Category: Mentors Who Changed Me
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Who Challenges Me?
Tuesday, August 11, 2026Series: Mentors Who Changed Me Who is your best friend? What makes that person your friend? Most of us have only a small number of people we would consider our closest friends. That number may seem small, but I believe it is probably accurate. We may know many people during our lifetime,…
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What Book Changed the Way You See the World?
The Seed of Mysterious Grace There are books that teach us facts, and there are books that quietly plant seeds that continue to grow long after we have closed their covers. For me, one of those books was The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church. While studying at Memphis Theological Seminary, I was…
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We All Stand on the Shoulders of Someone
Who has inspired you to become a better person? As I have grown older, I have come to realize that none of us reaches this point in life alone. We all stand on the shoulders of people who believed in us, challenged us, encouraged us, or quietly showed us what it means to live with…
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Fear Is Part of the Journey, But Not the Final Chapter
Series: What Book Changed the Way You See the World? How many of you remember the Weekly Reader we received in school? It introduced us to new books and gave us the opportunity to order them. I looked forward to those little newspapers and the adventures they promised. Growing up just after World War II,…
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Open Heart. Open Hands. Clear Boundaries.
Today’s Curious Pilgrim topic is “We all stand on the shoulders of someone who believed in us.” The greatest lessons I have learned in life have not come from books or classrooms. They have come from experience. As I reflect on the people whose shoulders I stand on today, I have realized that one of…
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What Book Changed the Way You See the World?
Some books entertain us. Others inform us. A few quietly shape the way we see ourselves, other people, and the world. The book that changed the way I see the world is not just one book. It is a collection of books written over many centuries that asks three timeless questions: Who am I? Why…
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We All Stand on the Shoulders of Someone Who Believed in Us
There are some writing prompts that are difficult because there are simply too many people to choose from. “We all stand on the shoulders of someone who believed in us” is one of those. After Hurricane Katrina devastated Mississippi in 2005, I helped lead a nonprofit organization that coordinated recovery efforts. It was meaningful work,…
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Books That Challenge Us: Spiritual Friendship and the Gift of a Friend
Some books entertain us. Some teach us. A few change the way we see the world. For me, that book was Spiritual Friendship by St. Aelred of Rievaulx. I was introduced to St. Aelred during the Summer of Saints study at St. James Episcopal Church in the summer of 2025. At first, I thought I…
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Standing on the Shoulders of Those Who Believed in Us
There is an old saying that we stand on the shoulders of giants. I have discovered another truth along life’s journey: we all stand on the shoulders of someone who believed in us. As I look back over seventy-six years, I realize that many of the people who shaped my life never became famous. They…
