“The world will be saved by beauty” Fyodor Dostoevsky

From work on Palestine-Israel, to Haiti, to the Korean Peninsula, my 2024 ministry year engaging the United Nations faced great challenges. Amidst that, in the spirit of the quote above, where did I find beauty, grace, joy, and wonder?

Favorite books: Stumbling upon the stunning story Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell ignited a new interest in young adult fantasy and led me to the Harry Potter series for the first time. For me, an unexpected masterpiece.

Favorite shows: “Shogun,” among the greatest television I’ve ever seen. “A Gentleman in Moscow” turned a man living inside a hotel for 30 years into gripping, beautiful drama.

Most unforgettable meal: On our magical ten-day journey to Sicily, in the hillside city of Ragusa, my wife Donna and I found ourselves, unplanned, at lunch with the owner telling us there’s no menu and would we receive whatever they served us? From her hospitality and stories, to the garden beauty, to the meal’s simplicity, a wondrous “total food” experience.

Most fun new experience: Golfing with my sons Christopher and Benjamin.

Best essay: “The Shock of Faith” by New York Times columnist David Brooks about his long journey to Christianity. “Faith,” he writes, “is more like falling in love than it is like finding the answer to a complicated question.”

Best reunion: Hakone, Japan near Mount Fuji with Jongho Kim of South Korea and Katsuki Hirano of Japan, our friendship a fruit of the Northeast Asia Reconciliation Forum. Over three days of scenic walks, bathhouses, and meals we said “Wow!” countless times.

Best rediscovered music: “Fast Car,” via the tour de force Grammy performance by Traci Chapman and Luke Combs. And Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” made me feel alive.

Most inspiring sign of hope: As selection committee chair for MCC’s Global Peacemaker Award, learning the stories of courageous peacemakers nominated from across the world. Beneath the headlines, hope is alive and well, planting seeds of deep change.

Favorite event organized: The energy and hope of the 40 students at our MCC UN Student Seminar in New York, engaging UN diplomats and grassroots peacemakers.

Favorite thing I wrote: My Christianity Today article “The United Nations is a Misson Field,” an opportunity to reflect on why my five years of ministry in New York has mattered. Believe me, it took time to get to that point. Which is “the point.”

Best New York City culture: I no longer need a map to navigate the vast Met Museum near Central Park, and simply walking through is inspirational. The far lesser-known Met Cloisters, my “retreat” inside the city, is one of New York’s hidden treasures – like being surrounded by Christian art inside a great monastery, overlooking the Hudson River.

Favorite speaking moment: Coming up with a podcast format for a men’s retreat talk called “Pittsburgh Strong,” with me and the pastor, both Pittsburgh-born, donning Pirates and Steelers regalia and a football-guided format for a conversation on “cultivating the fruit of the Spirit.” Our opening and closing song? Bruce Springsteen’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”

Favorite milestone: The 20-year anniversary of the 2004 conference in Thailand of 3,000 Christian leaders, where I co-convened a challenging week-long issue group on reconciliation of 47 people from 25 places of conflict. Our journey led to a shared prophetic call to action and planted seeds and relationships that have borne rich fruit across the world. It became a turning point in my life – how could I have imagined the 20 years of international ministry that would follow?

In 2025, may we each reach for and find fresh joy and growth . . . and plant good seed.