking in one direction Till you

Dwight J. Friesen September 7, 2021November 4, 2021

“Love Does That” by Meister Eckhart

Love Does That by Meister Eckhart All day long a little burro labors, sometimes with heavy loads on her back and sometimes just with worries about things that bother only burros. And worries, as we know, can be more exhausting

Dwight J. Friesen September 6, 2021November 4, 2021

Labor Day… Work Stoppage

“Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us

Dwight J. Friesen September 5, 2021November 4, 2021

Suffering is NOT Punishment, Pleasure is NOT Reward

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

Dwight J. Friesen September 4, 2021November 4, 2021

Now Welcoming New Directees

“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

Dwight J. Friesen September 3, 2021November 4, 2021

From Ally to Co-Conspiratorship

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

Dwight J. Friesen August 27, 2021November 7, 2021

Interview on the Earthkeepers Podcast

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

Dwight J. Friesen August 17, 2021January 6, 2023

2021 Climate Change Report

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,

Dwight J. Friesen August 14, 2021September 26, 2022

Lewis Center for Church Leadership

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 &

Dwight J. Friesen August 13, 2021November 8, 2021

Walking Sacred Ground… Montgomery, Selma, & Birmingham

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

Dwight J. Friesen July 25, 2021November 17, 2021

“Lost”

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.

Dwight J. Friesen July 8, 2021November 8, 2021

Remembering Dr. René Padilla

“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]

Dwight J. Friesen May 3, 2021November 3, 2022

“Defund the Police” Anabaptist Curriculum

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.

Dwight J. Friesen April 24, 2021November 7, 2022

“The Guest House” by Rumi

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

Dwight J. Friesen April 23, 2021November 20, 2021

Earth Day 2021

“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

Dwight J. Friesen April 22, 2021September 26, 2022

Mourning the Loss of Hans Küng

…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

Dwight J. Friesen April 7, 2021November 2, 2022