By: Greg Reich on January 13, 2021
It appears that the average person spends 13 years and 2 months of their adult life at work. If they work consistent overtime, another 1 year and 2 months can be added to that number. On the other hand, it appears we spend only around 328 days in our lifetime socializing with friends.[1] When crunching…
By: Darcy Hansen on January 12, 2021
“Brake” “Braaaake” “Ian, BRAKE!” These are the words I spoke to my 15-year-old, newly permitted driver as he remained ever focused on the left and right lanes before him but failed to check his blind spot and see the semi-truck he was about to merge into as he drove on the I-205 to I-5 on…
By: Shawn Cramer on January 12, 2021
Culture eats strategy for breakfast (so the oft-used adage goes). In my personal research, Cru’s field staff unanimously point to culture as an impediment for innovating within their ministry. When asked how to make these changes, many shake their heads, throw up their arms, sigh, and relent, “I don’t know. Culture change is hard and…
By: Dylan Branson on January 11, 2021
Around the world, one can find proverbs and idioms that effectively speak the same message: “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” “The first bird that leaves the nest gets shot.” “Don’t go against the grain” “The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.” The primary message: Don’t stand…
By: Jer Swigart on January 11, 2021
A successful organization is not the one that consumes its employees in order to propel its mission. Rather, according to authors Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey in An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization, a successful organization is one that is proactive in providing meaning for its employees. The authors assert that the…
By: Chris Pollock on November 18, 2020
I left them there. It was ‘Norco’ and a younger friend, huddled in the freezing, out-of-the-wet, door-front area of our Market. Jumped into my little Trax and was about to get going but, couldn’t. Pulled up behind an RV that had pulled-in for the night, ran back into the Sanctuary, off-the-alarm for a couple bags…
By: Jer Swigart on November 17, 2020
Of the many conributions Renner & D’Souza have made to my leadership philosophy this semester, one stands out: the future is shaped by the leader’s response to the unknown. This past weekend, I took some time of silent reflection in the moutains of southwest Orgeon. There were three locations I wanted to explore as I…
By: Greg Reich on November 17, 2020
Steven D’Souza and Diana Renner, in their book Not Doing, discuss the idea that not doing is not necessarily a lack of activity. They bring in Carl Honore’s work on slow movement. Honore presents the premise that slow movement is all about pace; a pace that requires us to know the conditions in which we…
By: Dylan Branson on November 16, 2020
The Towers stretch high into the sky as I pass through the city gates. Guardsmen who I recognize bow to me not out of recognition, but out of courtesy for a visitor to the City of Towers. I walk the streets that I once knew, everything exactly as I had left it and yet completely…
By: Darcy Hansen on November 16, 2020
My spiritual directee arrived ten minutes late.[1] I had already spent 20 minutes trying to settle my new puppy into her crate with treats and such but was unsuccessful. By the time the spiritual direction session began, my pup was still losing her puppy mind with separation anxiety, and I was super distracted. I just…
By: Shawn Cramer on November 16, 2020
Early on in the shelter-in-place days, I discovered some beautiful running trails just minutes from my house. Each morning in this refuge, I would watch the sunrise, wonder, think, and pray for the potential of a new day. Waist-high grass stood on either side of the single-track trails. Alternating between running and biking, this routine…
By: Chris Pollock on November 12, 2020
Darkness. I remember running in the darkness. Headlamps and heatwaves in the cold, striding down a mountain a few years ago. We rounded a corner, I recall and, coming quick with the gravity, we were stopped by eyes staring out at us from the dark. They seemed to be those of a fairly large mammal,…
By: Jer Swigart on November 12, 2020
When I was nine years old, I was in Florida with my family on the first non-National Park vacation we’d ever taken. While the theme parks that promised magical memories held up to their end of the bargain, it was something that I observed in the night sky (for free) that changed my life. NASA…
By: Darcy Hansen on November 10, 2020
We are a nation built on war. Through war we earned our independence. Through war we maintain power and position around the world. The warrior spirit is woven into the very fibers of our American being. But with war, comes inevitable death. Historically, psychological principles are utilized to mitigate the fear of death in war.…
By: Dylan Branson on November 9, 2020
The boat gently bumps into the shore, waking me from my slumber. I sit up, the fog not as thick as it once was. A smile creeps on my face as I disembark onto the shore, seeing a rough path ahead of me. It isn’t easy going, but I find that it doesn’t bother me.…
By: Greg Reich on November 9, 2020
When was the last time you just let your mind wander? When was the last time you took the time to wander around while driving, just to see a part of the city you never saw before? Sometimes it pays to wander. My wife and I normally take an annual road trip to Texas to…
By: Shawn Cramer on November 9, 2020
Nostrils filled with stench demand creative resolve. This summer, I battled a skunk at my in-law’s cabin. Each weekend greeted me with the miasma of failure of the previous week’s attempts. The putrid problem gripped me, consumed me, and I found my creativity invigorated around the disposal of this creature. Each breath reminded me of…
By: Chris Pollock on November 9, 2020
Fire is life. Fire moves and breathes. Fire is alive. Fire is warmth. Fire purifies. Fire burns. Making fire is magical; a sacred experience that requires much practise and patience. In the process of teaching my daughter to build a fire, I continue to learn from the fire as to how it is to be…
By: Jer Swigart on November 4, 2020
There is a fine line between “strategic” and “controlling.” Years ago, in my days of leading a church in the San Francisco Bay Area, we found ourselves in the process of strategic planning. We sensed that a new season was dawning for our faith community so we invited groups of community members to join our…
By: Greg Reich on November 3, 2020
As I sat in front of my desk, pen in hand, I began to write out a check for my son. It wasn’t the first time I wrote a check to assist one of my children. For some reason this one was different. Why was I struggling so much with writing this check and not…
