By: Greg Reich on February 9, 2021
“The past cannot change what is to come. The work that you do each and every day is the only true way to improve and prepare yourself for what is to come. You cannot change the past, and you can influence the future only by what you do today.”[1] (A part of a preseason team…
By: Jer Swigart on February 8, 2021
A theological prodigy who achieved his doctorate at the age of twenty-one, young Bonhoeffer found himself in a bit of holding pattern. To qualify for ordination in the Lutheran Church, he had to be twenty-five. To bide his time, he pursued lectureships and pastorates abroad. It was in these immersions into Barcelona and Rome that…
By: Darcy Hansen on February 8, 2021
Mussolini’s years in leadership found him to be an able diplomat. In 1923, some Greeks murdered an Italian general and three soldiers over Graeco-Albanian concerns. Italy gave Greece an ultimatum; war was imminent. Greece ultimately conceded to Italy’s terms and war was averted. But the nearness of the possibility of war alarmed Mussolini, causing him…
By: Greg Reich on February 4, 2021
It is not uncommon for leaders to display their credentials, tout their educational pedigrees as well as their personal accomplishments. In some cases, it may be required and advisable. I find it assuring and almost comforting when visiting my rheumatologist’s office, and see his multiple degrees hanging on his wall. It assures me that he…
By: John McLarty on February 3, 2021
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “Leadership in Turbulent Times” is the story of four US American presidents. Each begins with his upbringing and earliest recognition of leadership abilities, then shifts to formative life experiences that shaped his leadership, and finally a description of a major leadership challenge that would define his presidency. Theodore Roosevelt assumed the presidency…
By: Jer Swigart on February 3, 2021
Two realities seem as evident and disastrous today as in the time of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Idolatrous Religion & Racism. The former is an experience of religion built upon arrogant orthodoxy that centers performance and piety as the means by which God’s attention and affection can be seduced. The latter is a set of behaviors that…
By: Darcy Hansen on February 1, 2021
In 1922, Italy’s government and King were powerless to bring about change for the struggling nation. With a general strike from populous looming, the might of Mussolini and his followers rose to the occasion. On October 27, 1922, the Fascist March on Rome was met with zero opposition from the Italian Army or police. Rome…
By: Shawn Cramer on February 1, 2021
…as imagination bodies forth, The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen, Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name.” Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, vi.14-17 Effective leaders stoke the imagination. Anytime we move beyond, in our mind’s eye, where we are now, that’s imaginative. The imagination should…
By: Chris Pollock on January 28, 2021
Jail. So, with that word, once read and, just let it sit in your mind for a second or two, look at it there, what comes to mind? Now, say it out loud. Close your eyes and think about who comes to mind? How do you feel about the word, the idea? I’m not comfortable…
By: John McLarty on January 28, 2021
Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States in part because the election of 1860 was a four-man race. With the Democrats divided over Stephen Douglas and John Breckenridge, and a Constitutional Union Party candidate on a ballot, the Republican Lincoln was able to carry the northern states and receive the most…
By: Darcy Hansen on January 27, 2021
From an early age, Mussolini was tossed into the deep end of the political pool. His father supplied the water from Socialist journals and the local newspaper; Mussolini had little choice but to dogpaddle his way along. By the age of 19, Mussolini began to come into his own understanding of politics and philosophy. He…
By: Greg Reich on January 26, 2021
Our perspective is often skewed by the circumstances of life until something happens that helps us see beyond our current perspective into something beyond ourselves. Have you ever questioned your presumptions about failure? How we perceive failure is critical to being an effective leader. John Maxwell points out that we often look at failure through…
By: Shawn Cramer on January 25, 2021
Allow this reflection on the onset of journeying with Frederick Douglass to be the opening line of a sonata. I’ll introduce a theme in its simplest form here only to be revisited, experimented with, hidden, transposed, modified, and returned to at the conclusion. The thread of melody that plays throughout the life of Frederick Douglass…
By: Jer Swigart on January 25, 2021
Immersions are experiences that move us beyond the realms of comfort, safety, and certainty. They are moments of displacement that generate within us theological and existential crises. If navigated humbly, these are the experiences that move us beyond “What do I do?” to the more important question: “Who must I become?” Immersions are the portals…
By: Chris Pollock on January 24, 2021
Time does not always provide healing. For some, time can be the medium whereupon trauma arrogantly dances and sadly increases in volume. When trauma-terror strikes, darkness imposes, is gripping and salvation can seem lost. When terror strikes, being in a safe place with loving people can be salvation enough. Jesus provided a safe place for…
By: Darcy Hansen on January 20, 2021
Over the winter break, I clicked upon Rick Steves’ “The Story of Fascism in Europe,” on PBS. Having never had much interest in history, I knew little of fascism. But in recent months, the term had been tossed around enough through various mediums that my interest was piqued. Ten minutes into the episode, Steves’ shares…
By: John McLarty on January 20, 2021
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Pulitzer Prize winning, “Leadership in Turbulent Times” explores the early lives, the formation, and the unique leadership circumstances of four US American presidents, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. Each of these presidents faced crises in American history. One of the questions she explores is “do the times make…
By: Greg Reich on January 20, 2021
“It was September 2006. Wooden was not quite ninety-six years old. Even at his advanced age, he was still a student of the world eager to collect one more crumb of wisdom that he could dispense to the next friend, interviewer, former player or stranger who came calling.”[1] John Wooden believed in the importance of…
By: Shawn Cramer on January 19, 2021
While reading biographies, the foes of presentism, bias, and reductionism lurk ever-present. Meanwhile, the muses of inspiration, understanding, and hope sing within the pages. As we consider the life of someone who is beautifully human, reverence is needed at the highest order. Studying history and its significant figures serve not simply as an understanding of…
By: Jer Swigart on January 18, 2021
Throughout the first half of this semester, my blogging will be in conversation with the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as exposed in Eric Metaxes’ biography, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. I purchased the book years ago based on the recommendations of multiple friends and mentors and with the intention to get to it when the…
