Author Archives: Don Follis

A pastor I was counseling asked, “Am I going crazy? The last 14 months have felt like one long day. I’ve been uptight, mad and worried. Our church has lost so much in the last year.” “I’m sorry. I know it has really been hard,” I said. “What do you think will happen in theContinueContinue reading “We need darkness as much as we need light”

Every time I reflect on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, I am struck with how Jesus brings it to a conclusion, laying these choices before me: There is a wide gate in life. Many choose it, though it leads to destruction. There is a small, narrow gate in life that leads toContinueContinue reading “The choices of each day”

Chain gangs burying another unknown person in White Tanks Cemetery, in the desolate cemetery a half hour west of Phoenix. “It is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment.”  Hebrews 9:27 —– Nearly every day in the Arizona Republic (Arizona’s flagship newspaper), there appear between 4-6 obituaries with names of peopleContinueContinue reading “The obituaries that never get written”

Just after 6am this morning I pulled onto Thompson Peak Parkway in Scottsdale, Arizona, and headed to St. Patrick Community Church, one of 40 Catholic parishes in the diocese of Phoenix. Standing in the dark, two lines of people, all wearing masks and standing 6 feet apart, already had formed in front of 2 tablesContinueContinue reading “Ash Wednesday in the desert”

“How we spend our days, is, of course, how we spend our lives” … Annie Dillard —– A few days after my dad turned 64 my mom called me from the bank where she worked. “Dad got let go,” she said. “He came into the bank a few minutes ago to tell me. His faceContinueContinue reading “Finishing well is not as easy as it sounds”

In the summer of 2017, my Pastor-to-Pastor Initiatives board gave me an 11-week sabbatical. Jennifer and I came to Phoenix that summer, where I studied spiritual formation at Phoenix Seminary with Dr. Ted Wueste. I made several good contacts with pastors that summer. This winter we are back out in the valley of the sunContinueContinue reading “Shoot ’em up in the wild west”

Today, January 25, is the Feast of the conversion of St Paul the Apostle. Among the churches celebrating this day are the Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches. Caravaggio’s famous “Conversion on the way to Damascus” (1601) I have tried to imagine the Apostle Paul as a boy. Would he or his parents ever have knownContinueContinue reading “Today is the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul … And there is only one reason to boast!”

In recent months, people have asked me many times, and I have asked myself, “Given these last four years, and the deep divisions between people, and between people in the same church — especially in the last year and notably since the presidential election last November — how in the world do even begin toContinueContinue reading “We can’t start with reconciliation … we just need to get better at talking”