Radically Happy

Category: Knight Club

  • The Rule of Ernest the Sinner

    Spirituality for the Complexity of Adam Hat tip to St. Benedict The Three Imperatives Glorify God Make the Cross attractive by loving God, our Selves, and our Others as Jesus does Cultivate self-differentiating Relationships, Metrics, and Practices that help us further the First Imperative Write up your own Rule

  • Anjali’s Princess Prayer

    Dear God, Thank you for making me your special princess! Teach me to trust and obey my parents and teachers who love me as you do So I can help my friends feel special too! In Jesus name, Amen.

  • Rohan’s School Prayer

    Dear God, I want to have a great day. Watch over me as I learn and play. Help me to listen and obey my teachers, my parents, and you. Remind me to always be a knight Show me how to do what’s right And walk away from every fight. In…

  • Christian Elementary Schools in the South Bay – 2013 Open Houses

    My son Rohan is now “4 and 3/5ths” and will be graduating from Hearts and Hands Christian Preschool in the fall.  We are wrestling with which school he should attend next.  The primary criteria are: Christian formation Academic challenge Convenient location This appears to be Open House season, so I…

  • The Virtue and Emotion Pride

    One of the most controversial aspects of Knight Club is that it treats pride (“By Myself”) like anger (“Not Fair”): an emotion which is prone to sin, but is not necessarily a sin — and can even be a virtue. While it is true that the vast majority of Bible…

  • Superhero Workout

    Here is the SUPERHERO WORKOUT we did for the last few Knight’s Club meetings. THOR- Arm Circles FLASH- Run in place SUPERMAN- Super Jumps SPIDERMAN- Spider Walks WOLVERINE- Scissor Jump Claws HULK- Wall Smash IRON MAN BLASTS- Side Lunge and Punch CAPTAIN AMERICA- Duck, Step, Dodge INVISIBLE TORCH- Side Jumps

  • Meet the Dragons of Knight Club

    The great challenge of manhood is learning to harness our emotions to serve a good purpose. As I mentioned earlier, I believe we need to harness (not slay) these Four Dragons of Manhood: Desire, Fear, Anger & Pride.  Here’s a more comprehensive summary of my current understanding: Dragons Color Green Yellow…

  • Knight Club #1: 4 PM, Sat June 16 at Newhall Park, San Jose

    Calling all Fathers and Sons: Rohan and Davey invite you to join us in a couple weeks for “Knight Club” – a time of physical and spiritual exercise for boys and dads* 4 PM to 5:30 PM Saturday, June 16th Newhall Park, San Jose (the corner of Newhall Street and Campbell Avenue)…

  • The Knight’s Chant: The Promise of Holiness

    I AM A KNIGHT (fist straight up in the air) KNIGHTS DO WHAT’S RIGHT (pound fist in hand) I KNOW WHAT’S RIGHT (salute) I WANT WHAT’S RIGHT (fist over heart) I CAN DO WHAT’S RIGHT (fist forward) WE ARE STRONG (make muscles) WE USE OUR STRENGTH (hands on waist) TO…

  • Knight Club: How to Ride a Dragon

    Yesterday I gave my son Rohan (age 3 and 5/6ths) a set of colored dragons and attempted to explain my four-dimensional system for emotional maturity.  He grasped the basic idea quite quickly, though I had to modify some of the terms (e.g., “Obedience” instead of “Humility”). Dragon Spurs Reins Fear…

  • Knight Club: Moral Authority and the Fourth Dragon

    One of the ways I tackle “wicked problems” is by exploring different possible answers in order to help clarify the essential question. My posts on flying and mastering the dragons of manhood have been useful in helping me recognize that the two main questions Knight Club is trying to answer are:…

  • Knight Club: Flying the Dragons of Anger, Fear, & Desire

    In my previous post, on mastering the three dragons of manhood, I discussed the ideal masculine character as harnessing the: Red Dragon of Anger Green Dragon of Fear Gold Dragon of Desire In this post, I want to explore using anger to go fast, fear to go straight, and desire to…

  • Knight Club: Mastering the Three Dragons of Manhood

    In Sheila Walsh’s Will, God’s Mighty Warrior, there’s a scene where Will and his buddy Josh are pretending to be on a quest against monstrous beasts. They run into Will’s large English sheepdog. Josh is starting to defend himself, but Will assures his friend that “I have tamed this wild creature,…

  • Knight Club: The Vicious Virtues

    I often feel I owe my success more to my “vices” than to my “virtues.” What is a virtue? What is a vice? Impatience Anger Rebelliousness Restlessness Infatuation Daydreaming Desire Goofing Off Subversive Activity Laziness Quitting Boredom Fighting Delusions of Grandeur Society — especially school, but the church is arguably worse…

  • Knight Club: Levels of Love

    The first rule of Knight Club: you must talk about Knight Club. In the comments on my first Knight Club post, my friend Jor Bratko talks about “raising adults”, and points out that: the legitimacy of my authority like all legitimate authority comes from love: the care of the other…

  • Knight Club: The Knight’s Code

    The following is based on 1 – Introduction – The Training of a Knight – Age of Chivalry – Thomas Bulfinch, adapted surprisingly little to match the challenges of a preschool boy in modern America. Knights: Respect their elders Serve the church Help their friends Protect the weak I added the…

  • Knight Club: Where Fathers and Sons Learn to Win Life’s Most Important Battles

    Recently our church has been wrestling with what it means to be “missional” — a family on mission together.  My wife and I have been struggling with the same question, particularly with regards to raising our precocious (and sometimes rebellious) 3-and-5/6ths year-old son Rohan.  I knew he needed to be…