I loved to watch planes as a child. On the farm in which I grew up on we would often get fertilizer spread by aeroplane. It was exciting to see that noisy plane swoop low over the fields and hills and see trails of white powder spreading over the landscape. […]
spiritual formation
163 posts
Sometimes I think I am like a cow. I ruminate over things, chewing my thoughts this way and that. Trying to extract something good out of them. Much of my life I have worked on farms, I even have a University Degree in Agriculture. I humorously call this my first […]
I struggle with the word ‘Boundary.’ Not because I don’t believe in the concept of boundaries or because I don’t think they are important. It’s just that the word ‘Boundary’ doesn’t convey any sense of relationship value. The word ‘boundary’ feels like it’s all about the one making the boundary […]
Sometimes my thinking feels like it’s in a traffic jam. An impatient traffic jam. Journaling can unclutter mental health confusion. Horns tooting, temperatures are rising, gridlock. Just too many neurons are firing off! One of my favorite artists, Bruce Cockburn, captures it well in his song Five Fifty-One Knots in […]
What would a Mentally Healthy Spirituality look like? Over my life, I have been involved in many different styles of Christian denominational expression, or Ice Cream flavors as I like to say. Staid conservative Bible fundamentalism, ‘swinging from the chandeliers’ Pentecostalism, social justice activism, and many other ice cream flavors. […]
To be known is to be pursued, examined, and shaken. To be known is to be pursued, examined, and shaken. To be known is to be loved and to have hopes and even demands placed on you. It is to risk, not only the furniture in your home being rearranged, but […]
When the stress loading becomes too much it is very easy to lose your way. What we need is some sort of Thinking Compass. Mental Illness is one of the worst fog generating experiences you can have. Your brain can play tricks on you. Your perceptions can change, sometimes quite […]
Never Borrow Sorrow from Tomorrow Deal only with the present — never step into tomorrow, For God asks us just to trust Him and to never borrow sorrow, For the future is not ours to know, and it may never be, So let us live and give our best and […]
It’s an acronym I learnt this week from All is Grace, Brennan Manning’s memoirs. He was describing his time in a rehab facility for his alcoholism when he received feedback from his fellow alcoholics in a peer review worksheet. I SEE YOU USING THE FOLLOWING DIVERSIONS TO KEEP FROM DEALING […]
For the apostle Paul, he knew what a dark place was like. But he found an antidote for thoughts of suicide. To him, darkness was a close friend. Always present, never leaving, clinging on like a wet shirt. Life sucked. No joy, no hope. As he sat with me I […]