Author: Higher Up IDEALS
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A Call to Restore the Balance
A bird flapping with one wing is grounded and spins in a circle going nowhere fast. – The Way
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Mother, Minister, Manager: The 3Ms of Leading People Successfully
As a former pastor, I feel tempted to call these 3Ms of leading people, “The Holy Trinity of Leading People Successfully”. But maybe, I’ll call it the “Wholly Trinity” because when leading people it is best to see us as whole people and that is what the 3Ms encourage us to do. I must acknowledge…
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The Alpha and the Omega: Why Endings Are as Important as Beginnings
Endings matter because the final moments of a group’s togetherness can substantially influence the entire experience. The ending can modify the experience, make it better or worse, embed it deeply in memory or, absent a strong close, can dilute an experience into something that happened, but mattered little. Tim McNamara – https://sweetunrest.com/ending-well-treating-classes-like-gatherings-part-three/ One of the…
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Gender and Pay Equality is Not a Threat. And yet…
Whenever I think about gender and pay equality, I think of my highly intelligent mother who was never treated fairly in any workplace that she ever worked in outside of a family business. And even when she decided to determine her own destiny, by creating her own business, JoSi and Sons, I saw people try…
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The Beatitudes of the Pastor
Originally posted on Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund: 1. Blessed is the pastor who embraces simplicity and sharing her lifestyle because her witness gives birth to the realm of heaven. 2. Blessed is the pastor who does not fear to water her face with tears, so that in them can be mirrored the sorrows of…
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Employment, Engagement, and Empowerment: The Way of Enough
When I entered seminary back in 2009, it was because, after working on a very disappointing Diversity Recruiting project with a certain company, I became convinced that a seminary degree would be just what I needed to “evangelize” the good news of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in organizations. After all, at their best, I…
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Don’t Lose the Vision When You’re in the Valley
Many times in my life, I’ve come to the top of a mountain, metaphorically speaking, only to realize that my journey is leading me to yet another mountain. For years, I’ve tried to articulate this path in a way that is both descriptive and prescriptive for those who may also find themselves on a precipice…
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Diversity and Subcultures: Lessons from the Bronies
Recently, when speaking at a TEDx MileHigh Rethink Event, I shared a humbling experience I had with the Brony subculture back in 2013 that helped expand my awareness of cultural formation and how gathering or collectivizing around a certain set of values helps people transcend divides. Although “corporate culture” has made its way into the…
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Take This Life w/ Lyrics
This song is essentially a prayer and was written to express a desire to live as fully into the light of the Creator’s Love as I can. The youth at the church I used to serve challenged me to perform it in front of our congregation which has a predominantly white membership after hearing me…
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Indigenous Peoples’ Day – Bearers of the Way
In many ways, this was one of the most taxing messages that I’ve delivered. Working on it compelled me to stare into a the pain of proselytizing and missionary activity around the world where people were robbed of their lands and culture and often left with nothing more than the very Bible that was used…
The Roofless Church 