Wisdom and Perspective 08.12.2025

Today’s Reflection

When we wrote The Godbearing Life in the late 1990s, both of us were young pastors who were growing our ministries and our families at the same time. Now we are at the other end of our vocational lives, which has given us some wisdom and perspective and (in Ron’s case) some grandchildren that we didn’t have when we started. A year ago, my [Kenda’s] daughter Shannon—now a seminarian—read The Godbearing Life and circled every reference or section that sounded like it came from another planet. (“Mom: Malls? CDs? TripTiks? What the heck is a TripTik?!!”) Some of my exegesis raised her eyebrows. Her copy of the book looked like a paper I would flunk.

—Kenda Creasy Dean, Ron Foster, & Megan Dewald, The Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul Tending for Youth Ministry, Revised Edition (Upper Room Books, 2022)

Today’s Question

What cultural changes have you seen take place during your life? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

Be strong! Be fearless! Don’t be afraid and don’t be scared by your enemies, because the Lord your God is the one who marches with you. He won’t let you down, and he won’t abandon you.—Deuteronomy 31:6 (CEB)

Prayer for the Week

I am no longer my own, but thine.Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.Put me to doing, put me to suffering.Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,exalted for thee or brought low by thee.Let me be full, let me be empty.Let me have all things, let me have nothing.I freely and heartily yield all thingsto thy pleasure and disposal.And now, O glorious and blessed God,Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.And the covenant which I have made on earth,let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.—A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition from The United Methodist Hymnal