Category: Unfiled

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Hmong New Year: Nyob Zoo Xyoo Tshiab

What a delightful day!  David Her, a student at Concordia, continues to help me grow in my understanding of the  Hmong culture.  First we went to a Hmong market and had lunch (traditional Hmong).  Then, we went to the Minnesota Hmong New Year celebration in St. Paul.  What a delight.  The Miss Hmong Minnesota pageant […]

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The wonderful body of Christ

I know that it is really popular to rip on the Church (I myself have been guilty) but I have been really touched recently by some little things at Church.  There is a woman in our congregation who is brought to church every Sunday by her son.  I think she lives in a nursing home.  […]

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Listen With the Ear of Your Heart

Hospitality is the key to outreach with the Christian message.  There are so many reports of those, especially young adults, who will not connect with the Church because of negative perceptions and experiences.  This kind of damage is hard to undo but it can be reframed when we listen.  Listen to the story.  Listen to […]

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European Pilgrimage

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Wonderful Experience

When I was first asked by the leaders at Camp Okoboji to lead a retreat for high school students teaching contemplative prayer and contemplative life I must admit that I was quite skeptical.  The retreats with middle aged and young adults had been very meaningful but I just wasn’t sure it would work with high […]

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Recent Items

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    I was at a luncheon that was serving as a listening post for seniors to describe their sense of loneliness and isolation. I knew that the population invited to this luncheon was one that would probably have a higher sense of isolation, but, what I heard was much more intense than I expected. A man […]

  • Social Networks and Aging

    It is interesting that research is showing two demographics experiencing social isolation in such as way as to impact health: Young Adults (18-22) and Senior Adults (65+). I have worked with both populations over the past 50 years and I continue to be amazed at the similarity of the questions raised by both groups and […]

  • An Eye-Opening Awareness: One More Transition for this Guy

    I sat at a luncheon two weeks ago that opened my eyes to a reality that I knew was there, but as the discussion unfolded I began to realize how the discussion, about to take place, was going to expand my thinking. As I listened to the needs of the people with whom I shared […]

  • TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE: LETTING GOD SET THE AGENDA

    When it comes to the human condition and a desire to change, we can become easily frustrated: we think that we want to change … but we really don’t. Paul expresses this contradiction well in Romans 7:15-24: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do […]

  • The Crisis of Loneliness

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