life

Toward Wholeness Blog

True Colors: The Necessity of Loss and Change in our Lives

Richard Dahlstrom

Oct 28, 20224 min read

True Colors: The Necessity of Loss and Change in our Lives

A walk around Gold Creek Pond has, for the years I've lived here in the mountains, always been an act of worship. This year, the seasons...

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Downward Ascent: Intersecting Covid-19 with Holy Week Crosses

Richard Dahlstrom

Apr 4, 20205 min read

Downward Ascent: Intersecting Covid-19 with Holy Week Crosses

Holy Week is an opportunity, because we’re not seeing Jesus through a, “look what he's done for me" lens. This year, the cross is ours too!

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40 – thoughts on marriage after 40 years of it

Richard Dahlstrom

Sep 13, 20195 min read

40 – thoughts on marriage after 40 years of it

We’ve always tried to spend less than we make. Eat by candlelight as often as possible (even when you don’t want to. Sometimes just...

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Dear Green Lake: Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year

Richard Dahlstrom

Dec 29, 20182 min read

Dear Green Lake: Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year

Dear Green Lake Before my five year departure from Washington, I walked the frozen shores with the woman who is now my wife and after...

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Seasons of Life and Lessons in Staying and Letting Go

Richard Dahlstrom

Dec 15, 20184 min read

Seasons of Life and Lessons in Staying and Letting Go

left to right: Martin, Director of Tauernhof, Richard, Charlie, board member of Tauernhof. “Stay a little longer” my friend Martin...

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Richard Dahlstrom

Oct 18, 20184 min read

Time heals nothing

The show has an adopted child in the family – I’m an adopted child in my family. The sister among the siblings struggles with weight –...

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The thing that mustn’t change: Use Your Gifts!

Richard Dahlstrom

Oct 6, 20184 min read

The thing that mustn’t change: Use Your Gifts!

My predecessor just keep using his gifts day after day for 38 years. The difficult truth that few seem interested in hearing these days...

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“…the time we’ve been given” – The Why and How of a Personal Mission Statement

Richard Dahlstrom

Sep 29, 20184 min read

“…the time we’ve been given” – The Why and How of a Personal Mission Statement

1. Coffee. Always first: Coffee 2. Bible reading while drinking the first cup. 3. Meditation (from the Bible reading) 4. Writing in the...

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Your “Sphere of Influence” is calling and You must go

Richard Dahlstrom

Sep 6, 20184 min read

Your “Sphere of Influence” is calling and You must go

The church hasn’t been immune to this polarizing. We’ve mirrored the culture’s political tribal hatred, enough so that it’s increasingly...

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Richard Dahlstrom

Jul 19, 20184 min read

The Sacred Art of Unlearning

My granddaughter moved in a few weeks ago. O yeah – my daughter and son-in-law moved in too, but I’m writing about my granddaughter...

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Addressing Poverty – one by one by one by one

Richard Dahlstrom

Jun 30, 20184 min read

Addressing Poverty – one by one by one by one

In the wake of the recent head tax hysteria in Seattle, I’ve been thinking a lot about Mother Teresa’s famous quote about poverty....

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Silence, Suicide and the folly of our “left vs right” polarization

Richard Dahlstrom

Jun 9, 20184 min read

Silence, Suicide and the folly of our “left vs right” polarization

The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy… but I have come that they might have life! – Jesus the Christ Each untimely loss is tragic,...

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The Collapse of Everything, and Why it’s a Source of Hope

Richard Dahlstrom

May 22, 20183 min read

The Collapse of Everything, and Why it’s a Source of Hope

Plunge your pole, hard, into the place you anticipate placing your foot. Look carefully. Step quickly. Go! They’ve collapsed under my...

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Facebook, Nazis, and Fake News – History shows our ongoing need for Discernment

Richard Dahlstrom

Apr 14, 20184 min read

Facebook, Nazis, and Fake News – History shows our ongoing need for Discernment

Born in Germany and educated both there and at Oxford, Delmer was uniquely qualified to have a foot in both German and British culture, a...

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Awakening the Feminine Voice in the Church – What it means and Why it Matters

Richard Dahlstrom

Apr 7, 20184 min read

Awakening the Feminine Voice in the Church – What it means and Why it Matters

The equivalent of 5 jumbo jets worth of women die in labor each day… life time risk of maternal death is 1,000x higher in a poor country...

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Lighten up! The value of Hope over rage, cynicism, and despondency

Richard Dahlstrom

Dec 22, 20174 min read

Lighten up! The value of Hope over rage, cynicism, and despondency

The first winter we lived in the mountains, an early storm knocked down hundreds of fir trees deep in the cascades, and those trees...

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Richard Dahlstrom

Sep 28, 20172 min read

Are you running to Win?

You are God’s uniquely handcrafted beautiful creation. You have gifts to bring to our darkening and weary world, and that means you...

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Steal, Kill, and Destroy – Stealing Time

Richard Dahlstrom

Jul 29, 20174 min read

Steal, Kill, and Destroy – Stealing Time

I tell you not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Matthew 6:29 It’s wildflower season in the mountains, and...

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Richard Dahlstrom

Jul 26, 20175 min read

Steal, Kill, and Destroy – Killing Hope

Even the desert will bloom… Note: I’m presently offering a short series of the many ways in which our enemy seeks to steal, kill, and...

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“Steal, Kill, and Destroy” – Your Time’s Been Stolen!

Richard Dahlstrom

Jul 13, 20174 min read

“Steal, Kill, and Destroy” – Your Time’s Been Stolen!

You’ve been ripped off I mean to live this year as if it were my last, and will hate every time I fall below that standard and fritter...

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