The Races We Quit
Longevity is admirable, but it can also become an idol that doesn't deserve as much attention as it gets. If you're running a metaphorical marathon ordained by religious or partisan adherence, take a breather, step off to the side, and take a good look at the race as it keeps going around and around in circles.
Safe to Share?
One of the most satisfying experiences I've had as a leader is having a team member share their goals and aspirations after working with me. I’m pleased because they feel safe to do so. Obviously, I'd like that person to stick around forever, but I'm happy to be seen as a person who's safe to share dreams with.
More than Monkeys
It’s the gas of human emotions. Given the choice between filling someone’s tank with fear or hope, people will often choose the former because fear is much more economical. Fear goes a long way when trying to achieve results, but at some point, we must acknowledge its exacting toll on our hearts and minds. It’s an overly caffeinated emotion that makes it hard to sleep at night.
QE2 Billboard Preachers
To use someone’s name as they offered it is a meaningful validation of their journey; a billboard has never done this for me.
The Good Kind of Explosions
I'll be honest, I'm often overwhelmed by what's happening in Gaza and Ukraine. I feel powerless, frustrated, and angry. I’m furious at the lack of imagination in addressing these conflicts. The acceptance of violence is the greatest failure of humanity.
John MacArthur was Late
In many ways, we're all late to the party of grace. We all waste a lot of time building exclusive lists that include the names of people who we believe "get it" and pass our doctrinal purity tests.
Superman: My Spoiler-Free Review
Pain is easy to depict, but portraying vulnerability and the joy of life together requires a great deal of skill.
Elbows up for the Dream
Life isn't going to serve us everything we like to be happy. Neither is that the responsibility of our country. Canadians must recognize the context of our discontent.
Quiescent
However, years ago, my life became more fulfilling when I became focused on helping to create breakaway moments for members of my team. The questions that inspire me the most in my career are the ones where I ask myself about what I’m doing to add value to the lives of those around me.
Pentecost and DEI
There are three triggering letters in the alphabet that evoke strong reactions among some in the circles of conservative Christianity. Those three letters are D, E, and I.
Diamond Studded and Life Stunted
A bottle of water will run you about $1.29 at any convenience store. The cost of a diamond is between $2,500 to $18,000. How we perceive those values depends on our circumstances. These values are flipped in a desert.
Oilers- This is Us
These days are about a team, but broadly speaking, it's a feeling of a shared hope that we have here in Edmonton. Those of us who love this community know at our core that cheering for the Oilers also feels like we’re cheering on something much bigger.
Religion Management
Love is much more difficult because while it doesn't rely on the science of judgment, it follows the path of art. How do you know when you've achieved what you're intended to experience?
Route to Heaven
A Parable…
Wide is the freeway driven by many… A road chosen by multitudes of kings and queens who ride solo in steel carriages, separate from the rest of the world.
Letter to an Angry Canada
Anger can be helpful and healthy, but when I draw on the Biblical wisdom of my faith tradition, anger has a best-before date. That date is at sundown. When I feed on anger that has exceeded its best-before date, I feed on something rotten and poisonous.
Easter and the Impossible
Easter is also a challenge. Jesus rising from the dead is a miraculous starting point. It's not the end of the story. We are invited into the story to create life wherever we go. There's a saying from the black church tradition, "Wherever you go, leave a little heaven behind you."
Death: Our Mutual Connection
Death is an erasure of creativity and potential. When someone you know dies, the plans you had with them…die with them, never to return. Death scribbles dark ink over our well written plans and dreams for the future.
Traffic, Idols & Resistance
Do you really need Facebook, X, or TikTok? Can we live a life free of Amazon? Should Elon Musk have over 7000 satellites orbiting the Earth? Do partisan politics actually make you feel healthy?
Beds and Landfills
The bodies of the victims have been removed from the landfill and returned to their communities. The wrong done to these women is a documented reality, but the decision to return and find them is a redemptive thread woven into this story's fabric.
Before it’s Gone
If you have the good fortune of having brief but beautiful experiences in restaurants, be grateful. Be kind to those who serve you; if you want great, local restaurants, support them. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears go into restaurants, and without community support, these spaces can quickly vanish before you know it. I always feel a bit gutted when I see a closed sign over the windows of a restaurant that I enjoyed.