How ALONE Have YOU Ever Been?
I am fascinated by the TV series ‘Alone’ on the History Channel where contestants have to survive in the wilderness, completely isolated with little resources. The person who survives the longest walks home with $500,000. Besides being great television, watching ‘Alone’ this season has elevated the subject of SOLITUDE to the top of my mind and helped me develop this month’s series on...
Who Is That Talking Inside MY HEAD?
Everybody’s talking. Inside their head, that is. All of us, to one degree or another, have an ongoing INTERNAL MONOLOGUE running that never escapes as audible sounds to the outside world. Researchers think this internal voice starts during childhood in what they refer to as PRIVATE SPEECH and continues into adulthood as a utilitarian mechanism to do get things done throughout the day....
I Was Afraid Of GOD Until I Met Him
Early in my faith walk I was afraid of everything. My shadow. Other people. And God. I was NOT afraid on the outside, hiding behind the façade I created with my success and wealth. It was on the INSIDE. I was afraid to be alone with myself–and my thoughts—and that’s what drove my lustful chase for things and the addictive (though always temporary) distractions they offer. It’s not...
I Was Starving for SOLITUDE and Could NOT Even Cry
The world’s denizens—you, me, all of us—are living on a planet STARVED FOR SOLITUDE and connection that transcends the transactional and life-less living we step through day after day after day. That reality produces a compounding pain: These people are largely UNAWARE of how this STARVATION FOR SOLITUDE is consuming their soul and many of them will never be alone with God and feel his...
My Focus on Being STRONG Nearly Destroyed Me
I think about STRENGTH a lot. Always have. Always will, I suppose. It’s an important appendage of my personality and deeply embedded in my DNA and character. I am wired to be strong in everything I do. I played football through college and strength of body and mind were my stock-in-trade. I was a corporate CEO and strength of leadership was my pathway to success. And I have committed to be strong...
Solitude With God? No Way. I’ve Got A Mortgage To Pay.
When Christians around the world read that headline—Solitude With God? No Way. I’ve Got A Mortgage To Pay—very few, if any, will have ever uttered those words. In fact, I may be the only soul on earth—ME—to have that exact line ping-pong through my mind. I remember it vividly today, even though it was early in my faith walk when my lust for success had me chasing mansions and sports cars. But I do...
There IS a “Plus One” On God’s Solitude Invitation
People all over the world are on a frantic search for some “ALONE TIME” with themselves. They want to find a happiness lane that muffles the unwelcome noise ringing in their head and messing with their heart. They want to tame the tension that slices through their relationships like a chainsaw eating a tree. They want to escape the challenges (and pain) produced by those pesky “demons” called reality...
“Retreat-And-Return” SOLITUDE Lifted Me Out Of My FUNK
Seeking SOLITUDE with God is a spiritual imperative, right? Yep. But recognizing that truth is the easy part. Actually pulling it off is extremely difficult while we all swim in the world’s slipstream. So let’s bust through one of the biggest barriers between many Christians and finding SOLITUDE with God: Looking at SOLITUDE with God as a destination in and of itself; instead of realizing...
I Thought Solitude with God was Closing My Eyes
The hot wind of July has flipped the calendar’s page to August and brought us a new topic to explore–SEEKING SOLITUDE WITH GOD. I begin this journey with much anticipation and high expectations for what God can do in our lives. IF, that is, we are not too DISTRACTED. “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and...
My Tears of PAIN Started a Rain of JOY
Everyone wants to experience the spine-tingling and euphoric RAIN OF JOY in their life. Sounds easy, right? So what’s the problem? Why does the world seem, largely, joyless and incapable of finding its elusive destination? And why in the world do so many Christians struggle mightily to understand the meaning of joy and search unsuccessfully for the pathway to its well of wonder? The answers...