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Ashes to Go

Seeing with Fresh Eyes

It was an early Wednesday morning, and I was hurrying—almost running—to catch the ferry from Bainbridge Island to Seattle. The terminal felt especially busy that day, crowded with people moving at practiced speed, the way overachievers do, intent on finding their preferred seat or joining their familiar cluster of friends for the thirty-five-minute crossing over the eight miles of Puget Sound.

 

I wasn’t paying attention to anyone. I was distracted—preoccupied in the way a graduate school president often is—lost in my own thoughts, unaware that this was not just any Wednesday. This was a holy day in the life of the Church. 

 

As I reached the edge of the terminal building, I saw him.

 

There stood my pastor—our vicar, Father Dennis—vested as he would later be that afternoon in the sanctuary of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. I had never seen him on the ferry commute before. Then I noticed the sign placed deliberately at his small station near the flow of foot traffic: “Ashes to go.”

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CategoriesJesus' Way, Spiritual Conversation by

Prophet, peacemaker, or partisan?

Your emotional reaction to the title for today’s blog is already an indicator of your readiness for curiosity. It’s not a direct statement from Scripture, but I want to raise the question of the kingdom anticipated in the Bible for Jesus’ reign.

 

Isaiah 11:1ff puts us in mind of what God’s intentions were (and are): I ask you to read verses 1-9 to make sense of today’s blog.

 

Did you notice?  Jesus was “the shoot from the stump of Jesse.” If you’re an apprentice of Jesus, this is the mandate to which we bow: “His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.”  Not to be afraid of the Lord, but to honor, respect, follow, and obey the Lord. This oracle forecasts a new king coming out of the line of Jesse, not out of any political party, but from a long past of faithfulness to Yahweh. What is the nature of this new kingdom? Read More

CategoriesSpiritual Conversation by

“It happened again.”

“It happened again,” were the words with which Richard started his story that day. 

 

He told me how he and his wife had a dinner date over the weekend with another couple from church—“All in all, a less than satisfying dinner conversation.” 

 

Richard elaborated on how he and his wife felt they had asked all the questions, showing interest in their friends, drawing them out, and learning more about the couple’s experiences and perspectives on various topics. Yet their curiosity was never reciprocated; no questions were asked of Richard or his wife, and very little interest in them was expressed by this other couple. 

 

“It all felt like a one-way street of interest,” Richard paused and then continued, “A disappointing but not unfamiliar experience.”

 

These sorts of conversations were sadly all too common, according to Richard. “This same experience is frequent enough,” Richard shared with me,  “that my wife and I have developed a shorthand descriptor for it. When we get back in the car after the meal or when one of us returns from a coffee conversation, either my wife or I say—It happened again.” 

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CategoriesMentoring Matters by

The Sacrament of Welcome: Holy Hospitality

Some of the people I know and love are alcoholics. They struggle, yes—but they also know a truth that many of us forget: we cannot make it ahead on our own. Alcoholics Anonymous becomes for them more than a time or place; it is a circle of honesty, accountability, and grace. 

You know the rhythm: a dimly lit room, coffee in a styrofoam cup, someone begins, “Hi, my name is Keith, I’m an alcoholic.” And the room responds, “Hi, Keith.” 

Then comes the story—the ache and the hope, spoken aloud and received by others who carry their own wounds. 

One recovering addict once said, “The hardest part is coming back the second time.”  Read More

CategoriesMentoring Matters by

Living the Questions: Field Notes on Mentoring

When I first began the work of mentoring, I looked for manuals, methods, and models—anything that would give me a clear path forward. Over time, though, I learned that mentoring isn’t a formula; it’s a way of being present. What follows are my own “field notes,” drawn from the wisdom of Margaret Guenther, one of my early teachers and companions in this vocation.  Read More

CategoriesMentoring Matters by

Learning to Notice: Conversation with a Veteran Mentor

 You know, when I first began mentoring, I thought my task was to give advice—to help people make better choices, live more faithfully, grow in wisdom. But over time, I learned that real mentoring is less about telling and more about noticing. It’s about paying attention to the quiet, sacred movements that shape a person’s life. 

Begin with Paying Attention 

Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33), and that has become a touchstone for me. We are, each of us, formed by what we seek — by what we value most. Our role as mentors is to help others see what is shaping them, often without their awareness. 

When you meet with someone, start with their image of God. Everyone carries one, whether they realize it or not. I sometimes ask, “What picture of God lives in your heart right now?” or “When you hear the word God, what comes to mind?” Those questions can open deep wells. Many of our early images come from childhood — parents, teachers, pastors, even the tone of a church sanctuary. Over the years, those impressions harden into assumptions. As mentors, we’re inviting people to revisit them and ask whether their image of God still holds life and truth.  Read More

CategoriesMentoring Matters by

A Curriculum of Love: How Questions Become Prayer

A Reflective Guide for Mentors, Friends, and Fellow Travelers

The Art of Paying Attention

Every one of us is being shaped by what we love, chase, or cling to. Mentoring isn’t about handing out answers; it’s about paying attention to the subtle ways our lives are being formed—through joy and sorrow, success and disappointment, stillness and motion.


“Spiritual direction is really about learning to see. The mentor helps another person look for the fingerprints of God in the ordinary.” — Margaret Guenther


To walk with someone in their becoming is to practice reverent curiosity. These questions are not meant to close a conversation but to open one—an invitation to honesty, discovery, and quiet wonder. Sometimes, the most genuine form of prayer begins with the courage to ask. Read More

CategoriesSeasonal, VP3 happenings by

Paul’s Challenge, Our Prayer

A Challenge

 

You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; 

and what you have heard from me through many witnesses 

entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.

2 Timothy 2:1-2 

 

I am mindful, as one year ends and another begins, that we, as a VantagePoint3 (VP3) community, continue to live and grow and serve in the wake of Paul’s threefold encouragement in 2 Timothy 2:1-2. Paul exhorts a younger leader, Timothy, to: 

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CategoriesJesus' Way, Seasonal by

“Immanuel is not just a Christmas story.”

A Ministry Refresh and a Season of Reflection

Over the past 18 months, we have been working to refresh our ministry’s signature offering – The Journey process. We love how it has turned out. It has now been about three weeks since the refreshing, rewriting, and formatting have all stopped, and The Journey Stage 3: A Shared Life is off to the printer. Cheers! 

 

Since then, I have begun reflecting on what we have been learning along the way as we worked on this project. And perhaps, because the timing of this reflecting coincides with the weeks of Advent and the anticipation of Christmas, my initial thoughts have mostly landed on this theme—embracing God with us, Immanuel, is at the center of our ongoing, lifelong formation in Christ as individuals and communities.  

 

A compelling way to look at God’s character and mission is to notice a defining thread woven through the entire biblical Story–God desires to be with his people. From the garden of Eden to the Tabernacle and the Temple to the Incarnation of Jesus to the new heavens and new earth, the Triune God seeks to dwell among his people (e.g., Gen 2-3; Ex. 29:45-46; Lev. 26:11-12; 2 Chr. 6:18; Ps. 90:1; John 1:14, Rev 21:1-5).   Read More

CategoriesSeasonal by

Just a Moment at the Door

A Soliloquy

It has been years now, but I can still hear the knock.
That single, hurried knock upon my door—
the sound of it still splits the silence of my sleep.
The city was crowded that night, Bethlehem bursting like a wineskin.
Every corner filled, every room claimed by those come to be counted.
And me? I was proud of it.
A full house means full hands, full pockets, a full purse.
As an innkeeper—well, I thought myself fortunate.

 

But then came the knock.

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