The Flow

[I have written this narrative of The Flow as a message to my younger self--what I would have loved to know at 20-something].If you want to know your place in the Kingdom of God, follow the dream in your heart. And if you want to know how to get there, follow the relationships you’re in. What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful. Our competence is helpful—but our vulnerability is transformative. You can either impress people or influence them. Those who influence you are those who believe in you and think the best of you. Integrity, beauty, hope, and love are all in the same category as prayer. You can’t define them because they are too close to God’s image. The downward journey is the gospel story. Since Jesus’ death, no one has been able to tell a better one. Flow is an optimal state of consciousness where we feel and perform at our best.  Group flow is considered the most pleasurable state on earth. Adults learn best from their own experience. In a Culture of Honor we develop a process for problem solving and create or dismantle culture--defining and refining our values (what’s important). A healthy APEST culture may sustain the next revival. Free people are difficult to lead and require Apostles and Prophets to show the way. They establish both an environment for others to gain freedom and a government for them to keep it. The gospel doesn’t take the poor out of poverty; it takes poverty out of the poor. Story is a sense-making mechanism. When we use a story, we create a map. The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. Perhaps the whole creation came under our curse because it was under our stewardship.