pastor || writer || speaker
Bringing my reflections on Parker Palmer's five 'shadow-casting monsters' from his book Let Your Life Speak, I want to bring our attention to the fourth and fifth of that list today. Shadow-Casting Monsters #4: 4. "Fear, especially our fear of the natural chaos of life" (89). Don't we fear the chaos of things? Having participated in …
Continue reading "Shadow-Casting Monsters: Parker Palmer on dealing with our souls, part 3"
Continuing my reflections on Parker Palmer's five 'shadow-casting monsters' in the life of a leader from his book Let Your Life Speak, I turn now to numbers three, which is: "'Functional atheism', the belief that the ultimate responsibility for everything rests with us" (88). Here's a bit more from Palmer on this one: This is the unconscious, …
Continue reading "Shadow-Casting Monsters: Parker Palmer on dealing with our souls, part 2"
Awhile back, I read through Parker Palmer's brief book Let Your Life Speak. This is an outstanding book on life and leadership. Palmer has worked quite a bit with educators and as an advocate for peace in our world today. He comes from a Quaker background. To set the tone of what he is trying …
Continue reading "Shadow-Casting Monsters: Parker Palmer on dealing with our souls, part 1"
This past weekend at Eastbrook Church I concluded our series "Exiles: A Study of 1 Peter" by looking at chapter 5. I spent a good deal of time talking about the first four verses which offer the distinctive exile understanding of leadership. You can watch the message here or subscribe to our audio podcast, following along with the …
Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds – Psalm 72:18 This final word in Psalm 72 highlights something else that is especially pertinent for those of us in leadership. It is a critical reminder with two parts. The first part is this: even with all of our …
Matthew Erickson 