By: Chris Pollock on September 25, 2020
A pandemic spanning across the planet, caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome(SARS) Corona-Virus 2, is a new challenge for us, as a global community, to navigate through. Residents of North Americans saw the virus infecting and killing multitudes as it rounded the globe last winter. Upon arrival in our respective cities (and, recall that day)…
By: Jer Swigart on September 23, 2020
Breonna Taylor is dead. She is one more soul in a large and ever-growing constellation of black lives that have been prematurely extinguished by white-made systems. Today, the lethal actions of her executioners, three Louisville police officers, were deemed “justified.” Just like that, another devastating, yet highly probable and predictable outcome has traumatized our black…
By: Greg Reich on September 22, 2020
“Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future but from wanting to control it.”[1] Where does this need for control come from? Coach and motivational speaker Tony Robbins states, the need for control comes from self-doubt and fear. People seek control to get a temporary relief from anxiety and to find assurance that…
By: Shawn Cramer on September 22, 2020
I find myself in the wardrobe. I entered to hide, but mystery awaits here, I sense. The smell of mothballs fills my nose. Some things will certainly die here. What will those things be? Will I let them perish? What will grow in their stead? These hanging coats are not my usual dress and they…
By: Darcy Hansen on September 21, 2020
She sat next to me on the park bench, warm morning sun shining on her face. She shared about a funeral she attended where story after story was told about an old woman who lived life large all over the globe producing concentric circles of influence. My friend said she wanted a life…
By: Greg Reich on September 16, 2020
How many people choose a career based on the advice and the good intentions of others? I grew up on a small ranch in Montana. My dad was a hard worker and skilled craftsman but often struggled to hold onto a job as a carpenter. The issue was never his talent. It was because he…
By: Shawn Cramer on September 16, 2020
The wind was robbed from my sails. This week leaves me feeling like a cautionary example from Steven D’Souza and Diana Renner’s work. A twisted mess of dashed hopes, overconfidence, and an undistinguished identity. A six month journey with positive signs all the way quickly shattered by a single, rote e-mail notification of “another candidate.”…
By: Jer Swigart on September 14, 2020
Pause. Think. Breathe.[1] Three simple, beautiful concepts that could be used to describe a leader. Yet rarely are these practices lifted up as admirable when discussing the characteristics of great leadership. Why not? In the moments following the onset of the Coronavirus Pandemic in the United States, my organization was forced to make some decisions…
By: Darcy Hansen on September 14, 2020
Six weeks ago, I was backpacking through the Sisters Wilderness Area, taking in the sights, breathing in the clean air, and searching for the Holy of God along the way. I feel like I don’t know a whole lot during these pandemic, racial unrest, and economic downturn days. What I do know is hiking those…
By: Chris Pollock on September 14, 2020
Abba ‘Abba, help us along the way, to slow down and stop. Here, may we find home in You as we are reminded of our wandering there, home in You; a light-hearted rest. Home is with us, even in us; Home is along the way and Home is in our destination. In Jesus, Amen.’ Reptilian…
By: Dylan Branson on September 14, 2020
I move toward the window and draw back the curtain, shielding my eyes from the sunlight that pours through the window. As my eyes adjust, I can see people wre flooding the streets and making their way to the various ivory towers scattered throughout town. Each tower marks the residence of another Expert – those…
By: Jer Swigart on September 10, 2020
In the opening chapter of Not Knowing: The Art of Turning Uncertainty into Opportunity, D’Souza and Renner reflect on an ancient doctor in training, Vesalius, who thought it odd that contemporary doctors were utilizing archaic knowledge as the ultimate truth. Despite the obvious upgrades in knowledge, Vesalius found it nearly impossible to contradict the authority…
By: Greg Reich on September 9, 2020
Some things in life are counterintuitive! Simplify put, leaders often lean on their gut and rely on intuition to get things done. When I was a manager in the natural gas pipeline industry overseeing multimillion-dollar projects I was a decision making gun slinger. Give me 50% of the data needed along with the knowledge of…
By: Shawn Cramer on September 9, 2020
Each fall I seek a word, phrase, or verse to act as a north star of sorts for the coming year. I’ve come to call them “advance words.” Years past have included, “Lift your eyes,” “Back to basics,” and “Be strong and courageous.” This year’s word revealed itself very clearly on an early drive –…
By: Darcy Hansen on September 8, 2020
In “Land Art,” environmental artist, Andy Goldsworthy, partners with Waldemar Januszczak to listen, observe, and “engage with the context”[1] as they walk along the Scottish borders. Their goal is to bring forth something new from that which already exists.[2]Goldsworthy enters the landscape, reflective and fully present, he notices a “huge, heavy sense of death and decay”…
By: Chris Pollock on September 7, 2020
There was a time in my life when all that had to be said to win my support on a controversial subject was, ‘the Bible says it’s true’. Another way to gain my vote would have been to affirm God’s agreement or disagreement with regards to an issue that was up for debate.…
By: Shawn Cramer on September 3, 2020
Our imagination for engagement with the world stems directly and without exception from our cultural framework. Our actions, furthermore, necessarily emerge from how we imagine the world. This imagination is molded and shaped by the stories that captivate our hearts. “Our hearts traffic in stories,” theologian James K. A. Smith teaches (Imagining the Kingdom, 32…
By: Greg Reich on September 3, 2020
“If you have excess order, you still have order, but if you have excess liberty, you have chaos.” Will and Ariel Durant, The Lessons of History In Taking America Back for God; Christian Nationalism in the United States authors Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry, with the use of “large scale quantitative data”, unfold the many dynamics…
By: Jer Swigart on September 2, 2020
I grew up in a white, conservative, Christian military town among the cornfields and dairy farms of western Wisconsin. We celebrated our veterans, waved American flags whenever we could, preferred white folk over people of color, were pro-life, and spoke frequently about God’s special blessing on the U.S.A. In 1991, I viewed Operation Desert Storm…
By: Darcy Hansen on September 1, 2020
Dying is ugly and hard. It requires a distinct letting go of known and comfortable places of life that steady us along the journey and an entering into the mystery of the unknown. Sadly, in America, within our medical, religious, political, and family systems, few are able to release control and allow new life to…
