How Does Spiritual Life Smell?

Last updated on: August 23, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

I have worshiped with many different people in a wide variety of places. For me, worship spaces smell like a combination of furniture polish, candle wax, and a little soap. For some people, the aroma of incense is a powerful reminder of spiritual life. Spiritual life is more than worshiping together, and it has different smells. Some people have spiritual lives that smell like flowers, or a specific kind of wine. For others, freshly baked bread is a spiritual aroma. Some explore spiritual... Read more

Like Clock Work

Last updated on: August 21, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

We are organized people. We appreciate it when life runs smoothly, efficiently, and regularly; like clock work. We take comfort from our ability to foresee challenges and plan our way around them. We enjoy feeling that we have taken everything into consideration, that we are doing a good job. Few things frustrate me more than when something on which I need to rely does not work. It may be the thing that runs out of battery life exactly when I need... Read more

Leadership Builds the Soul of Your Company

Last updated on: August 19, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

Companies, like all groups and organizations made up of people, are like people. They make decisions the way people do, they act the way people act, and they have souls like people. We know companies have souls because their values are so much more powerful than rules. There are quite a few companies around that are a lot like I was before I began to get to know my own soul, my own deeper self. They believe they probably have... Read more

Spiritual Life Encourages Us to Take Heart

Last updated on: August 16, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

This has been a challenging and difficult summer, filled with painful news from around the world. We can talk face to face with people on the other side of the earth, but cannot resolve long term problems. It has been a summer in which war, hunger, disease, and hopelessness have shown themselves again and again. What does spiritual life have to offer us this summer other than easy platitudes and unfulfilled promises? It is not as if living spiritual life provides a list... Read more

Working on One Thing at a Time

Last updated on: August 14, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

It begins before I lift my head from the pillow each morning. There are so many things that need to be done. There are the personal things, like shaving and taking a shower. There is breakfast, which leads inevitably to speculating about lunch. There are work things; I need to call her, email them, and meet with him. Every once in a while, I need to think my way through something, or even write a little bit. We live in a... Read more

Leadership is Painting the Big Picture

Last updated on: August 12, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

Leaders translate values and principles into everyday reality. The leaders who inspire me lead by example. They learn how to lead other people and organizations by leading themselves first. We need to see the picture before we can paint it. The first step in becoming a leader each day is knowing your own core values. People who do not know themselves are not able to lead themselves, or anyone else. Knowing who you are, discovering your own values, takes time.... Read more

Spiritual Life is Hard

Last updated on: August 9, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

It can be easy for us to perceive spiritual life as soft and fluffy, all sunshine and butterflies. We understand physical life depends on getting exercise. We know that financial life is based in earning and saving. We even have ways to measure our emotional lives, to test our EQ. Spiritual life seems different. When we consider our spiritual life, we often think in terms of peace or contentment. We may see spiritual life as being about satisfaction or detachment. Some of us... Read more

Working to Solve the Puzzle

Last updated on: August 7, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

I have loved puzzles for longer than I can remember. When I was very young, people told me I would soon have a new playmate. My parents were going to bring a baby sister home from the hospital. On the great day, I put all of my puzzles on display, ready to share. When they brought in this tiny crying bundle, I did not say a word. I turned and, very deliberately, put my puzzles away. I love the shapes and... Read more

Leadership is Starting Over and Over Again

Last updated on: August 5, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

Leaders are beginners, and they always will be. Each moment is an opportunity to begin again. We have no real choice. We are not able to go back and change what we have already done. We cannot apply new knowledge and insight to our past actions. Regret does us no good. We are not able to leap into the future. Anxiety and fear do not benefit us. We cannot even stop and sit in the moment, doing nothing. Each moment... Read more

How Life Works

Last updated on: July 31, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

Summer is the time of year when things grow. Living here in the land of endless summer can confuse people. They begin to think that fruit and vegetables come from a store. It is easy to forget that we plant seeds, tend them, and wait patiently for them to produce growth. We may also forget that we work the same way. We sow seeds in our lives, care for them, and they grow. It is easy for us to forget, to believe in... Read more