Exploring Faith, Pursuing Grace

The Preface

On Fridays, I plan to post sections of a book I’ve been working on for awhile now. It’s called Exploring Faith, Pursuing Grace: The Art of Slowing Down and Letting Grace Catch Up. This first section is the preface to the book. This is for paid subscribers only to thank them for their support.

My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things—trout as well as eternal salvation—come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy.

- Norman Maclean, A River Runs through It

It’s a tale as old as the 2010s. A couple of guys are sitting around talking about their faith. After realizing the other guy is a safe person to talk to, they up the frequency of their conversations and start talking about those subjects. You know—the things we don’t talk about.

As they share their deepest, darkest opinions about religion, which are usually cloaked in “let me play Devil’s advocate” kind of language, they really start to click. They start sharing book suggestions, joining the same secret online communities, and getting more bold in sharing their views that now belong to them, not the Devil.

Then, those special words are spoken, “Let’s start a podcast.”