The Pocket Contemplative: Recent Episodes
dgschmelzer@gmail.com (Dave Schmelzer)
A vibrant, story-filled look at contemporary spirituality that's fun, contemplative, practical and cultural.
In the last TPC, Dave Schmelzer talked about how a profound union with God is what 1,200 years of Christian spirituality teaches is what you and I most want--though you might not have been taught this after the Reformers went in a different direction. In this episode, Dave dives into the most lasting theory in the Christian tradition about how we might get this union, Teresa of Avila's seven-stage "The Interior Castle." (A note: The Pocket Contemplative will break until September after this episode.)
Mentioned on this podcast:
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Some books Dave touches on about Teresa of Avila:
Julienne McLean's Towards Mystical Union: A Modern Commentary on The Interior Castle
So, that said, McLean's book is out of print. Amazon will sell it to you for a robust $77. So maybe a summary of her look at Teresa will be enough for you. You can find that in the chapter on Teresa in Kim Nataraja's Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation Through the Centuries. Also technically out of print, but you can get that book (a good one) for a mere $37 on Amazon.
The Lutheran pastor Dave mentions who wrote on Teresa is R. Thomas Ashbrook. His book is Mansions of the Heart: Exploring the Seven Stages of Spiritual Growth
When you explore the history of Christian spirituality, you run across a big surprise. For 1,200 years, the biggie Christian teachers told us that we've been created to profoundly want one and only one thing--union with God along the lines of what Teresa of Avila calls "mystical marriage." Maybe you weren't taught that! If not, you might want to blame John Calvin, who wrote at the same time as Teresa and shouted her down, saying that we instead were profoundly separated from God. Dave Schmelzer will discuss how that union has been described and will suggest ways in which we already at a deep level know that that's the good life we've been circling. He'll tell a bit about Teresa as well and about how she made her way to this major insight... which, in the end, she realized was what the great Chrisitians had always been teaching.
Mentioned on this podcast:
If you'd like to receive Dave's Thursday notes in your inbox, you can sign up for that here.
Some books Dave touches on about Teresa of Avila:
Julienne McLean's Towards Mystical Union: A Modern Commentary on The Interior Castle
So, that said, McLean's book is out of print. Amazon will sell it to you for a robust $77. So maybe a summary of her look at Teresa will be enough for you. You can find that in the chapter on Teresa in Kim Nataraja's Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation Through the Centuries. Also technically out of print, but you can get that book (a good one) for a mere $37 on Amazon.
The Lutheran pastor Dave mentions who wrote on Teresa is R. Thomas Ashbrook. His book is Mansions of the Heart: Exploring the Seven Stages of Spiritual Growth
In this longer episode, Dave Schmelzer reviews fascinating research about how prayer--and faith--can work so powerfully. He reviews a new book by Nir Eyal which explores the crucial role of injecting hope into our lives and how, that done, our bodies can thrive and we can develop what Eyal calls the "high agency" that can empower us to take meaningful action when life throws obstacles our way. Dave considers how this ties in with how churches look to develop strong faith in you and me and how this might inform things like prayers for healing.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Nir Eyal's book Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results
Click here to sign up to receive Dave's Thursday notes
Generations of people exploring contemplative spirituality, both in the Christian tradition (Thomas Merton) and outside of it (Thich Nhat Hanh) have gone back again and again to one brilliant and confounding teacher, the German academic and mystic Meister Eckhart. He's the mystic other mystics look to. Dave Schmelzer will take just a bit more time than normal to unpack why this might be so and to give you a window into his own enthusiasm for Eckhart.
Mentioned on this podcast:
- You can sign up to receive Dave's weekly "Thursday notes" here.
- Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation through the Centuries, edited by Kim Nataraja
We talk about happiness every now and again, but how can we find it if we realize the things we'd been pinning our happiness on, our biggest dreams, just aren't going to happen? Or even if the bottom really seems to fall out, if we get a terrible diagnosis or someone we love does? What then? Dave Schmelzer discusses research from Sonja Lyubomirsky that suggests potent ways forward.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Sonja Lyubomirsky's book The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but Does
To receive Dave's Thursday notes, sign up here.
Dave's guesting on the "Shit My Pastor Said" podcast
The connection between contemplative practice and psychotherapy is often noted, but how that came to be is a fascinating story. Dave Schmelzer offers a look at fourth century monk Evagrius of Pontus as a key example of what came out of desert spirituality and, in particular, as the (possible) originator of things you might know and love like the Enneagram, the seven deadly sins and, yes, what Freud and Jung spun into modern psychiatry. Dave closes with a brief look at Evagrius's student and champion and a major player in his own right, John Cassian.
Mentioned on this podcast:
- Kim Nataraja's lecture on Evagrius of Pontus (and another on John Cassian) from Journey to the Heart
- You can learn more about the Faith Part 2 course or register interest for it here.
- You can sign up for Dave's "Thursday notes" essays here.
Cutting to the chase, getting what we want won't make us happy because of what the researchers call "hedonic adaptation." The good news is that these same researchers tell us these desires for our lives absolutely can be central in helping us create a happy life. So what gives? How can our dreams for our lives work for us and not against us? Dave Schmelzer will explore this key question by way of famed happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky's research and insights. But before getting there, he'll look at this question a bit more broadly by considering Carl Jung's "Five Pillars of a Happy Life" along with some commentary by Arthur C. Brooks.
Mentioned on this podcast
- You can sign up to receive Dave's weekly "Thursday notes" here.
- Sonja Lyubomirsky's book The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but Does
- Arthur C. Brooks's book The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life
In another episode of Dave's "history corner," he looks at the cataclysm that happened when the emperor made Christianity the state's religion in 325. Where Christians had been poor, persecuted and few in number, it now messed with the heads of the old guard to suddenly be favored and joined by millions of far less devout "fellow Christians" who loved the perks of their connection to power. The response of a few bold people to head to the wilderness changed what Christian faith--and its contemplative variant--was to become. It's quite a story.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation Through the Centuries, edited by Kim Nataraja
You can sign up for Dave's "Thursday Notes" here
You can learn more about the free, online Faith Part 2 course here. You can register your interest here.
Contemplative practice has a remarkable connection to our physical health, among its many benefits. Dave Schmelzer will review how it connects with lengthening our telomeres, the caps on our chromosomes which determine whether we age with vigor or disease. He'll touch on advice for stress management and exercise and diet and sleep, all in a context of a mindful world.
Mentioned on this podcast
The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer, by Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel
You can sign up to receive Dave's "Thursday notes" here
You can learn more about the free, online Faith Part 2 course here. You can register your interest here.
"I dunno, that seems kind of out there to me" is a sentiment that has shadowed Christian conversations from the start. Dave Schmelzer takes us on a journey to the second century when early attempts to define orthodoxy made consequential choices about how much our experience might inform our understanding of who God is. He introduces us to key figures like Irenaeus and to a consequential debate that perhaps we haven't heard about: whether the fourth gospel would be John's or Thomas's.
Mentioned on this episode:
Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation Through the Centuries, edited by Kim Nataraja
You can sign up for Dave's "Thursday Notes" here
Some resources about The Gospel of Thomas you might enjoy:
The Gospel of Thomas: Annotated & Explained, by Stevan Davies
Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, by Elaine Pagels
After relaying some brief advice from Dick Van Dyke about turning 100, Dave Schmelzer chats about some wisdom from the Buddhist therapist Lewis Richmond about what he's learned by working with aging clients. Dave touches on fascinating ideas from Richmond about horizontal versus vertical time and the isolation of a sudden setback and experiencing aging as a fresh start along with much more.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Lewis Richmond's book Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser
Here's how to learn more about and register interest in the Faith Part 2 course
If you are not receiving Dave's emailed "Thursday Notes" and would like to (or if you have friends who would like to receive them), you can sign up for them here.
Mark Charbonneau and his friends at The Vine church in Austin, Texas are charting a unique way forward in our cultural and religious divisions. Dave Schmelzer talks with him about what their “third way” looks like and how it might help all of us in the middle of such unprecedented divisions. Does it only apply to a small number of people of good will? Does it offer broader hope? They close with a few words about the life of a pastor at all, much less one in the middle of these sorts of cultural divides.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Vine church in Austin, Texas
Join the list to receive weekly "Thursday notes" about how the themes we discuss on The Pocket Contemplative might apply to your larger world.
Some great thinkers like GK Chesterton and Meister Eckhart pitch that right at the heart of God's reality is play and that the more we can tap into this bone-deep playfulness, even in the middle of realities that look quite unpromising and overwhelming, the better we'll thrive.
Mentioned on this podcast
The God Who Plays: A Playful Approach to Theology and Spirituality, by Brian Edgar
Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, by Stuart Brown M.D.
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, by Matthew Fox
The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron
One of the charms of Christian faith is that so many scriptures encourage us to ask God for things we want. But as we age we realize it must be more complicated than that--and the great contemplatives add complexities as they focus on things like union with God as the main thing or with cautions about things like "disordered attachments". But we still do in fact want things! Dave Schmelzer offers us some things to ponder in these conundrums.
One unexpected outcome of the Christian contemplative life is that, per the Benedictines, we'll discover that the stuff we need to do everyday has the possibility of moving from "that stuff we have to get done" to "co-creating a better world with God." And not just that, but it also then might make our days feel rich and purposeful when they'd been feeling less than that. Christa Connelly helped facilitate a fascinating conversation on the ins and outs of this and she and Dave Schmelzer talk about what it's meant for her and might mean for you.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Joan Chittister's book The Monastic Heart: 50 Simple Practices for a Contemplative and Fulfilling Life
Dave Schmelzer used to lead a church in which looking to experience power that we're told comes from the Holy Spirit was a big deal. Does that view of the spiritual life translate to a contemplative world? It turns out the answer is not just "yes," but even "oh, you have no idea."
Mentioned on this podcast:
Check out the next session of Faith Part 2 in October. It's a free 8-week online look at some crucial but lesser-taught riches of Christian faith that might help us when our initial faith experience falters a bit.
Dave Schmelzer and Curtis Gruenler (an English professor and medievalist) have been friends since college and they talk about the ins and outs of how friendships themselves can empower the kind of growth in God that we talk about on The Pocket Contemplative.
Mentioned on this podcast:
If you'd like to register interest in October's (free, eight-week) Faith Part 2 course, let us know here.
Curtis is launching a Substack on friendship (from a medievalist's perspective)
Curtis and Dave allude in passing to:
Spiritual Friendship by the medieval monk Aelred of Rievaulx
Rene Girard and his Shakespeare book Theater of Envy
In this continuation of a look (from Notre Dame sociologist Chrisitan Smith) at the religious world that Millennials in particular are living in, Dave Schmelzer will continue to look at some large, cultural forces at play before turning to some self-inflicted wounds from religion.
Mentioned on this podcast
Register your interest here for this fall's Faith Part 2 course, a free, online look at how the Christian tradition (sometimes partnering with other contemplative traditions and modern neuroscience) encourages us into an unexpected second chapter of faith after, perhaps, our initial experience of faith has faltered.
Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America, by Christian Smith
Evangelical parents are taught that a key part of their parental responsibility is to raise their kids to be Christians. But that's becoming, in an understatement, far more challenging says notable Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith. In this revealing first of a two part podcast, Dave Schmelzer will walk you through some of the large-scale cultural forces that, Smith reports, are driving religion to a kind of cultural obsolescence.
Mentioned on this podcast
Register your interest here for this fall's Faith Part 2 course, a free, online look at how the Christian tradition (sometimes partnering with other contemplative traditions and modern neuroscience) encourages us into an unexpected second chapter of faith after, perhaps, our initial experience of faith has faltered.
Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America, by Christian Smith
Many earnest evangelicals and charismatics, Dave Schmelzer among them, have found comfort and connection in learning to hear God's voice in the spirit taught by the great 17th-century contemplative Brother Lawrence. But an insurmountable problem usually comes up: as delightful as the conversation itself is, lots and lots of things that are important to us don't actually work out in ways we'd felt like God was telling us they would. And, eventually, we wise up and quit this dialogue. But that is not the advice of some great contemplatives, who tell us that we've been making one key mistake all along. If we just clear that up, we're told we'll get a sea of benefits that will give us "solid ground" to stand on in the chaos that is life on earth.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Register your interest here for the 8-week Faith Part 2 course coming this fall.
The book touched on here: The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence
Many of the most prominent social activists in the last half century or so have also been contemplatives: Howard Thurman, the Dalai Lama, and Thomas Merton among others. Does the sort of spirituality we talk about here have things to offer in a world like ours where people feel daily outrages flowing through their media feeds? Might our practices actually be negative--in that moving past constant reactivity might make us too passive? But surely constant outrage mostly leads to hopelessness (and unpleasant days). Dave Schmelzer is joined by Grace Schmelzer and Steve Joh (a former pastor who currently leads a network of small, spacious, spiritual, Christian communities in the Bay Area) for a lively conversation about all of this, including a look at the most commonly discussed spiritual approach to addressing such times.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Register your interest in the next Faith Part 2 course here.
Arbor communities in the Bay Area
The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World, by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu
The end goal of spiritual development for most great Christian contemplatives is some sort of union with God. But many people find that to feel pretty distant--maybe it's something we can only hope for in heaven. But a recent, major Christian contemplative named Bernadette Roberts offers a more direct pathway not only to union with God (and maybe beyond), but also to direct lifestyle benefits along the lines of what psychologists call "flow." She talks about it using the Eastern terminology of no-self. Dave Schmelzer has found it to be the most helpful spiritual thing he's learned in some time. He'll give a brief introduction to it here and he'll also mention a new, free, 8-week online course about these things that will be starting in February called "Faith Part 2."
Mentioned on this podcast:
"Faith Part 2," an upcoming, free online course about what good things might come next for people who perhaps have experienced the limits of their early faith instruction. You can get more information and register interest here.
The Experience of No-Self, by Bernadette Roberts
Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing, by Jed McKenna
An episode of the Ringer podcast Plain English with Derek Thompson called “Why the Voice Inside Your Head Can Sound Like a Jerk” (Sept. 20, 2022)
Some people, feeling unsettled by the election, have wondered what the wisdom talked about on The Pocket Contemplative might offer us. Dave Schmelzer looks to Julian of Norwich, who lived during her own unsettling time (the Bubonic Plague), for some thoughts. In his introduction, he also talks about "Faith Part 2," a new 8-week online course about the how-to's of a faith that, learning from the greats, might help to move us past faith challenges into a richer life with God than perhaps we've yet been exposed to.
Mentioned on this podcast:
To register interest in the 8-week online Faith Part 2 course, go to: thepocketcontemplative.com/faithpart2
Two popular translations of Julian of Norwich's Revelation of Divine Love:
Ellyn Sanna's All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich (Very readable, very faith-filled.)
Mirabai Starr's Julian of Norwich: The Showings: Uncovering the Face of the Feminine in Revelations of Divine Love (Probably the most popular recent translation and discussion of Julian, from a more interreligious perspective.)
Hartmut Rosa is a German sociologist whom many Christians have been looking to as a guide to how our lives seem to be accelerating. Do we somehow need to opt out of this acceleration if we want a happy life, much less a life with God? Rosa says no, opting out isn’t possible. But he does have a contemplative answer: “resonance,” a kind of paying attention that can sit alongside much of what we talk about here. Vince Brackett, a Chicago pastor, and Rosa devotee, walks us through this fascinating view of a rich life in a busy world.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Hartmut Rosa’s book Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World
Brown Line Church in Chicago
Dave Schmelzer is in touch with many people who are, to a greater or lesser degree, deconstructing their earlier faith experience, a common process for midlife people of faith. HIstoric Christian spirituality tells us there's a unique second-half-of-life flowering of faith. Dave lets us in on a series of conversations he's been having about how we might explore that in our era.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Short videos about The Critical Journey's stages of faith
Intriguing blog posts about "post-progressive" faith
Howard Thurman was the great behind-the-scenes spiritual leader of America’s civil rights movement. Martin Luther King was said to carry a copy of Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited with him for inspiration on each march. But Thurman starts by being among the great nature mystics in the Christian tradition. Why do you (like everyone) love nature so much? For Thurman, that’s part of how we create that strong inner self that so influenced King and others.
Mentioned on this podcast:
What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman, by Lerita Coleman Brown
I want to be happy. You want to be happy. But maybe our best pathway there comes by focusing instead on "living well.". MIT philosopher Kieran Setiya's book Life Is Hard helps Dave Schmelzer navigate those choices, with a particular look at how it applies when we feel like a failure or when we're hunting for meaning.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Kieran Setiya's book Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way (which, at the moment, is a mere $4.99 on Kindle)
Here at The Pocket Contemplative, we do deep dives into some of the richest Christian wisdom one can find about getting close to God. But one revolutionary thinker suggested that, while that's all wonderful and we should learn all we can from such people, these great saints did live in a very different world with very different spiritual dynamics than we live in. Many were cloistered. The average person was born into the trade of their family, married someone from their village, and went to the local church like all their neighbors did. But by the 1850s that Soren Kierkegaard lived in, everyone was flooded with unprecedented choices about what to do for a living, who to marry and even what to believe--a flood that has only accelerated in our time. He argued that human psyches weren't set up to handle that kind of flood, which makes us all anxious. His road out strikes Dave Schmelzer as a drink of fresh water for a thirsty (modern) soul.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Existentialism and the Authentic Life,a Great Courses course by Skye C. Cleary
Christian Contemplative Spirituality--alternately called Christian Mysticism--has gone in and out of favor over the millennia, but has rich roots from the Hebrew Bible forward. With help from the work of Carl McColman, Dave Schmelzer will help orient you as you look to navigate this vital, essential stream.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Carl McColman's The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: An Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality
Is there a secret of life? Contemplatives of many stripes suggest it surround cultivating a kind of trust and openness that endures through the hardest of times. Dave Schmelzer dives into wisdom on this from the most optimistic of contemplatives, Julian of Norwich (C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton both said she was their go-to contemplative teacher). Julian lived through the bubonic plague and yet came out of it with a remarkable trust that others around her didn't have.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic and Beyond, by Matthew Fox
Zen and the Art of Happiness, by Chris Prentiss
Christianity's most potent and lasting advice on aging well comes from one of its most remarkable contemplatives: Hildegard of Bingen from the 12th century. She was an explosion of creativity: she wrote the first known opera (by hundreds of years). She was an architect, a physician, a poet, a painter, a composer, a theologian and a leader of women. This podcast will look at her pitch that "greening" is the road to joy, fruitfulness and vitality as we age.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint for Our Times, by Matthew Fox
Maybe the most-influential Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart, had profound thoughts about how our spiritual practice is meant to--even must!--empower our creativity. Dave Schmelzer dives into Eckhart's deep, generative waters here.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, by Matthew Fox
Kieran Setiya--a philosopher at MIT who wrote the terrific book Midlife: A Philosophical Guide that Dave Schmelzer talked about on the last episode--joins Dave for a lively conversation about how philosophy can help with our deepest questions and about how it interacts with the spirituality we talk about here.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Midlife: A Philosophical Guide, by Kieran Setiya
LIfe is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way, by Kieran Setiya
Philosophers and theologians offer different answers to how we should feel about the losses we confront in midlife. Kieran Setiya, a philosopher teaching at MIT, wrote a terrific recent book on midlife crisis. Dave Schmelzer highlights some of Setiya's best stuff, including Setiya's takes on missed opportunities, why we can simultaneously regret and not regret where our lives have taken us, and whether there is help for those moments when we realize we're not as far from dying as we once were.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Kieran Setiya's book, Midlife: A Philosophical Guide
When Dave Schmelzer first started exploring contemplative spirituality, he had a hard time finding teachers who would get pragmatic in the "just do this, and then do this, and then do this, and here's what you should discover" sense. Mo Gawdat has written a bestselling guide along those lines called Solve for Happy. Dave walks us through Gawdat's pathway to get moving.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Mo Gawdat's book Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy
To register your interest in a contemplative starter group:
email connect@journey-on.net
As Dave Schmelzer and Vince Brackett talked about in a recent episode, faith looks very different than it did a few hundred years back--and even than it did sixty years back. Professor Andrew Root--who was Vince's enthusiastic teacher on the subject--walks us into some of the ins and outs of what this looks and feels like.
Faith Formation in a Secular Age: Responding to the Church's Obsession with Youthfulness, by Andrew Root, the first in a series of books about living in a secular age as seen through the eyes of Charles Taylor and Hartmut Rosa.
A Secular Age, by Charles Taylor
Resonance: A Sociology of our Relationship to the World, by Hartmut Rosa
Dave Schmelzer's new favorite book on forgiveness (and maybe one of his favorite books period) is by Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mpho Tutu van Furth. Mpho joins Dave from Amsterdam to talk about what she's taken from the book in years since, her reflections on it being forged out of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and much more.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World, by Desmond and Mpho Tutu.
You'd think that apart from affirming that, of course, forgiving people who've hurt us is crucial to our happiness, there wouldn't be much more to say. But Desmond and Mpho Tutu wrote what seems like the final word on the subject in their wonderful The Book of Forgiving, which includes many stories from Desmond's leading of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was central to preventing bloody civil war after apartheid fell. Dave Schmelzer talks with Grace Schmelzer about how the Tutus's insights have impacted their experience of forgiving.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World, by Desmond and Mpho Tutu.
In Part 1, we looked at how churches seem to be in the midst of a transition to something new. Here, Vince Brackett and Dave Schmelzer will take a deep dive into the thoughts of the big kahuna on this subject, Charles Taylor, and of his brilliant student, Hartmut Rosa. What if our world is set up to tell us that if we only had more resources we could have the life we want? And that our lack of resources is our fault--leading us to push and push and burn out. Taylor and Rosa think that's massively relevant to each of our lives and that churches fall under the same pressures, which, if unaddressed, will push them away from relevance. Dave and Vince discuss the profound hope that's at the heart of this.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Charles Taylor and his book A Secular Age
Hartmut Rosa, of whom a relevant book would be Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World
While churches are rapidly declining in numbers, new things are popping up. Dave Schmelzer will explore what's happening and the hope for what might be next with rich perspectives from thinkers like Phyllis Tickle, Charles Taylor, Hartmut Rosa and others... alongside some anecdotes from his friends that might ring a bell for you.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Charles Taylor's A Secular Age
Hartmut Rosa's Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World
Phyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why
Christian contemplative spirituality got forgotten for about three hundred years, after Brother Lawrence's famous teachings in the 1600s. The person who brought it back and set the stage for a whole new era of Christian spirituality--and people like Richard Rohr and Thomas Merton--was an unlikely candidate, an upper-middle-class British woman named Evelyn Underhill. Dave Schmelzer starts with a brief overview of this remarkable woman and then interviews Underhill's most accomplished biographer, Dana Greene.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Evelyn Underhill: Artist of the Infinite Life, by Dana Greene
The Spiritual Life, by Evelyn Underhill
Dana Greene's website: danagreene.org
To receive the Evelyn Underhill newsletter, go to evelynunderhill.org
Last episode had Gary Neal Hansen telling Dave that among the ten ancient Christian prayer practices he teaches and write about, the two that have most popped for people are the Jesus Prayer (the subject of a recent podcast) and what's called Praying the Office (first popularized by St. Benedict), which is how a large swath of Christians have prayed for centuries. Dave hasn't been drawn to Praying the Office, but his wife Grace absolutely has. Dave gives an overview of Hansen's remarks about Praying the Office and then turns things over to Grace to hear more and to walk us through what exactly happens as we give it a try.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers, by Gary Neal Hansen
Prayers for Summertime: A Manual for Prayer (The Divine Hours), by Phyllis Tickle
The Divine Hours (Volume Two): Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime: A Manual for Prayer, by Phyllis Tickle
The Divine Hours (Volume Three): Prayers for Springtime: A Manual for Prayer, by Phyllis Tickle
The Divine Hours, Pocket Edition, by Phyllis Tickle
If you or someone you know is interested in exploring spiritual direction with Grace Schmelzer, please email her at graceschmelzer1@gmail.com
Gary Neal Hansen has taught ten ways to pray from very different Christians traditions to lots of people. Gary (who wrote Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers) talks with Dave Schmelzer about what he's learned both from the practices themselves and from how people have found them helpful or not. He and Dave also spend some time on what prayer itself is actually supposed to do for us.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers, by Gary Neal Hansen
Gary's website: garynealhansen.com
A free, downloadable book from Gary: Love Your Bible: Finding Your Way to the Presence of God with a 12th Century Monk
Medieval monks and modern business school profs agree that our bone-deep addition to distracting ourselves is keeping us from happiness, meaning and productivity. Which perhaps will be no surprise to people listening to a podcast called The Pocket Contemplative! That said, Dave Schmelzer dives into the wisdom from those monks and professors and how it might both cheer you up and empower a fresh way forward.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distractionby Jamie Kreiner
Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most, by Cassie Holmes
"The Time Jar" YouTube Video by Meir Kay
Charlie Kaufman on distraction, from Adaptation
A good chunk of any modern teaching on contemplation for Christians goes back to one mega-influential book called The Cloud of Unknowing from the dusty past of the 14th century. And yet generations of would-be contemplatives have found it is a fountain that doesn't run dry very quickly at least. Dave Schmelzer will give you a quick overview of why this book has been such a biggie, why--like many old books--it might initially feel off-putting in some ways, and why what it teaches has at the very least changed his life.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Cloud of Unknowing
Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers by Gary Neal Hansen
The biggies in Christian history tell us a story of faith that's surprising to many of us, but which turns out to be exactly what we need to find ongoing joy. Dave Schmelzer chats about this with Jason M. Baxter, a scholar who wrote An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life, which Dave podcasted about recently. Jason walks us into how this look at the "wild" teachings of people like Augustine and Hildegard of Bingen and Meister Eckhart and many more can open our worlds like nothing else can.
Mentioned on this podcast
An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life, by Jason M. Baxter
Russian Orthodox friends suggest that a fast track to spiritual progress might come through a ten-word prayer that gets repeated. Ten words! Is it too good to be true? Dave Schmelzer, with help from Gary Neal Hansen's book Kneeling with Giants, does a deep dive into this pathway to God and reports on how it's been going for him.
Mentioned in this podcast
Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers, by Gary Neal Hansen
Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation through the Centuries, edited by Kim Nataraja
The Way of a Pilgrim (The Pilgrim's Tale)
Have the great Christian saints, over millennia, been in agreement about some central points and practices if we hope to continue our growth? One scholar says they have been indeed. Dave Schmelzer runs down some key points of interest, not least the happy surprise that, if we keep at this, our reward will be an overflowing playfulness in our lives.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Jason M. Baxter's book An Introduction to Christian Mysticism; Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life
Pete Holmes on not knowing
Some mystics who come up: Hildegard of Bingen, Gregory of Nyssa, Meister Eckhart, Thomas Merton, Evagrius, Nicholas of Cusa, Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, Francis of Assisi, John Ruusbroec, Evelyn Underhill, C.S. Lewis
As we age, we face more and more life circumstances that can seem lose/lose. Take care of our aging parent and lose any margin in our lives. Start a needed side hustle that has a substantial chance of failing. The Bible encourages us to trust God enough to ask for all the things we want, but it then pivots to a different, contemplative approach that might grow our faith through these tough challenges. Dave Schmelzer looks at the ins and outs of that important flexibility while bringing in a vivid picture of what that might look like from another great world tradition.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Proverbs 16:9; Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 46:10
The Mahabharata
Stephen Cope's The Great Work of Your Life
A quote from Thomas Merton to a young activist: “Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself.”
Thoughtful happiness tips can be opportunities for mindfulness, for noticing ways to live that we'd previously been blind to or reactive against. Dave Schmelzer talks a bit about that and then details two dozen such tips from the mega-popular book The Happiness Experiment.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
Anything we want to do that's important to us will face (sometimes severe) resistance. One Bible perspective calls resistance its own "god of this world"--and St. Paul himself makes the point profoundly: "The thing I most want to do I don't do." Dave Schmelzer does a dive into the insights of the most-read recent thinker on the subject, Steven Pressfiled in his seminal The War of Art. Learn from contemplatives and life coaches as well as Pressfield and see if you find help with your own resistance.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Steven Pressfield's The War of Art
Blog help by way of:
Bodhipaksa at wildmind.org
Leo Babauta at zenhabits.net
Michelle Rees at wholelifechallenge.com
Dave Schmelzer loves life hacks, but has found that they often have a shorter shelf life than he'd hoped. Contemplatives have a surprising answer for why that might be. Life hacks, they tell us, come from a world view saturated in original sin: your problems come from your fundamental laziness that has to be overcome. But maybe we don't need to overcome anything. Maybe we already have a deep happiness that we can access as we quiet down a bit. Rami Shapiro and Anthony DeMello and Tara Brach help us here.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Rami Shapiro's book Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent
Anthony DeMello's book Stop Fixing Yourself: Wake Up, All is Well
Tara Brach's book Radical Acceptance
Christians spiritually address anxiety in two ways: spiritual warfare and contemplation. Dave Schmelzer looks at some of the pros and cons of each of these approaches and then takes an extended look at perhaps the most famous warfare prayer in the last two thousand years, The Breastplate of St. Patrick, a prayer Dave loves and often prays.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Breastplate of St. Patrick
I bind to myself today/ The fullness of the Trinity:
I believe the Father, Son and Spirit/ The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today/ Christ coming to earth:
His baptism, crucifixion and burial,/ His resurrection and ascension,
His coming on the Judgment Day.
I bind to myself today/ The love of archangels
The obedience of angels/ The prayers of Patriarchs,
The vision of Prophets,/ The speech of Apostles,
The faith of martyrs,/ The purity of Mary,
The boldness of saints.
I bind to myself today/ Heaven’s power--
Light like the sun,/ Brightness like the moon,
Splendor like fire,/ Flashing like lightning,
Speed like wind,/ Depth like sea,
Stability like earth,/ Solidity like rocks.
I bind to myself today/ God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to strengthen me,/ God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,/ God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to speak through me,/ God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,/ God's Shield to protect me,
God's Army to empower me,/ Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,/ Against anyone who considers injuring me,
Whether they’re far or near,/ Few or many.
I invoke today all these virtues/ Against every hostile, merciless power
Which may assail my body and soul--/ Against the lies of false prophets,
Against the darkness of unbelief,/ Against the distractions of heresy,
Against the temptations of idolatry,/ Against the spells of sorcerers--
Against everything that would bind my soul.
Christ, protect me and mine today/ Against poison and burning,
Against drowning and injury and death,/ That we might live full lives for you.
Christ with me, Christ before me,/ Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,/ Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the home,/ Christ in the street,
Christ in the store,/ Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,/ Christ in every ear that hears me. I bind to myself today/ The fullness of the Trinity:
I believe the Father, Son and Spirit/ The Creator of the Universe.
Lots of people--from popular bloggers to academics to contemplatives--are pitching that our drive for greatness might not be giving us what it promises. Might "good-enough" living offer us a kind of joy along with giving us a place in a whole world that's happier? Dave Schmelzer mentions four recent discussion of this before focusing on two, including the mega-popular self-help book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck*.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck*, by Mark Manson
The Good-Enough Life, by Avram Alpert
Mentioned in passing:
The Extraordinary Gift of Being Ordinary, by Ronald Siegel
Donald Winnicott's thinking about "The Good-Enough Mother"
Feeling overwhelmed is basic to being human. Few great teachers have had more helpful things to say about this than Julian of Norwich, the contemplative who wrote during the bubonic plague years. Despite her own suffering, her legacy is of being colossally encouraging to the point that CS Lewis and Richard Rohr say she's their favorite mystic. Dave Schmelzer offers some introductory thoughts on how you can tap into her encouragement the next time you're overwhelmed.
Mentioned on this podcast:
All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian Norwich, by Ellyn Sanna
"A Pastor Ripped Apart by Our Divided Country," a "First Person" New York Times podcast from July 21, 2022
Even in good times, life can feel burdensome. We do our tasks, wind down over TV (maybe with a glass of wine), and then do it all again tomorrow. We feel judged and, let's face it, we judge others. A self-help bestseller, The Four Agreements, tries to offer a way into enjoying life that has parallels to the New Testament book of James and the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. Dave Schmelzer walks you through its encouragement to, right now, start enjoying your life.
Mentioned on this podcast
The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz
James 3:5-9; Ecclesiastes 2:24
Research tells us that rejection and judgment will always batter our self-esteem. But classic mindfulness--along with Jesuit practices like the Examen and persistent advice from the Bible itself--offers a powerful antidote.
Mentioned on this podcast:
A Great Courses course called "Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior" by Duke psychology professor Mark Leary.
(A price hack for The Great Courses. Many of their courses are pricey. Dave's work-around?
He buys them as audiobooks on Audible for the price of one credit, about $15 with a subscription, a bit more without one.)
Perhaps we're lucky enough to be initiated into life's mysteries by a wise person or by a community practice. Great myths have taught us that life itself can do this if we pay attention. This perspective--often called The Hero's Journey--provides interesting ways of thinking about descriptions of spiritual growth that we get from saints like Teresa of Avila. Using lots of stories and movie clips, Dave Schmelzer walks us into this opportunity to discover again who we actually are and what makes us come to life.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Some resources on the Hero's Journey:
The book Dave first read, and still perhaps the easiest introduction, is a book that applies this to screenwriting called: The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, by Christopher Vogler.
The seminal book on the Heroine's Journey is Maureen Murdock's The Heroine's Journey: Woman's Quest for Wholeness.
Kenny Loggins's memoir is called Still Alright. A terrific, gospel song of his that strikingly describes atonement coming from surviving the belly of the whale is "That's When I Find You" from his (regrettably) most-recent solo album, 2007's "How About Now."
A book on the Examen is Sleeping with Bread: Holding what Gives You Life, by Dennis, Sheila and Matthew Linn.
If you'd like to donate towards The Pocket Contemplative, you can do that at the "give" tab at journey-on.net.
Great saints and modern psychologists agree that our lives work best when we pull off something that, technically, might be anti-human: hurting whenever we hurt, but not anticipating some future challenge or pain. As Jesus teaches, animals are good at that; people not so much. So how do we pull off this most-important thing? And what does it get us if we do?
Mentioned on this podcast:
Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior, a The Great Courses course by Mark Leary, of Duke University
The Interior Castle, by Teresa of Avila
Matthew 6:25-26 and 10:16-20
The greatest spiritual teachers tell us that doing our best to improve however we can is crucial. But then they warn us that our quest for improvement will abruptly become less helpful--which is not a problem at all, but is an invitation to walk into the full life we've been wanting. This is the moment when transformation comes into play. Dave Schmelzer walks us into a deep dive into the great teacher of transformation, the sixteenth century biggie Teresa of Avila. Along with insights from the blockbuster movie Interstellar, he'll offer some concrete steps into Teresa's deep, powerful waters.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Interior Castle, by Teresa of Avila
The Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar
Alongside Jesus, the mystics tell us we have a superpower when we've been hurt or when the larger world seems scary or hostile: lovingkindness prayer or meditation. The Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela show us its power. The new movie Everything Everywhere All at Once takes it as one of its themes. Join Dave Schmelzer as he lets you in on a lovingkindness hack and as he introduces you to the thinking of the great modern teacher on the subject.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, by Sharon Salzburg
Moving into all the possibilities of our lives requires a fearlessness that can seem out of reach. Dave Schmelzer takes a look both at helpful tools along these lines from modern teachers and also at how some New Testament writers teach us that overcoming our fear of being afraid unlocks the rich benefits of faith itself.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Hebrews 11:13-16
The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, by Martha Beck
The early stages of our life of faith often require us to keep quiet about anything that might rock the boat with others around us. But a surprise is that subsequent stages do the reverse. Now we need to continually relearn what's true for us and then be fully seen for those truths. The transition can be a painful one! But then we discover rich rewards. Dave Schmelzer explores how The Examen (discussed in the last episode) can help us with this while also taking a deep dive into advice from the mystics (and from St. Mark) about the power of knowing and speaking our truth.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Critical Journey: Stages in the LIfe of Faith, by Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encourages us towards a kind of perfection--what the contemplatives see as a kind of inner, structural integrity--that God has. Dave Schmelzer looks at two different takes on how to pull this off: one from pop culture, and the other from among the most ancient and enduring Christian spiritual practices, the Jesuit practice of the Examen.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life, by Dennis, Matthew and Sheila Linn
The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, by Martha Beck
We're told that a major benefit of deepening spiritual practice is discovering a profound kindness towards ourselves and others. Dave Schmelzer will fill you on insights from psychology and contemplative practice about finding this self-compassion and then Grace Schmelzer will tell an affecting story about how learning to hear God's voice powerfully broke through her own inner judgment.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Shauna Shapiro's book Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy
Modern contemplatives often tie spiritual practice to wellness in general. Dave Schmelzer looks at some inspiring stories about healthy aging even as he discusses modern brain science around things like telomeres and emotion contagion and positive stress. He closes with a look at the nine common habits among the parts of the world that are home to the people who live the longest.
Mentioned on this podcast
A Los Angeles Times column by Steve Lopez called "The secret to a long life? Curiosity, says Morrie, who has now survived two pandemics"
The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest, by Dan Buettner
One of the great promises of contemplative practices is that maybe we won't have to suffer as much as we do. Today, learning from psychology professor Shauna Shapiro, Dave Schmelzer will review how exactly that happens, along with a look at some basics about things like getting sleepy or feeling pain or being frustrated as our mind wanders, along with other things along those lines.
Mentioned on this episode:
Shauna Shapiro's book Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy
Eighteen hundred years of Christian teaching tells us we should be focusing on something that we likely have never even heard of--union with God. Join Dave Schmelzer as he takes a brief tour of some of these great teachers as he explores whether such a thing is possible for normal, modern people and how, if it is, the way to start will be by reengaging some fundamentals.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies Throughout the Ages, by Ursula King
The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith, by Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich
John Wooden on the Fundamentals: YouTube Video
It can feel threatening when our experience of faith changes--or when someone else's does. Dave Schmelzer looks at classic wisdom from spiritual direction about what different stages of faith look like and about how to figure out both where we are and what we might expect is to come.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith, by Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich
Outrageous cultural happenings understandably provoke our outrage. On the downside, the recent FB whistleblower points out that FB's artificial intelligence relentlessly looks to inflame that righteous anger for its own nefarious purposes. A whole category of spiritual writings, called "apocalypses," helps us safely navigate this conundrum. Dave Schmelzer offers wisdom from a major scholar and from the great writer sometimes called "John the Revelator" to help us boldly stand up for important things while remaining happy and hope-filled.
Mentioned on this podcast
Craig R. Koester's magisterial Great Courses course: The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meaning in Western History
If you'd enjoy giving to The Pocket Contemplative: journey-on.net/give
Irene Kraegel is a pioneer in exploring mindfulness from a Christian perspective. Dave Schmelzer explored some of her insights in the previous The Pocket Contemplative. She joins us in this episode to walk us through how she's arrived at her unique life mission and to offer wise counsel to those of us on a similar journey.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Mindful Christian: Cultivating a Life of Intentionality, Openness, and Faith, by Irene Kraegel. Also, check out themindfulchristian.com
To learn more about or join in with an online group with Dave and others: journey-on.net
To join Dave's mailing list for a conversation about big topics about faith and culture: https://www.blueoceanfaith.org/connect/contact-us. Then click "Join the list."
Practicing mindfulness is popular and, for Dave Schmelzer, robustly helpful. But is it Christian? Dave looks at insights from The Mindful Christian, in which Irene Kraegel thoughtfully and thoroughly grounds it in the Bible and the Christian tradition. God, it turns out, is very much present and at work as we "get behind the waterfall" of our thoughts and emotions.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Mindful Christian: Cultivating a Life of Intentionality, Openness and Faith, by Irene Kraegel
To learn more about or join in with an online group with Dave and others: journey-on.net
To join Dave's mailing list for conversation about big topics about faith and culture: https://www.blueoceanfaith.org/connect/contact-us. Then click "Join the list."
Maybe like C.S. Lewis you've had spiritual experiences that have kicked off a kind of longing that's almost painful. Contemplatives like Meister Eckhart, calling in particular on the biblical book Song of Songs, tell us that such experiences--along with many others that are more subtle--are ways that God is inviting us into a renewed, vivid experience of being alive. Join Dave Schmelzer as he explores these experiences both with Eckhart and the Song of Songs and also with a modern brain researcher who gets excited about what such experiences can mean for your long-term thriving.
Mentioned on this podcast
Meister Eckhart
Song of Songs
J.P. Williams's book Seeking the God Beyond: A Beginner’s Guide to Christian Apophatic Spirituality
Wallace J. Nichols's book Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being near, in, on, or under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do
Irene Kraegel's book The Mindful Christian: Cultivating a Life of Intentionality, Openness, and Faith
Our newsfeed can overwhelm us with terrible world news, but what are our options? We don't want to cover our ears and disconnect, but who wants to feel daily dread? Dave Schmelzer walks us through advice from contemplatives, from spiritual leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, from folk wisdom, and from a man who learned from his native India the power of embracing the chaos that's all around us.
Mentioned on this podcast
Bob Miglani's book, Embrace the Chaos
The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu's book, The Book of Joy
An article from Psyche.co by Loyola Marymount philosophy professor Brian Treanor called "The 'Melancholy Joy' of Living in Our Brutal, Beautiful World"
A scene from Shakespeare in Love
A therapeutic approach called ACT has a lot in common with contemplative spirituality with the added benefit of offering practical advice in unexpected language. Dave Schmelzer offers a deep dive into how to take fresh action about the things that can build your richest life--even as you allow your challenging thoughts and emotions to live in an expansive world.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living: A Guide to ACT, by Russ Harris
As perplexing as our lives can feel at any given moment, big-name early Christians like Gregory of Nyssa encourage us that, right now, we have the stuff of unending spiritual growth and the joy and purpose that come with that. With his customary lively stories and cultural touchstones, Dave Schmelzer helps us poke our heads into Gregory's "darkness above the light" as we wade into a spirituality of these early Christian heroes that's, strangely, gotten lost to most Westerners but has provided a path to union with God to countless fellow journeyers.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Gregory of Nyssa's The LIfe of Moses
1 John
Philippians 3:12-15
The Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso
What are we hoping our spirituality will offer us as we age? The famed Harvard Grant Study looks at men and women over 75+ years to answer the question of what aging well--and dying well--looks like. What will lead to happiness, health and mental capacity in our eighties if we get that far. Among their intriguing findings: religiosity is surprisingly correlated with depression, but another version of devout spirituality ages very well. Join Dave Schmelzer as he walks you through their insights with his usual lively stories and with insight from a pop culture phenomenon.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Aging Well, by George Vaillant
The Harvard Grant Study
Tuesdays with Morrie movie
The Untethered Soul, by Michael A. Singer
Our lives can feel like one big waiting-room where the stuff we're hoping will happen is taking a long time to actually, like, happen. But what if the deepest spiritual wisdom of all is embedded in plain sight in that observation? Join Dave Schmelzer as he looks, in this episode, at wisdom from the biblical Letter to the Hebrews about that unexpected contemplative insight--and from the way that wisdom is expanded in the latest Oscar winner, Nomadland.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Letter to the Hebrews
Nomadland
Contemplatives tell us we all make a classic mistake: we desperately try to fix ourselves when, instead, we're offered a powerful road to change that both works and takes far less effort. Dave Schmelzer, with lots of stories, looks at biblical wisdom around waking up in this way and then incorporates powerful insights from teachers like, from within Christendom, Anthony De Mello and, from outside of it, Charlotte Joko Beck.
Mentioned on this podcast:
John 12:24; Isaiah 30:15-16
Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen: Life and Work
Anthony De Mello, Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality
In this occasional TPC series in which we consider what might be familiar Christian themes in fresh ways, Dave Schmelzer looks at the unrivaled power of crossing cultures on God's behalf. Why is that one action so often connected with experiencing spiritual power? Dave tells dramatic personal stories on these lines involving, like, Hezbollah, but then has a wealth of day-to-day looks at this, especially zeroing in on how this might play out as we cross profound cultural divisions that might exist between us and our family and friends.
Mentioned on this podcast:
The Palestinian-American comedian Sammy Obeid
Genesis 11:1-9; Genesis 1:28
Thomas Merton's thoughts on "the devil's theology" from New Seeds of Contemplation
We all face disillusionment, but the contemplatives offer us the good news that we're then given a profound opportunity to be initiated into the mysteries that lead to freedom and growth--and maybe even enlightenment and eternal life. With plenty of stories, Dave Schmelzer will invite us into perspectives from, well, Jesus and also Father Richard Rohr and St. John of the Cross and Jack Kornfield. He'll detail a fascinating survey he conducted about why people get disillusioned with churches in particular and he'll look at what that might mean. And, most profoundly, he'll talk about how what can seem like such a dark night might actually prove to be, in John's understanding, "a night more lovely than the dawn."
Mentioned on this podcast
Isaiah 50:10-11; John 12:24; Mark 4:26-32
Father Richard Rohr's Center for Action and Contemplation newsletter
Dave's newsletter (see https://www.blueoceanfaith.org/connect)
Jack Kornfield's book: A Path with Heart
A good deal of our misery comes from not feeling like our lives are turning out the way we'd planned. But Jesus--and mystics like Thomas Merton--strongly encourage us that we're on the wrong track when we look at our lives through that lens. Instead, they suggest an entirely different perspective on what we're up to that offers a new opportunity for enjoying our days, experiencing God, and finding the kind of meaning we'd been wanting.
Mentioned on this podcast:
John 15:5; Matthew 6:33
Thomas Merton
"Seasons of Love," from the musical Rent
A book which addresses similar questions: The Practicing Mind, by Thomas M. Sterner
We live amidst profound cultural and spiritual divisions but can feel adrift in terms of what to do about it apart from judging people across the divide from us. Historic spiritual wisdom does have some thoughts, some of which turn out to be quite practical. Dave Schmelzer walks us through a provocative case study with insights from Franciscans, Zen thinkers, and psychologists, along with his own experiences.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Not the Religious Type and Blue Ocean Faith, by Dave Schmelzer, and Further Along the Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck as books that discuss the stage theory we look at here.
The Wisdom Pattern, by Richard Rohr
The many books of Ken Wilber (here's one that addresses things on this podcast)
Weekly online groups (and a Sunday service) around these things that you should totally check out. More info at connect@journey-on.net
Sometimes fervent, youthful faith can't make the journey into our adulthood, maybe because of life's suffering. But some of us then feel consequential loss, because feeling close to God, in good times and bad, felt great. Looking at the life of Harriet Tubman and focusing on Jesus's advice in his so-called "Farewell Discourse," Dave Schmelzer suggests that a lifetime of continual spiritual growth by no means needs to lose the best parts of our most heartfelt experience of God.
Mentioned on this episode:
The 2019 Oscar-nominated movie Harriet
John 14-17
Brother Lawrence's book The Practice of the Presence of God
The recent Atlanta shootings offer many storylines, not least highlighting racism directed towards Asian Americans. But one compelling storyline looks at the often destructive consequences of how conservative churches have taught about sexuality. Dave Schmelzer takes a candid look at this while then exploring the powerfully helpful contemplative reply that comes from major teachers like Francis of Assisi and Therese of Lisieux.
Mentioned on this podcast:
"Atlanta Suspect’s Fixation on Sex Is Familiar Thorn for Evangelicals" by Ruth Graham in The New York Times, March 20, 2021
Matthew 5:3; Matthew 5:27-29; Matthew 5:37; Matthew 7:20; I Corinthians 4;3-4; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Proverbs 12:22
Augustine of Hippo
Therese of Lisieux
Francis of Assisi
As we mature, we do whatever is required to make our lives work out. Still, the great spiritual traditions suggest that there remains a true you and me that will become forged over time, but will require attention and perhaps risk to experience. The more we discover and live this out, the more we find ourselves connected to the entire world. Join Dave Schmelzer for contemplative insights from India that interact with the deepest wisdom of great Christians like Thomas Merton and others. Dave closes with a related contemplative practice suggested by a famous neuroscientist.
Mentioned on this episode:
A book on related themes: The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling, by Stephen Cope
Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence--The Groundbreaking Meditation Practice, by Daniel J. Siegel
Inspired by the Oscar-nominated movie Sound of Metal, Dave Schmelzer looks at the latest research on how to find greater wellbeing. Starting, as Sound of Metal does, with contemplative practice, Dave looks at the research and advice behind practices like: writing rather than ruminating, spending discretionary money in a way that will lead to more happiness, learning how to savor life, and many more. But he gives particular focus to two practices: contemplatively learning to forgive and successfully nurturing interpersonal relationships.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Sound of Metal, a movie on Amazon Prime
The Psychology of Happiness, an Audible Original by Jaime Kurtz
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, by John Gottman with Nan Silver
"36 Questions to Bring You Closer Together"
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201310/36-questions-bring-you-closer-together
We're told that God is powerful, but as we age, most of us are flummoxed or frustrated with how to think about that, because clearly that power quite often does not bring about things that are important to us. Dave Schmelzer--inviting us into a perspective from a new, occasional Journey On offering--details how Jesus (followed by Gandhi, among others) helps us experience what our very encouraging, if unexpected power actually is.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Connect@journey-on.net to learn more about weekly, online Journey On groups and a new, occasional Sunday service
Sally's monologue from Barry, an HBO series
Scene from Ted Lasso, an Apple TV+ series
"God of Many Worlds"--reflections from Dave's physicist friend, Brian Odom. https://brian-c-odom.medium.com/
Justice questions are an explosive dividing line. Natasha Huang, a leader in Journey On and a hospital chaplain, and Cecil Tengatenga, a health researcher at Yale, join Dave Schmelzer to pass on how insights from a transformative class experience they shared together about contemplative spirituality and racial justice have shaped their lives and the lives of their classmates ever since.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Jesus and the Disinherited, by Howard Thurman
Most of us, in the end, experience two fundamental emotions. When the wind of life feels at our back, we feel great. When it feels in our face, we feel anxious and stressed. Both the Bible and the great spiritual teachers tell us that the way to experience the good one of these is mystical and comes by pursuing the kind of spiritual practice that empowers God to bring us everything we need--all on God's own initiative. Join Dave Schmelzer as he explores deep teaching along these lines from Jesus and St. Paul and famous preachers and pop spirituality and, okay, the new streaming comedy, Ted Lasso.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller
Father Thomas Keating
Isaiah 64:4; Matthew 6:33; 1 Corinthians 13:13; Galatians 5:19-23
The Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso
Persistent, heartfelt prayer has a long history of bringing good things into the world... but perhaps not in the direct way we'd hoped for. Dave Schmelzer looks at how many of his friends can no longer pray as they once did, because it doesn't "work." He talks about a provocative take on this from an unexpected contemplative point of view and about how many have found it unlocks a whole new world of good things from a praying life.
Mentioned on this podcast:
A quote from Thich Nhat Hanh:
If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud there will be no water; without water the trees cannot grow; and without trees, you cannot make paper. So the cloud is in here. The experience of this page is dependent on the existence of a cloud. Paper and cloud are so close. Let us think of other things, like sunshine. Sunshine is very important because the forest cannot grow without sunshine, and we as humans cannot grow without sunshine. So the logger needs sunshine in order to cut the tree, and the tree needs sunshine in order to be a tree. Therefore, you can see sunshine in this sheet of paper. And if you look more deeply, with the eyes of those who are awake, you see not only the cloud and the sunshine in it, but that everything is here, the wheat that became the bread for the logger to eat, the logger’s father--everything is in this sheet of paper. The presence of this tiny sheet of paper proves the presence of the whole cosmos. The smallest particle contains the whole universe. (Quoted in Kornfield, A Path with Heart, p 202, 212)
Ephesians 6:18; John 17: 20-21; Matthew 17:21; Philippians 4:4
A, perhaps whimsical, scale of emotions:
- Joy/ Knowledge/ Empowerment/ Freedom/ Love/ Appreciation
- Passion
- Enthusiasm/ Eagerness/ Happiness
- Positive Expectations/ Belief
- Optimism
- Hopefulness
- Contentment
- Boredom
- Pessimism
- Frustration/ Irritation/Impatience
- “Overwhelment”
- Disappointment
- Doubt
- Worry
- Blame
- Discouragement
- Anger
- Revenge
- Hatred/ Rage
- Jealousy
- Insecurity/ Guilt/ Unworthiness
- Fear/ Grief/ Depression/ Despair/ Powerlessness
Modern mystics are quite user-friendly--but the early Christian saints encouraged us to sail into some deep waters. This week, Dave Schmelzer explores the kind of unity with God that early greats like Augustine and Athanasius encouraged us was the central goal of being alive--and was what offered the hope of immortality to come.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor
Mystics quoted from Journey to the Heart, edited by Kim Nataraja and from The Roots of Christian Mysticism, edited by Olivier Clement
Richard Rohr's book What the Mystics Know. His book The Naked Now is also touched upon.
John 14:20, John 17:21; Galatians 2:20; Genesis 28:16; Psalm 95
Constant change can feel uniquely hard. Do, say, beloved friends come and go? Or do we lose work or living situations that once were great? The mystics tell us that this is right at the core of reality--and that it's not all bad, particularly as we learn the key skill of living in the present moment as all that change swirls around us. Join Dave Schmelzer as he brings insight from the Old and New Testaments and great thinkers like Blaise Pascal and Thich Nhat Hanh (and, in a left field move, the actor Alan Arkin). So, yes, maybe everything is changing in your life... but maybe that's actually working on your behalf.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Alan Arkin's audiobook Out of My Mind
Blaise Pascal's Pensées
The book of Jeremiah
2 Corinthians 6:2
Thich Nhat Hanh's Essential Writings
Being lighthearted, while pleasant, can sound trivial. But it turns out to be a far bigger deal than we might think, in fact to be a central aspect of being loving and maybe even (if we believe a great Christian creed along with people like the Dalai Lama) of finding the meaning of life. Join Dave Schmelzer for a look at how spiritual masters (and happiness researchers) help us develop this crucial, delightful way of being.
Media used in this podcast:
Intro Music: Ryanhood
The movie: Stripes
The end song: Lovely Day
It's a paradox. Faith overtly offers us the chance to hear and live out promises from God. And then great saints (and, frankly, our friends whom we most trust) seem to suffer even more than normal people. Living in that paradox is at the heart of great spirituality. Join Dave Schmelzer as he tells vivid stories and learns from people like Catherine of Genoa and Father Richard Rohr and the so-called "father of three faiths," Abraham.
Mentioned on this podcast:
New Journey On Basics "starter groups" on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. See journey-on.net for more information
Catherine of Genoa
Richard Rohr's book The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; Philippians 2:12-13
Contemplative spirituality might suggest becoming more "inner"--being aware of all that's happening inside your consciousness. But it actually is meant to go just the other way--towards being so present to the moment at hand that nothing gets past you, that you notice people and a world that you otherwise certainly would have missed. Great souls like David Foster Wallace have thought deeply about the opportunity that's here to find joy, even in stressful times, as we enter into a much bigger universe--by way of noticing other people--than we'd been aware of. Dave Schmelzer will tell some vivid stories along these lines.
Mentioned on this podcast:
A dynamic new Journey On website! journey-on.net
David Foster Wallace's graduation speech: "This is Water"
How "should" we feel in the craziness of the world around us? The answer might lie in Blue Mind, a joyful, contemplative state that neuroscientists tell us might affect how we age, how we experience today, and even how we might productively engage with our ideological enemies.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Amishi Jha: www.amishi.com
Elissa Epel: www.amecenter.ucsf.edu/elissa-epel
Her book: The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer
Dacher Keltner: https://ggsc.kerkeley.edu
His book: Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life
Wallace Nichols: http://wallacejnichols.org
His book: Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do
Daniel J. Siegel: http://www.drdansiegel.com
His book: Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence
The Great Courses course that includes these lectures: Masters of Mindfulness: Transforming Your Mind and Body
Vox: Is it immoral if you feel schadenfreude about Trump’s Covid-19?
Of course we all want to maximize pleasant times and minimize difficult ones, but the great spiritual teachers--in many cases taking perspective from the eccentric biblical book Ecclesiastes--tell us that learning to fully inhabit both the hard and the good times transforms everything as we're taken into a sort of God Zone. In this story-rich episode, Dave Schmelzer will explore wisdom not just from Eccleciastes but from the contemplative Rami Shapiro and the early church father Clement of Alexandria.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Ecclesiastes 1:2-3,7; 9:2; 5:17-19, 7:14; 3:1-3,11; 4:8-9; 3:22; 9:7-8; 11:1
Rami Shapiro's book Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent
Clement of Alexandria
"What's new?" has become a difficult question for many of us to answer during the pandemic, and yet neuroscientists tell us that novelty is a key to happiness. Dave Schmelzer offers us insight from spiritual masters from Christianity, Judaism and Zen on this crucial question, with a particular look at often-misunderstood wisdom from St. Paul. As a throw-in, Paul explains why the horrible tribalism we're experiencing today is inevitable...but how to leave it in favor of rich connection.
Mentioned on this podcast:
Acts 17:27-28; Romans 1:16-17, 3:3, 3:19-20, 5:17, 8:2,9, 8:15, 8:18, 8:31-33,35,37; Revelation 21:5, John 16:33
Many earnest churchgoers have found great encouragement from lots of Bible reading. But, as life goes on, many of them not only burn out on Bible reading, but become disturbed by parts of the Bible that didn't bother them before. Dave Schmelzer takes a contemplative, journeying look at the good and bad elements of reading the Bible and, finally, at a hopeful way forward. Mentioned on this podcast: The Seek Course Wesley's Quadrilateral Galatians 3:28; Mark 4:1-20; Psalm 1:1-3 A helpful rethinking of enjoying the Bible: What Do We Do With the Bible? by Richard Rohr
As life moves forward, faith changes for many people, which can feel unsettling. Where, some might ask, is Jesus in whatever this new phase is? Dave Schmelzer has processed this with lots and lots of people. Here's the best stuff he's learned.Mentioned on this podcast:The Seek CourseNot the Religious Type and Blue Ocean Faith, by Dave SchmelzerJourney to the Heart, edited by Kim Nataraja
Maybe finding our calling right now actually isn't so hard--that the trick is living it out. Join Dave Schmelzer as he looks at the wisdom of one contemplative who explores how calling changes over time, how we all face pressures to live out someone else's calling, how embracing our calling gives meaning and power to our suffering, and how a four-part pathway might propel us into all the benefits of our calling. Mentioned on this podcast:Psalm 32:8Stephen Cope's book, The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True CallingOnline groups on Wednesdays, Sundays and Mondays. Get info at mail@blueoceanfaith.org
One very simple but hard to pull off move, we're told, is the building block of what Paul calls "renewing our minds" and Jesus calls "becoming pure of heart and so seeing God" and some Eastern sages might call Enlightenment. Dave Schmelzer will walk through that one move and then pull back the curtain to chat briefly about why this move is so central to our hopes of experiencing such cosmic things. Mentioned on this podcast Romans 12:2; John 5:19-20; John 17:20-23 The Wise Heart, by Jack Kornfield Paul Ricouer Further Along the Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck
If we listen enough to the great spiritual teachers, it will hit us that the spirituality they're describing, while absolutely appealing, is different and more chill than the spirituality we've been taught. Jumping off from a list from one modern contemplative, Dave Schmelzer details how this unexpected spirituality can really help in a world which so often feels like "riding on a bumpy road." Mentioned on this podcast: A Path with Heart, by Jack Kornfield Life Together, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer The Wisdom of the Desert, by Thomas Merton Weekly online Journey On groups. For more information, email mail@blueoceanfaith.org A bi-weekly Journey On newsletter. Sign up here.
In this remarkable time of protesting injustice, do the great spiritual teachers we look at here have anything to contribute? Dave Schmelzer will take a look at what Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Dalai Lama--each of whom has led their people through oppression--want to tell us.Mentioned on this podcast: A six-week online "starter" group on the spirituality talked about on Journey On running Mondays at 2pm EST. Email mail@blueoceanfaith.org for information. The Book of Joy, by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu Thich Nhat Hanh: Essential Writings Psalm 58
Neuroscientists and mystics tell us the same thing: our minds have been conditioned towards negativity, which all of us then do more or less well at fending off. But the great teachers tell us it doesn't have to be that way. Join Dave Schmelzer for a look at how bone-deep loving kindness can change us from the inside out. Mentioned on this podcast An online small group on these things on Wednesdays at 9pm Eastern time or on Sundays at 6:30pm Eastern time. For information, email mail@blueoceanfaith.org. Appaloosa The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz Hardwiring Happiness, by Rick Hanson John 12:31, 1 John 3:8, Matthew 6:28-29, Psalm 26:1-3, Philippians 4:6-7
We're taught by the great mystics that fully experiencing God's work in our life today--even at risk of being unprepared for potential suffering just around the corner--is the source of the life we want, even in a pandemic. With wisdom from Thomas Merton, Jesus, St. Paul and some modern contemplatives, Dave Schmelzer looks at your superpower in this--your powerful ability to improvise when needed.Mentioned on this podcast: Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation Bob Miglani, Embrace the Chaos: How India Taught Me to Stop Overthinking and Start Living Mark Epstein, Going to Pieces (Without Falling Apart) Psalm 23:1, Matthew 6:34, John 9:39-41, Romans 8:31-37,
Among the encouragements of ongoing spiritual growth is that the great teachers--for instance, Thomas Merton in this episode--tell us that all that growth has every chance of making our relationships better than they've ever been. Dave Schmelzer will talk both about contemplative and folk wisdom about keeping your most important relationships strong and growing. Mentioned on this podcast: New Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton Romans 12:18 The Odd Couple Difficult Conversations, by Douglas Stone, Bruce Hatton and Sheila Heen
In this time of Covid-19, great spiritual teachers remind us that, counterintuitively, a daily experience of enthusiasm, joy and love not only is our birthright, but is the thing that will give us the best chance of responding well to whatever circumstances come our way. But of course spiritual teachings like theirs run the risk of encouraging a false front or of being superficial--the thing that these teachers most definitely are not. They avoid these problems by tying their key teachings to Jesus's cross--to understanding the suffering of our life in an entirely new and powerful way. Dave Schmelzer looks at why this is uniquely powerful during this worldwide crisis. Mentioned on this podcast: Luke 9:23; John 12:24; Ephesians 3:16; Proverbs 23:7; Psalm 51:6; 2 Corinthians 4:16; Romans 7:22; 1 Samuel 16:7; Proverbs 20:27; 1 Corinthians 1:18 A modern book which highlights many of the points made here: The Untethered Soul, by Michael A. Singer
On the last Journey On, Dave Schmelzer talked about classic spiritual approaches that were discovered during pandemics and offer happiness even during such stressful times. Here he'll look at how understanding a few, particular things about God has also proven encouraging and useful even when things are most challenging. Mentioned on this podcast: The Unity of the Bible, by Daniel P. Fuller Weekly online Journey On groups. Email: mail@blueoceanfaith.org
Perhaps the richest spirituality in the Christian tradition was forged during a pandemic, of all things. Dave Schmelzer will look at what Julian of Norwich and some modern spiritual masters have to tell us about thriving during such a time. And, who knew?, they start by urging us that happiness, even in such times, is the goal and is possible. Mentioned on this podcast: Julian of Norwich Acts 26:14; James 1:5-8; James 1:1-4 Bridge of Spies Sonya Lyubomirsky The Book of Joy, by Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama An online Journey On spiritual community. mail@blueoceanfaith.org
It turns out that there's a powerful, unexpected bright spot to our suffering and disappointment. Join Dave Schmelzer for a look at how spiritual masters from around the world--including Mother Teresa and John of the Cross--tell us about how our dark nights might not be as bad as they appear. In his preface, Dave offers some contemplative reflections on the threat of the coronavirus. Mentioned on this podcast: Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, by Dan Harris and Jeff Warren Journey to the Heart, edited by Kim Nataraja Radical Acceptance, by Tara Brach Isaiah 43:18-19; Isaiah 50:10,11; Romans 8:14-17; John 12:24 Online groups on journeying spirituality. Email mail@blueoceanfaith.org for information
On the previous Journey On, we talked about how growing spiritual people might lead all of us out of our current deep cultural divisions. Here we'll look at how much smaller choices that lead to our own continued astonishment at the world are in themselves a profound start that direction. You'll hear from a legendary peace activist who also, delightfully, is one of our most profound teachers about a life of sustained wonder and joy.Mentioned on this podcast:Psalm 45:7, Hebrews 1:9 Thich Nhat Hanh: Essential Writings
Our world is so divided, politically, culturally, and religiously--even among people who claim the same religion as our own. Perhaps a certain sort of growing spirituality can help us not only personally thrive but also help lead the way through this moment to a better future. Join Dave Schmelzer as he looks at thoughts from great spiritual masters and philosophers and, of course, the Bible, about how to find unexpected joy, grace and compassion right when the world around us can seem the most bleak. Mentioned on this podcast: Ken Wilber's book A Brief History of Everything Jeremiah 29:7; Romans 12:14,18; Ephesians 2:14; Matthew 5:22 John Oliver talking with the Dalai Lama
20th Century America was a golden era for optimistic teaching about how to succeed. While the advice was great from point to point, as a whole it often left people less happy than they were before learning it. But the great spiritual teachers have their own take on how to succeed that takes us to a very different place. With lots of storytelling and the occasional cultural allusion, Dave Schmelzer walks us through both takes, with some concrete suggestions about what might come next for us.
We all hit problems in our lives that don't have easy answers and so, in the absence of obvious ways to solve them, we obsess over them. Many great spiritual teachers talk about what this is like and they have both a surprising way through these problems and a surprising upshot that will lead us to a solution we couldn't have seen coming. Join Dave Schmelzer for a look at this powerful advice with wisdom from theologians and Zen teachers and C.S. Lewis and the Bible and a classic movie or two.Mentioned in this podcast It's a Wonderful LifeIsaiah 30:15-16, Proverbs 3:5-6; 28:26, 23:4, Psalm 125:1, John 12:24The Unity of the Bible, by Daniel P. FullerTill We Have Faces, by C.S. LewisEveryday Zen, by Charlotte Joko Beck A weekly online group. Contact mail@blueoceanfaith.org.
Many great spiritual teachers (looking to the Bible) agree that there's one straightforward spiritual thing you can do that is basically a joy guarantee...and yet it's, strangely, rarely done! Dave Schmelzer details the one-stop joy hack while offering inspiration from the Desert Fathers and Mothers, Pentecostals, and his own recent past.Mentioned on this podcast: The Wisdom of the Desert, by Thomas Merton Transformations, by the Sentinel Group Psalm 22:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 2 Chronicles 20, John 10:10 A weekly online group: mail@blueoceanfaith.org
Loneliness is hard--and boldly following God into uncharted territory can risk its own kind of loneliness. The good news is that the great spiritual teachers--and even some scholars--have a lot of thoughts on how to find the kind of connection and relationship that our hearts crave.Mentioned on this podcast: Theology of Joy: Lisa Miller and Matt Croasmun from the Yale Center for Faith and Culture James 1:5-8 Desert Fathers and Mothers
We've all heard about or experienced occasional unexplainable stories--was it an angel? a ghost? an alien? a praying friend? Of course they might have rational explanations in the end, but the spiritual masters nonetheless encourage us to lean into how those uncanny stories feel and what they might mean, telling us that those things are important clues to our happiness and fulfillment. Join Dave Schmelzer for thoughts from Mother Teresa, G.K. Chesterton, Stephen Spielberg and more about how the untamed universe is good news for you and those you love. Mentioned on this podcast: Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Hamlet Mother Teresa, No Greater Love G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Daniel 3:17-18, Psalm 27:4
Worrying more than anything else keeps us from living our best life. Of course it feels horrible, but it also keeps us from walking with God into the life we want. Join Dave Schmelzer as he reviews some of the richest lessons ever offered as we stop worrying and start living! Mentioned in this podcast: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, by Dale Carnegie 30 Lessons for Living, by Karl Pillemer Real Happiness, by Sharon Salzberg Matthew 6:22-23, Psalm 118:24, Proverbs 23:7, Psalm 90:12
How do we find and sustain the kind of meaningful work that's at the heart of our deepest dream? Dave Schmelzer looks at how great contemplative teachers suggest that common biblical wisdom about this question works just great--until it doesn't, and we realize we're being invited into a different experience of life than we'd anticipated. All with our dream right at the center. Mentioned on this podcast: "Follow That Dream" by Bruce Springsteen Matthew 14:22-33 and 2 Peter 1:4 30 Lessons for Living, by Karl Pillemer
What are you hoping for from your spiritual life? Beyond rules for living and rich community and even spiritual power, many spiritual masters encourage us to keep our hearts eager for great adventure and wonder. Join Dave Schmelzer to explore guidance from Brother Lawrence, Tuesdays with Morrie, the Bible, and his own journey of giving this stuff a try. Mentioned on this podcast: The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown--Antarctica Tuesdays with Morrie Acts 2:17-19“‘God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below.”
Jesus and Paul join contemplatives, neuroscientists and pop spirituality teachers in agreeing on one thing: your life is quite a bit better than you think it is. But sadly you, like all people, have a built in bias towards negativity. Overcoming this is the road to what Jesus called "faith." Join Dave Schmelzer for an encouraging look at the good things about to come your way. Mentioned on this podcast: "Every Praise" by Hezekiah Walker "Love Theory" by Kirk Franklin Hardwiring Happiness, by Rick Hanson Matthew 6:28-30“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”
Deep, spiritual thinkers like Francis of Assisi, Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama seem to think our growing spirituality can also help us find our way in our larger, political world--while not becoming miserable or outraged, but rather joyful, hopeful and useful. A miracle! Join Dave Schmelzer for a fascinating look at how you might bridge divides, find purpose, and be a part of something big that's only good news.Mentioned on this podcast: John Oliver's Last Week Tonight interview with the Dalai Lama A growing, multi-national online group on Wednesday evenings about these things, and a live Sunday group in Los Angeles. Learn more at mail@blueoceanfaith.org St. Francis of Asissi, by G.K. Chesterton Luke 5:12-13While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
Finding out who we actually are--and perhaps fulfilling our potential--turns out to be a more surprising challenge than we could have guessed. But the rewards that the great spiritual teachers suggest will come to us are pretty great, as we realize that God has been doing things for us behind the scenes that we've previously missed. Jumping off with insights from diverse sources like The Harvard Grant Study and the 90s Matt Damon movie Rounders, Dave Schmelzer takes us on a deep dive into the benefits of discovering our identity. Mentioned in this episode: Rounders Explore a new online small group on related themes. For more information, email mail@blueoceanfaith.org The Harvard Grant Study John Cassian The Peace Prayer of St. Francis Psalm 139:1-4, 6, 13-14, 17You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely...Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain…For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
In this new, story-filled podcast focusing on an experience of Jesus that's fun, contemplative, practical and cultural, Dave Schmelzer of Blue Ocean Faith talks about how the new documentary The Biggest Little Farm makes a case for what spiritual masters have been saying for millennia. Namely, that learning to observe what looks like a threat to your happiness (rather than immediately fighting it) can offer a way into a new, connected life--in which, as a throw in, the problem at hand spins around to become a benefit. Mentioned in this podcast:The Biggest Little Farm Explore a new online small group around these ideas (or check out a live group in Los Angeles). Contact mail@blueoceanfaith.org. Isaiah 11:1-9A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth...Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.