The Gift of Good Questions
When was the last time someone asked you an honest, open question — one that invited you to reflect more deeply on your own life, asked by a person who did not want to advise you or “fix” you but “hear...
View ArticleWhat Was Your First Question?
When Dorothy Day was a little girl, she witnessed the world around her reduced to rubble by an earthquake. It was 1906. Fifty thousand refugees fled from San Francisco by boat and were welcomed in...
View ArticleThe Sweet Confinement of Your Aloneness
There are times when you find yourself completely surrendered to the power of a moment. David Whyte’s voice filled the air one morning, as wave after wave of sound was the siren song turning my head....
View ArticleWhat Am I For?
What am I for? I’ve been asking this question of myself a lot lately. The wording of it was planted in my subconscious by Wendell Berry, who has a beautiful book called What Are People For? In it, he...
View ArticleUtterly Humbled by Mystery
I believe in mystery and multiplicity. To religious believers this may sound almost pagan. But I don’t think so. My very belief and experience of a loving and endlessly creative God has led me to trust...
View ArticleIn Quiet Places, We Face the Questions That Can Make or Unmake Us
When I first read David Whyte’s poem “Sometimes” in all its beautiful simplicity, I realized that it describes an experience I’ve had from time to time walking in the woods. Sometimes by David Whyte...
View ArticleThe Wisdom of Saying “I Don’t Know”
I was recently reading a book about a medieval saint. Every day, people came to ask the saint questions about life, the world, faith, the heart, the path, politics, and more. One person came and asked...
View ArticleSeven Questions to End 2017 with Clarity and Start 2018 with Intention
1. What was one of the moments I was most proud of this year? What does that tell me about what I want to spend my energy/time/money on next year? I was really proud to have taken feedback on this...
View ArticleWinter Calls Us Back to the Questions
As winter settles in on us here in Wisconsin — and, I’m told, across a large swatch of the U.S. — I really should not risk offending the weather gods. But I’m with Carl Reiner who said, “A lot of...
View ArticleGood Conversation Is an Adventure
I think of a good conversation as an adventure. You create a generous and trustworthy space for it, and prepare hospitably for it, so the other person will feel so welcome and understood that they will...
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