More about Me

I didn't grow up around West Michigan, and that has helped me enormously.  My Dad was an Ordained Minister and our family lived on Long Island and Northern New Jersey – all within 40 minutes of Manhattan.  The melting-pot of the New York City metropolitan area implanted within me an appreciation for diversity that stuck, even after my 1966 move to Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

My family stayed out east, settling on Cape Cod and in the quiet corner of north-east Connecticut.

While at Hope College, I met Jan.  She and I were married, and then I entered Western Theological Seminary.  After I was ordained in 1973, we moved to University Park in Irvine, California.  I joined the staff of a very large new-church start in Laguna Hills.

After a year we moved back to Grand Rapids, at which time I co-founded the Marriage and Family Center, a non-profit counseling center affiliated with Central Reformed Church.  More post-graduate studies followed at Calvin Theological Seminary, and Western Theological Seminary again.  Seven years in total.  Gheesh… a lot of schooling.

In 1992 I took to heart Stephen Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  In the chapter on the second habit, Covey encourages the reader to craft a personal mission statement.  Here is mine.  “My personal mission is to explore, map, and guide people to the
Kin-dom of God.”  Having this mission statement, which was crafted after six months of reflection, has been an incredibly useful gift.  It has kept me focused, allowing me to say “no” to things that didn’t align, and “yes” to some that have.  The Kin-dom is Integral (AQAL), includes the whole environment, is feminine and masculine, yin and yang, and it is continuously evolving.  We can talk more about the Kin-dom of God, if you would like.

Today, Jan works as Coordinator of Bodywork Services at Dominican Center at Marywood.  She has a Master of Management degree from Aquinas College, is a Master Reiki Practitioner and Teacher, along with her skills in the CranioSacral Therapy and the Raindrop Technique.  She is a gifted healer.  You can learn more about Jan and her incredible ministry at www.janatwood.com.

We have two kids, both married – one in Chicago and one in Caledonia.  Our grandsons number three.  We have truly been blessed, for our children and their spouses remain among our best friends, and the three boys are a hoot!

I read voraciously.  When I unloaded most of my library through eBay in 2006 I brought in over $2000.  Incredible.  Today, my books are clustered around spirituality and Integral Theory, best business and leadership practices, and marriage and family studies – my major areas of study and work.

I subscribe to Car and Driver, the Harvard Business Review, Rider and Cruiser Magazines, Family Therapy Networker, Business Week, Investors Business Daily, TIME Magazine, US News and World Report, and I’m a member of AARP, The Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, and the Environmental Defense Fund.  Our charitable giving goes to support the environment, for we are convinced that its collapse poses the single biggest threat to our species.

We have a cabin on 40 acres 75 minutes from Grand Rapids, and we go there very often.  We built it ourselves; every inch of it from structure, to electrical and plumbing.  It is rustic oak and pine. The solitude is life-giving.  It is a great place for stillness, for reading and writing, for reflecting, walking, talking, and catching up on things close to the earth.  In fact, as I write this on a still evening in August, I can hear the turkeys flapping their wings, getting ready to roost in the big beech tree 50 yards away.

I have been blessed to be a part of a little group of companions that have traveled together on the spiritual journey for more than 20 years.  We get together monthly. Men and women, clergy and lay, we enjoy an unusual intimacy that is life-giving.

I have some wonderful friends – some close by, some a few thousand miles away.

I drive a Honda pick-up truck and ride a motorcycle, play the stock market pretty well, walk 2 to 3 miles most days, and spend a lot of quality time with my wife and family.  We socialize only occasionally. No more dogs; I do, however, love our friendly cat, Lotus.

The hat on my head says “Life is Good™ - Do what you like. Like what you do.”

What more is there?