All Things: Recent Episodes
Shema Center for Christian Formation
Each week we talk culture, music, ideas, events, and stories to explore how and why the Gospel of Jesus Christ means something for everything. Yes, everything.
Your identity (noun) will be shaped by what you identify (verb) with. If your actions will play an role in shaping who you are (and they will), this episode tries to help you identify with Christ.
We all know what it's like to feel like we are not being true to who we really are. In this episode we talk about how we attach our identities to things that create a False Self, how we can recognize get in better touch with the parts of ourselves the False Self covers over, and let those hidden parts of ourselves be known and loved.
We wrap up our series on the Shema prayer by reflecting on the call to "love our neighbor as ourlselves."
Support us on Patreon HERE!
To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland
Music by Julius Obregon, Jr.
In this episode we talk about the part of the Shema that calls us to love God with all our "strength." How can we love God with all of our strength? Listen to find out as we reflect on how the Shema invites us into loving action through our work, our effort, and our body.
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To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
This episode we talk about the part of the Shema that calls us to love God with all our "mind." What is the mind, and how can we love God with it?
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To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
This episode we talk about the part of the Shema that calls us to love God with all our "soul." What is the soul, and how can we love God with it?
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To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
We continue our series on the "Shema" (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) by unpacking the different aspects of our self that are called to love God: the heart, soul, mind, and strength. In this episode, we focus on what it means to love God with all of our heart.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
In this episode, we continue our series on the "Shema" (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) by unpacking what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
In this episode, we continue our series on the "Shema" (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) by unpacking what it means for God to be "one" and how this prayer calls us to live in harmony with God and one another.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
In this series we unpack the Shema prayer and why we find it so central to the gospel that we've named our ministry after it. This conversation focuses on the invitation that begins the prayer– "Hear, O Israel" and how the shema prayer invites us to live attentively.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
In this series we explore what’s behind the Shema prayer ("You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength... and your neighbor as yourself") and why it’s so central to our identity that we chose to name our ministry after it.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
We wrap up the series by talking with Zach Wertish, a local creative pastor and one of Shema's apprentices. In our conversation, Zach shares how 1on1 mentorship has allowed him to experience a greater sense of purpose even in his daily task list.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
This time we talk about why we need Christian community to practice habits that align with the Gospel, and how the monastery offers us a fuller picture of what true "community"looks like.
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To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
This episode, we’re excited to feature our friend Dr. Brad Kelle, whose recent work on the phenomenon of “moral injury” offers us great insight on how to better identify and repair the erosion of trust between the community and the Church.
Dr. Kelle is a professor of Old Testament and Hebrew in the School of Theology and Christian Ministry at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, CA. You can support his work by ordering his latest book called The Bible and Moral Injury: Reading Scripture Alongside War’s Unseen Wounds HERE or at most major book retailers.
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Support us on Patreon HERE!
To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
In this conversation, we explore how we can imagine a better way forward for the Church to address the problem of misaligned habits undercutting the Gospel. What do our habits tell us about our deepest longings, and how can we re-direct these towards Christ?
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To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
Why are so many people leaving the Church? Why are so many refusing looking to it in the first place? In the following episodes, the Shema team explores this question in depth as a way of opening up the conversation towards what we hope the solution could be.
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To find more about our ministry and apprenticeship programs, visit https://shemasd.org
To wrap up our series on the Desert mothers and fathers, we wanted to feature one of Shema’s apprentices (https://shemasd.org/apprenticeship-program) to tell the story of her own “desert season”. Danielle shares about how her experience of healing from burnout led to a deep appreciation for the monastic tradition.
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Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This week we reflect on the following saying from St. Martin of Braga:
A brother asked an old man, "What shall I do for my sins?" He replied, "He who desires to be free from his sins shall be freed from them by weeping, and he who wishes to build virtues in himself will build them by weeping. Even the Scriptures are composed of mourning, for our fathers said to their disciples, Wail. There is no other way to life except this.”
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https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This week we reflect on the following saying from Amma Syncletica:
Amma Syncletica said, “There are many who live in the mountains and behave as if they were in the town, and they are wasting their time. It is possible to be a solitary in one’s mind while living in a crowd, and it is possible for one who is a solitary to live in the crowd of personal thoughts.”
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https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This week we reflect on the following saying from Abba Lot:
“Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, “Abba, as far as I can say, I do my little office, I read my psalms, I fast a little bit, I pray and I meditate, I live in peace with others as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. Tell me, Father, what else, what more can I do?” Then the old man, Abba Joseph, stood up, stretched out his hands toward heaven, and his fingers became like ten lamps of fire, and he said to him, “If you will, you can become all flame.”
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https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
In this conversation, we dwell on the saying of the desert father Amma Poemen–
"Abba Poemen said about Abba Pior that every single day he made a fresh beginning."
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https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
In this conversation, we dwell on the saying of the desert mother Amma Theodora, who says:
“Let us strive to enter by the narrow gate. Just as the trees, if they have not stood before the winter’s storms cannot bear fruit, so it is with us; this present age is a storm and it is only through many trials and temptations that we can obtain an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven.”
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https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
The Desert Fathers and Mothers were the leaders of the monastic communities that formed in Egypt around the 3rd century. This series, we meditate on the teachings and stories left behind by these "abbas" and "ammas" as a way to glean wisdom from their lives of faith.
In this first conversation, we dwell on the saying of Abba Moses where he tells a young monk seeking wisdom, "Go and sit in your cell, your cell will teach you everything."
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https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we chat with an author named Jay Aedo about his recent children's book series "Conscious Bible Stories" and explore the way stories form and engage our imagination across different backgrounds.
To learn more about Jay and his work go to https://consciousbiblestories.com/.
Music by Julius Obregon, Jr.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
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This time we explore what St. Oscar Romero’s life and teachings have to tell us about what it means to become a saint ourselves.
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Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we look at how St. Oscar Romero can help everyone better resist even apocalyptic evil by thinking and acting with the end in mind.
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Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we look at how St. Oscar Romero can help us better understand what it means to be saved and what true salvation has to do with works.
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https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we look at how St. Oscar Romero can help us better understand what it means to be saved and what true salvation has to do with works.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we explore how Oscar Romero can help us consider the possibility that Jesus is still very much present in the daily realities of our time and place, and if we can't see this, it might just be that we're not looking in the right places.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we explore how Oscar Romero can help us consider the possibility that Jesus is still very much present in the daily realities of our time and place, and if we can't see this, it might just be that we're not looking in the right places.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we explore how Oscar Romero can help us consider the possibility that Jesus is still very much present in the daily realities of our time and place, and if we can't see this, it might just be that we're not looking in the right places.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we look at how St. Oscar Romero allows us to think of something like simple human words actually speaking of a transcendent God, and how this also shows not just preacher, but all Christians how to do the work of speaking of God without engaging in manipulation.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we look at how St. Oscar Romero allows us to think of something like simple human words actually speaking of a transcendent God, and how this also shows not just preacher, but all Christians how to do the work of speaking of God without engaging in manipulation.
Support us on Patreon HERE!
https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We want to take this time to thank you and to let you know how you can support the show moving forward. While we'll still be releasing bi-weekly episodes of All Things, we've decided to open a Patreon page where you can sign up for one of three subscription options.
Any option you pick will grant you the following perks: 1-week early episode access and a download of our bi-weekly meditations (which will be subscriber-only from now on).
You can sign up at patreon.com/shemasd starting this Monday 9/5.
Stay tuned for the first official episode of our upcoming series on Óscar Romero this Monday!
We want to take this time to thank you and to let you know how you can support the show moving forward. While we'll still be releasing bi-weekly episodes of All Things, we've decided to open a Patreon page where you can sign up for one of three subscription options.
Any option you pick will grant you the following perks: 1-week early episode access and a download of our bi-weekly meditations (which will be subscriber-only from now on).
You can sign up at patreon.com/shemasd starting this Monday 9/5.
Stay tuned for the first official episode of our upcoming series on Óscar Romero this Monday!
This time we introduce to you St. Oscar Romero. Over the course of this series we will look at what he shows is possible in Christ, by the Spirit, and in this world in the areas of communication, community, and liberation.
https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland and Kevin Portillo
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Full transcript here
Today we're excited to share the audio recording of a sermon preached by our very own Wilson Ryland, co-host of "All Things" and director of Shema Center for Christian Formation.
Special thanks to Coastline Church for sharing this audio recording with us. This sermon was preached at Coastline back in March 2022, and the accompanying video can be found on their website here.
In this week's bonus mini-episode, we introduce and walk you through a practice that can integrate some of the key points of Benedict's monastic wisdom with your practice of time management.
https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we see how St. Benedict might inspire us to invest enough time and energy in one place to see something beautiful happen there.
We're excited to have Nathan Oates as a guest of the podcast for this episode, where he shares great stories and insights about his time living at a monastery-- more of which can be found in his book "Stability: How an ancient monastic practice can restore our relationships, churches, and communities."
https://shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we see how St. Benedict's leadership might help bring clarity in our chaotic and uncertain world.
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Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we look at how Benedict & his Rule can help us see the deep connection between discipline and grace.
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Script by Kevin Portillo and Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we look at how Benedict's Rule can help us experience a true rest that fuels fuller life and work. https://shemasd.org
Script by Mark Bunnell and Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we look at how St. Benedict and his rule can help us explore the depths of our souls and the world and even come to know God through our work.
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Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This episode we talk about the centrality of prayer and the Psalms in Benedict's vision for the renewal of the Church.
Transcript for the Benedictine Office prayer at the end can be found in the link below.
https://shemasd.org/transcripts/benedict-prayer
Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This upcoming series we're looking at St. Benedict and his Rule, to see how it is still providing a way for human flourishing in difficult environments.
As an introductory episode to the upcoming series, we're reprising our "Christians You Should Know" format to take a look at St. Benedict's life leading up to his Rule. In doing so, we examine the shaping of the soul that shaped so many souls.
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Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
For this episode, we take an extended conversation to explore the implications of the Reformation on the Church's relationship to art and aesthetics. www.shemasd.org
Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
You can find Brad Gregory's book, The Unintended Reformation here or here.
On this episode we watch a vice get re-narrated into a virtue that then made us a lot of money... and what it all cost us.
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Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
You can find Brad Gregory's book, The Unintended Reformation here or here.
This time we talk about how it became nearly impossible for us to reason together about moral issues. www.shemasd.org Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
You can find Brad Gregory's book, The Unintended Reformation here or here.
This time, we talk about the gap between our aspirations for "community" and the unfortunate reality of our loneliness epidemic.
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Script by Mark Bunnell and Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
You can find Brad Gregory's book, The Unintended Reformation here or here.
This episode we look at how the idea of a contemplative monk and a knowledge-producing scientist came to be seen as incompatible opposites.
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Script by Wilson Ryland Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
You can find Brad Gregory's book, The Unintended Reformation here or here.
This episode, we look at how the fumbling of a healthy academic debate about God unintentionally helped fragment our world. www.shemasd.org Script by Wilson Ryland Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr. You can find Brad Gregory's book, The Unintended Reformation here or here.
In this series we will look into the distant past to see how a famous Religious movement unintentionally helped marginalize God and fragment our contemporary lives.
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Script by Wilson Ryland Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
You can find Brad Gregory's book, The Unintended Reformation here or here.
In order to take a quick pause on podcast production for the winter holidays, we're re-releasing an episode from our "Dictionary of Faith" series about the word "God."
Tune back in on 1/10 for our new season.
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Script by Wilson Ryland Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time, we meet a man who's approach to interpreting the Scriptures has shaped our faith for centuries. His approach, known as the "rule of faith", still serves as a key for us today as we seek to interpret and understand the scriptures, especially the difficult parts of the Bible.
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Script by Mark Bunnell and Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we talk about how Christians have faced other public health crises, and in them, become like Christ, and come to see God.
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Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time, we meet Basil of Caesarea, a man who sets for us an indelible precedent for how integrating our faith and works can help us navigate the pressures of empire, wealth, and civil religion.
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St. Basil on Social Justice
Script by Mark Bunnell and Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We talk about water and wine and blood, and how they can provide a precedent that leads us to something better than DIY, individualistic spirituality.
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Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time, in the face of constant news of ominous threats to the climate and ecosystems, we look at a precedent that could help form us into people who see the world rightly, and live accordingly.
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Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
In this episode we discuss heroes, and which ones truly give us a precedent for understanding Christian greatness.
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Script by Wilson Ryland
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time, we take on the questions: "what do you do as a Christian when you have critics, and they're way off?: And, perhaps more importantly, "what do we do when a critic from an entirely different perspective or tradition has a powerful point?"
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
In this series, we look at people and moments in the Christian tradition where those who came before us give us precedents for facing our epoch-shaping tests and tasks.
This time we meet a man who faced the pressure that comes with the overwhelming number of options presented to us in a pluralistic environment, and still managed to make the kinds of decisions and commitments that make life rich and meaningful.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
A quick update on our usual summer break from podcast releases (beginning 8/9), as well as a glimpse into what's new for Shema and the "All Things" podcast in the season ahead.
Tune back in on 8/30 for our next season.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We look at the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola for guidance in how to practice grace (by doing good works).
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we explore how practicing our faith can help us see that the cross of Jesus is so much more than something that happened way back when, and why the cross is something Christians should want to practice in places like those distorted by disease and haunted by Lynching Trees.
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You can find Cone's book here.
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We look at the connections between the stories that birthed Sabbath and the liturgies and practices that could help you find genuine, fruitful rest instead of forms of numbing that are just variations on our habits of constant consumption.
You can find the book referenced in the conversation, "The Body Keeps the Score," here.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we look at what it would mean to go beyond having opinions about the Bible to actually practicing the Scriptures.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This time we look at the story of worship, beginning to end, so the truth of why we need it, and so why God gives it.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We explore what Christian Practice is, and how it might counteract the utter mess that could result from having a whole bunch of people having a large set of powerful habits as techniques for getting what they want.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
You can get Alasdair MacIntyre's "After Virtue" here.
Some things you simply need to practice to know. In the first episode of this series, we explore how practicing a Tradition does more than keep you connected to the past. It's key to launching you into a new future.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
In this episode, Wil takes a story told by Chris Dixon in The Atlantic and adapts it to focus on the role and nature of Tradition (and expands it to give Plato his due!). If you are interested in going deeper into the ideas themselves, you can read the original article here.
This week we talk with Julie Carrick, author of "Unfailing Grace", recording artist, and the person behind the Carrick Ministries foundation. She’s also someone who has prayed for miracles, and received miracles, and not received miracles.
In our conversation, this cradle Catholic presents a view of Christ’s ongoing, and very tangible, presence in the world, and how this makes us people who see adversity as something that only magnifies God’s grace.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We pick up the conversation with Dr. Ken Baugh, director of IDT Ministries and author of “Unhindered Abundance: Restoring our Souls in a Fragmented World.”, exploring the way different dimensions of our brains work, and how this interaction points to the massive importance of redemptive relationships in our healing.
CONTENT WARNING: Some listeners may want to know ahead of time that we do talk about parental trauma as a prominent example.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
This week and next, we talk about God and Trauma and Cutting-edge Neuroscience and Ancient Spiritual Formation practices with Dr. Ken Baugh, director of IDT Ministries and author of “Unhindered Abundance: Restoring our Souls in a Fragmented World.”
CONTENT WARNING: Some listeners may want to know ahead of time that we do talk about parental trauma as a prominent example.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We look at what Martin Scorsese's film "Silence," has to teach us about the difficulty of truly sharing the faith, but how these difficulties might make a way for us to live into the very heart of evangelism.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We look at what an imagination capable of dreaming up fantastic fictions has to tell us about telling the truth.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
MacDonald's Essay on "The Fantastic Imagination"
MacDonald's Collection that includes "The Imagination: Its Functions and its Culture"
We look at a particular soul that has found prayer not just delivering gifts from God, but also flowing into a craft that allows them to pass those gifts on to others.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We explore the power anonymous art mixed with the virtue of true humility might have for communicating the name and face of Christ.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We explore why, when Paul wanted to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ, he didn't just send a letter, he sent a person.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We look through the question of what kinds of words and images are appropriate for communicating the the gospel, to the deeper issue of the journey a person must take in order to become the kind of soul that is able to share something that can facilitate communion with Christ.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We preview our upcoming series, "Communicating the Unknowable," then, to move into Easter, we share one of our favorite episodes from the early archives where we talk with Debbie Bishop and her brother James (music by Brother) about creation, new life, and human creativity.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
In a complex time of confusion, fear, hurt, and anger, we remind ourselves of the simple and basic building blocks of our faith - which have massive implications for who we are and how we live. You can consider this our statement on what it means to be Christian in these days.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We explore the musical and theological importance of harmony, to see how music might help us appreciate the real difference between heaven and earth.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We look at a particular form of religious art where the artist intentionally withholds both their talent and their subjective take on the world to form purple, gold, red, blue, and some clothing and hand gestures into something that can help you see the truth of the world.
Icon Examples
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We look at a specific passage from the book of Revelation to see how this is not some cypher to be decoded for information about the end of the world, but an example of how words can be arranged and used as symbols that re-present the form of Jesus of Nazareth, and impress that image on our very souls.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We explore the journey of Christian worship and art that takes us from catacombs to cathedrals, and why a strange setting that confronts our senses with both life and death might be just right for our exploration of God. Then we use all this to help you try to discern which are genuine expression of Christian worship and action against the backdrop of our current pandemic.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We look at how liturgies that arrange ordinary objects and our everyday habits to shape our hearts and minds are not just things that happen in some worship services but also in our entertainment and work commutes and, well, everything really. Then we look at how the structure of good liturgy opens up surprising creativity and connections with others.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We continue our conversation on black art and theology with M'Lynn Martin to explore how the creative process can help us face and move through the painful parts of our lives, giving us an instrument for beauty and hope beyond the world's death.
If you'd like to read more of M'Lynn's work, you can find her writings on Instagram (link in her bio) under the handle @mlynn.martin.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We explore some specific artistically formed words, to see how they can not just express grand thoughts about God and God’s beautiful desire to reconcile the world, but help us better enter the concrete realities of some of the most difficult and painful issues of our day, to really experience miraculous reconciliations.
Our featured guest for this episode and the next is M'Lynn Martin. Find her writings on Instagram (link in her bio) under the handle @mlynn.martin.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Our senses, feelings, and initial perceptions are notorious for misleading us. So we look at the process of refining our senses and feelings so they can get involved in helping us explore reality, perhaps even realties beyond death.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Art intentionally arranges things and builds on our expectations to help us see, hear, feel, or otherwise notice something.
This time we look at instances where Jesus artistically arranged things, and explore why arrangements that help us seek and know God should not always be pleasing to us.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We explore the sweat, frustration and repetition it takes to get good at something like music or baseball or sketching or worship, and ask what makes this all worthwhile.
Again, with Dr. Charissa Noble
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
In this series we explore the question, “how can we humans, finite creatures that we are, know anything about the Infinite?”
To do this we look at how people captivated by a vision of God have crafted everyday materials we can grasp like cloth or stone or metal and arranged very basic things like sound and color and shape, to help us seek and know God.
This time we look at the difference between art and craft as an object we consume, and art as an initiation into an exploration of deeper realities, and the Old Testament Tabernacle as an example of a work of art that helps us explore God.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We trace the connection between the things you do often, and without much thought, to the deepest and most influential beliefs you hold. This brings clarity on those moments it feels like you may not actually believe what you want to believe, or think you believe. Then we take you through an exercise and meditation to help you sketch and enact a new habit that would lead to better beliefs.
Original Score by Julius Obregon, Jr.
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We explore why the kind of forgiveness we really need to heal the kinds of things that really need healing, might only be possible if the dead are raised.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We give a fresh take on what church is, and explore how church can give us a fresh take on everything.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We explore how we might recognize God’s Spirit subtly moving in us, and in our world, in something we’ve seen many, many times before but never truly seen.
We explore how the line, “He ascended into Heaven and sits and the right hand of God” is not so much a cartoony picture of Jesus floating up to the clouds, but a picture of Christ bringing peace and beauty to the deepest (and lowest!) places of our lives and world.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
In summarizing the entire life and work of Jesus in only two words, the Creed says, “he suffered.”
That’s a log way from quick, feel-good fixes. So, this time we dive straight into the difficult question, “Why did Jesus have to suffer and die?” and explore how a few words about suffering and death might connect us to life itself.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We explore how it might be good news to have, at some level, a Lord running things, and how this Lord might enter our reality through our own actual experience of something like a virgin birth.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
How we might keep our beliefs in Jesus' humanity and divinity from remaining as unnoticed as an song that’s playing in a waiting room, or from staying at the level of platitude and opinion, and instead becoming the kinds of beliefs that shape how we actually think, feel, and act.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Engaging some of the keys ways the Christian church has talked about God, found in the first line of the Apostles’ Creed, we explore the role of metaphor, and how it helps us in moments where the best way to talk about some truth is to say something that is true in some ways and not true in others.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
With guest Kevin Portillo, we explore the Apostles' Creed line by line in a way that helps us hear words that go back to the earliest days of the Christian Faith as an invitation to and guide for a way of life, and perhaps to speak it as something like a Pledge of Allegiance that transcends borders and cultures and epochs.
This time we look at how the Apostles’ Creed was used to explore what a creed like this really is, and what it can be.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Coming next week: The Apostles' Creed as something like an invitation to a way of life, or a Pledge of Allegiance that transcends boarders and epochs.
We look at Maximus the Confessor, a Saint who gave up his right hand and tongue for what might seem like a bit of nerdy theological trivia, but that might end up freeing you to better choose what is good and helping nations overcome the evils of colonialism.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Looking at Jesus, Macrina and Gregory learned to see humanity in a new way. Trusting this, they acted in revolutionary ways and ended up issuing the first call for the abolition of slavery. Here is how they got there.
We look at a theological prodigy: Athanasius of Alexandria. He taught the church how to think about the relationship between our everyday reality and God's reality, and in doing so became a Father of Orthodoxy and a Theological Innovator. Learning from him, we can continue to integrate Tradition and progress.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We look at Abba Moses of Ethiopia, or Moses the Black. We explore what this enslaved man who escaped to become a bandit and then a Monk and Spiritual Father has to teach us about the true dignity of each person and the nature of community and redemption.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
There were people in the first few centuries who began the task of developing Christian philosophy to explore what was happening in the church’s experience and practices. In the 3rd century, Origen of Alexandria helped Christian thought come of age. But his life also shows us how the best thought about God comes from a life lived in God.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
In early centuries, Felicitas and Perpetua were the most famous and most highly honored saints in Christian circles. They even got their own holidays and celebrations. Why? Because of the way their world judged them and condemned them to death. We explore how, rather than merely being victims of unjust judgment, they can teach people what judgment really is.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
When it comes to helping us see Jesus more clearly, and becoming more like him, there is nobody better than his mother, Mary.
We explore how grace permeates her life, and how her she can mentor us in prayer, study & reflection, work, and rest.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
As our Season 1 finale, we help you cut through some of the confusion and cultural tension we are currently experiencing by showing you how traditions are constantly shaping how we think, what we do, and even who we are. We also give you tools to discern if a tradition is healthy of unhealthy, and show how a healthy, living tradition makes progress possible.
We will be taking a short break August 17-31 to make good on a fresh vision we have for this show. We will be back September 7 with a revamped format that will better inspire and equip you to be a person of faith in our world.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We engage some of your biggest questions about the Bible.
How was the Bible written? What do we mean when we say it is inspired? Who decided which books were in the Bible, why, and when? What purpose does the book serve today?
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
"Holiness" has to be more than "holier-than-thou," right?
Yes. We help you see how Michael Jordan, Batman, and Love as the defining aspect of God give us a better understanding of how holiness is part of a good life.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Just what exactly are Christians trying to communicate when we use the word "church"? It has to be more than a gathering, right? What roles do things like structures and institutions have in Christ's church? Why would we call it "Catholic"?
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
If salvation is bringing oneness between God and our reality, how does Jesus, a peasant Jew from the 1st century, accomplish this? How can we experience it now? And how can we make sense of all the varied ways different Christians will talk about how we are saved?
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
What is salvation, and how does it happen? We show why Jesus and Christianity cannot be understood well if they are severed from their Jewish roots, and paint "Atonement" as a guiding picture that helps us frame all the particular ways God works for, and we can experience, salvation.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Sin is a difficult word, that has scary and painful connotations for many. In this episode, we present an understanding of sin that set up good news for those who suffer, and make the case for why we should keep such a strong term.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We mix things up when we think of grace as something that only comes on the far side of a mess up. In this episode, we explore how grace is at the beginning of a truer picture of everything.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Words are tricky, even trickier when we try to talk about big things that stretch our minds and shape how we live. Miscommunication can lead to more dissension and fear - things we have more than enough of already. So in this episode, we help you make progress to better communication by helping you better understand and use one big word: God.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Please take the time it would require to listen to a typical episode of All Things to hear one of these voices:
Brenda Salter McNeil on Racial Justice
Lisa Sharon Harper on The Very Good Gospel
Dr. Montague William's Pentecost Sermon (sermon begins at 9:55)
What if our desire for beauty, longing for justice, hunger for spirituality, and need for connecting in deep relationships are not just "the way things are" but echoes of God's voice?
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Wilson Ryland
What is marketing and branding? Is it true that everyone has a brand, and everyone is a marketer? When does marketing become coercive and dishonest?
What should we know, and what can we do, to better sort through the marketing that targets us, and how can we be more honest and intentional with the messages we send?
With Greg Saunders, marketer for www.downloadyouthministry.com
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Mark Bunnel's story of how he learned to incorporate monastic habits to find a deeper existence by aligning his faith and his work.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Wilson Ryland
A fitness and nutrition coach helps us see how physical fitness can flow into spiritual discipline.
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Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
A fitness and nutrition coach helps us see how physical fitness can flow into spiritual discipline.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Trisha Banya is a lawyer from Uganda, navigating a life issues we all face, from a unique and enlightening perspective. Particularly, she offers valuable insights on expectations, family, and rest/silence.
www.shemasd.org
Original score by Brother (James Bishop), incorporating the cultural rhythms of the tribe that lives in the region where Trisha grew up. (Instagram: @musicbybrother, new single "Wake Up" available on Spotify and streaming platforms)
Can be productive and efficient without sacrificing creativity? Instead of shifting back and forth between hyper-productivity to the exclusion of all else (health, relationships) and struggling to find the motivation to accomplish anything, is there some insight and habit that can help us bring them together?
Dr. Bill Gaultiere, Psychologist and founder of Soul Shepherding Ministries says there is.
www.shemasd.org
www.soulshepherding.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
How can monks, nuns, and ancient monastic practices can help us connect our spirituality and our time management? Listen in as Shema's directors Wil and Julius explore the history of monasticism and what it has to offer us today. If you're interested in learning more about how we attempt to embrace monastic wisdom and practices in our ministry as Shema Center for Christian Formation, visit our website below.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon, Jr.
In the middle of the darkness and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, a reflection on a key text Christians have used to proclaim Resurrection.
Doctor Sleep (2019) provides meditation on the themes of redemption and purgation. Through the main characters, we learn if we numb our fears we end up feeding them and becoming part of the problem, but facing and suffering evil with faith and hope leads to purgation and redemption and deep connection with life itself.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
The 1959 camp horror classic starring Vincent Price provides material for a fun episode with a serious and timely topic: how fear and isolation can lead us to turn on each other and miss the real threats shaping events.
www.shemasd.org
Original score by Julius Obregon Jr.
There could not be a more timely topic: the horror that can result from our failure to achieve togetherness and connection in difficulty and trauma.
Engaging the film Midsommar (2019) leads us to the question: In a dangerous world, can we make and sustain community without God? Without doing violence to one another?
www.shemas.org
Original Score by Wilson Ryland
How is the COVID 19 outbreak effecting the unsheltered/homeless and most vulnerable? How are some Christians reacting in hope and faith? What can you do?
Count Dracula is an Anti-Christ: One who lives and draws others into an undead life that draws its strength by feeding on others. Such an existence might be powerful and enduring, but it’s not real life. We follow Francis Ford Coppola’s 1991 film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel to see how Count Dracula might help unmask evil and an undead imposter form of existence for which too many settle.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Unpolished, but an episode that couldn't be left undone.
How do we respond with faith, not fear?
How do we properly direct our faith in times like this?
Film 1: Halloween (1978). Michael Myers is an icon, which means he embodies something that massive groups of people resonate with on a primal level. So what of our fears does Michael Myers expose? And how can we stare him in face with confidence and hope?
Film 2: Martyrs (2008). A Martyr is a witness. If a group labels someone a martyr, it means that group believes the martyr tells the truth. How can our own suffering teach us truth, and what is the right way to approach the suffering of others?
(Wil wants to make clear he does not recommend anyone actually watch this second movie)
We marked the E sticker on this episode not because any swear words are used, but because we talk directly about some traumatic experiences that may not be appropriate for every listening situation, or for younger listeners.
Original Score by Wilson Ryland
All Things? Yes, even the dark and terrible. This week we launch into a Lent series looking at what horror, God, and traditional Christian practices like Advent, Ash Wednesday & Lent, and Halloween (All Hallows Eve) have to do with each other.
We tackle the question, “Why horror?” to see how it might play a role in helping us become more honest, brave, and hopeful - which is a tricky combination to pull off!
We marked the E sticker on this episode not because any swear words are used, but because we talk directly about some traumatic experiences that may not be appropriate for every listening situation, or for younger listeners.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
We pick the mind of a designer committed to making more humane things to help us understand what is going on with our devices and better evaluate how we use them.
Then we explore how Aristotle, and Christian teaching on training in virtue through intentional habits and fasting can help us navigate our current technological challenges.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr. and Wilson Ryland
Ever pick up your phone just to check the time, lose 30 minutes, or even hours, and feel like your brain has been hacked? Have you felt a connection between your constant connectivity and increased anxiety and sleeplessness?
Even Mark Zuckerburg knows we have a problem. But, just what is it? We’re mad, but at what or whom? This week we explore the pain points we encounter in our current use of technology and how our psychology is being used against us as developers design for addiction. We name and clarify the problem to help you engage our technological world in more humane ways.
www.shemasd.org
Score by Wilson Ryland
Center for Humane Technology: https://humanetech.com
Jean Twinge Article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/
Cal Newport's "Digital Minimalism": https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Minimalism-Choosing-Focused-Noisy/dp/0525536515/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3FCEB8DWI8KIY&keywords=digital+minimalism&qid=1581530741&sprefix=digital+mini%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-2
Article on Zuckerberg's "Sleep Box": https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/29/health/mark-zuckerberg-sleep-box-trnd/index.html
Compassion fatigue: If you care about people, and are paying attention, you've probably had it (or do).
Kristi Gaultiere (Psy.D.; LPC4 and MFT29887 in CA, and co-founder of Soul Shepherding) helps us understand what is going on when we know we should care, but just can't anymore. And how we can move from caring in the abstract to actually engaging the really people and issues around us.
www.shemasd.org
www.soulshepherding.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Ever feel confused or stupid when looking at fine art in a gallery? Us too. Ever feel that way when looking at street art? Didn’t think so.
This week, we talk to Charlie Lyons-Pardue about his love for street art and how it can help notice and pay deeper attention to the sacred wherever you find it, from Cathedrals to catacombs to the street.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr. and Wilson Ryland
We talk current apps and cultural habits that get us locked in a story of scarcity and feeling like there is never enough. Then, for all the talk of this technological progress being "unprecedented," we explore ways we have navigated past technological revolutions. All to see how we can discern if we are just good at efficiently building excitement and funding good projects and initiatives, or genuinely shaping generous people.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr. & Wilson Ryland
What is meaningful work, and what is it like in this world to search for it? And what does it take to be able to find a dream job?
Ever engage in work you know is good, but struggle because you feel no connection/find no meaning/receive no reward? How often do we miss meaningful work because it is not what we expect it to be? Samantha Herrera, millennial extraordinaire, joins us to explore all this.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Technology is reshaping our world; how is it shaping our faith and our souls, how we think and what we value? What should the relationship between tech and the church be like?
We talk technology’s effects on people still engaging in religion, on our experience of community, and Bible interpretation and teaching.
Finally, we explore how faith can open our minds and hearts in a way technology cannot.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Ever care so deeply about getting things right, that everything starts to go wrong?
James Bishop (aka Music by Brother) joins us again to talk about the effects of perfectionism on his craft and spirituality, and what is offered to us in the moments we cannot live up to expectations.
www.shemasd.org
Original score by Julius Obregon Jr., remixed by Wilson Ryland.
Ever struggle with a disconnect between how you act and what you believe, or what you want to believe? Then let's talk about what your habits can tell you about what you really believe, deep down, and how this year you can make a truly transformative resolution.
www.shemasd.org
Prompts from the episode:
Name one habit. Any habit.
Write or discuss it in a purely descriptive way - don't analyze it. This will help move stuff from your lizard brain where your habits and instincts and unconscious beliefs are held, to the part of your brain that can rationally analyze stuff.
Then think or talk about what that habit carries in the way of your beliefs. Unpack the question: what does this show about what I believe?
Now, what do you want to believe? What is truer? What would make you more into the you you know you want to be? Who you were made to be?
Now, if you did believe that, how would that you act? And what is one area you can consistently act that way? When are you most tempted to spiral off into different actions?
Now summarize: What is your cue? How do you want to act more truthfully? What is a simple and healthy way you can reward yourself?
Why do gifts, recognition, or physical touch sometimes leave us feeling scared, empty, or sad? Odd, but true, isn't it? These things are meant to carry love, so why and how do they break down?
This episode we talk with Trevor Olson, PsyD, about the difficulties we encounter in giving and receiving love.
www.shemasd.org
Original score by Wilson Ryland (all on guitar - you'll have to listen to the episode to understand why that matters)
We talk the kinds of limits that bring freedom, and how the rituals and liturgies of the Christian faith can foster perseverance, help make us into the kinds of people who absorb violence - you know, like Jesus - and discern between healthy change and progress and cancerous mutations. Chris Nafis (from episode 15) returns.
www.shemasd.org Original score by Julius Obregon Jr.
Our guest this week has been part of an international news story, but still has no platform or “name” of his own, and that seems very Christian. We talk about why that is.
As we do, we explore some differences between mediated perception and reality, the difficulty in finding allies in the world, and some of the real-life challenges that come with being the Church together with those who do not have homes. Finally, we talk how in all this Christ will lead us to high moments and carry us into, and through, the lowest moments.
With Chris Nafis.
www.shemasd.org
Original Score by Julius Obregon Jr.