Welcome to Thursday Thoughts, my contribution to the ongoing conversation among friends about spirituality, prayer and what it means to seek God in our lives. This post should have been first in the queue but I jumped right in with the first in a series of posts about the writing of my new book, Friendship with Jesus. I then realized I had not properly introduced this new blog. Think of this as the opening credits after a dramatic opening scene in a movie!
Why Thursday?
As a kid I loved Thursdays. The next day was Friday – everyone loves Fridays – and I enjoyed the anticipation. The week was almost over, the weekend near. Perhaps it was a way of lengthening the good feelings of anticipation for the fun of the weekend. Whatever the reason, Thursdays continue to bring me feelings of joy and I thought for that reason, and because it rolls off the tongue with “thoughts” that I would name my blog thus.
Why Thoughts?
This is meant to be a humble contribution to a conversation. I am not an expert in spirituality, or prayer, and certainly not God, even though I have been thinking about all three for the better part of 40 years. I even have a few degrees that prove I have been thinking about all this for a long time. (Expensive thinking!) But God is not impressed by any of that. We all have standing as listeners and participants in what God is doing in the world and in our lives. We all have contributions to make.
You, like me, may have lots of questions that you think about, wrestle with, stew over, and I may have a few responses and reflections that might help to clarify, or to frame things differently, or to bring some new angles to your thinking. I have benefited from others who have put in writing some of their thinking. This is my way to participate in that ongoing conversation.
Most of all, I am interested in sharing my thoughts and wonderings about the spiritual life in hopes of engaging, and listening, to your experience. That way we can both be further down the road in our seeking of God’s face.
Why Not Subscribe?
I will not inundate you with emails and posts. I plan to write something every week or so – I guess whenever a Thursday pops up – so you will not have to groan when you see my name in your inbox. You can Subscribe by adding your email on the “Sign In” notification in the top righthand corner of the post. Thank you for considering!
Full Disclosure
When I began researching how to publish my book, I discovered that these days, if you do not have a significant online presence no publisher will bother with you. This was depressing news since I am a dabbler, at best, in the online world of social media. The prospect of having to curate “followers” made me a little queasy.
To their immense credit, Wipf and Stock Publishers have taken a chance on me, obscure writer that I am, and published my book. I am incredibly grateful to them!
I do hope to continue writing into this next season of my life. I have been driving a transit bus for the city of Vancouver for over 25 years and I am ready to say adieu to that career. I also work as a spiritual director and retreat leader and have been hoping to add “author” to that portfolio, which I have now done.
As a way to lean into this next season of life, I have decided I need something that will get me writing on a consistent basis – and what better way than to put to paper (screen, actually) some of my thoughts and reflections that might strike a cord with you and invite conversation and companionship on the journey.
I invite you to join me by subscribing, or simply reading, each Thursday. There is no obligation to you.
I am beginning with a series of posts on the themes of my new book, Friendship with Jesus: An Imaginative Prayer Journey, in order to give a taste of what the book is about and why I wrote it.
Enjoy!
PS. I have also begun a Podcast which, for now, consists of the short (5-10 min) prayer exercises contained in the book. You can listen to them on the website here, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music.
We have liftoff, you go brother!
Bart