Awareness often begins in a very small space. It may be no more than a breath, a pause, or a fraction of a second between what rises within us and what we choose to do next. This week, I continue my series on the ripening dimensions of being alive with the seventh dimension: ripening awareness. I … Continue reading Ripening Awareness: The Space Before We React
We live in a world that often praises maximum effort. Push harder.Do more.Prove yourself.Keep going. But what if the most faithful effort is not always the greatest effort we can possibly produce? What if ripe effort is something gentler? Throughout this Ripening Series, I have been reflecting on dimensions of a life well lived—not as … Continue reading Ripening Effort: Gentleness in What We Bring
You are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are. We have been exploring a series of interrelated practices that I call the Ripening Practices. I use the word ripening because I do not believe we are often in a static state. In any given moment, we are moving toward ripeness or … Continue reading Ripening Enoughness: I Am, and That’s Enough
Most of us imagine that changing the world requires grand gestures. We wait for the perfect opportunity, the important conversation, the defining moment when we can finally make a significant difference. But what if the deepest changes in our lives—and in the lives of others—happen in moments so ordinary that we almost miss them? Recently, … Continue reading Ripening Action: The Ripples You Never See
July 1 marks a milestone I can hardly believe. This week I celebrate forty years of ministry—thirty-eight years serving churches under appointment and another two years serving on church staffs before I was officially appointed as a pastor. Whenever someone reaches a milestone like this, there’s an obvious question people tend to ask: “What have … Continue reading Forty Years Later: Who Have I Become?
This week, as this episode is released, I am in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, serving with the Appalachian Service Project. Alongside youth and adults from Dulin United Methodist Church, I’ll spend the week helping make homes warmer, safer, and drier. It is a week of service, but it is also a week of practice. This … Continue reading Ripening Intention: Showing Up as Yourself
This week I head off to Annual Conference. For those unfamiliar with United Methodist life, Annual Conference is a yearly gathering of clergy and lay members from across a region. We worship together, study scripture together, conduct the business of the church, approve budgets, celebrate ministry, commission new leaders, and make decisions about our shared … Continue reading Ripening View: Learning to See Relationally
Five years ago, I started a podcast by accident. At least that’s how it feels when I look back on it now. In the fall of 2021, I was serving as chaplain to a group of seven young adults involved with Appalachia Service Project. Brendan, Gabi, Haley, Katie, Manon, Megan, and Mollie invited me into … Continue reading The Gifts You Never Saw Coming
There are moments in life when we begin to treat ourselves less like living beings and more like projects under constant revision. Maybe it begins innocently enough. We want to improve our health. We want to become more attentive, more productive, more emotionally grounded. We want to grow. Transformation is a natural part of being … Continue reading You Are Not a Problem to Be Solved
There’s a line in Pretty Woman that has stayed with me for years. Julia Roberts’ character says quietly, almost painfully honestly: “It’s easier to believe the bad stuff.” I suspect most of us know exactly what she means. A hundred kind words can drift past us like wind through an open window, but one criticism can settle … Continue reading It’s Easier to Believe the Bad Stuff
Infinitely Precious 