Monthly Archives: April 2025

That’s all.

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“What God has wanted from the beginning is to sit down with his creatures in a fellowship banquet, sharing life and laughter, giving, receiving, and giving back again.
This is the loop of grace. The more we receive the divine life, the more we should give it away and thereby get more of it…God wants to share his life with us.” 

Bishop Robert Barron

For whatever reason, we tend to overthink this relationship.  Find creative ways to avoid the simplicity of embracing this level of interaction with Him. Adding complexity where it is not warranted.

What is it that keeps us away from His table? From entering into this level of fellowship?  Is it fear? Shame? Not sure how best to go about it? Or an “I already go to mass” mindset?

Whatever it is that you tell yourself to ease the burden of declining His invitation, just stop.  Open your eyes, heart and soul so you can see this for what it really is. Your seat is already there. Waiting.  

So take your place at the table and accept your space in the loop of grace. 

He just wants to share His life with us. 

Love us as His own. 

And lead the way to a life never imagined. 

That’s all.

There.

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Being fully present entails a great many responsibilities.  

But first and foremost, it all comes down to the need to just be “there”.  

Right where you are in every aspect of the word. Physically, mentally, spiritually  and emotionally.  So you can make the most of the “now.”  By being “all in”  Leaning into and embracing this one of a kind moment. 

And yet, there is always this sense that runs  in parallel to the need for presence. A pressing need to know who you are, what you can become and where you are going now.  Because at the end of the day, if you are only where you are now but simply cannot conceive what that means in the bigger, deeper and longer scheme of things that are yet to come, then, for all practical purposes, you are not truly, “there”.

Much of this has to do with age and experience. But when one does not have the benefit of those blessings, they may find themselves lacking in an understanding or appreciation for what is truly happening at this moment.  And by extension their friends. Siblings. Teammates.  A program.  A company.   Or  the community as a whole.  

So think about it.

“See ” what it is that you currently “are”.  Then envision what you are now in the process of becoming.  Bring all of the essentials everyday. In terms of energy, focus, presence and commitment. 

Not for me. 

But for you. 

Never once has this been phrased so anyone could achieve their corporate goals.  

But only so you could become what you are meant to be.  

We “coaches”  – regardless of the uniform/company/station – are not in it to win a moment.  A quarter. A budget.  Or a year.

We are in it to get you to relish all those moments now so you are ready for those that you are working towards.. Whether  individuals.  Units. Teams. Company. Or community..  

Hear what it is that we are truly saying.   

Conceive of what that means in the bigger, deeper and longer scheme of things that are yet to come. 

So you can go beyond throwing out some arcane/trendy/juvenile response.

And truly just simply be “there”.

Joy

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With an open heart and mind, plus a  little effort, there is much joy to be found all around you.And for some reason you may have to learn how to find it.  Gain a sense of what it looks like. Sounds like.  Feels like. 

It is beyond fun.  

I  am telling you it lasts way longer than just plain old fun.  

Way longer. 

Mostly because it is like this living, breathing being. Your  partner in  all the things you do, the efforts you make and the commitments you honor.

Now this  may sound dumb, but it can be found in some of the oddest places.  

Like at a practice.  

Working after class with your calc teacher to understand differential equations.  

Struggling to master an adagio.  

Tutoring a youngster to speak English. 

Little things that bring more than just fun.

Something far deeper than happiness. 

So let me ask you this:  

You ever really listen to what it sounds like when you are having a great practice?  

Capture that sensation when you solve a linear partial differential equation on your own? 

Feel the deliberate, meandering nature of a well executed adagio ? 

Or share in the sense of wonderment that comes with reading your first sentence?  

Little things that may not seem like all that much.  

Instants that can dissipate before you know it.  

But moments you can return to over and over and over again. 

As often as you like. 

Once you have been there.  

And know what they look, sound and feel like.  

That living, breathing being. 

Partner in  all the things you do.  The efforts you make. 

And the commitments you honor.

Joy.

(Came across this one from 2015.)

PF

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One of the most influential mentors in my life is Pastor Ellsworth Freyer. “PF” to those close to him.  “Coach” to me.  I was blessed to be  one of many he coached throughout his life as a man of the cloth.  He coached me to coach.  To mentor. Serve others.  And write. 

When I would run into writer’s block penning some words of encouragement to those I served, he would reach out and share some of his words of wisdom.  The most inspiring were found in his motivational pieces, he called “Power Thoughts”.  Aptly named.  I happened upon this one tonight (in 2017):   

“One of the most sobering thoughts I have ever been confronted with  is this: ‘What you are someday going to be, you are now becoming.’ 

Right at this very moment in time, you are exactly what you have been in the process of becoming – all your life. 

So?  Are you the person you dreamed of becoming? 

How close are you to becoming the type of person you want to be? 

Even right now, you are in the process of becoming the person you will be in an hour.  In a day. Next month.  The coming year. In two, five or in a decade.  

And the habits?  Those  you have now – and will begin to acquire and accumulate – determine the person you will eventually, someday, become. 

If you are not now doing the things that you need to do, to become what you want to be, what makes you believe that you ever will? 

What is preventing you from becoming that person? The one you want to become? 

It is incumbent upon you to choose to begin now. 

Situations or circumstances should never determine the when, if or how you begin. 

So? 

Just begin.  And begin right now. 

For what you are now becoming, is what you will someday be.”

Next one.

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“One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year. He only is right who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded by worry, fret and anxiety. Finish every day, and be done with it. You have done what you could.”

 Ralph Waldo Emerson 

To write it on your heart is a pledge. To take an oath. To commit. And once committed, to own it. So let me ask you: “Where is the sense in holding in, holding on or holding out?” There can never be an inkling of thought granted to waiting for the “right moment”. For once you do, it is a lock that it will have already passed. 

Fretting over what might have been or might be is a waste of energy, effort and time. It takes you out of where you are now: today. Consigning your thoughts, words and deeds to “enduring” the so-called “fates” or embracing “conventional wisdom” can only lead you astray. Right down a path where things will undoubtedly happen to you. When in fact, you should always be the one happening to things. 

Give some serious consideration to what Mr. Emerson proposes. Every day can be the best day of the year. And if you do live it right – they should be. One right after the other. 

So write it on your heart. 

Bind yourself to that oath to own each and every one of them. Pledge your sacred honor to make this day the best.

But just until the next one.