Episodes
Sept. 27, 2021
Ep 36 Reframing Our Images of God
Send us a text Many of us have picked up ideas – and ideals – about everything and anything. Ways that we think people *should* be, the ways in which we think things *should* be done, even ways in which we think God is likely to act and behave. And when the world doesn’t act the way we want it to, …
Sept. 20, 2021
Ep 35 The Powerful Spirituality of Music
Send us a text One of the great things about music is the power it has to move us – to draw us out, to speak to us, to help us become more receptive – both to our experiences and to our feelings. In this episode, we “sing the praises” of music, pointing out how helpful it can be in interfaith setti…
Sept. 13, 2021
Ep 34 Extroverts and the Contemplative
Send us a text Today we are joined by Grace Schmelzer, co-leader of numerous online contemplative groups and soon-to-be spiritual director. She shares with us today the struggles she’s experienced in being an extrovert approaching contemplative practices. But take heart! She also shares with us wha…
Sept. 6, 2021
Ep 33 Processing Our Emotions
Send us a text We all know that how we process – or don’t process – our emotions can affect our lives in big ways. What’s more, many of us haven’t been given a whole lot of help in figuring out how to process what we might view as “negative emotion” in our lives. And so in today’s episode, we explo…
Aug. 30, 2021
Ep 32 How to Meditate
Send us a text In today’s episode, we spend some time talking about the how-to’s of meditation and what some of our personal preferences are, all through the lenses of our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. Do you sometimes wonder: Am I doing this right? What does it even mean to meditate? Join us…
Aug. 23, 2021
Ep 31 Second Naïvetés and Spirituality
Send us a text Ep 31 Second Naïvetés and Spirituality Second Naïvetés are the act of returning to our experiences and beliefs with fresh eyes and new outlooks, and it’s a common story for many in seasons of questioning in particular. In today’s episode, we spend some time specifically talking about…
Aug. 16, 2021
Ep 30 Ex-vangelicals
Send us a text Ep 30 Exvangelicals Exvangelicals are people who come from evangelical traditions but who no longer identify as such. Many have begun speaking out rather than quietly moving on. And so today we talk about it: How do we live into new spaces as we experience change in our lives? Where …
Aug. 9, 2021
Ep 29 Sensory Infused Living
Send us a text Today, instead of examining “what am I thinking,” we take a moment to ask, “What am I feeling, seeing, smelling, touching, tasting?” In other words, how does wonder open up our awareness – aka – our contemplative experience? Our senses offer us so much – calm, delight, awe…May we all…
Aug. 2, 2021
Ep 28 Contemplative Storytelling
Send us a text Today we talk about our stories, why they matter and how we’re changed as we interact with both our own stories and the stories of others. As it turns out, research and experience show that sharing our stories helps us overcome pain, adversity, and struggle. But sadly, many of us suf…
July 26, 2021
Ep 27 Invitation to Rest
Send us a text Today we talk about rest! As we begin to move towards post-pandemic life, some of us have questions: Do we like our old pace? Are there rhythms we’ve enjoyed that we want to keep? Today we talk about the many benefits of rest. Because let’s face it, productivity is great! It’s caused…
July 19, 2021
Ep 26 Contemplative Joy Hacks
Send us a text Today we’re talking about things we can do in order to boost that sense of joy in our lives, for which, the contemplative can really help us on this front because, it just so happens, that the contemplative is a great teacher of things like “the gifts of savoring the moment” and “liv…
July 12, 2021
Ep 25 Burnout
Send us a text Today we’re talking about burnout and how contemplative spirituality can help us. First, the good news: Burnout isn’t necessarily a bad place. And in fact, it could even be a great place. Find out why in this episode. #RuleOfLife #Retreat #Wilderness #Awareness Additional Resources: …
July 5, 2021
Ep 24 Connecting with God thru Creation
Send us a text Today we’re talking about some of the many ways in which Nature seems to have the power to bring us in touch with The Divine, allow goodness to flow in our lives, and even help us navigate our more difficult seasons. How we interact with nature may change depending on the season of l…
June 29, 2021
Ep 23 Vocational Discernment, Part II
Send us a text Today’s podcast is a continuation of a conversation that began after we had officially ended last week’s podcast. The questions that kept us talking: Is a conversation about Vocational Discernment for the privileged? Or is this a universal conversation that spans many walks of life? …
June 21, 2021
Ep 22 Vocational Discernment, Part I
Send us a text Sometimes it’s hard to admit we’re having questions about our work. But on the other hand, maybe these moments are invitations from The Divine that can help us along in our journeys. In today’s episode we’ll talk about how the contemplative can help us even in the midst of our vocati…
June 14, 2021
Ep 21 The Sacred Space Inside Today
Send us a text Today we are talking about the idea of “thin places” – the places where the veil between heaven and Earth lifts. Join us as we consider where those places are that feel set apart and separate. Wonder with us as...
June 7, 2021
Ep 20 AA Meets Contemplative Spirituality
Send us a text Today we are talking with Ken, Spiritual Companion and member of numerous contemplative communities. Ken talks to us in this episode about practices that have been meaningful to him, why being powerless turns out to be a good thing, and what some of his favorite connections are betwe…
May 31, 2021
Ep 19 Spiritual Independence
Send us a text Today we’re talking about Spiritual Independence. If we know this term, we may well identify by any number of names: Spiritual but not Religious, Spiritually Eclectic, Spiritually Fluid, Disaffiliated, Nones…But whatever we call ourselves and however we found ourselves here, many of …
May 24, 2021
Ep 18 Creating New Mindsets
Send us a text Today we’re talking about using the Contemplative lens to create new mindsets. And in particular, we start with some questions: What does it look like to renew our minds and take thoughts captive? How do we manage to allow our minds to think on things that are noble, excellent and pr…
May 17, 2021
Ep 17 Beauty in the Ordinary
Send us a text Today we want to talk about life in the ordinary and about finding God in the more average parts of our days and lives. What can we find to sustain us? Where can something very usual become more extraordinary to us? Join us as we talk about returning to wonder, about slowing down to …
May 10, 2021
Ep 16 Toxic Positivity
Send us a text Toxic Positivity is the belief that no matter how difficult the situation, that one should always maintain a positive mindset. It’s culturally normal for us to share our positive emotions, but what about the negative ones? Many of us have believed that if we just ignore the emotion, …
May 3, 2021
Ep 15 Finding God in Your Longing
Send us a text Today we’re offering an example of what one might experience during a Spiritual Direction session. In this particular session, Kristina is bringing a dream to Chris. “I felt discombobulated…I was trying to get somewhere.” …”I’m in a time of figuring things out. What does life look li…
April 26, 2021
Ep 14 Awakening Our Souls through Spiritual Companionship
Send us a text Today we are talking with Marcia Bentley, Spiritual Companion and Supervisor for Spiritual Companions. What is Spirituality? What is the value of Spiritual Companioning? It turns out that great awakening is possible in our lives as we gain the ability to listen with our hearts, our m…
April 19, 2021
Ep 13 Fear: Choosing Action over Reaction
Send us a text Fear, whether it comes from imagined circumstances or real ones, is something we all find ourselves having to deal with. If our goal is to be able to choose action over reaction, what can help us achieve that goal? In this episode, each of us shares ways in which we’ve identified fea…