Yesterday evening I came across in one of my feeds this article about the passing of Paul Weyrich. His name didn’t initially strike me but the movement that he helped create (along with the late Jarry Falwell) has influenced and, in my opinion, abused the church in America for the last 3 decades. Those two…
Read MoreCharacteristics of a Leader
Watching a video of Edwin H. Friedman during a course he raised several characteristics a self-differentiated leader should have. Vision Stamina (ability to withstand mutiny) Persistence Self-Regulation in the face of sabotage This leader would be one devoted to a vision and cause above and beyond the people involved with that cause. He goes on…
Read MoreThere is no compassion without many tears
In preparing a short essay for class based on the final section of the Nouwen book quoted below I came across this: It might sound strange to consider grief a way to compassion. But it is. Grief asks me to allow the sins of the world-my own included-to pierce my heart and make me shed…
Read MoreHas the Internet Killed Ethos?
If only Aristotle was alive today to observe and comment upon everything in our present world that he could have hardly dreamt of. Lately in two of my courses weve revisited his study of rhetoric in one form or another. They always say that ethos, or personal reputation, holds the most weight with people and…
Read MoreBeing the Runner
Its weird being back here at Stout and attempting to discover what it is the Lord brought me back here to accomplish. As of right now I am at a loss for what it is, and Im trying to figure it out. I know Im not to be in a position of leadership and it…
Read MoreReactionary or Precautionary…
The other day I was heading home and thinking about how much I spent on groceries, again. I dont understand why I always buy so much. It isnt so much that it is impractical, its that I anticipate when I shop for food. I anticipate being out of something and want to avoid it. This…
Read Morevideo: laundry
[display_podcast] There has been a lot of transition over the last several weeks for me, a month ago I just finished celebrating my birthday on the southern coast of France. Now I am living in small town midwest. Of all things involving moving you home, it is doing laundry that really makes me feel like…
Read MoreSome Muses of Late
Lately my mind hasn’t had much time to slow down and rest. In less then 10 days I will be back in the US. It has so many implications for my life that it is taking a long time to wrap my mind around from; Leaving France, getting married, leaving Midwest Skier, and even projects…
Read MorePhoto: our only hope…
Walking up hill, looking above me, there was this cross perfectly blocking the sun. Its amazing how with one step in either direction there is so much clarity and definition that is lost in the cross as the sun becomes overwhelming. How in my life for years I was close to knowing Christ as Savior…
Read MoreDownfall of Role Models
Ive never had one. It wasnt that there werent people in my life who had admirable accomplishments, but they all had so many failures attached to them. Here is the other catch that is never realized. By defining a role model we are un-verbally deciding that the level of their achievement is un-attainable. No matter…
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