pastor || writer || speaker
When a friend recommended a book to me called Leaving Church, I was surprised by two things. My first surprise was that the book was written by one of the best preachers I have ever heard, Barbara Brown Taylor. But the second fact surprised me even more: she had left vocational ministry after a considerable …
Continue reading "What I Learned from ‘Leaving Church’ (pt 1)"
I came across these wise words from Henri Nouwen while reading today: One of the tragedies of our life is that we keep forgetting who we are and waste a lot of time and energy to prove what doesn't need to be proved...voices keep pulling us away from that soft gentle voice that speaks in …
We talk a lot about burnout, but in Let Your Life Speak Parker Palmer does a good job of diagnosing the root cause of burnout in our vocation. One sign that I am violating my own nature in the name of nobility is a condition called burnout. Though usually regarded as the result of trying …
Here, Parker Palmer offers poignant insight into the challenge of exceeding our limits when we have noble goals in our work. If I try to be or do something noble that has nothing to do with who I am, I may look good to others and to myself for a while. But the fact that …
Continue reading "Exceeding Our Limits (Palmer, Let Your Life Speak 4)"
Later in Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer addresses our own need for limits and the temptation toward burn-out for those who really care about their work. If you are like me and don't readily admit your limits, embarrassment may be the only way to get your attention. I go on full alert only when …
Continue reading "Needing Limits (Palmer, Let Your Life Speak 3)"
Matthew Erickson 