Driving home from Nashville late one morning, the day still felt fully ahead of me. Crossing over into the rolling Kentucky hills on I-65, I found myself thinking about a visit I had wanted to make for years but had never seemed to find the time. Always rushing to my…
Category: Mindfulness, Faith & Spirituality
A contemplative life is a life of deep meaning, purpose, and joy.
I’m taking my dear wife on a date today. We are going to drive to a strange place and go exploring. No small feat when you have eight children, ages 4 months to 15! In spite of the obstacles to planning such an excursion, it is important to take time…
“Nothing distinguishes more clearly the disciples of Christ than a humble spirit and a simple way of life.” Hesychios of Mount Sinai who lived in the eight or ninth century, from Volume 1 of the Philokalia. Hesychios wrote this living in the desert of Mount Sinai. What would he say…
I have received some heartbreaking messages lately and a few reminded me of my own darkness. I wrote the following poem when I was certain my life would end at the barrel of a gun pointed by myself. Faith seemed like a joke. I didn’t realize it then, but the struggle…
When I speak, we take a journey. Almost regardless of the event and the title of my talk, it will be a journey of identity and purpose. A journey whose path will include a cold, hard look in the mirror. As we roll towards the end of the talk, the hammer begins…
The spirit of dreaming, a short tale: We are down to our last drop of water and the desert floor is a furnace beneath our feet. We’ve been traveling together for weeks, encouraging each other, lifting each other, fighting the growing desire to quit and succumb to nature. Together, we keep…