By: Nancy Blackman on March 13, 2024
“In order to become myself I must cease to be what I always thought I wanted to be, and in order to find myself I must go out of myself, and in order to live, I must die.” — Thomas Merton[1] The concept of undefended leadership is new to me. I appreciated how Simon Walker,…
By: Adam Cheney on March 13, 2024
For the first few weeks of living in a village house along the coast of Kenya we did not have any curtains on our windows. We were like fish in a fishbowl with everyone looking in. Though we always had an audience watching us, not having curtains allowed for the breeze to provide a little…
By: Debbie Owen on March 13, 2024
I was a drama mama. For five years, during our daughter’s first year in high school, and all four of our younger son’s years, I was backstage for the two major productions each year. I confess that I was at least partly living out my own unrealized teenage dreams of being in a play, experiencing…
By: Shela Sullivan on March 12, 2024
“Prove it through the alignment between your words and your actions. Prove it by standing up for what’s right. Prove it through measurable tangible signs of progress. Prove it through your own experience. Prove it through your phenomenal successes. Prove it through your glorious failures. And prove it all on these three levels: Prove it…
By: Diane Tuttle on March 12, 2024
Throughout this semester we have been looking at leadership from the different lenses of selected authors. This week Simon Walker brings the Undefended Leader to our attention in his book Leading Out of Who You Are, Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership. Essentially, the undefended leader is someone who leads out of who they are…
By: Glyn Barrett on March 12, 2024
When I was 12, I started High School in Australia. My Father was the pastor of the local Pentecostal Church, and the opening of the magnificent new church premises[1] coincided with my first weeks in a new school. The new church was the talk of the small town. It was front-page news and seemingly the…
By: Jeff Styer on March 11, 2024
Twenty-three years ago, my wife and I were given a leadership goal, and this goal was repeated three times, successfully raise this child to adulthood. As the Venn diagram shows, everyone in the family can agree upon the same goal. For us as parents (leaders) that goal gives us a vision for how we…
By: Christy Liner on March 11, 2024
Earlier in my career, I worked for a logistics company as the director of operations. We were responsible for moving expedited international and domestic cargo, with on-call service 24/7, including holidays. This line of work was exciting for people who enjoy problem solving. There was always a thrill when trying to find a solution to…
By: Noel Liemam on March 11, 2024
The reading for this week is challenging for me to read and to comprehend because of the size and the time I have for it. The book by Yascha Mounk, “The Identity Trap,” is broken down in four sections, which are the Origin, the Victory, and the Flaws of Identity Synthesis, and finally the fourth…
By: Akwese on March 9, 2024
Years ago I was a part of an Intentional Living Community. We came together around our commitment to both God and social justice. To live in the house required us to share a set of core values while also adhere to certain rules and community norms that included things like splitting house chores, rotating who…
By: Elysse Burns on March 8, 2024
The Identity Trap hits a raw nerve. Not because Mounk’s thoughts challenge strongly held convictions, but because I am once again reminded of humanity’s brokenness. We live in a broken world filled with injustice. Dr. Sandra Richter speaks to our fractured reality in Stewards of Eden. She writes, “Yahweh’s world was a world in which…
By: Daren Jaime on March 8, 2024
As my 2-year-old son slept across my chest in our Westchester County apartment, my life would change by this morning. I was awakened by my sister’s call; a plane had hit the World Trade Center. She wanted to know if I got called into work. I usually would work the day shift, but on 9/11,…
By: Kari on March 7, 2024
“He’s the best thing God could ever give to America!” It is a rare moment when I am speechless. It took me a moment to respond. I was at a church speaking to the children about my life in Africa. One of the teachers was telling me of the “horrific” state of America. His comment…
By: Julie O'Hara on March 7, 2024
When doing some research for undergraduate assignments I ‘discovered’ that my home state has incredibly deep racist roots. In 1857 Oregon voted for statehood and adopted a constitution which explicitly said that no free negro or mulatto could legally move into Oregon, own property, or make contracts. Further, the state would make laws to punish…
By: Shela Sullivan on March 7, 2024
Here is an individual I like to have coffee with! Yascha Mounk’s book, The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time refers to a situation where rigid adherence to group identities, whether based on ethnicity, nationality, religion, or other factors can hinder meaningful dialogue and understanding between different groups. Here are…
By: Joel Zantingh on March 7, 2024
I am appalled at prejudice and injustice based on race or ethnicity. I did not come to this conviction initially from any social or political movements that were seeking to address it, but it was formed in me from my Christian worldview, stemming from the heart of God. In Psalm 67:4, the Psalmist writes “May…
By: Chad Warren on March 7, 2024
My teenage daughter and I recently discussed the book she just finished reading for school, Ray Bradbury’s novel “Fahrenheit 451.”[1] What we both found fascinating was how, nearly 75 years ago, he imagined much of the situation we find ourselves in today. Written in 1951 Bradbury portrays, he imagined a world where people are entertained…
By: Ryan Thorson on March 7, 2024
Hi, I am a follower of Jesus. My given name is Ryan, my family name is Thorson. I have lived almost all of my life in the Pacific Northwest of the United States of America in the late 20th and early 21st century. I have been married to my best friend for almost twenty years…
By: Graham English on March 7, 2024
“The Identity Trap” by Yascha Mounk is a book that I didn’t want to read but, ultimately, I’m glad I did. I was born and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa in the darkest days of apartheid. I was born with a number assigned to me that identified my gender as male and my…
By: Christy Liner on March 7, 2024
In 2021, my family moved to Austin, the most liberal city in the state of Texas. I love it here. I love the diversity and honestly have no intention of leaving this city as long as I live in Texas. I laugh when my conservative family worries about the influence this city has on us.…
