I’ve been working to remove unhelpful metaphors from my thinking these days. In our accomplishment-focused, hustle-paced world, many of our central metaphors are mechanistic. We’re thinking of our hearts and our minds like machines, or assembly lines, or computers. These metaphors, however, do us harm because we are not machines.
Consider Your (Inner Life) Gardening Tools
Hustle culture surrounds us. Coaches and motivational speakers offer the secrets to productivity. We’re motivated (or maybe warned) that we all have the same 24 hours! The implied question is, “Why aren’t you making the most of yours?” Even pastors and spiritual coaches, who you’d think would know better, add to the noise. Do more. […]
Your Heart is a Garden
Increasingly, the passage of time seems a blur. We’re already a month into 2023! These midwinter months push us inward. Blankets, sweaters, and hot beverages are tangible evidence of our desire for sanctuary and peace. Yet, instead of going into hibernation, this inward drive can provide a natural time for reflecting on who we are. […]
Why this pastor talks about emotions so dang much.
I’ve worn glasses for a long time. Since 4th grade, I think. Without my glasses, the world beyond ten feet or so blurs into an indistinct mosaic of colored blobs. Not very safe for me to be out and about! Each morning there is a moment of transformation when I put on my glasses for […]
The Chapter I forgot to write.
It’s been a little more than eighteen months since The Wisdom Of Your Heart hit the shelves. In that time, I’ve had a lot of conversations with people about the book, and how it connected for them. Or how it didn’t. I’ve learned a lot. I learned that we need to talk about emotional health […]
The 4 Biggest Emotional Myths You May Have Learned in Church
Much of what we think we know about emotions we learned from parents, teachers, pastors, and other influencers in our lives. These lessons have formed maps that guide out thoughts and choices as we grow up. But sometimes those maps are wrong. Today I am honored to have a guest post over at Crosswalk.com. Crosswalk.com […]
“The way I was living stopped working for me.” An Interview with Chuck Hagele.
Emotional maturity is a topic that touches every important part of our lives. My friend, Chuck Hegele, leads an incredible ministry to families with at-risk youth called Project Patch. As a part of that ministry, he produces a podcast for parents called Today’s Family Experience. He and I spend about an hour this week talking […]
“Emotions don’t just happen in your mind…they impact our body, and thus our health.” An Interview with Michele Stanford
For a long time I thought of emotions as something that happened in your head, a passing emotional state. One of the things I was must surprised to learn in my study of emotions, was how deeply they impact the body. Michele Stanford is a holistic health coach that I met this past year, and […]
“It’s my hope that perhaps I can help change the conversation in the church…” An Interview with Frank Viola
I’ve been reading the work of Frank Viola for a few years now, and following his writing online. He has a powerful, and I think, revolutionary view of the church and his words have impacted me deeply. So I was thrilled to be able to meet him last year at a coaching event for writers […]
Are you doing the hidden inner work?
5 miles of narrow, winding, uphill road remained between us and our destination, the Oregon Caves. Sometimes steep, the road wound its way upwards with tight switchbacks. About halfway up I realized something. Despite the incline and the many tight corners, the drive was perfectly smooth and comfortable. Tight turns on a narrow road usually […]
“When I was living in deep denial and numbness, I looked exactly like a Good Christian.” An Interview with Aaron Smith.
Well, the time is drawing near! A truck-load of books arrived here at my house this week. The official launch date of The Wisdom Of Your Heart is September 1st. Just 14 days away! As a part of that, I’m going to be doing interviews here and there all over the internet. Here’s the first […]
Stop Stress by Thinking About Stressors
I was in a Facebook conversation with a friend about the stress she was under. Her husband had helpfully suggested that perhaps she should “just not feel it.” Sensing that this was probably not the best advice he’d given her in their marriage, she was crowd sourcing ideas about how to deal with the emotional […]