Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder with the Truth

I never watched this show, but I have had directees who were related to the IBLP (Institute in Basic Life Principles) and had terrible experiences. I found her memoir compelling. I had read her cousin Jill's too. I believe that IBLP is a cult. It is not the way of Jesus.

The part where she confronts her cousin Josh about molesting four of his sisters and a babysitter, and the sick smile on his face. That says it all.

You GO Amy!

Monday, July 20, 2026

Heart Speak: A Visual Interpretation of Let Your Life Speak

This book was recommended to me in late 2024, but I finally got around to reading it in 2026.

I love Parker Palmer's Let Your Life Speak, and this book captures all the essential points in the book.

I highly recommend it. One of my spiritual direction trainers gives it to high school students as a graduation gift. Great idea!

Saturday, July 18, 2026

Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness

I have such mixed feelings about this book. I have spent many summers in the Psalms. I thought I would try this version that my first spiritual director, Sister Joan, would use to open our sessions. I have often used Psalm 23 in my sessions with people. It has opened such wonderful conversations with my directees.

But, some of the Psalms are so off base. So far removed from what the psalm is actually saying. It is as if she had a bee in her bonnet about some issue, and she wanted to put it into the psalm.

Also, she had trouble saying that God is KING. She would use another word that really did not deliver what the psalmist was saying.

What is wrong with saying God is KING?

Yet, there are some paraphrased parts that are absolutely beautiful.

I don't think I can recommend this book, but I am glad that I went through the whole thing to know this.

Friday, July 17, 2026

The Guy You Loved to Hate

I never watched this guy on the show that made him famous (the name of that show escapes me right now), but I was intrigued as I saw him interviewed on a podcast when he was running for mayor of Los Angelas. I grew up 13 miles south of where he grew up. So, I was interested in his life story. I found it fascinating!

You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It

This was interesting for me. I remember her from Dancing with the Stars from many years ago. I had never heard of her, and I remember her sort of rubbing me the wrong way. She has her truth. She sticks to it even though it can be pretty misguided being that she lives in the Hollywood bubble. I found it entertaining.

The Last Battle

Copilot comes to the rescue again. I will say that I was so much more attuned to what was happening in the Narnia books spiritually this time, but I didn't jot all of them down. I am relying on Copilot. It knows I am a spiritual director. So, it tailors the answers to that.

Here are the most spiritually rich, direction-ready quotes from The Last Battle, drawn from authoritative sources and curated for contemplative use. These are the passages that speak most deeply to themes of homecoming, courage, discernment, longing, and the nature of true reality.

🌿 Homecoming, Heaven, and the “Real Country”

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here… Come further up, come further in!”
A jubilant declaration of ultimate belonging and spiritual arrival. [^1]
Why it matters: Ideal for exploring desire, eschatological hope, and the soul’s orientation toward its true home.
“All their life in this world… had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story… which goes on forever… and every chapter is better than the one before.”
A vision of eternity as unfolding intimacy and joy. [^1]
Why it matters: Helps directees reframe endings, grief, and transition as thresholds into deeper reality.

🦁 Trust, Courage, and Divine Holding

“But courage, child: we are all between the paws of the true Aslan.”
A tender assurance of divine protection and presence. [^1]
Why it matters: Beautiful for sessions involving fear, uncertainty, or surrender.
“The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”
A metaphor for death as awakening. [^1]
Why it matters: Supports conversations about mortality, hope, and spiritual awakening.

🔥 Discernment, Deception, and Inner Freedom

“They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their minds… so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.”
A piercing insight into self-made spiritual prisons. [^1]
Why it matters: Useful for exploring resistance, mistrust, and the ways fear constricts spiritual openness.
“He is not a tame lion.”
A reminder of divine wildness and sovereignty. [^2]
Why it matters: Helps directees examine expectations of God, control, and the mystery of divine action.

🌱 Seeking, Desire, and the Nature of True Devotion

“Beloved… unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.”
Emeth’s encounter with Aslan. [^1]
Why it matters: A profound text for exploring desire, vocation, and the sincerity of the seeker’s heart.
“My happiness is so great that it even weakens me like a wound… that he called me Beloved.”
Emeth’s astonishment at divine acceptance. [^1]
Why it matters: Supports conversations about grace, identity, and being seen by God.

🧭 Justice, Surrender, and Holy Fear

“How should we know what he would do? We, who are murderers… Do you think I care if Aslan dooms me to death? That would be nothing… Would it not be better to be dead than to have this horrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the Aslan we have believed in?”
Tirian’s anguished honesty. [^3]
Why it matters: A raw text for exploring guilt, repentance, and the fear of divine abandonment.

✨ If you’d like next

I can shape these into a printable reflection sheet, curate quotes by spiritual theme (grief, hope, discernment, calling), or create guided journaling prompts for use with directees.

References (3)

[^1]: The Last Battle Quotes by C.S. Lewis. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1059917-the-last-battle

[^2]: Best Quotes Of The Last Battle With Page Numbers By C.S. Lewis. https://www.bookey.app/book/the-last-battle/quote

[^3]: Last Battle Quotes (4 quotes). https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/last-battle

The Magician's Nephew

More Narnia. I reviewed it ten years ago HERE.

Here are some quotes that are significant from my Copilot search:

🌿 Awakening, Identity & Divine Invitation

“Awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.”
A summons into consciousness and vocation — an invitation to live awake and aligned with one’s created nature. [^1]
“A voice had begun to sing… the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.”
Creation as music: a reminder that beauty can be a doorway into the sacred. [^1]

🦁 Compassion, Grief & Divine Nearness

“My son, my son… I know. Grief is great.”
Aslan’s tears reveal a God who does not bypass suffering but enters it with us. [^1]

🌱 Freedom, Stewardship & Sacred Responsibility

“Creatures, I give you yourselves… I give you the stars and I give you myself.”
A profound statement of gifted identity, autonomy, and responsibility — ideal for exploring agency and calling. [^2]

🔥 Temptation, Moral Clarity & Inner Posture

“Oh, Adam’s sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!”
A piercing observation about resistance to grace and self-protection. [^1]
“No great wisdom can be reached without sacrifice.”
A reminder that transformation has a cost — helpful in discernment conversations. [^3]
“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing… and what sort of person you are.”
A contemplative insight into perception, bias, and spiritual posture. [^1]

🧭 Choice, Desire & the Inner Life

“Make your choice, adventurous Stranger… Strike the bell and bide the danger.”
A poetic framing of temptation, curiosity, and the cost of choices. [^1]

References (3)

[^1]: The Magician’s Nephew Quotes by C.S. Lewis. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1031537-the-magician-s-nephew

[^2]: The Magician's Nephew Quotes - eNotes.com. https://www.enotes.com/topics/magicians-nephew/quotes

[^3]: Best Quotes Of The Magician's Nephew With Page Numbers By C.S. Lewis. https://www.bookey.app/book/the-magician's-nephew/quote

The Horse and His Boy

More Narnia! I zoomed through this while in the C.S. Lewis room at the Hotel Sylvia (I think I read three Narnia books there!)

Here is a picture of me reading on our patio. I have a similar picture from 15-20 years ago on the patio of the room right next to it. I cannot find it though, but I might just go and look for it and do a comparison.

Loved this little Narnia side story!

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage

I read this because I saw Oprah interview her, and then I was on vacation with a woman who had read it and said, "This is what happened in my marriage!" I did see one podcaster rip it to shreds because she is this rich woman who is crying a river about the break up of her marriage, but heartbreak has no net worth attached to it.

I found it very compelling. I couldn't put it down.

Cradled in the Arms of Compassion: A Spiritual Journey from Trauma to Recovery

Read May 10-July 17

I am a fast reader, but this one was so painful to get through. It is the father of (I took a seminar from him a few months). I bought this thinking that it was his book about that subject only to discover that it is his in-depth journal from the trauma of sexual abuse to recovery. It is raw and emotional, and there was times where I felt physically ill reading it. That is why it took so long to get through it.

It is a worthwhile read to understand what those who go through childhood sexual abuse endure. I wanted to slap his mother. Even when she "realized" that what she had done was wrong (duh!), she was so self-centered! I admire this man for continuing to even be in the same room with her.

I was most touched by his time at the .

This book is NOT for everyone. I was sexually abused, but it was a one-time incident (with mind games played on me for year since he was a neighbor across the street for my whole childhood), and I had the boundaries to know that I needed to steer clear of him from then on out (although he was constantly coming over to our house and visiting with my dad who had no idea of what he had done because I never knew to tell him). There was enough damage from that encounter. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for this author.

The book has very strong language. It is very graphic.

I did love that part of his healing came from doing the as this is what I have facilitated every year with individuals and groups since 2019. I think that the Exercises were really significant in my continued healing. Once I got to that part of the book, I knew there was a reason why I mistakenly bought it.

This was a LOONG book. I am glad I finally finished it.

The Silver Chair

is my favorite character in all of . In The Silver Chair, Puddleglum the confronts the , who has enchanted the heroes to make them doubt the existence of Narnia, the sun, and . After breaking the spell by stamping on the fire, Puddleglum limps back and delivers his iconic speech:

"One word, Ma'am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. "One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one more thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's a small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say."

I loved reading it this time because I was at the Hotel Sylvia in the C.S. Lewis Room when I read it!

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

The Genesis of Relationship

You can see the previous post where I talk about the Life with God series with Grafted Life. This is the first book and starts out in Genesis. The whole purpose is to get people to think relationally about God. It is about life with God.

It is written by recovering evangelicals who have been raised in the church and didn't really clue in about the relationship piece and life with God. They went to a spiritual formation program in seminary, and their eyes were opened. So this is written to be a bridge to understanding for people who have been raised this way.

I often feel like a fish out of water because I was not raised in the church. When I went through the training, I was in the minority as they talked of their upbringing. There were a couple of us, but I always know that I am different, and it is a cross-cultural experience for me.

So with that, it is a bridge study with podcast sermons to accompany each lesson (until you get to Book 5: Daily Abiding with Jesus and a deep dive into the book of John). They have taken out the contemplative language, and I am assuming this is because words like lectio divina and imaginative contemplation would be unsavory for your mainline evangelical. I get that. That is what the Navigators did with me. They taught me a lot of this stuff, but they wouldn't call it by the Catholic name 30+ years ago.

I feel like this can fit in a church. I am not necessarily called to the churched person. So, I am not sure I would use this. People apply to go through The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius, and that is where I am called.

I do think this study is biblically very sound and a good bridge. I also think if you had your whole church go through it, it would establish a DNA with everyone that would lead to better relationships. I would love to interview people who established it in their church. I do know a pastor who did. He was trained to be a spiritual director when I was an intern trainer. So I might talk to him.

Life with God: A Journey of Relationship - Training and Resources

This is the training manual for the Life with God series put out by Grafted Life. It was a five-week training. I might introduce this to our discipleship pastor. I am not sure I would lead a group since I am pretty locked in a love leading Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life groups. It is interesting that many of the Scriptures in this series overlap with the Scriptures in the Exercises. It starts out with God's love, and that is how Ignatius starts out. This training manual gives a lot of suggestions for how to lead a small group. If you have never done that, it would be really helpful for people. This is a picture of the book, but you cannot order the book from a retailer and have to order it through a leader who has been trained to lead this series.

Friday, July 03, 2026

Friday Freewrite Fifteen

I am setting it for fifteen, and here I go. I love Fridays. I decided not to teach on this day, and I do mostly paperwork and tie up loose ends. Today, I need to clean up my Type Four Enneagram materials and send it to my directee. I need to read more of Spiritual Direction: A Practical Introduction by Pickering so I can get it ready for Module 2 of the spiritual direction training. I need to put the finishing touches on my manual by adding my new Examen and discernment visual images to my manual and add about being able to do sticky notes for the Blessed History Timelines that the people in the new RAD SEEL will be going through this summer. I want to give them plenty of time to do that. They will refer to it as they go through the first weeks of the Exercises and then when they look at Sin Patterns (that sounds so bad, but it is really quite freeing in every way).

So those are the main things I want to do work-wise, but I also want to take a morning walk, clean up the house so that it is ready for our impromptu Fourth of July party and all that. I think it is just Katherine and John and our kids so far. So that will be great.

I also want to finish Narnia, and I have about 1 1/2 of reading listening. So I will do that after my freewrite.

I think today I will get back on the wagon of eating since tomorrow will be a treat day. Then, I will go from July 4th to our anniversary on July 21 with logging and eating in moderation. Then we start our vacation. I think that we will go away as a family. I think George forgot that that will be our vacation time as a family. So, I don't think he can go fishing with M and J. That's OK though.

I need to call the Trappist Monastery about going to them.

Oh, I will also go through the CRFs that are in the Student Participation folder. That will be really good.

I would like to have our last CRFs be the Grocery List of the directees. Noticing what gives you life in direction and what does not give you life. It will be really good.

I think that I need to hear from R in order to send everything out to the participants in the SEEL.

I have work to do, but it is not overwhelming in any way. I will listen to Narnia when I go on my walk. That will be great. Maybe I will even do Glen Eden today. I can do hills.

Oh, I also have to do the Pilates with the Magic Circle. I keep putting it off.

Oh, I also would like to finish the Life with God Lesson 5 assignments. I think this has added things to my plate. I think I will NOT take any continuing education or contract out my supervision services with anything that runs through the summer again. That would be really nice to not have ANYTHING extra. The Life with God training has not been a lot extra, but it is enough that I would like to be freer to go and do, especially since George is retired now.

I can feel the sun coming up and on my back. So I think I will go right after I am done with this freewrite. I am going to transfer it over to Penzu too. Maybe later I will write my review of The Last Battle in the Narnia series and also my review of the Life with God Resources manual later on today.

Oh, look at that, I have 1 minute left on my timer. I thought it has been about 15 minutes. I love it.

I'll finish up my second cuppa' and go out in the morning light. Such a beautiful day today. And it is great!

So, all I have is walk, read, write, and work. That is easy-peasy.

Oh, I might watch some basketball later on today too!