"We have to know the darkness to be able to search for the light," according to Henri Nouwen. And he goes on to claim that we need lostness, in the search for meaning. With so much disorder, lostness, darkness, denial and confusion, I'd like to read most of a letter written by Nouwen that seems to address our age, people like you and me. I hope you'll hear something encouraging, no matter how wild and meandering your path. Enjoy!
In an age obsessed with "knowing oneself," how do we not get stuck in endless autobiography and self-absorption? At its best, a healthy spiritual and religious life helps free us from the cul-de-sac of narcissistic feedback. In the episode, we'll look at a story from Saint Antony, a paragraph from C.S. Lewis about hell, and I'll outline the four foundations of a spiritual life from the book Journey Into Emptiness by Robert Jingen Gunn (a book about Dogen, Merton and Jung). See below for the link...
Here's the final episode of The Christ Symbol. This episode is about Authority and Resurrection (stage 6 and 7). What does real authority look like? What does it mean for a "grain of wheat to go into the ground and die?" What is the nature of real change? Hope you hear something from Jesus own transformed life, that may in fact trans-form your own. Enjoy!
Here's the next episode in The Christ Symbol. This episode is about Wilderness and Mission (stage 4 and 5), the necessity of the desert and the nature of a soul-oriented mission in the life of Jesus, a life transformed. Hope you hear a hint or guess for your own spiritual growth. Enjoy!
Here's the next episode in looking at Christ through a symbolic lens, a life transformed. This episode is about Transcendent Encounter (stage 3), those moments we could not have predicted, manufactured, controlled, or made up. Those moments when we know we are ushered into something larger. Hope you hear a hint or guess for your own spiritual growth. Enjoy!
What's going on with our thumbs? Plus, the next episode in this series looking at the life of Christ through a symbolic lens, a life transformed. This episode is about calling, the first nudges of our sense of meaning and destiny. Hope you hear a hint or guess for your own spiritual growth. Enjoy!
This is a long-format, unscripted, very personal conversation, with Paul Vanderklay. We talk a bit about our stories, what it's like to be a pastor, what's been happening in the changing landscape of Christianity, and what the future might hold. Check out Paul's YouTube channel for more content. Enjoy!
This episode is part of my series, Wandering through the Bible, where I look again at these ancient stories through a symbolic lens. Beginning with a quote from Teilhard about the slow work of God, we then turn to the first stage of a life of Christ, a life transformed, the birth stories. Special thanks to my Patrons. Enjoy!
In this episode, I describe the changes faces of Jesus over the centuries, and what I mean by the Symbolic Christ. I also explore in more detail what I call the three chords of listening to the Bible: story, context and symbol. This is part of a series called Wandering through the Bible, where I return to some of the most important stories and images from the Christian tradition. Hope you hear a hint or guess. Enjoy!
I'm starting a new series on the Bible, particularly through the lens of symbol. It feels like I've come back around again to the central stories and images of my tradition, but seeing and hearing new things. To begin with, I'll be releasing parts of my audio book (A Grain of Wheat), which had only been free for my Patrons. In this experimental audio book, I look at the stages of Christ's life, and the symbols that still feel potent. Clearly Jesus lived a life transformed, and left a few hints a...
We use the word love for sports teams, friends, partners, food, and even God. What are we talking about? What is love? And how might we grow into more loving people? Here are a few hints and guesses about romance, love of self, love of the other, and the possibility of divine love. Inspiration for this podcast come from John O'Donohue's book Anam Cara, Robert Johnson's books He and She, and St Paul's letter to the Corinthians. Enjoy!
There are many ancient stories about making a deal with the Devil. What happens when we no longer take these seriously? What is lost? What are we missing? I'd like to explore the consequences and opportunities in taking seriously what happens when we make a deal with the Devil through stories of the Handless Maiden, Faust, and the Temptation of Christ. Enjoy!
Here's a conversation with Quique Autrey, therapist, author and podcaster, about his new book Green Flags. What does it look like to become a person who's a little more like a "green flag" than a red flag? Where does one even start with "depth psychology?" Quique's highlights a number of accessible ways to turn the gaze inward, toward a healthier relationship with ourselves, which seems necessary in order to be a more generative presence in the world. You can find out more about Quique, and buy ...
The word sermon implies a threading together, and I'd like to thread together some lines from St Paul, T.S.Eliot, and Jung. I hope you'll find some encouragement and challenge from these voices, who in their own way, point beyond themselves to the transcendent, to God. I can't think of anything more important in our age of mistrust.
Here are few thoughts on feeling stuck, big storms gathering at the window, what it's like when our stories and imagination seem disconnected from the present, a few musings on intuition, the still small voice, the melody below the melody, being defeated, and less metaphorically, moving back to Michigan. The poems that I quote are from Rilke and Annie Lighthart. Enjoy!
What's the difference between mood and feeling? Between emotions and values? How do we grow our capacities for relationship, for deep values, in other words, how do we access the "feeling function" (Jung)? This episode is an exploration of the feeling function, the common wounds associated with it, and some possibilities for developing a healthier "masculine" psyche. I pull mainly from Robert A. Johnson's book He: Understanding Masculine Psychology, but also a little from Jung, and from my own e...
I'd like to explore the mystical, not as an expert, but a student. Lately I've been inspired by Evelyn Underhill's insights in her book, Mysticism: A Study in Nature and Development of Spiritual Conscious which I quote in this podcast. My sense is, that despite the darkness of the age we live in, something of the Absolute wishes to break in, to rearrange our consciousness. When this happens, the old dream and the young see visions. What might it look like for modern people, spiritual - religious...
Here's a followup to Religious Problems, Religious Medicine, a further exploration of the tension between Law and Spirit, tradition and innovation, which seems to be natural and important. I also have a few musings on the Wandering Desert God of the Hebrew people, as a kind of symbol for the religious outsider. And I turn again to Jung's highly unusual sense for "God," which might open a few doors to the transcendent. Enjoy!
I want to explore some religious questions that have been troubling me lately, where I've gotten things wrong over the last few years, and some hints and guesses about what's calling my name; namely some very ancient invitations...worship, prayer and sacrifice. Enjoy!
We discuss Tony's new book, which is great (www.reverendhunter.com). We talk about theology, leaving the church, Tao and redemption, sacred places, and some personal things. Enjoy!
I hope you'll appreciate this conversation with Jason Adam Miller about his new book on Jesus' most paradoxical and misunderstood words at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. I loved this book, When the World Breaks. I've not read anything so personal, rich and thought provoking on the Beatitudes. It's worth your time, especially if you're interested in a way of being, more than a way of believing, a way that might well upend our frames and call us into a deeper life. Jason Adam Miller is ...
Here's another shorter podcast in my series, where I turn to poems, prayer, passages that have been important to me. I hope you'll hear your own hints and guesses. This week, we turn to Mary Oliver's classic, The Journey. Enjoy!
I'd like to explore the possibilities, the postures, and the terrain, of feeling lost, a certain kind of lostness. Rather than being prescriptive, I hope to just describe a little of what it's like, and a few hints and guesses from the poets and mystics, that I hope you'll find meaningful, and possibly helpful. Enjoy.
Here's another shorter mediation on Rilke's passage about leaving home, about following a calling, the cost and terrible possibilities hidden in walking toward the East, toward a church forgotten, a sacred place ignored. Enjoy.
For my 100th episode, I'm introducing a new dimension of the podcast, shorter mediations based on poems, passages, and prayers. Thanks for all your support, can't believe I've made 100 episodes. I hope you'll hear some hints and guesses in this David Whyte poem, Coleman's Bed, or in my own reflections. Stay tuned for more shorter episodes, as well as my longer format contributions and interviews. Special thanks to Jonas Dobson, my son, for the music. Enjoy!
In this episode, we turn our attention again to the language of dreams, particularly the ways in which the dream experience seeks to have an effect on the dreamer. This is really part 2 of a podcast series on dreams, the first episode being called The Language of Dreams. Special thanks to my friend Emma who was willing to share her dream in a such a public place. We hope it serves you in some way. Thanks for listening and supporting. Enjoy!
On the longest night of the year, I'd like to explore dreams, dreamwork and surrendering to the intelligence of the dream. "We have forgotten the age old fact that God speaks primarily through dreams and visions" (C.G. Jung). Enjoy!
Eloise Skinner's new book is called, But Are You Alive? How to Design a Life Worth Living. In this conversation about her book, we discuss existential therapy, ancient practices, work life, monastic possibilities, and questions of meaning. You can find her on Instagram, or through her website www.eloiseskinner.com I hope you hear some hints and guesses for your own everyday spiritual life. Enjoy!
Here's the second conversation with my wife Mandy about Israel, about the troubling questions we think this conflict raises, the hyper-charged language being used, a bit of historical context, the cultural climate of oppressor and victim, plus a few hints and guesses about deception and the power of seeking the truth.
Here are a few thoughts and reflections about out life in Israel with my wife, Mandy. We thought we'd share a few personal reflections about out time there, what we learned, and a bit of what we find troubling, plus a few things we've found helpful. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem."
