robertkgreen, Author at The Emergent Self

Is “I’ll Pray for You” Ever Enough?

Watercolor of a front door standing open onto a stone step, where a covered dish has been left, suggesting I'll pray for you as a doorway to showing up

Is “I’ll pray for you” ever enough? A former priest weighs the honest case for prayer and asks readers when those words open a door.

Beyond “Thoughts and Prayers”: A Former Priest on Where Healing Really Happens

Watercolor of an older hand resting gently on another person's open hand across a wooden table, symbolizing human presence beyond thoughts and prayers

A former priest on why “thoughts and prayers” fall short, and how presence, practical help, and human connection carry the healing that prayer once promised.

Nobody Is Self-Made

A hiker stands alone on a misty hilltop at dawn while faint, ghostly figures along the path below help others climb, steady a ladder, open a gate, and point the way

The phrase “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” began as a joke. Why nobody is truly self-made, and what privilege and intersectionality reveal about success.

The Road Less Traveled: Why Becoming Asks More Than Getting

A hiker stands at a fork between a wide, easy road and a narrow, rocky path climbing into misty woods, with index cards scattered along the narrow path

Why do most of us take the path of least resistance? A dissertation Chair, nine drafts, and a social constructionist look at what it means to become, not just get.

“You’ll Be a Factory Line Worker”: Overcoming Humiliation and Becoming Who You Are

Young man driving through a small town at dusk on graduation night, cap, gown and diploma on the seat beside him

My high school guidance counselor told me I’d be a factory line worker for the rest of my life. Here’s what that moment taught me about humiliation, and about choosing my own story.

Starting Over Later in Life: Why We Never Stop Becoming

Older woman standing in an open doorway, looking out from a cozy room onto sunlit countryside — starting over later in life

We tend to think becoming happens early, and that after middle age we just maintain what we have. My retired friends prove otherwise.