Arts of Spiritual Conversations

Be good to each other. Today on my subway ride into work, a man burst through the doors connecting the trains and announced “This is it–I’m going to end it!” and exited as quickly as he came in. I looked to the door, and through the window, I could see him climbing the chains connecting the cars. I screamed, “He’s going to Jump!” I ran to the doors, pulled them open and grabbed on to the back of his shirt, “Don’t do this,” I pleaded, “You can’t do this.” I pulled on his white t-shirt and got him to come...Read more …

Emily Freeman’s house sits at the top of a cul-de-sac at the end of a street in a neighborhood comprised of young families and empty nesters alike. As you might expect, this big, paved turnaround of her typical American neighborhood became the place for all the kids who lived around it and down its street, to congregate and play. Even the parents would gather in its center, pulling out lawn chairs from their garages and spreading out blankets on the ground to watch them. But then something changed. Benches In her book Simply Tuesday, Emily P. Freeman describes the beautiful thing that happened after two benches ended up in the grassy circle-center of...Read more …

This is Walk the Way. Brought to you by Q Place. I’m Jeff Klein. Did you hear about this? It was all over social media. Apparently, there was a father at an airline ticket counter who had planned on flying with his child in his lap. But between the time he had purchased the ticket and the time of their actual flight, the child had turned two. And kids over two need their own seat. But that additional ticket was going to cost about seven hundred and fifty dollars. The man couldn’t do it. He couldn’t afford it. And his...Read more …

In 2008, the television series House was the most-watched program in the world! Most say its popularity was due to Dr. Gregory House–the character played by actor Hugh Laurie– a character that, in many ways, paralleled the infamous, special, and eccentric Sherlock Holmes. Although Holmes was an investigator and House was an unconventional misanthropic medical genius who led a team of diagnosticians investigating viruses, deadly bacteria and poison, both of these fictional men shared extraordinary skills of observation–uncanny abilities that hooked literary fans for years and most recently, TV viewers of House for eight seasons. Fiction or reality? Although these intriguing, captivating characters are only fiction, it is a real possibility that each...Read more …

One morning Majora Carter went out for her daily run across the South Bronx in New York City. The backdrop? Dumpsites. One after another. Maybe it was the smell of all that good, decaying refuse that made Majora’s dog pull her toward the Bronx River. Most likely it was. Nonetheless, before she knew it, she was walking gingerly behind her dog who was leading her—straining and sniffing forward—through weeds and scattered piles of garbage. The two ended up near the river’s shore, right at the site of a massive city dump. When Majora finally looked up, she saw it: Garbage upon more garbage,...Read more …

This is Walk the Way. I’m Jeff Klein. No one wants me doing our household’s big food shopping, but I do stop at the market pretty often to pick up this or that on my way home from work. On one of those recent errands, as I parked my car, I noticed the roof rack of the car next to mine was packed full of stuff. So was its back seat. Then I realized that the car was still running. There was a lady at the wheel, surrounded by more stuff, eating what appeared to be her dinner. Did God...Read more …

This is Walk the Way. I’m Jeff Klein. It’s a new year and, as I often do at this time, I’m taking stock of many things and mulling them over. Among them, what it looks like for me, personally, to walk the way of Jesus. And Jesus’ words to the Pharisees found in Matthew come to mind: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Most of us could...Read more …

I recently watched the movie Avatar again with my family. You remember the story of Jake Sully—he’s a disabled ex-marine assigned to duty on beautiful Pandora, a planet full of exotic nature-loving natives called Avatars. Jake’s assignment is unusual; although he is paralyzed and no longer able to use his lower extremities, he will become one of the Avatars with the aid of scientific technology and “take over” the able-bodied body of an Avatar native. This way, he can better build relationships, win the creatures over, and complete his mission. Along the way, he meets Neytiri, who’s assigned to Jake by the tribal...Read more …

“Noticing is a prerequisite to caring about others and serving them in tangible ways that smuggle the Gospel into their hearts.” ~ Doug Pollock “If we want to live in grace, we must develop eyes that see. We must learn what might be called the discipline of noticing. To notice something–to truly pay attention–is a powerful thing….The practice of noticing is a skill. It involves learning to pay attention to gifts we have otherwise taken for granted….They are precious gifts. And what’s even more amazing is that their Giver is lovingly present with you even as you are experiencing them.”...Read more …