Led by the Spirit

This week is a week of Spiritual Renewal. Lots of silence. Some sound teaching. A bit of sharing in conversation around meals. And plenty of worship in the rhythm of the day.

in preparing for preaching during Lent and Easter, I find it helpful to retreat into a space of quiet abundance. I am not out on the trail, but instead at a Spiritual Renewal Center attending a Five Day Academy sponsored by the Rio Texas Academy for Spiritual Formation.

Being still is hard work. But necessary to my health and effectiveness as a pastor. I have colleagues and new friends here Along the Way sharing a common question: How to Lead in Difficult Times?

We know how current leaders lead. Well some of them. The rhetoric of public discourse has disintegrated into insult and bombast. Division and partisan politics rule our public experience. It does not inspire me in any way.

But how should spiritual leaders be leading? One answer is with the love of God. That is the source of hope that will bring us to a different space and time. “Our love informs and guides how we go about peaceful resistance in standing against evil, deceit, self interest, prejudice, oppression... With what source of love are we leading ?

My prayer today is that God’s love, in the grace of Jesus, might lead me so that I might lead others.

May peace be with you.

along the Way
​Pastor Paul