Blog

In the past year Kay and I have lost eight good companions who have moved on to a better place and left us here trying to learn how to cope with losing them. These were friends we walked with in different places and different times as we learned from each other how to follow Jesus, love one another, and care for others. And there are quite a few others who we have lost in the years previous to this one. A while back, Frank Consalvo asked me what I was learning in this phase of my life about losing ones we love.  He thought it would be helpful to note some of the thoughts I have received from the Lord and other people – so here are some of them. There are certainly a lot...

A Thought on Prayer Too often our prayers are mostly concerned with changing circumstances, but when we read the recorded prayers of Paul we discover that they were all about changing character.  It is true that he encourages his friends in Philippi to present every concern to God, but in the few prayers of Paul that are preserved in Scripture they all have to do with desiring the character of Jesus Christ to be more evident in the people for whom he prayed.   A similar thought is expressed in this quote: “Because we do not easily escape the thought-patterns of our culture, this ethos of control and explanation may very well influence our view of God, tempting us to...

Partnership at a Distance (a thought from Colossians) How do we stay connected to sisters and brothers in Christ at a distance?  As I look back over the past sixty years of having good companions in many other places of the world there are several things that have emerged as important to me and to others.  The most important way of maintaining these partnerships is when we can travel to be with each other – that has been a great privilege for Kay and me over many years.  There is no substitute to sit with each other in one’s natural habitat as we do life together –even if some of the time these are only brief visits. In 2010 it seemed that the Lord was indicating to me...

Transforming Faith The definition of a word only has meaning to us based on our experience of that word.  For example, the word “love” means many different things when we use it.  It may be that we like something as in “I love ice cream.”  It may mean a brotherly affection for someone or it may only mean someone or something we lust after.  It takes an experience of God’s love before we understand what agape love is – a love that sustains, affirms, and energizes us in spite of all our areas of weakness and all our failures. In the same way “faith” has many different meanings based on both our intellectual understanding of the word and our personal experience of faith.  It...

Kay and I have been working on the ideas in “One Hundred Musings” for 60 years and I have been putting them into a book of a little over 100 pages during the summer and fall.  Hopefully, those of you who have journeyed with us will resonate with the things we have been learning from Jesus and you who are our companions.  Many of your ideas have already found lodging in the Musings.  Today I pick up the copies from the printer and I am eager to see them in a book form.

Kay and I have spent most of our lives reading about, thinking about, and experiencing friendship in many different ways. Those ideas show up in the following pages because they have given us insights into relationships with the people God has made special to us. This reflection has been given added understanding by the friends who have shared their insights with us. My hope is that these ideas will enhance your desire for a deeper and more fulfilling journey with friends. This is the love that is changing us and the world. “The church at its most authentic has always offered something radically different from – and infinitely richer than—the superficial ways of...

The first weekend of December Kay and I presented ideas in this piece to friends at the Mt Hermon annual retreat. We later had opportunity to discuss the ideas in depth with several good companions in the Northwest. The following is the original paper we presented with several comments from others that deepen our understanding of the issues. As always, this is a work in progress so if you have ideas you would like to share with us or others please do so. . . Kent and Kay A paraphrase of the writings of E. Stanley Jones reads: “Fellowship in Jesus with a few close companions is so precious that it has to be carefully cultivated; for while it is a tough-fibered tree and can...

What  I Wish I Knew? The question:   After reading our piece on “Finishing Well”, Brian Baugh suggested it would be helpful if we put together responses to the question, “What do I know now that I wish I knew when I was thirty?”  I asked a few friends to respond to that question and the following is a partial statement of the wonderful responses. The responses:           “Initially, I jumped at the chance to “tell” the younger generation what I know now that would have been such a great help to me then.  But then I thought, what would have happened to that knowledge at such a young, immature age? Would it have been pearls before swine? Would my heart have been...

In July of 2013 I took some ideas written by Rick Baugh, added some quotes from others and sent them to most of my friends and spiritual companions. The request was for them to read and to send back their insights. The response gave me many new insights – only some of which I have included in this treatise for fear that it was already more than most people would want to read – so thank you to all who contributed to my learning – even if all your good thoughts did not make it into the final draft Rick Baugh’s original thoughts “People are out of gas and have little or no energy in their tank because of loneliness – isolation from people and God. It is like the old...