Articles on Community
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COURAGEOUS LOVE
One day, when Jesus was in Jerusalem, the Pharisees came up to him and warned that he had better get out of the city because Herod was planning to kill him. Instead of taking their advice and making a hasty retreat, he said to them, “Tell that old fox I have more healing and caring…
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Transforming the Heart
In these last turbulent weeks I have been strengthened by this passage from Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” To be human is to have a heart of stone. We fight, do violence, lie, destroy…
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Healing Prayer for the World
The article below is one I wrote in 2007 for the Shalem News. Now in March of 2022, with a war raging in the Ukraine, the threat of a nuclear war, climate change and other upheaval in our world, I ponder how to hold it all in prayer. I was led back to these reflections which still feel authentic…
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Burning Bushes Everywhere
THE OPENING OF EYESby David WhyteThat day I saw beneath dark cloudsthe passing of light over the waterand I heard the voice of the world speak out.I knew then as I had beforelife is no passing memory of what has been,nor the remaining pages in a great book waitingto be read.It is the opening of…
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Spiritual Companionship at the Time of Death
The ministry of spiritual companionship can be so rewarding and evokes a sense of the reciprocity inherent in giving. Graduating from Shalem’s Nurturing the Call: Spiritual Guidance Program gave me the needed credentials to serve as a hospice chaplain with Louisiana Hospice & Palliative Care in Opelousas, LA. (Chaplain credentialing requirements vary among agencies.) I…
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New Rhythms of Grace
People are somewhat taken aback when I say I don’t want to be a menace to my family, employees, or friends. Parker Palmer got it right when he described a leader as “someone with the power to project either shadow or light onto some part of the world and onto the lives of the people…