Discover more from Greatheart's Table
Hi! Welcome to this “Third-Monday” edition of Greatheart’s Table. If you are new to GHT (what we affectionately call it around these parts), welcome. Since I regularly post on the first, second, and fourth Mondays, the third Monday has become a day to get more newsy content to those who are interested.
At lunch today conversation turned to Paul McCartney’s song “Band on the Run.” That feels like an apt metaphor for what life has felt like for me these days. Good things are afoot, but much is having to be accomplished in the face of rapidly approaching deadlines. It’s Greatheart’s Table on the run!
So, quickly, a few things.
I
I met last Friday with Natalie Decker, my associate in the rapidly approaching “Off-Script Kids” retreat. I’m really excited about what she is going to bring to this event. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and her professional insight is rich. We are both ADHD, so it should make for a wild ride.
If you don’t know, “Off-Script Kids” is a retreat we are sponsoring the first weekend of November. Our desire is to bring a perspective and practical counsel to Christian parents whose adult children have made lifestyle or faith choices contrary to what these parents had hoped. More information can be found at the retreat web site.
If you are planning to attend, but have not registered, please do so soon. Prices will go up after 9/15. And while there are still spaces available, the venue is small and so space is limited. We have an option to move to a bigger room, but that option may not last for long. The sooner we know the level of interest, the better!
II
Do remember that Greatheart’s Table operates on a patronage model. I am committed to keeping this content available for free for all whom it might encourage. Those of you who can pay for a subscription on Substack, or support this through Patreon, enable me to keep doing that.
III
I want this to be as helpful to pastors as possible. While I have many ideas of interest to address, to hear yours would make this a more interactive platform. I’d love to hear your suggestions of topics or questions that you think would make good fodder for conversation around the table. Email me or put your suggestion in the comments below.
IV
And since this is a “newsletter on the run” let me wrap this up quickly with some worthy thoughts from the “official band“ of Greatheart’s Table, Over the Rhine. (They really aren’t our “official band.” Nevertheless, I’m a big fan, and Over the Rhine provides the music for the podcast side of GHT.)
I have often written in this space of the need for pastors to have outlets to let their creativity flourish. Over the Rhine recently used a quote from poet Mary Oliver to encourage this idea.
“I’ll add this gem as a postscript: ‘The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.’ Mary Oliver, swinging for the fences there, like she does. It’s not easy to answer a creative calling with time and attention. Life offers a million reasons why it’s too hard, not practical, there’s too much to do. The world contends in countless ways that if it can’t be instantly monetized, it must not be worth much. How sad and soul-killing. The reality is any practice that contributes to a more fully dimensional spiritual journey is priceless. Sometimes we just need a jolt of inspiration to reanimate the heartbeat of our dreams.”
I send this out with a prayer that you will pursue, with freedom and joy, whatever creative outlet is calling you.