Pioneering Old Paths

Reading the Bible is challenging.  Not only are we engaging multiple genres - from poetry to prose to apocolyptic - but also there's that whole language issue. I don't speak ancient Hebrew or Greek. Do you? And there's a tendency to parse the words to smithereens, or to make them say what we want them to mean, or to name-and-claim they grant us any number of things. There's als...

Is it psycho-babble? Selfishness? Escapism? Or is the interior journey absolutely essential for a Christ-formed life? Answer: the latter.  Make no mistake: in a society of weaponized individuality and normalized pathological narcissism, the dangers of self-absorption are valid. And yet, the journey inward is absolutely essential for outward expression of the faith-filled, sacrificial love we are c...

Long before John Mark Comer and Ruth Haley Barton; even preceding the greats like Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and Henri J.M. Nouwen, an insightful nun living in 16th century Spain megaphoned the necessity of spiritual formation--that is, the shaping and maturing of a soul over the course of one's life and prayer. Today we continue the conversation about Saint Teresa of Avila , exploring T...

You sign up for it.  Find a supervisor with exceptional expertise. Then spend the next four years following them, failing, learning, fumbling around with the fret saw, feeling mortified on jobsites. You watch. Ask. Listen. Obey. Change.  After 8000 hours of working alongside this supervisor, you've been transformed in mind, body, and soul. As you sit for the exam, you now possess the skills,...

Sporting Rainbow Brite pj's, as a child I curled underneath the covers and dutifully repeated: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." Bowing my head before all meals, I listened as my dad ritually delivered: "Lord, make us thankful, for these and all our many blessings. Amen." Being a B...

How do you deal with desire? Most of us vacillate between two poles; we either duck and dodge or mindlessly indulge. But what if there's a third option? A more arduous, stretching, liberating third option? In this episode Amy Leigh shares some of her story before guiding you through a meditative reflection to explore your desires with God. And if you need a trusted guide--a soul friend--to ac...

Desire. An innate, unquenchable fire within us sparks our thoughts and fuels our beliefs. It ignites our actions. As a flaming fire within the human soul, desire has the potential both to unite and divide, to illumine and darken, heal and harm. So, the ways we attend this inner flame are vital to our individual and collective lives. This episode is filled with practical wisdom and pastoral care th...

Join me on Pioneering Old Paths , a series where we wander and wrestle through this wondrous world of becoming. With practical wisdom and warmhearted care, I'll bring you compelling insights that can enrich your relationships with God, self, and others. My desire is to help you find renewal and wholeness in your daily life. Each episode will delve into the challenges, complexities fundamental...