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
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
Recognize. Release. Return. Hello, beloved. There are seasons in life when the pressure quietly builds. Sometimes it’s obvious—deadlines, responsibilities, expectations stacking one on top of another. Other times it’s more subtle, but just as real: the quiet hope that what we offer matters, that what we say or do might reach someone, might make a … Continue reading When the Pressure Bears Down
There are moments when a question finds its way to me that feels less like a question and more like an invitation—an invitation to speak into something tender, something widely shared but often quietly carried. This week, someone asked me to reflect on guilt and shame. And the truth is, we all live somewhere in that … Continue reading Guilt, Shame, and the Truth About Who You Are
The spiritual life is often described as a journey. That image has been on my mind lately—the sense that we are walking a path that continues for as long as we draw breath, and perhaps beyond. Along that path there are stopping places. Sometimes we sit on a bench along the side of the road … Continue reading Ripening Along the Path
Some days feel heavier than others—not because anything has gone wrong, but because everything is happening at once. The calendar is full. The expectations are high. And before the day even begins, the anxiety has already arrived. I’ve had several days like that recently. You may be having one too. When the schedule fills up faster than … Continue reading Giving the Best You’ve Got Right Now
Infinitely Precious 