The Corners

Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. - Matthew 18 Testing out the ENORMOUS pulpit the night before I preached.

Photo by Grzegorz Sękulski on Unsplash Romans 13:8-14 There were a lot of rules in the Conservative Church of my childhood. Certainly the 10 Commandments but also a bunch of others they just sort of made up as if God had handed them a couple extra stone tablets. I mean we had the biggies everyone else did– like thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal etc… But we also had Thou shalt not drink or see R rated movies, or dress immodestly.

I’m so grateful to have gotten to have this conversation with Priya Parker. In fact, I started planning a little gathering soon after we signed off. I hope you do too. PRIYA PARKER is a facilitator, strategic advisor, and acclaimed author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters. Her new book THE ART OF FIGHTING: The Transformative Power of Conflict is out this September and available for pre-order now.

My most tried and true prayer is for God to help me just not be the worst version of myself. Even in prayer, I’ve seldom met a low bar I wasn’t grateful for. Once, in the late 90s, early aughts, I was sitting in a 12 step meeting listening to a bunch of sober drunks ramble on about conflicts with coworkers, bosses, committees, etc., when I realized, smugly, that I could not think of a single conflict I was having with another person.

Some folks here chip in to support me and my work. It’s pretty cool. Kate Bowler, PhD is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, award-winning podcast host, and an Associate Professor of American Religious History at Duke University. She studies the cultural stories we tell ourselves about success, suffering, and whether (or not) we’re capable of change. The first time I spoke to Kate, she was interviewing me over the phone for one her books.

Photo by Janosch Lino on Unsplash Dear God, These bodies you gave us … I mean, there’s a lot to love about them. First of all, they can sing – so, good job on that one. And they can laugh at bad jokes and walk across the street to say hi to our neighbor’s dog. And these bodies you gave us can smell fresh lavendar and savor the taste of perfectly ripe of cantaloupe in August. And honestly, it’s pretty amazing the way the skin of someone we love can feel on our own skin. So, that’s pretty cool.

Thanks everyone, for sticking around during my time of relative non-productivity. As you can maybe tell from this video, I’m recovering from another breast reconstruction surgery (Aug 10th), and taking life real slow. If my work has been of help to you over the years and you’d like to support me during this less-than-easy time you can do so below.

Happy Saturday, friends. As I am recovering from another surgery and do not have the capacity to write anything, I thought I’d send out a couple posts from the archives in case you missed them! Enjoy. And thanks for sticking around during my not-very-productive season. Why be bitter with such a great blouse? Dear Nadia, How do I guard against being a bitter and mean old lady. - A reader Dear Reader, When I was younger, I never ate dark chocolate. I thought it was for fools and idiots.

Father James Martin is a Jesuit priest who has had a remarkable career filled with beautiful writing, hopeful conversations and like, 22 honorary doctorates! Check out his latest book! "Funny, charming, inspiring and wise—this is a memorable memoir." — Stephen Colbert What a delight to have this conversation with James Martin, SJ! Just the simple idea that when our anxious little monkey brains start in on what ifs and if onlys what if something bad happens, if only I had majored in nursing,...

Erin Williams is an author and doctoral student. She has been: a teacher, a cancer researcher, and a prep cook at a taco shack that was shuttered by the NYC Department of health. She’s for sure one of the smartest people I know. Check out her Substack: Just a few short hours before this chat with my friend Erin I walked 4 miles around my neighborhood - with earbuds in. Shut off from the noises and the neighbors.