In the recent several years of my journey in life, faith, and ministry, I have had a friend or two whom I truly admired and honoured because of the depth of their wisdom and the embodiment of their theology in their lives. They are, in every sense, highly acclaimed, deeply respected, and unreservedly honoured people. To say that they're world acclaimed in respectability wouldn't constitute an overstatement; and here's the thing - they don't care about that. This is, in the first place, why they would even bother to spend hours upon end just wasting time with me and deepening our friendship.

I call them my spiritual guides. One has deeply impacted my understanding of human brokenness and God's redemptive grace. Another has profoundly shaped my understanding of the necessity of theology and faith that arises from community.

They do not see me functionally. They see me as a person. They have no axe to grind. In fact, they even take no pride in having anyone know that they are moulding me in very profound ways. And in honour of their silent self-giving, I too have never publicised their profiles just so I could avoid the very human inclination to ride on their reputations. I know I could, but I choose to honour them in the measure that they've so unreservedly and undeservedly honoured me. And so, I simply call them my spiritual guides.

They are guides in the sense that in their presence, I lay aside opinions that I may have regarding issues of life and faith. I trust the motivations of the directions they lay before me even if these directions may not always be perfect. I never discount anything they say as unnecessary or irrelevant. In their presence, utmost attentiveness is in order. In a very real way, I entrust my life into their hands. I know this, for many, may be an unbelievable impossibility in a world that upholds the right of one's personal opinions and individuality. I know such individualistic rights are often factored in when it comes to modern renditions of mentoring relationships (which is why I don't believe in the present "mentoring movement"). I submit myself to the seriousness of every word spoken by my spiritual guides.

I have started this new category to record reflections and afterthoughts from my regular and lengthy exchanges with my spiritual guides. I call it Conversations. The purpose of recording significant points from my conversations with them is that I may remember the stories I'm told and the wisdom that's imparted to me. Also, I do it with the hope that I may perhaps share their wisdom with you who read this blog. To this end, I will therefore publish some reflections of my conversations with my spiritual guides after every conversation with them.

These conversations have made me who I am today, and I trust that you'll benefit from them too, even if you may not have the slightest idea of who these beautiful people are.