What haven’t you done in a long time? I recently asked myself this question. I surprised myself with what popped into my mind. I haven’t been to the mission in a long time. The mission I’m referring to is the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Founded by Fr. Junipero Serra in 1776, the “Jewel of the Missions” has long held a special place in my life. It is a timeless place filled with beautiful gardens, amazing old architecture and ruins, quiet fountains and high-quality art. It has been a central place in my quest of cultivating a beautiful life. Raised Irish-Catholic, I used to feed the pigeons there as a kid. Returning as an adult, I came for altogether completely, more urgent reasons. Read on…

It had been a long time since I paid this old friend a visit. Well over a year. Busy and hurried in favor of lesser things, I was like the guy in high school who dumps the beautiful girlfriend while all the other guys are saying, “Whaa?!! What were you thinking!” Today, I want to encourage you to do something you haven’t done in a long time. Something…anything…that renews your heart, mind and spirit.

A bit of backstory is in order. If you’ve read my book, The Longing: Embracing the Deepest Truth of Who You Are, you know that I suffered with chronic pain in my wrists for ten years. Absolutely kicked my ass-umptions about who I thought I was. In the summer of 2000, all that pain culminated in a two and a half month fog of depression, anxiety, and pain as my writing career died a slow, unwanted death. (It was from the seeds of this very broken season that The Longing and the ministry of The Grove were eventually born.)

As part of my restoration process, I began to visit the mission to pray and soak in the beauty of the place. Just sitting alone in the gardens or in the chapel or next to a fountain for an hour or two helped lift the pain and fog that had long overtaken residence in my life like a couple loud and nasty visiting relatives who smoked too much and controlled the TV clicker.

It was two years later in the mission gardens when God spoke to my heart about developing a retreat center for the arts and creativity. It was a calling I couldn’t ignore. Something I’d definitely not planned on or dreamed of. But three weeks later, also very unexpectedly, 12 acres of organic lemons and avocados were donated for developing The Grove Retreat Center (you can read about it here…we have some amazing renderings). The mission gardens became a place where my small staff and I often met to pray, sharing our life and ministry together.

Fast forward to this week. It had been well over a year since I’d visited the mission. I even had let my family membership card expire (How dare…a mortal sin I know!). So it wasn’t until I received a brand spanking new copy of my friend’s new book, An Unhurried Life by Alan Fadling, that the idea of revisiting the mission had even entered my mind. As you know, I’ve been a busy bee at The Grove trimming lemon trees, chainsawing down 75 avocado trees, and cultivating what no man is meant to do alone (at least this one).

Alan’s book and Jesus are now really messing with me. I love Alan’s opening line “I’m a recovering speed addict–and I don’t mean the drug.” I so relate to that. In An Unhurried Life, Alan challenges our life-draining culture that is addicted and attached to busyness, speed, and a soul-killing pace of life by offering a needed alternative…

Following Jesus’ rhythms of work and rest.

I am devouring this book and it has provoked me to make a few life-giving changes.

Like asking myself, “What is something I haven’t done in a long time?”

And so I went to the mission. To pray. Unplug. Detach. Commune with God. Listen to a gurgling fountain. Write in my journal. Take photos. Absorb the beauty.

All the rest took care of itself.

How about you? What is something you haven’t done in a long time?

It’s a question worth answering.

Questions: You know what I’m going to say, right? What is something you haven’t done in a long time? And what are you going to do about it?

(The first five people to respond to this question will receive a free copy of An Unhurried Life. This is a great book…below is an Amazon Affiliate link if you’d like to purchase now.)

You’ve just read What Haven’t You Done in a Long Time? Click here to comment now on Art, Life & Faith.

Designed to reflect our simple ministry focus of Grove Gatherings, Getaways, & Generosity, you’ll find easy navigation that reflects our work of cultivating the spiritual growth and creative work of artists.

On the new Grove website, you can…

• Discover how The Grove was started (a pretty incredible and surprising story)
• See beautiful renderings of The Grove Retreat Center (our dream for creating a retreat center for art in the Church)
• Learn WHY we cultivate the spiritual growth and creative work of artists
• Learn about Grove Gatherings & register for Grove Getaways
• Read about Grove Generosity, Artist Funding & Creative Coaching
• Donate to the Artist Scholarship & Grant Fund
• Order Grove Resources
• Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, & our Blog

Our new site is photo-rich with dozens of pictures of our Grove property, Gatherings, Getaways and our artist community here in Southern California. We will also provide regular updates through our Grove Facebook Page. We plan on offering you new resources and support as an artist in the days ahead.

I hope you’ll stop by soon and give us a visit. Let me know what you think of the new site and how we can serve you.

If you like, you can Tweet This now: Visit The Grove Center for the Arts & Media new website. They cultivate the spiritual growth & creative work of artists. (Thanks for sharing!)

Questions: What do you do to cultivate your spiritual growth and creative work?

I’d love your comments and feedback.

You’ve just read Visit The Grove’s New Website. Click here to comment now on Art, Life & Faith.

I recently read A Global Perspective, a fascinating interview in the LA Times with theater director, Peter Sellars. Sellars is an UCLA professor of world arts and culture where he teaches Art as Social Action and Art as Moral Action. ​

When asked, “You’ve said that ‘art over the past 25 years has failed to humanize the country.’ How do think it can accomplish that?”​ Read on…

Sellars offers a fascinating response regarding the humanities, justice, creativity, making powerful transformations in our lives and in this world.​

Let’s put it positively, because God knows there’s enough negativity in the world. The humanities were systematically removed from the menu of most Americans. So the result is you get a less humane civilization, and a society where torture is routine and we’re surrounded by every kind of petty and large-scale injustice. And we’ve all learned not to comment on it, not to make an issue of it, just to keep our heads down and keep moving.  And that’s so not American and so looking out for anyone else. And it’s deliberately neutering your own personal justice sensors.​

And of course the humanities are all about activating your justice sensors and also about the empowerment of not just sitting there but actually realizing we’re all on Earth to be creative, to change things, to make powerful transformation in our lives and the world around us. And right now we are in such deep, deep, deep waters, and the only solution are going to be the creative ones. And creativity is the very thing that has been removed from the school system. And that is shocking.”

Questions: Do you agree with Sellars? Why or why not? How do the humanities (literature, art, theater, etc.) humanize us and develop our understanding of justice?

I’d love your thoughts and comments.

You’ve just read “Art Has Failed to Humanize Our Country.” Click here to comment on Art, Life & Faith.

Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit…We shall see what will become of his dreams!” Genesis 37:19-20

The Sixth Commandment says, “Thou shall not kill.”

Do you have a lurking dream killer in the darkened closets of your heart and mind? The voices of well-meaning (and not-so-well-meaning) parents, friends, colleagues, and critics who squash your artistic dreams in favor of pragmatism.

Beware the lurking dream killers in your life.

You are not alone. Joseph had a whole family of dream killers.

Revisit your dreams today. Re-engage your imagination.

Dreaming and your imagination are gifts from God.

Dream today in massive, biblical proportions.

You’ve just read Do You Have a Lurking Dream Killer? Click here to Comment Now.

In my desire, struggle and journey to cultivate a beautiful life, one of the most helpful things I’ve learned to bring me peace is this simple truth: Leave all outcomes to God. In our work, life and relationships, if we want peace, we need to let go of our illusions of control and leave all outcomes to God.

Thomas Merton, one of my favorite spiritual writers, drives home this point when he writes about work and play. Read on…

In a letter he wrote to a friend, Merton said this…

Do not push too hard with the work, God will take care of everything, and will give you strength to do all that needs to be done. The rest is in His hands. Realize yourself to be entirely in His love and his care and worry about nothing. In these days you should be carried by Him toward your destination, and do what you do more as play than as work, which does not mean that it is not serious: for the most serious thing in the life of a Christian is play. The seriousness of Christian play is the only genuine seriousness.

Did you get that?

The most serious thing in the life of a Christian is play?!

For the uptight, starched underwear, religious legalists, “play” is the domain of the shallow-minded, lukewarm Christian who cares nothing for God’s word, the defense of truth and obligation to duty.

Play and what Merton is getting at, is really something far deeper than religious duty. It is the posture and position of living in complete freedom as a beloved child of God.

Playful trust in our loving, generous Father, who knows all outcomes and holds all outcomes in the palm of His hand, is seriously far deeper than swimming in the shallow waters of control and pride-filled religiosity.

Take a playful approach to leaving all outcomes to God this coming week. You just might be surprised at what will happen.

Questions: What makes it difficult for you to leave all outcomes to God? How do you experience freedom in Christ when you leave all outcomes to Him?

You just read Are You Leaving All Outcomes to God? Click here to leave a Comment Now on Art, Life & Faith.

What you believe matters and what you believe can lead the way to cultivating a beautiful life. If you want to lead and inspire others to action, you need to revisit “Why” you’re doing what you’re doing. Read on…

Here is a wonderful and inspiring TED talk by Simon Sinek. In this 18 minute video, he shows how Steve Jobs, the Wright Brothers, and Martin Luther King, Jr. became great leaders based upon the “Why?” of what they were doing.

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy WHY you do it.” Simon Sinek
(Click here if you’d like to Tweet this.)

Here is 18 minutes of inspiration for your coming weekend.

Questions: How did this video challenge what you believe and how you take action on what you believe? How might you become a better leader today?

You’ve just read How Great Leaders Inspire Action. Click here to Comment Now.

Are you waiting for a door to open? Are you waiting for God to come through for you with a particular hope or dream in your heart? I know I’m waiting for several doors to open in different areas of my life. When I walked in Capo Beach Church on Easter Sunday a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Easter Theme was “Doors.” I have found that waiting on God is where does his deepest work and cultivation in my life. Read on…

I’d like to share with you a few encouraging words about doors, waiting on God and grace. This was written by Peter John Courson, the teaching pastor at Capo Beach Church, who has had a particularly difficult challenge battling Crohn’s disease the past several months. Peter John shares keen insights on that heavy waiting period in the hallway as we wait for a new door to open. I think you’ll be encouraged by what he has to say…

Doors. For every one God closes, He opens another. So goes the modern proverb. While it may be true that God opens a new door for each old door that He closes, I have found that it is not so much the doors that He opens, nor even the ones He closes, that test my faith. In fact, it is not primarily the doors at all. It is the in-between times. It is the waiting period. It is the holding patten we find ourselves in as we see one door close, while waiting for another to open. In other words, the closed doors in our life may be disappointing, but in my experience it is the hallways that are hell (ironic since I am texting this from my hospital bed, waiting for test results).

Imagine what kind of thud that one ton circular stone would have made as it was rolled over the room that entombed the freshly crucified body of Jesus. Talk about a closed door! Yet, the Bible says that when the women came to the tomb that Sunday morning to further fragrance Jesus’ body for final burial, their worry turned to wonder as they realized that “the stone had already been rolled away.” See, they had no idea how they were going to deal with that closed door in order to reach the body of Jesus, but when they got to where they were going, they found their worry was all for naught. The tomb was empty, the body no longer in it, for Jesus had risen! And that closed door, the stone sealed by Rome that had seemingly sealed their fate (and Christ’s), it was already rolled away when they got there.

I don’t know what doors have recently slammed shut in your life. The stone that entombs some hope, dream, goal or source of joy echoes a resounding thud of disappointment. A doctor’s report, a court order, a Dear John letter. In the meantime, you are faith-ing, choosing to trust that another door will open in place of the one just shut. While in that “meantime”, you are in the hallway of waiting, wondering, and maybe worrying. Once you get to where you are going, the place of an open door, a fresh start, an answered prayer, you will find that it won’t be opened due to your ability to manipulate or achieve or make it happen. No, it will already be opened.

That, my friends, is Grace.

It will be God’s unearned, undeserved, unconditional, unconventional love and favor in your life that will transform your worry into wonder. (Click here if you’d like to Tweet this.)

It will blow your mind! Grace!!!! That is how the mountain will be moved (Zechariah 4:6-8).

Even now, from this hospital room, I am discovering that the hallway of waiting and wondering for reports, diagnosis and treatment for Crohns’ disease is where I see God’s grace.

Grace to see me through until the next door opens.

(Note: Thankfully, Peter John was released from the hospital right before Easter…a door was opened!)

Questions: What door had recently been closed or opened in your life? Are you waiting in the hallway? How do find God’s grace to be sufficient as you waitiing?

I’d love your comments and feedback.

You’ve just read Are You Waiting for a Door to Open? Click here to comment now.

If you’ve been wondering why it has been radar silent here on Art, Life & Faith for the past few weeks, it’s because I’m in an unexpected new season of life. In agricultural terms, I’m in the midst of a ‘perfect storm.’ As many of you know, The Grove Center for the Arts & Media is a ministry to artists that I serve. And what makes The Grove unique is that we really do have a grove. Twelve acres of avocados and organic lemons which require constant cultivating, weeding, feeding, watering, and trimming for every new season. Thus, for the past month (as noted by my agri-absence), my hands have not been at the keyboard, but manhandling a weed whacker and chainsaw. I’m in a busy season of cultivating about 1600 trees…what season of life are you in? A busy season? A peaceful season? A fragmented season? Read on…

If you want to cultivate a beautiful life, it’s very important to periodically ask yourself, “What season of life am I in right now?” Just stopping to ask that question can dramatically affect your choices and what you choose to do with your time. Let me share my perfect storm example…

About six weeks ago, it became remarkably clear to me that a perfect storm of manual labor was brewing at our avocado and organic lemon property. There was way more work to be done than in the average year…

• Recent rains and ensuing heat led to the sudden rise in weeds (which I had just mowed down!).
• The weeds must be cut to keep the snails off the lemon trees (cowardly shell-hiding slugs!).
• The lemon trees were so heavy with fruit that limbs were breaking…time to trim the lemon trees. Lots of fruit. A good problem.
• The avocados need to be picked, but there is a migrant labor shortage in California. Which is why I have 4 children.
• We need to stump (see photo) 100 forty foot avocado trees to make the trees more fruitful (Read John 15) and save on the water bill.
• Ready to join me?

Throw in an hour drive from my home in San Clemente to Valley Center (North San Diego), where our grove is located and the day goes by pretty fast.

In the past month, I also had a Grove Getaway artist retreat and our monthly Grove Artist Gathering. Very quickly, I realized that something had to give, which was my writing. But only for a season.

What season are you in right now? In your family and key relationships? In your marriage? In your work and church life? In your relationship with God?

Honestly, when I realized how much work had to be done at the grove, I wanted to run for the hills and hide. It was simply too overwhelming.

If you’re in a difficult season of life right now, you need to get creative.
(Click here if you’d like to Tweet this.)

For me, I came to the point where I just embraced what was before me. I’ve said ‘no’ to more appointments. I gave myself space and grace with how much writing I think I need to do. I’ve brought my friends and family to work on the property with me. I’ve hired more help when I can.

Instead of looking at how much work I have to do and complaining about it, I’ve tried to look at all the great outcomes…yes, the fruit of it all…I get to exercise. I have a beautiful drive along the coast and into the country. I pray and listen to worship music I love (U2 is worship music!). I look for cool “wow” moments from God like the beauty of golden poppies, a hawk flying overhead, and a cool breeze when I’m drenched with sweat.

All these small moments make for an abundance of spiritual and practical life lessons I’m learning as I cultivate our grove.

If you’re in a great season of life right now, be thankful and praise the Lord. If you’re overwhelmed, those lemon trees in the photo may offer a bit of encouragement…

When I’m standing at a long row of lemons with knee-high weeds and feeling overwhelmed at the hand-to-hand combat to come, I just keep telling myself, “One tree at a time…one tree at a time…”

For whatever season of life you’re in, just take one tree at a time. One step at a time.

You’ll find more fruit grows when you don’t resist the season you’re in. Embrace it.

Give yourself space and grace.

God offers it to you in abundance today.

Questions: What season of life are you in right now? Are you embracing or resisting it? What does this season offer you right now?

I’d love your comments and feedback.

(If you know someone in a difficult season of life right now, consider forwarding this post to them. I hope it offers them the encouragement they need today.)

If you’re on Facebook, you just may want to check out my Top Faith-Based Arts & Culture Groups. You’ll find 16 wonderful organizations listed below. Many of these arts groups and ministries are led by friends of mine whose artist essays appear in Create: Transforming Stories of Art, Life & Faith. I hope you’ll visit and share these arts & culture groups with your friends. One of our goals with The Grove Center for the Arts & Media is to expose artists to fellow arts & culture groups who are leading significant conversations in art, faith and culture.  Now’s your chance to engage with these arts and culture groups on Facebook. Share it with your friends. “Like” them. Read on…

My Top Faith-Based Arts & Culture Groups on Facebook is by no means exhaustive (nor one rated better than other). If you’re interested in cultivating a deeper life of faith, art, craft and understanding of culture, these are individuals and groups worth being connected to. Most of the descriptions below come from these organizations Facebook pages.

Christians in Visual Arts (CIVA)

CIVA’s broad range of conferences, exhibits, programs, and publications exist to help the art and faith movement flourish both in the Church and in culture. We encourage Christians in the visual arts to develop their particular callings to the highest professional level possible; to learn how to deal with specific problems in the field without compromising our faith and our standard of artistic endeavor; to provide opportunities for sharing work and ideas; to foster intelligent understanding, a spirit of trust, and a cooperative relationship between those in the arts, the Church, and culture; and ultimately, to establish a Christian presence within the secular art world. CIVA is led by Cameron Anderson. Click here to visit the CIVA website

Welcome to the Question of the Week #10: What do you find truly life-giving? Answering this question just may cause you to seriously rearrange your life, schedule and priorities. If I were to peek at your “life-giving list,” there’s a good chance a lack of sleep, lack of exercise, reams of conflict and a hurried, hectic schedule would not be on your list. At least I hope not. The things you find truly life-giving are essential for cultivating a deeper, richer life. Read on…

Cultivating a life that you truly want to live requires that you eliminate all the things that are draining and life-sapping. Take some time today and make a list of the activities and relationships that are life-giving.

Here’s a peek at my life-giving list…

• Waking up early for coffee, prayer and reading.
• Reading inspirational biographies and books that stimulate my thinking.
• Creating. Writing. Painting. Working with wood. Gardening.
• Exercise…swimming, biking and running. The sport of triathlon has been my new challenge the past year.
• Spending time with my lovely, low-maintenance wife.
• Lying in the hot sand.
• Fun adventures with my kids.
• Telling stories and laughing with friends.
• Good food!
• Spending time in God’s creation…beach, desert, mountains…I love it all.
• Community with artists and creatives. Talking about creativity, the arts, story, culture and craft.

Question: What do you find truly life-giving? What 1 or 2 life-giving activities can you pursue this week?

You’ve just read Question of the Week #10: What is life-giving to you? Click here to comment now.

In case you missed…

Question of the Week #9: What do you most enjoy about creating art?

Question of the Week #8: How do you cultivate a beautiful life?

Question of the Week #7: What do you say to someone who doesn’t understand your art?

Question of the Week #6: How do you handle interruptions, distraction or lack of focus?

Question of the Week #5: What has been your most challenging work as an artist?

Question of the Week #4: What would you say to an artist struggling with a project?

Question of the Week #3: As an artist, what does a good day look like?

Question of the Week #2: How do you define success?

Question of the Week #1: What is the worst thing someone has said to you about WHY you SHOULDN’T pursue your art?