Month: December 2018

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Enneagram for Teens – 043 – CHSBT

For centuries, so many people have experienced the enneagram as a powerful spiritual direction and personal growth tool that unveils some of our most unhealthy tendencies and pushes us to understand our true selves. It targets our egos, our coping mechanisms, and our systematized ways of hiding. However, when working with teens, who are still in the midst of ego development, how helpful can this tool be for them? Is there a way to responsibly introduce the enneagram to young people in this developmental phase? Chris and Wayne discuss these issues and more in this new episode!

Below are some links to Wayne’s organizations.

https://www.randolphfamily.org/

http://downtotheroot.org/

*Note: Please forgive the audio distortion on Chris’ vocals! This is our inaugural remote podcast with each other.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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When it’s Dust

dust“We need a coat with two pockets. In one pocket there is dust, and in the other pocket there is gold. We need a coat with two pockets to remind us who we are.”
― Parker Palmer

Parker Palmer– teacher, sociologist, social reformer– inspiration a-plenty for me. He wrote The Courage to Teach. It’s the single teacher text that speaks to my teacher heart. His commentary on education is opposite of what we, as educators, seem to produce the most of: the technical, the distant, the abstract… the majority of our sacred texts are written this way. They are helpful. But Palmer insists that we teach from the essence of who we are, and if we want to grow as teachers, we must learn to talk to each out about our inner lives.

My teaching coat has two pockets: one full of gold, one full of dust. Continue reading “When it’s Dust”

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When Doubt and Belief are Twins

There are a lot of beliefs in our culture, beliefs the likes of…

• Donald Trump is racist
• Lady Gaga is a bad influence
• Science and the Bible do not mix
• You should act upon whatever sexual orientation and desires you have or think you may have
• Kanye West is a genius
• Humans evolved from a single-celled organism over millions of years
• The Earth is thousands of years old
• The Big Bang model explains the beginning of the universe
• You can be a good person without believing in God
• Religion is responsible for most wars

Now, whether or not you identify as a Christian, I image you would either hold to – or doubt – at least one of the above beliefs.

Here are some quick points… First: it is NOT within the scope of this post to debate whether or not any of the items in this list are TRUE or FALSE. Second: doubt is healthy; doubt in and of itself is not a problem. What is a problem, however (and where it gets sticky), is when our doubt becomes unhealthy. Therefore, it is 100% within the scope of this post to challenge you on whether or not how you carry your beliefs – or doubts – reflects a commitment to truth. After all, why believe in something if it isn’t true?

Answer: NO reason at all!

So how is doubt unhealthy? Continue reading “When Doubt and Belief are Twins”

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The Way of Peace

“You’re too idealistic”

“Mr. Randolph, that sounds an awful lot like socialism….are you a socialist?”

“Do you even support our troops, cause you sound unpatriotic”

“Ever hear of “just-war” theory Mr. Randolph….huh, huh?” (imagine the ever so slight puffing up of the chest)

I’ve come across each of these statements, and many more (at least the ones people are willing to express while in my presence) and more often than not it is when discussing Jesus’ sermon on the mount….that radical, counterintuitive, counter cultural discourse recorded in the Gospel according to Matthew. Even the fact that I refer to the sermon as radical might give you some insight into which lens I use by which to understand those powerful words!

Yes, I am idealistic, I am a follower of Jesus! I’m crazy enough to believe, like many of you reading this, that the creator of the universe stepped into our reality, wearing flesh like us, and that he offered us another way to live and interact with the world around us. I’m crazy enough to believe that the beautiful system of Shalom, as presented in the opening poem of Genesis, paints a picture of whole and complete relationships between humans and God, humans and other humans, humans and the earth and each individual human with herself/himself. I’m idealistic enough to believe, although humanity has contributed to the destruction of Shalom, that the way of Jesus offers us the path towards the restoration of all things! I’m idealistic enough to believe Jesus when he teaches us to pray that what goes on in the Kingdom of God would also manifest here on earth all around us! I’m crazy enough to believe that each individual has a role to play in the restoration process…..I’m not a socialist, I’m a broken, hypocritical, cynical but also idealistic to a fault, dreamer, and follower of the way of weakness, the way of Jesus.

My brother-in-law is in the U.S. Navy… Continue reading “The Way of Peace”