Today's episode is about empathic distress. It's what we experience when we feel the pain of others' but feel unable to help alleviate it. Instead, we're invited to let our empathy be a pathway to compassion, an active place where we can acknowledge the suffering of someone, assuring them of our support, and seek to help them.

Today's episode is about being mindful of the preciousness of life and making two-degree shifts toward "eulogy virtues," the things that matter most. I tell the story of downloading the app, "WeCroak," and how it has grounded me in these weighty days. Thanks for listening!

Today's episode is inspired by a question I first heard from Barbara Brown Taylor: "What's saving your life right now?" It's a powerful question that invites us to name concrete things that are helping us stay attuned to what matters most. I answer the question for myself - and it would be different a day from now and certainly a year from now. But that's part of its generativity. I encourage you to answer the question for yourself, tell a loved one and ask them to answer it too.

Today's episode is about how change actually happens: not through outside heroes to swoop in and work on their own, but through small groups of dedicated people who want to heal the world. We hear a few lines from Margaret Mead, Howard Thurman and John Paul Lederach, but then spend a few minutes on the recent TED talk by David Lamotte, "Why Heroes Don't Change the World." How can you be part of realizing God's dream in the three-feet around you right now? Which 2-3 people can you meet with to work on something that breaks your heart right now?

Today's episode is about the cliche, "Life is short." We explore how being fierce with reality can be clarifying and animating for our life. I mention a few recent books: Life Is Short by Dean Nickles and Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkemann. And then we end with words from Henri Frederic-Amiel, "Life is short, so we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who walk with us. So be swift to love and make haste to be kind." Deep peace to you, friends!

Today's episode is about the practice of "scruffy hospitality," a term coined by Jack King. I learned about it from the recent book by Oliver Burkemann, Meditations for Mortals. The basic idea is that we need to forgo "hospitality with excellence" for the more human and compelling "scruffy hospitality" - a way of living and  inviting others into our presence that reminds us we are human. 

Today's episode is about "joyspan," a new concept I learned about recently. Rather than "lifespan" or "healthspan," "joyspan" focuses on the quality of our life and how we might grow, adapt, give and connect with others, especially in the second half of life. The term was coined by Dr. Kerry Burnright, who served as a professor at UC Irvine for nearly 20 years, and who recently came out with a book, "Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life's Second Half."

I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today's episode is about a conviction of Desmond Tutu, archbishop of South Africa, which later became a hymn. I share a story I learned about from the spiritual autobiography of him I read a couple of years ago, written by this long-time assistant, Michael Battle. In the midst of so much fear and brokenness in the world, it's crucial for me to remember the deepest truths and this story and hymn help me do that. I hope it helps you, too, friends. 

Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today's episode is about the potent theological symbol of the table - a place of gathering, connection and sustenance. We remember who and whose we are. This summer, we've been "eating our way" through the Gospel of Luke with Jesus. His table practice was radical, inspiring the harshest criticism from his opponents (e.g. "a glutton and drunkard...a friend of tax collectors and sinners it"). This focus on the table has been blessing and inspiring me in this tumultuous time we are living through. How can we gather with others around the table to remind ourselves that we belong to one another? 

Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today's episodes is about "thresholds" - those times of transition in our lives and what they offer to our spiritual lives. Thinking about our kids growing up, the changing seasons and the gift of being present to each moment given to us.

Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!