The Enneagram is a tool that has helped me more than any other. It recognizes and numbers 9 (“ennea” = “nine”) different personality types and offers a path to understanding, to acceptance, and to transformation. If you’re unfamiliar with the Enneagram, I do not recommend that you take an online test to determine your number.…
In the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, there has been rhetoric about making schools “harder”. The idea seems to be that if teachers (or other school employees) are packing heat, the bad guys won’t target those schools. President Trump wants to arm the “highly adept” or “weapons…
The I am From Project has a poem template to encourage conversation. They write: We want to be heard, not herded; we want to speak, not be spoken at or for; we want to break through stereotypes, profiling, and dismissal to be listened to in our full humanity. I encourage you to check out the resources…
William Stafford’s poem, “The Way it is”, is my companion on this first day of a new year. The Way It Is There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard…
The “me too” campaign may have taken 10 years before it really caught fire, but now that so many stories of harassment, assault, and rape are coming out, I’m feeling in equal measure hopeful and horrified. I’m hopeful because when this behavior is brought to the light, it loses it’s power to do damage in…
I recently dressed like Wonder Woman at our church’s Trunk or Treat event. It was great fun. I’ve been planning the costume since I saw the film in the theater. Hours before the event, however, this conversation took place in my mind. Voice: You shouldn’t wear that costume. You were going to lose weight over…
It’s a casualty of my profession, perhaps, but I believe our actions reveal our theology. In other words, the things we do and sometimes the words we say reveal what we believe about the God in whom we claim to believe (or the god in whom we claim we don’t believe). When words and action…
