I know that 20 minutes is a lot to ask, but you’ll never regret this.

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Henri Nouwen – Spiritual Direction

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This course is structured around a few principles.  One is that we must learn from our journeys.  The other is that adults learn the best when they are self directed.  Practically, this means that much of our first week is spent hearing each others stories.  These are amazing, since many of the participants are people who have experienced powerful callings.  They have given up much, and gained much in return.  They are also practitioners, with hands on experience living out the way of Christ in places like Liberia, Thailand, Florida and D.C.  We also spend a lot of time unpacking our experiences of reading various leadership and character related texts, my favorite being Willard’s Renovation of the Heart.

I have high hopes that big things are happening here, for all of us.  I would like to ask your prayers that this will be a watershed experience for me, where I will learn a lot about who I am, and what God has in mind for me.

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The story takes place many millennia in mankind’s future.  Millenia which Herbert already has filled with tens of thousands of years of backstory.  Technology has progressed and digressed.  Religion has been boiled down to tools for a shadow government.  Government has reverted to feudalism.  The rise of fall of planets, tribes, religions, languages, corporations and families makes up the rich backstory, and is never fully explained.

Dune is likely the inspiration behind the desert planet of Luke Skywalker and the Empire of Star Wars.  The Jedi Mind Trick is taken from the Bene Gesserit voice.  The sandworm of Beetlejuice was modeled after Shai-Hulud. Vulcans are surprisingly similar to the Herbert’s Mentats.

Dune is also a warning.  The desert dwelling freedom fighters with their messianic rage are a startling picture of how the combination of harsh conditions and religious fervor can creating a terrifyingly strong force.

Then there’s the planet Arrakis.  The planet is utterly devastated, an endless desert where life is short and hard.  When I first read Dune in seventh grade I remember becoming intensely aware of how I used water.  Dune opens your eyes to the desertification we are forcing on the world around us.

The story itself is little more than Hamlet rehashed. This is fine, because it serves as little more than a vehicle for a look into the dangers of politics, religion, genetic engineering and environmental devastation.  I would recommend the book to anyone who thinks seriously about these things, or just likes a good imagination at work.

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While contemplating the move to Austin 5 years ago I took a composition notebook and a Bible into the woods and wrote a five year plan.  It talked about who I would become.  The things I would accomplish.  They were big dreams of starting grand ventures and writing and a family.

It was a good plan.

A less cynical person might describe the past five years as “learning experiences.” More than anything, it feels like a series of false starts. My life doesn’t look much like the man in the composition notebook.

I am 29 years old today.  It’s not a milestone like next year will be.  It’s more of a reminder that next year is coming, and some of the hopes in that notebook remain unfulfilled.

Yet every day I become more determined to make this year count.  Granted there have been some scrapes, but too much time has been spent licking wounds.  I’d like to claim that by this time next year things will be different.  But that has the familiar ring of the disappointed composition notebook.

Instead, this year must be about charting a new course, while being faithful to serve wholeheartedly where I am at.

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