Creating space. This is the beginning of soul care and this is the beginning of our understanding of Christmas.
At Christmas, we create space. We offer the space of a good meal with friends and family. We offer space in our homes to bring a tree in from the outside and the space and time to decorate it--then the space to enjoy it. We want the space to sit and enjoy.
Read moreSoul Care involves more than engaging in ancient practices. More and more people are talking about Sabbath keeping, which is good. More and more people are talking about silence and solitude, which is wonderful. Lots of people are hearing about Lectio Divina and actually doing it, which is marvelous.
But caring for the soul is not just an “add-on” to an already overloaded life.
Read moreThere are at least five benefits of taking time off and being away. I'm talking about the wonderful deposits we place into our souls when we take a vacation. I’m returning from four weeks off of work. Four weeks might seem like an extravagance that you cannot afford. I understand that. But for me—for us—we simply had to take this time off and had to be away. Here’s why…
Read moreI have taken the time to reflect back on many of the leaders and spouses that Gwen and I have sat with for the past few years. We have sat with mega-pastors, small church pastors, missionaries, global workers, and many market place leaders who are anywhere from small business owners to Fortune 500 executives.
Read more400 years ago, Ignatius of Loyola crafted a genius way of prayer. His method helped a person reflect back upon their day and their life in terms of how one experienced God. He developed a prayer called, The Daily Examen. It is both a challenging and comforting way to trace the movement of God in one’s life.
Read moreI believe the deepest questions of every soul are:
1. Who am I and Why am I here?
2. Who are my people?
3. What are my deepest desires?
4. Why is "this" happening to me?
5. How can I experience inner freedom?
6. What is a love that will last?
7. How can my life become sustainable?
8. What can I do with childhood wounds and deep hurts?
9. How can I learn to forgive and be forgiven?
10. What will heaven by like and how do I get there?
Read moreI am living in a “in-between time.” I have not fully arrived to the next place in my journey. It is a place of ‘betwixt and between.’ It is a hard place. It is a nominal space—a space that native American Indians called, “crazy time.” I understand that. When you live in an “in-between time”-- it feels crazy. Nothing seems to make sense—even God. Such places--such seasons of life can leave us torn, tired and weary. We can feel like something is going to happen--but not yet.
Read moreOne of the great needs in the market place and in the spheres of ministries is for the leaders of both businesses and organizations to have leaders that live an examined life. An examined life is a life where the heart is probed not only for giftedness and abilities but, also for the stuff within that is deeper and mostly unexamined in today’s MBA programs and many divinity schools.
As I've said else where "shine and show" are not fruits of the Spirit and they are not what makes leadership healthy. We sub-comb to "shine and show" when we do not look deeper; when we do not examine the quadrants of the heart of a leader. Looking deeper requires wisdom. Looking deeper requires sage like probing and listening more to what is not said, than what is said explicitly.An examined life is a life that Socrates told us that is a life truly worth living. He said, "An unexamined life is not worth living." And his words apply to leadership. An unexamined leader is dangerous.
Read moreOne of the deepest needs we have as human beings is our need for companionship. It is not good for us to be alone all the time. We were made in the image of God. Being made in God’s image does not mean that we look like God but that we can become like God. We can act like God acts. We can manifest the virtues and qualities that are innate in God’s own being. We become like God when we learn to live a shared life—a life of soul friending.
We live in a world that makes soul friending hard. There’s not enough time to be a friend or have a friend. We are busy trying to survive—to make the ends meet with the threads of our lives that we are trying to bring together. One of the great costs of living in an always on; always available culture is that we neglect the deep needs of the soul—the need to share our lives in meaningful and momentous ways. Our attempts to merely survive through life’s demands and pressures is to ignore the deepest part of our selves—the part that seeks connection—the part that says, we are not alone, after all.
Read moreThe journey of the spiritual life is about waking up. The Spanish poet, Antonio Machida has said, “All the words of Jesus Christ can be reduced to two: wake up!” Jesus never seemed content to let people remain as they were…to coast through life or to remain asleep in their life. His words woke the religious establishment up. His words jarred the faithful. His words comforted the outsider and welcome us home.
He jarred those on the left and made those who thought they were “right” to reconsider their ways. Everything about his life, death and work was about waking people up. His work has not changed though our culture is luring us to a long, long sleep.
It’s time to wake up. There is a grace when we awaken. When we think about it, we all spend long years of our lives in a sleepy condition. Life is happening all around us but many of us are asleep to it.
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