IntroductionFrom Self-Centered to God-Centered“Fully in . . . letting go.”
The voice belonged to Wim Hof. A wild Dutch man who had been running barefoot in the Arctic, plunging into freezing water, and taking the self-help scene by storm.
I was all in on the different methods.
Workouts.
Ice baths.
Breath work.
Grounding.
On April 19, 2020, I was combining all four, squeezing the ice bath in during the second round of breath work right after a difficult workout.
If a little self-help helps, my mind reasoned, a lot should help more. And I needed all the help I could get.
The pandemic had just shut the world down. That morning, we had done church online—twenty-five people watched. Which was a bummer when eight hundred had shown up in person the month before. While watching, I opened my inbox and saw two new emails.
1. Someone who was mad we stopped doing in-person services.
2. Someone who was mad we were thinking about returning to in-person services.
It was a strange time to be alive—and I was searching for a way to cope.
I shot out of the ice bath after the second round of breath work and reached for my towel with a shivering hand. Next up, a twominute breath hold. I steadied my mind but immediately thought about how much more relaxing the practice would be if I was outside in my backyard with my bare feet on my lawn. After all,
if a little helps, a lot should help more. Blood rushed to my head as I hobbled through my kitchen, my body screaming for oxygen. I somehow managed to grab my journal, open the slider, and step onto my back porch without breathing. I placed the chair in the grass as I felt the warm sun on my face.
Then I went to sit down, and that is the last thing I remember.
Heliocentric Versus Geocentric Spirituality The year 1543 was a big one for Nicolaus Copernicus. For starters, it was the year he died. But it was also the year his most important book was published:
De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres). He got to see the finished product on his deathbed and was delighted to know his life’s work would outlive him. In it, he proposed a radical idea.
Some called it dangerous.
Others said preposterous.
Most didn’t give it a second thought.
But this simple idea changed everything.
Copyright © 2026 by Ryan Wekenman. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
