Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reading and loving a new biography written by my friend, Gary Moon, of the Dallas Willard Center at Westmont College. The title is Becoming Dallas Willard: The Formation of a Philosopher, Teacher, and Christ Follower. What a well-written, enjoyable-to-read book!

It was a gift to reflect on so many intersections and near-path-crossings with Dallas over the years. For example, when Gem and I married in 1985 and moved one month later to Southern...

Engage with us as we talk about a dynamic that some will face in their spiritual journey, what John of the Cross called “The Dark Night of the Soul." It sounds kind of ominous and scary, but it’s actually just a place where our faith is given an opportunity for testing and refining. That doesn’t mean it feels good to us, but it is a *good* place. A while back, Alan wrote an article about the dark night for our blog. It’s one of our most visited posts. That’s...

Right now, we find ourselves in the season of Lent, and a few weeks ago, Alan wrote a blog post titled “Lent: An Invitation to True Satisfaction.” He said that, "In Lent, rather than aiming at acquisition, we aim for some form of openness or even empty space. Fasting results in empty stomachs. Self-denial can quiet our selfish ambition."

But the “empty” here isn’t a vacuum. It is a welcoming of God’s presence. We open up space for God to be active in and...

I love praying scripture. I love engaging with the Bible as a way of cultivating relationship with God. This has been true for me from my earliest days as a follower of Jesus. When I went forward at a Seawind concert in Sacramento in September 1978, I prayed to welcome Jesus into my heart. (It’s hard to believe that was nearly 40 years ago). I was then given a little green Gideon New Testament to read.

Unfortunately, Matthew 1 is a genealogy, which I didn’t find all that...

A visit to a museum provides the backdrop for a conversation on what it means to be an apprentice to a master.

We made our way through quite a few rooms of the Hermitage. The interiors were jaw dropping, the paintings gorgeous. And, as Alan said, he had been there before, so he knew when we were nearing the original painting we were most looking forward to seeing, which was Rembrandt’s Prodigal Son. He gave me a brief warning as we turned the corner, “Get...

In this mini-sode, we want to share eight simple ways for blessing others. These are actually drawn from a resource we produced a year ago, called "Take Five: 17 Simple Ways to Serve Others." That was before we launched this podcast, so I wanted to share some of the helpful ideas with you all.

These little "five minute" ideas aren't complex. That's actually the point. You could easily add plenty of other creative ways to bless another. We simply encourage you to do the good that God has put...

Many years ago, I (Gem) was having a conversation with a very dear friend. As we interacted, she shared some insights about me that I had not directly told her before. No one could have known, because I had not shared with anyone. She was quite observant, but I was still surprised when she shared with me her thoughts. I asked her how she knew. She said, "I know you because I pray for you."

I didn't really understand that fully at the time, but over the years I began to learn what she meant....

Today, it is my delight to share a conversation that I had with Emily P. Freeman. As I’ve followed her on Instagram, read her blog and enjoyed her podcast – I’ve found her to be a true kindred spirit. She is singing the same song as as Unhurried Living - as she shares the message of small moment living in a fast moving world.

In our conversation we talk about: story, process, spiritual practices, small moment living, making connections between our outer world and our inner...

Today is Ash Wednesday. It's the first day of Lent. For years, that would have been completely lost on me. “What in the world is Ash Wednesday?” Most Baptists like me back in the day would have seen it as a “them” practice. Definitely not for “us.”

But now I am an Anglican. Next month, Lord willing, I’ll complete my ordination process and become an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others under Bishop Todd Hunter. This has...

Today is the last in our five-part series where we’ve been responding to your answers to our poll question: “What is the biggest challenge you face right now in living a more unhurried life?”

We received a whole grouping of answers that were all about life’s seasons, stages and transitions.

• We have the mom with young children at home trying to figure out how anything resembling unhurried time is even possible.
• There’s the student who is away at college, who...