This is my first blog post in several weeks. With my involvement in several nations since early in the year, time and more importantly energy to write has been lacking. But this post you are presently reading has been in the crafting for some time, at least in my brain and emotions. It concerns a… Read More It can be messy in the Belly of a Whale
It was a stark image two days ago in Cincinnati, Ohio. A whole football team on their knees praying, surrounding a gravely injured teammate. A stadium of 60,000 fans silent, many most likely also in prayer for this 24 year old Buffalo Bills player named Damar Hamlin. He had experienced a cardiac arrest after tackling… Read More Every Life Important: 2023 Begins
It has been several weeks since I last wrote a blog post, primarily due to a post-covid intense season of travel and ministry. But even during this period, a question has been nagging me (as questions often do): When is empathetic listening not enough? Not just any kind of listening, but a quality of listening… Read More When is empathetic listening not enough?
In my early 40’s I held eight different roles/positions in my organization, at the same time. Some were focused in the region of South Asia where I lived, and some were international in scope. I took them on in good faith, with a desire to serve and aware that some clearly overlapped. But I also… Read More Have you ever experienced a ‘conflict of interest’?
Anyone notice a level of anger and even outrage increasing in society? Whether it is ‘road rage’ incidents on highways, or flight attendants facing unprecedented harassment and hostility, or restaurant employees dealing with boorish and overly demanding people, many of us are emerging from pandemic lockdowns with ugly attitudes. Where is this coming from? Certainly… Read More Are we living in anger and outrage?
I was in Bangkok, Thailand in 2020 just a few weeks before Covid-19 shut everything down. After I did my business in the shopping mall men’s room, I noticed the front of the stall. It was a picture of an ‘elder’. I guess I had used the right one! (see photo). Elders can come in… Read More The Importance of ‘Elders’ Letting Go
I wanted to write a blog post earlier. But there were no words. Only a numbing grief and lament. In the past five weeks, India and now Nepal has gone through a devastating second/third wave of the covid-19 virus. This has resulted in the deaths of several of our friends and colleagues we have known… Read More A Very Present Help in Trouble
I have wondered when or even whether to write this blog post. Certainly it was going to be difficult to do with the physical fatigue I experienced in the aftermath of getting Covid-19 in late September. That fatigue only lifted in the past few weeks, but still I weighed writing this post. These past months… Read More How to Survive ‘Friendly Fire’
This is my first blog post on my own site since late August. The longest stretch I’ve ever gone between posts. As many of you know, my wife and I contracted covid-19 in late September. It was pretty brutal, though thankfully we were not admitted to the hospital or needing oxygen. But afterwards I had… Read More Where do we go from here?
There are moments or seasons that strip us of everything. We are left without disguise, even to ourselves. It can truly seem like it is the end, and as far as our efforts, it in fact may be. These times are places of extremity, where we go beyond where we have been before. Places often… Read More Coming to the end of ourselves
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