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Toward Wholeness Blog

Richard Dahlstrom

Dec 31, 2019
5 min

Two Good Reads for the New Year

The first book that’s both inspiring and challenging me is “The Wisdom of the Native Americans” Kent Nerburn has compiled a variety of writings, saying, and speeches from the vast Native American tapestry of tribes. Reading this book could lead to a sense of anger or guilt because it’s clear that the immigrants made countless promises to natives, which they then failed to fulfill. There’s certainly blood on our hands for these generational sins, and I’m convinced our collec

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Richard Dahlstrom

Dec 12, 2019
3 min

Losing and Finding Our Truest Self

You know the sayings? “Old gardeners never die; they just recede” or “Old realtors never die; they just become listless.” They’re ways of saying that once something is in you, once it becomes part of your core identity, it’s always there, because to the extent that you’ve affirmed that identity, it’s led to a loving and joyful embrace, which eventuates in the ‘doing of the thing’, whether writing code, or caring for small children, climbing peaks, brewing the perfect cup of

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“We will not be silent”… will we?

Richard Dahlstrom

Apr 11, 2019
4 min

“We will not be silent”… will we?

Taproot Theatre in Seattle is presently running a play about one of my faith heroes, Sophie Scholl. Along with her brother Hans, these two were German students, members of the “White Rose”, whose mission was to incite German people to resist the reign of Hitler. The play is well-written and well-delivered, consisting primarily of dialogue between Sophie and her interrogator. If you’re in the Seattle area, I hope you don’t miss it (running through the end of April), not onl

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The Fight for Hope: A Life Worth Living

Richard Dahlstrom

Nov 15, 2018
3 min

The Fight for Hope: A Life Worth Living

My temptation in such times is what sociologists call ‘cocooning’, a tendency to withdraw into the predictability of our homes, close the drapes, and live our private lives. The temptation is real because fighting, even if the pen and words are your tools, and even if your intent is solely to point people toward a greater hope, is hard work, and at times discouraging. Those intent on pointing people to the possibilities of a better world, a lasting hope, encounter an avalan

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A Pilgrimage to find Courage

Richard Dahlstrom

Mar 16, 2018
4 min

A Pilgrimage to find Courage

a few of the thousands save by courage, hospitality, and generosity. Every time I travel in Europe I try to read some European history, especially as it relates to the intersection of faith and culture. In the past I’ve shared stories of Sophie Scholl (regarding her martyrdom for the distribution of resistance literature against the Nazis in Bavaria), and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (regarding his denouncement of Hitler from the pulpit and his underground seminary). Knowing that I’d

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The Disco Ball of Success, and What to do when You’re Blinded by it

Richard Dahlstrom

Dec 2, 2017
12 min

The Disco Ball of Success, and What to do when You’re Blinded by it

Here’s a free chapter for all those folks you know in your lives who have walked the road of success for a bit of distance and are both gratified and weary, cherishing what’s happened so far, but unclear as to what should happen next. If you know such people, please share this chapter with them on your social media. For me, sharing this isn’t about promoting my new book of which this is a part – it’s about helping people navigate the waters of career, creativity, family, an

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Richard Dahlstrom

Nov 25, 2017
4 min

Sustainable Faith requires Practices

On Sunday November 25th I’ll be speaking at all our Bethany locations on the very important subject of how to turn spiritual disciplines into regular practices in your life so that you’re able to grow in joy, confidence, wisdom, mercy, strength, love, and freedom. I hope you’ll make every effort to attend, and if you can’t I hope you’ll attend online, because this is what ties everything we’ve been discussing this fall together. I believe it’s one of the most important serm

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Let the Journey Begin – An invitation to travel to the Alps with me

Richard Dahlstrom

Nov 4, 2017
2 min

Let the Journey Begin – An invitation to travel to the Alps with me

“Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all” is how Helen Keller put it. She’s was onto something, surely. When Dave Matthews mused about the “Ants Marching” in his masterful music some years ago, it seemed to me he was pondering a sort of inevitable decay into a ritual of breakfast, commute, work, commute, supper, exhaustion, repeat. There are surely forces at work in the systems that are western civilization contributing to this dismal picture. However, I

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Beating Fear with Seven Words for Seven Summits

Richard Dahlstrom

Jul 25, 2016
8 min

Beating Fear with Seven Words for Seven Summits

NOTE: This is from a chapter entitled, “Exposure”. I deal with the deadly life shrinking nature of fear in this post. Sorry it’s long… it’s from a book! After a marvelous meal of pork medallions and sauerkraut, the proprietor shares that he’ll be offering a final weather update regarding tomorrow at 8:30, at which time he’ll tell us whether to take the high or low trail to Lizumer hut. Without internet, and with only spotty phone coverage, nearly everyone up here is depe

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Lightening Our Loads: Musings on Genocide in Holy Week

Richard Dahlstrom

Mar 22, 2016
6 min

Lightening Our Loads: Musings on Genocide in Holy Week

It’s nothing new. And further, it’s nothing new to note that it’s all being done in God’s name by both sides. Giving a soldier a Bible though, or a suicide bomber the Koran doesn’t sanctify the cause, and there’s no better time to be reminded of this than Holy Week because while wounded people are treated in hospitals, while victim’s families mourn, millions will spend time this week pondering the path of Jesus walking to the cross. That cross, and then one who went there, st

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The Light has Come: So Lighten Up!

Richard Dahlstrom

Dec 24, 2015
4 min

The Light has Come: So Lighten Up!

“snow on snow” (12 feet, or 4 meters for my Europe friends) as the Christmas carol says, the house was dark because the power had gone out. As a result there’s darkness, and lots of it. This far north on the earth, with this many clouds, our world is dark most of December by nature; without intervention we’re in the dark about 17 hours a day!! Inside, a few candles dispel the total darkness that would otherwise be ours. Now, into our fourth day of power outage, I’m musing

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While the world goes mad, Four Things We KNOW

Richard Dahlstrom

Dec 11, 2015
3 min

While the world goes mad, Four Things We KNOW

Mourning at a stadium in San Bernadino Behind the holiday lights, both here in Europe and back home in the USA, the waves of unhappy news just keep coming. Colorado Springs. Beirut. Paris. Mumbai. San Bernadino – death dealing violence has become so common its hardly news anymore. In such times, the events themselves are never the only stressors. There are reactions to the events, or the proposed reactions by politicians and wanna-be presidents that cause reaction too,

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Dead Flies, and the Overconfidence of Darkness – Early reflections on Paris

Richard Dahlstrom

Nov 14, 2015
5 min

Dead Flies, and the Overconfidence of Darkness – Early reflections on Paris

“And in His name all oppression shall cease…” These were the lyrics coming from the speakers yesterday afternoon when I discovered there’d been a tragedy in Paris—six actually, or seven—leaving over 100 dead and over 300 injured in a city known for love, civility, fine wine, and late walks along the Seine. If you’ve been there you know the beauty, which only serves to heighten the ugliness, as we’re reminded once again that whatever Jesus meant by “it is finished,” from our c

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While you were living…the unconscious nature of transformation

Richard Dahlstrom

Jul 6, 2015
6 min

While you were living…the unconscious nature of transformation

Schladming for a little bit of rest before I head up to England for a week of speaking at Capernwray Hall. The week is a break in the midst of what has been a very busy time, both at home and on the road. Because I’m here without obligations or responsibilities, I hadn’t anticipated that the Spring Bible School students would still be here, but as it turns out, today is their last day. What this means is that they’ll spend their morning worshiping, praying, and sharing tog

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Last Journey’s the Best

Richard Dahlstrom

Sep 19, 2014
2 min

Last Journey’s the Best

It’s our last hike, the end of our forty days trekking through the Alps together. I’ll begin teaching next week and thinking about re-entry to life in Seattle, while my wife will spend the weekend with friends, retrieving sheep from the high Alps in anticipation of upcoming snows. Our final trek will take us to Guttenberghaus, significant for its beauty, and its proximity to the Torchbearer Bible school where I teach because I can see this hut, perched high in the Dachstein

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Fiercely Interdependent

Richard Dahlstrom

Aug 11, 2014
4 min

Fiercely Interdependent

My sunglasses had disappeared the night before, and this, along with some other things, meant that we were nearly the last people to leave the hut, starting our hiking at 7:45. We immediately caught a ridge, already high above treeline, and began making our way south and up. Up. Up! Up!! This kind of travel is taxing in every way, both physically and mentally. As a result, we didn’t make good time at all – the first 5.5 kilometers taking a full 5 hours to complete! That would

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Fiercely Interdependent

Richard Dahlstrom

Aug 11, 2014
4 min

Fiercely Interdependent

Fiercely Interdependent – My sunglasses had disappeared the night before, and this, along with some other things, meant that we were nearly the last people to leave the hut, starting our hiking at 7:45. We immediately caught a ridge, already high above treeline, and began making our way south and up. Up. Up! Up!! This is the section of the via-Alpina about which we know absolutely nothing, having only the map, but no narrative description due to our change of plans stemming f

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Obscurity has its privileges. Answers to feelings of insignificance.

Richard Dahlstrom

Jul 17, 2014
3 min

Obscurity has its privileges. Answers to feelings of insignificance.

In just a few short days, my wife and I will be off to Europe where we’ll trek through the Alps, fully expecting to find the fingerprints of God in both creations beauty and power, and in the fingerprints of history. Carl Muth’s faithfulness in obscurity is an example of the latter, and a reminder the big, loud, high profile stuff, isn’t necessarily the best. Obscurity has it’s privileges! …. In the Bavarian countryside, during the days of WWII, there was a small house, su

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Success, Sabbaticals, Loss, and Heading to the Alps

Richard Dahlstrom

May 9, 2014
7 min

Success, Sabbaticals, Loss, and Heading to the Alps

If success is a mountain, I’m an accidental climber. Has it ever happened to you? You’ve been working hard for goals you believe in for a long time. You’ve sacrificed and said no to trinkets so that you could focus on the gold of your goal. It didn’t happen overnight, but it happened. You took initial step into the unknown of a new job, or that visionary idea into a deeper realm of committing to it and the universe rewarded with you success. The business grew. You were

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Life is a Journey: Step by Step

Richard Dahlstrom

May 8, 2014
2 min

Life is a Journey: Step by Step

There’s a hearing. It comes to us in dreams, or songs, or after a conversation in the corner booth of a Tuesday night with the one we love, or maybe at a graveside or in a hospital, or in the wake of infidelity. However it comes to us, we hear the voice calling, beckoning. There’s a wrestling with what we’ve heard. Was it the wine, or divinity? The weakness that I’m easily dissatisfied, or the strength that I’m willing to risk it all, to shoot the moon, in pursuit of a be

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