Several weeks ago, my wife Stacey and I got into a fight. It was over nearly nothing. But that we would get so sideways revealed much deeper sadness and disappointment had been lingering around for awhile. It was one of those ugly fights, flooding far beyond the banks of the stated issue. Blame is eventually [...]
I spoke last week at a wonderful Arts Conference at Woodmen Valley Church in Colorado. I quoted a snippet by the 14th century philosopher Machiavelli from his work “The Prince”. Bruce McNicol handed me the quote long ago. It has rocked my world since then. He says,
“…there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, [...]
I wrote something on facebook that got a few comments. I said that life isn’t something that gets between me and God, but rather God stands beside me and we deal with life together. This is just a slight re-wording of a principle that we hold dear here. We usually say that it not sin [...]
We did the memorial service for an old friend yesterday. Gordon Barr. Yea, most of you have never heard of him before. In many ways there was nothing especially noteworthy or spectacular about Gordon. Yes, he loved music and was wonderfully skilled at the piano and bass. He had great wit, full of brilliant malapropisms. [...]
I read a challenging passage in The Ascent of a Leader the other day that has me thinking. Chapter 6, page 81 under the heading Beyond Transparency reads:
“Vulnerability does not mean transparency. Transparency is simply disclosing yourself to others at times and in ways that you choose. Although transparency is a good start, in vulnerability [...]
So, I’m on this elevator, to see the doctor about my elevated cholesterol and general physical malaise. Across from me is a mom and her 8 year old son. He is all boy. His shirt is on inside out, his hair looks like uncombed wheat. And he is utterly delighted to be on the elevator. [...]
I’ve got issues. Seriously, I do stuff I don’t want to do. And the stuff I want to do? I often don’t do it. Seems like something Paul wrote about. Anyhow, I have come to realize that a lot of this stems from hiding things. When I do things in secret that’s [...]
So, anyway, here’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. How do these truths of grace and identity and humility and trust, and received love, and safety and permission and protection and vulnerability and so on and so forth…how do they really get transferred?
We’ve got a DVD and CD entitled something like “The [...]
Well, if you remember, in my previous blog, I was recounting an incident of getting trapped in a lie regarding a neighbor’s dog and my garden hose.
(That sounded like an introduction on one of those old radio shows. “When we last left our hero, he was trapped in a mine shaft and his flashlight had [...]
The Lynches have a nice backyard. It used to be crab grass mixed with dirt and a rusted swing set. Over the years we’ve added a pool and some dear friends surprised me one birthday with a giant, tiled “grilling center” and glorious fireplace. Wealthy and famous people come by just to gawk. I am [...]