Category Archives: Contribution

I’ve heard that action is the antidote to anxiety.  Recently, I’ve been wondering if it is not a little more specific. 

What if agency, exercising intention and leadership in an uncertain situation, is in fact the way that uncertainty becomes less intimidating and more manageable? 

And in situations where we seem to have no agency, we can learn to see that we do have a quite powerful opportunity: the possibility of gathering people together.  More than we know, we are capable of convening a meaningful gathering serving a need of people we live, work, or pray with. 

(I’ve recently picked up this book again to get better at this skill.)

Committing to convene a group of folks who need you is a cool thing to do for the liturgical season that started this Wednesday. 

That is, what if we chose to lead for Lent?

Often, when are sons are in the midst of a rollicking game (often involving an imaginative world of stuffies and legos and a yoga-mat-as-naval-vessel and running amok in our apartment) one of them will yell: “pause game!”

Maybe the energy was too high. Maybe one boysensed that they were out of sync. But the call is always heeded by the other and they take a moment to recalibrate.

In all instances, the pause enhances the play. 

This is also true of our lives. Be it sabbath or a daily period dedicated to not doing.

Pausing is what makes our life and work fruitful, enjoyable, possible.

When’s the last time you did something for the first time?

Yes, there is much to be said for consistency and the pursuit of focused excellence.

And, developing one’s range is also powerful.  The experience of stepping into the unknown (and incompetence!) to learn a new thing is frightening and wonderful.

And using “last time” in a new sense… Our lives are rather short, when you think about it, and there will be a last time that we are able to do something for the first time. This urgency helps us accept the risk of doing something new.

Each of us long for good leaders. People committed to the common good, rooted in wisdom and active love.

I’ve heard this hope expressed in the “prayers of the faithful” quite a bit recently.

What if, as an answer to this prayer, God is speaking you to the world as the leader that you long to see?

In this situation where I feel stuck and stymied, what is in my power to change?

A deeply important question to ask, and one that can be tough to answer well.

I was recently shown this succinct (and fun!) 20 minute group exercise that helps each participant answer the question with clarity and power.

What is your 15%?

Do we love creation with the same love with which God loves creation?

That is a very high standard, an exquisite opportunity, and a grace for which we can pray daily.

When someone does something that really winds us up, what do we learn if we get curious and ask: “What’s behind the behavior?”

If the behavior is particularly perplexing, chances are there’s fear behind it.

When we realize this, and realize our own capacity for fear, it becomes easier to get close enough to love.

When we find polarization in our world (and we all do all of the time), do we engage it such that we might solve the underlying problem?  Or do we engage in order to feel morally superior?

This outstanding video frames the question brilliantly.