{"id":11717,"date":"2025-09-23T19:14:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T19:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=11717"},"modified":"2026-01-14T17:54:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T17:54:20","slug":"opening-remarks-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/23\/opening-remarks-29\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening Remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"11717\" class=\"elementor elementor-11717\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-9705333 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9705333\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-20f0d9bd\" data-id=\"20f0d9bd\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-6ef5bfe4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6ef5bfe4\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-66ead110\" data-id=\"66ead110\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4990d414 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"4990d414\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Photo-by-Edwin-Andrade-on-Unsplash.jpg?fit=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-11718\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Photo-by-Edwin-Andrade-on-Unsplash.jpg?w=864&amp;ssl=1 864w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Photo-by-Edwin-Andrade-on-Unsplash.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Photo-by-Edwin-Andrade-on-Unsplash.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44439ab6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"44439ab6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Opening Remarks<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2ea2e07f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2ea2e07f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-35b92eb0\" data-id=\"35b92eb0\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-78417469 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"78417469\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-48c23836\" data-id=\"48c23836\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1d182eeb elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1d182eeb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>\u201cI believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.\u201d<br \/>&#8211; Thomas Merton<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-90c4ebb\" data-id=\"90c4ebb\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-75432df8 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"75432df8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"output\" class=\"page-generator__output js-generator-output\"><p>Dear Reader,<\/p><p>One of the best-known writings of Thomas Merton, the mid-twentieth-century American writer and Trappist monk, is variously known as \u201cThe Merton Prayer\u201d and \u201cThe Prayer that Anyone Can Pray.\u201d It begins, \u201cMy Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.\u201d \u00a0Yet, rather than asking God to show or illuminate the way forward, the prayer goes on to simply beg mercy on the blunderings of a man who does not know himself or trust in his own perceived motives. \u201cBut,\u201d Merton continues, \u201cI believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.\u201d<\/p><p>The desire to please God, whether in blind faith, as Merton suggests, or through gaining a better knowledge of God\u2019s will for us, is the foundation of Christian devotional practice. Called to be like Jesus Christ\u2014that is, to be perfect\u2014Christians throughout the centuries have used a wide variety of means (ranging from daily prayer to sitting on the top of a pole for years on end) to cultivate a change of heart, of orientation, of will, that will allow us to break through our self-centered and earthly compulsions in pursuit of that calling. In this issue of <em>Fare Forward<\/em>, we asked our writers to consider what devotion looks like here and now, in our age of distraction and disconnection. We hope that their experiences will offer you a glimpse of a few of the varied ways modern Christians think about and practice their devotions\u2014their pursuit of a life that is, somehow, pleasing to God.<\/p><p>Fare Forward,<br \/>Sarah Clark<br \/>Editor-in-Chief<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Opening Remarks for Issue 36: Devotion in Practice<br \/>\nBy Editor-in-Chief Sarah Clark<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-issue-36-devotion-in-practice","entry","has-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Photo-by-Edwin-Andrade-on-Unsplash.jpg?fit=864%2C576&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11717"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12582,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11717\/revisions\/12582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/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