At the heart of my life is a divine center, a “still small voice,” that illumines the face of God and lights my adventurous path. This book is about A Center that Holds and seeks to show how God relates to the world and all things in the world as an artist painting kindness on the canvas of life, tenderly revealing what we can become when we are centered in kindness. Central to the book is the firm conviction that God gives transforming love energies for kindness and calls for communities of kindness that nurture us in tender and mysterious ways, patiently guiding us to act, perceive, and love in new, richer ways each day. In this life of journeying with God, adventures belong to the adventurous. The sub-title, Adventures in Kindness, captures this truth.

This understanding of God springs from my own personal experience. My father and mother were examples of patient kindness for me and my six brothers and six sisters. My father often prayed in our little country church, and one of his favorite expressions was “Kind Father.” He started his prayers with this address and repeated it several times throughout the prayer. I can still hear his tone of voice in my mind. It brings me peace and joy just to remember and reflect upon it. I hope you take time as you read this book to reflect on moments in your own life that have changed you in positive ways. It has taken a long time to become me, and I am still becoming. I pray that God leads you in glorious ways through the journey of this book.

At age sixteen, my dad praying aloud in church made me roll my eyes and feel embarrassed. Of course, it didn’t take much to embarrass me as an adolescent. Today I treasure this memory and it has helped me to be a kinder person. My mother and father taught me by word and example that God is kind. They were gentle and loving parents and they made it easy for all thirteen of us to believe in a gentle and loving God. For children, parents, adoptive parents, and caregivers truly are the first bridge to the kindness of God. Kindness is my hermeneutic (interpretive principle) for understanding God revealed in the Bible, and my theology springs from this source and holds up the tender teachings of Jesus as the guiding light for our lives, our churches, and our world. Some words have a way of changing their meaning, and it is best to say that words have living, dynamic usage and not a once for all time meaning. Gentleness and tenderness have almost come to signify weakness in our culture. The tenderness of my parents was a tenacious and tough tenderness, not milk toasty. Also Jesus displayed a tough tenderness in dealing with his critics and with his own disciples. My faith in the power of Kindness is informed by process philosophy, psychology, history of religions, and science. It borrows from poetry, music, and art. Two of my goals in writing this book are to give inspiration for authentic identity and to give guidance in building lasting communities that sustains us through all the phases of life.