On a long flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles (back in the days when we traveled on airplanes), I watched an old movie called “The King of Hearts.“ It was filmed in 1966 and was set in France in the midst of WWII. The Nazis were invading the small town, and a young Scottish soldier was sent to evacuate the town and secure the bomb store. Before he could, the Nazis came marching through. Suddenly the Scottish soldier needed to hide in order to evade capture. In a moment of desperation,… Read More
On Wednesday nights I co-facilitate a group called “Sacred Circle.” We gather together as ten curious souls from various regions wishing to learn from one another and share stories of what we are learning about God, life, love, hope, fear and courage. Last night we talked about grief and God. To open the session, I offered a story written by Mirabai Starr in her book, Wild Mercy. She tells the story this way… During the lifetime of the Buddha, there was a young mother named Kisa Gotami, who went crazy with grief when her… Read More
Rainbows always give me hope. In the Old Testament, when Noah saw the rainbow in the sky after the Great Flood, it was the sign that it was safe to emerge from the ark. But it was also a sign that the old world, the only world he had ever known, had been washed away. He would be walking out into a new world that he didn’t know. All of the mess of the old world was gone. The future that was now possible was yet to be revealed. In this way, the rainbow… Read More
My friend Dana is a sculptor. She creates beautiful bronzed statues, many of which are on display at some of our national museums and public parks. When she isn’t working with bronze, she enjoys working with clay. She makes stunning glazed bowls, plates, and cups, each with its own unique shapes and colors. Her work is breathtaking to behold. The last time I was in her home, she handed me a bowl that had gold streaks running through what looked to be old cracks. When she saw me looking more closely, she said, “It’s… Read More
As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field;for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.– Psalm 1-3:15-17 Like many of you, our family lost one we deeply loved a few weeks ago. Thomas (Tommy) Bricker Daughtry was 74 years old, still in the prime of his life, when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He went through the standard treatments – chemo, radiation, shifts in his diet –… Read More
I have been blessed in this work to form deep, creative friendships with wonderful colleagues. One of those colleagues is a man that many of you know, Brian McLaren. Brian and I have collaborated on a number of projects over the years, most of which have been focused on creating the greatest amount of good mischief possible within the progressive faith movement. Yesterday, he and I had the chance to talk by phone and get caught up. He has just published a book called Faith After Doubt: When Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What To… Read More
Over the weekend I spoke to a group in Canada about this transitional moment in human history and the kinds of innovative opportunities this global disruption has made possible for our institutions and companies. It was a fun, and, I hope, fruitful conversation for everyone involved. At the beginning of the session, the people in the group went around and offered introductions. Like you, I have sat through what seems like hours of introductions in thousands of meetings. While they are usually interesting, they are rarely teachable moments. Not this… Read More
For those of us working and playing in aviation, the musical “Come From Away” is a uniquely beautiful story of kindness, sacrifice and community. It’s based on the true story of American Airlines Captain Beverly Bass, and her experience of flying a plane full of 158 passengers from Paris, France, to Dallas, Texas, on September 11, 2001. It’s worth noting that Captain Bass is famous in her own right for being the third woman hired as a pilot at American Airlines, and the first to make captain—at age thirty-four. On that day,… Read More
One of the encouraging byproducts of this time of global lockdown has been the increased curiosity about a global economy that honors people, profit and the planet. More and more books are being published about Eco-civilizations built on an economic philosophy that is just and generous. Entire schools of thought like Modern Monetary Theory offer us new visions of how we can do well while also doing good. I find these ideas hopeful and compelling. What is less clear is how we move from the capitalist system we have to a… Read More
We’ve now passed 500,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States. 500,000 stories. 500,000 dreams. 500,000 people we loved. What we don’t know, what we can’t know yet, are the hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers, family members, and loved ones who walked with them every step of this heartbreaking journey. What we don’t know, what we can’t know yet, is the depth of grief, the trauma of bearing witness to their final passage, and the heroics of care that these brave ones gave without hesitation in this moment of… Read More