The Power of Allowing Friends to Speak Into Your Life

“It was during this period of immense inner pain that another friend spoke the word that I most needed to hear and opened up the third phase of my spiritual journey.”  Henri Nouwen - from the Introduction to "The Return of the Prodigal Son" My friend Nick Jackson spoke powerful, life changing words to me.  …

The Transformational Experience of “Home”

“I was looking for a home where I could feel safe…Now I desired only to rest safely in a place where I could feel a sense of belonging, a place where I could feel at home.”Henri Nouwen – from the Prologue of The Return of the Prodigal Son What is your special place?  Your place …

Bless Another Person By Asking For Their Help

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, …

The Art of Spiritual Conversation: “What brought you joy?”

“Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  (I Thessalonians 5:16-18) My friend Bill shared this story with me.  He was on the phone with a friend that he hadn’t seen in some time. They were (of course) talking about the pandemic and …

Inspiration Curation (Aug 14, 2020)

For years, I've been talking about how I concieve of one of my roles in life as being a Curator of Inspiration. As I've struggled to get a focus back to blogging, I thought I'd try getting back to being intentional about curation - so for your weekend enjoyment, here's what I've been finding interesting …

The Power of Sharing Your Stories

“I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old - things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.  We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders …

Black Lives Matter

I can’t say with integrity that I’m an activist or a major community leader. I’m simply a small congregation pastor, a teacher of the scriptures. I’ve wrestled with how to write about the protest movements that are shaking our nation. Everything I’ve drafted rings hollow or tone-deaf or hubristic. I don’t claim to have earned …

Friday Microfiction for May 15, 2020

Once again, to start off the weekend with some festive reading material, here are the most liked microfiction stories from Dr. Fortuno's Cabinet of Curiosities: "I'm here about the job, but I can only work nights." "But Baseball is a summertime game ..." "No wooden bats. They might splinter and pierce my chest." "You'll have …

The Art of Spiritual Conversation: Speaking Encouragement

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (I Thessalonians 5:11) "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21) “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11) …

Fight Catastrophe Thinking With The Discipline of Praying the Psalms

Perhaps you’ve wrestled with the beast of Catastrophe Thinking. It seizes on you in vulnerable moments and taunts you with possibilities of the worst case scenario. A vaguely worded text like “Can we talk later?” becomes a nightmare house filled with the phantoms of possible conflicts, arguments, and disasters. A fledgling idea is murdered before …