Fred Lehr

Fred Lehr: While I am an ordained pastor, what probably describes better is that I am an incurable behavioral scientist.  I am entirely consumed with the wonder of how people relate to themselves and to each other.  How do organization manage?  What are all the ins and outs of family life?  What makes it all work?

I am a Certified Family Life Educator (National Council on Family Relations), an organizational development consultant, a mental health therapist, and more.

Life is fascinating.  There is so much depth to explore.  In my 73 years I have never been really bored.  There’s too many curious things all around us. 

Twitter: @LehrFred

Favorite non-reading activity? 

Sailing.  I love it when we get out away from the dock, set the sails and turn off the motor and be one with nature.  It’s not the destination but the journey.  Being over the water and moving with the wind.  Fantastic.

Vacation druthers… City or Rural destination? Why?

Well, neither.  I prefer to be where there’s water – at the ocean or on a lake.  Anyplace where there is sailing and the joy of being on or near the water. Water is essential to life.  And in some special ways, water is essential to the soul.  To be refreshed with water is renewing.

Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing? Do you sew? Paint? Draw? Knit? Dance?

Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to writing?  Yes, music.  I ask alexa to play all kinds of music while I sit at my desk.  I do especially like the main classical composers but I’m also enamored with the rock-n-roll classics, too.  Anything that resonates with my inner spirit is appreciated.  From Mozart to the Beatles – that’s for me.

What do I worry about? 

Well I could reasonably say COVID 19, the harsh political rhetoric, or the economy; but that’s not it.  I worry about the way people fail to lay claim to their full personal power and instead squander their power chasing after all the wrong things.  It is the pursuit of all the short-term and false hopes that entice us to be more selfish and wander into areas that make the world all the worse.  If people just understood how to reach for the things in life that endure far more than the material or the temporal we would all be better off.

What bring you great joy? 

First and foremost, my family.  I “married up”.  By that I mean I married a woman far better than I am.  She keeps me moving in the right directions.  And I adore my children – a son who challenges all my assumptions and a daughter who inspires me in so many ways.  Then there are the incredible grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Life in amazingly good.