Commoners Communion Podcast: Recent Episodes
Commoners Communion
Hosted by writer and folk-psalmist Strahan, the Commoners Communion podcast is a conversational look at Christian spirituality through the lens of beauty, mystery and revelation.
I've released a new book! Beholding: Deepening Our Experience of God is an invitation to a God-soaked life of seeing and being seen by God. It tells my story, the story of consumerism in our times, and invites the reader into spiritual renewal through a recalibration of what we mean when we say the word, prayer.
To celebrate I'm sharing an episode here from the book's experiential accompaniment the Beholding Prayer podcast which hosts guided prayer meditations for you to practice in your own time and space.
Window of The Soul is the first of these.
Find my new book Beholding and it's accompaniment the Beholding Prayer podcast wherever good books and podcasts are found.
To close Season 3 of the CC Podcast I want to share with you a written homily I shared with a local church earlier this month. It's about the spiritual fruit of goodness, and how we reclaim goodness in a cultural context in which it basically means whatever we feel or personally believe it is. Thank so much for listening to this season!
As always a big ol' thanks to Jonathan Class for helping to produce this podcast with me.
If you like the music from this episode you'll find it on our first EP 'LAUDS' under Commoners Communion & Jonathan Class on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. All music is written, performed and produced by the incredible Jonathan Class (thanks brother!)
Thank you for listening to the Commoners Communion Podcast!
If you would like to support what I'm doing you can find a link to donate to my work at commonerscommunion.com/contact (just scroll down to the donate button). All gifts are deeply appreciated and go a long way to helping me to continue to create this content free of charge and advertising.
Huge thanks as always to Jonathan Class for helping to produce this podcast with me.
If you like the music from this episode you'll find it on our first EP 'LAUDS' under Commoners Communion & Jonathan Class on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. All music is written, performed and produced by the incredible Jonathan Class (thanks brother!)
This Friday I'll be releasing the first article in a series called 'A More Christlike Apocalypse' (explanation in the intro of this episode) to my email subscribers only. If you'd like to come along on the journey with me over the next few months head to commonerscommunion.com, scroll down to the bottom of the page and sign up to my email list. You'll get a link this week and access to the home page for the series.
'Old Friends Carry These Things Together' is a prayer and poem from my book 'Prayer Vol.02'. You can purchase it from commonerscommunion.com.
And if you like the music from this episode you'll find it on our first EP 'LAUDS' under Commoners Communion & Jonathan Class on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. All music is written, performed and produced by the incredible Jonathan Class (thanks brother!)
'My Ordinary Self' is a prayer and contemplation from my book 'Prayer Vol.02'. You can purchase it from commonerscommunion.com.
And if you like the music from this episode you'll find it on our first EP 'LAUDS' under Commoners Communion & Jonathan Class on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. All music is written, performed and produced by the incredible Jonathan Class (thanks brother!)
Welcome to Q & R - a weekly spot where I respond your questions about life, spirituality, prayer, art or whatever else is on your mind. Email strahan@commonerscommunion.com with the subject line 'Podcast Q & R' to ask your question and it may just crop up on a weekly release somewhere in the future!
'Save Me From Professional Prayer' is a prayer and contemplation from my book 'Prayer Vol.02'. You can purchase it from commonerscommunion.com.
And if you like the music from this episode you'll find it on our first EP 'LAUDS' under Commoners Communion & Jonathan Class on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. All music is written, performed and produced by the incredible Jonathan Class (thanks brother!)
Welcome to Q & R - a weekly spot where I respond your questions about life, spirituality, prayer, art or whatever else is on your mind. Email strahan@commonerscommunion.com with the subject line 'Podcast Q & R' to ask your question and it may just crop up on a weekly release somewhere in the future!
'Good Morning, Father' is a prayer and contemplation from my book 'Prayer Vol.02'. You can purchase it from commonerscommunion.com.
And if you like the music from this episode you'll find it on our first EP 'LAUDS' under Commoners Communion & Jonathan Class on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. All music is written, performed and produced by the incredible Jonathan Class (thanks brother!)
Welcome to Q & R - a weekly spot where I respond your questions about life, spirituality, prayer, art or whatever else is on your mind. Email strahan@commonerscommunion.com with the subject line 'Podcast Q & R' to ask your question and it may just crop up on a weekly release somewhere in the future!
Healing, transformation and resurrection aren't always cut and dry transitions in life. Sometimes they're the process of a gradual awakening of God within the death of our present moments.
'From Numbness To Awakening' is a prayer and contemplation from my book 'Prayer Vol.02'. You can purchase it from commonerscommunion.com.
And if you like the music from this episode you'll find it on our first EP 'LAUDS' under Commoners Communion & Jonathan Class on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. All music is written, performed and produced by the incredible Jonathan Class (thanks brother!)
Welcome to Q & R - a weekly spot where I respond your questions about life, spirituality, prayer, art or whatever else is on your mind. Email strahan@commonerscommunion.com with the subject line 'Podcast Q & R' to ask your question and it may just crop up on a weekly release somewhere in the future!
Our universe is full of the grand - supernova's, galaxies, mountain ranges and deep oceans - as well as the miniature - the atom, a grain of sand, a drop of water, a minute of time. In the same way, God is as tiny as he is vast, and this has important ramifications for the lives we all live with him.
'Tiny, God' is a prayer and contemplation from my book Prayer Vol.02. You can purchase it from commonerscommunion.com.
And if you like the music from this episode you'll find it on our first EP 'LAUDS' under Commoners Communion & Jonathan Class on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. All music is written, performed and produced by the incredible Jonathan Class (thanks brother!) as a creative accompaniment to each devotion.
Much of prayer isn't so much about instigation, as participation and response.
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'You're Praying Before I Am, God' is a prayer and contemplation from Prayer Vol.02. You can purchase it from commonerscommunion.com.
And if you like the music from this episode you'll find it on our first EP 'LAUDS' under Commoners Communion on Spotify music. All music written, performed and produced by Jonathan Class as a creative accompaniment to the devotions.
The model of Sunday gatherings many of us experience is really recent for the church. Could it be time to correct some of the pendulum swinging that the industrial revolution and entertainment culture have created in our communities? And if so, is there a metaphor we can reach for as a guide for the journey?
Not every prayer is meant to be beautiful. Not every prayer is even meant to be spoken.
Father, Be My Ugly Prayer is a prayer and contemplation from Prayer Vol.01. You can find the book and more details about Commoners Communion at www.commonerscommunion.com.
Produced by Strahan Coleman & Jonathan Class.
Music by Jonathan Class.
Mastered by Alex Dobbert.
Episode art by Leah Surynt.
Visit www.instagram.com/commoners_communion for more written prayers and contemplations and to keep in touch.
Becoming isn't only about growing in God-likeness but about celebrating who we already are, today.
I'm Not Today What I'd Imagined, Thank God is a prayer and contemplation from Prayer Vol.01. You can find the book and more details about Commoners Communion at www.commonerscommunion.com.
Produced by Strahan Coleman & Jonathan Class.
Music by Jonathan Class.
Mastered by Alex Dobbert.
Episode art by Leah Surynt.
Visit www.instagram.com/commoners_communion for more written prayers and contemplations and to keep in touch.
What if the spiritual wilderness isn't a place of unfaithfulness, but maturity? An invitation toward a deeper friendship. A place beyond our usual ways of seeing and knowing, where God lives
The Narrow Way is a prayer and contemplation from Prayer Vol.01. You can find the book and more details about Commoners Communion at www.commonerscommunion.com.
Produced by Strahan Coleman & Jonathan Class.
Music by Jonathan Class.
Mastered by Alex Dobbert.
Episode art by Leah Surynt.
Visit www.instagram.com/commoners_communion for more written prayers and contemplations and to keep in touch.
The beauty of silence is that it makes us the passive recipient in our communion together with God, opening floor for Him to start the conversation.
Shhh is a prayer and contemplation from Prayer Vol.01. You can find the book and more details about Commoners Communion at www.commonerscommunion.com.
You can join me for a 7 class/7 week online prayer school this June 29! Visit commonerscommunion.com/onlineprayerschool for details
Produced by Strahan Coleman & Jonathan Class.
Music by Jonathan Class.
Mastered by Alex Dobbert.
Episode art by Leah Surynt.
Visit www.instagram.com/commoners_communion for more written prayers and contemplations and to keep in touch.
There is often a distance between how we imagine God doing a thing, and how he really does it. If we're open to looking for it, we may just discover that we're already walking in the newness we've been praying for. Even when the day feels dark.
When Newness Isn't Easy is a prayer and contemplation from Prayer Vol.01. You can find the book and more details about Commoners Communion at www.commonerscommunion.com.
You can join me for a 7 class/7 week online prayer school this June 29! Visit commonerscommunion.com/onlineprayerschool for details
Produced by Strahan Coleman & Jonathan Class.
Music by Jonathan Class.
Mastered by Alex Dobbert.
Episode art by Leah Surynt.
Visit www.instagram.com/commoners_communion for more written prayers and contemplations and to keep in touch.
This past few weeks have been heartbreaking, angering, shocking and confronting. To honour the wider conversation going on at the moment we wanted to briefly hit pause on the planned programming for Season Two to bring you a weeks worth of daily podcasts exploring Praying Through This Moment.
For more information or to sign up for my Online Prayer School visit:https://www.commonerscommunion.com/onlineprayerschool
This past few weeks have been heartbreaking, angering, shocking and confronting. To honour the wider conversation going on at the moment we wanted to briefly hit pause on the planned programming for Season Two to bring you a weeks worth of daily podcasts exploring Praying Through This Moment.
For more information or to sign up for my Online Prayer School visit:
https://www.commonerscommunion.com/onlineprayerschool
This past few weeks have been heartbreaking, angering, shocking and confronting. To honour the wider conversation going on at the moment we wanted to briefly hit pause on the planned programming for Season Two to bring you a weeks worth of daily podcasts exploring Praying Through This Moment.
This past few weeks have been heartbreaking, angering, shocking and confronting. To honour the wider conversation going on at the moment we wanted to briefly hit pause on the planned programming for Season Two to bring you a weeks worth of daily podcasts exploring Praying Through This Moment.
This past few weeks have been heartbreaking, angering, shocking and confronting. To honour the wider conversation going on at the moment we wanted to briefly hit pause on the planned programming for Season Two to bring you a weeks worth of daily podcasts exploring Praying Through This Moment.
Maybe we can't truly love like God does - with an achy, gritty and unrelenting love - until we arrive at the end of ourselves; where, out of gas we finally admit we must be conduits that pay forward, rather than reservoirs that withhold grace.
Let Love Ache is a prayer and contemplation from Prayer Vol.01. You can find the book and more details about Commoners Communion at www.commonerscommunion.com.
Produced by Strahan Coleman & Jonathan Class.
Music by Jonathan Class.
Mastered by Alex Dobbert.
Episode art by Leah Surynt.
Visit www.instagram.com/commoners_communion for more written prayers and contemplations and to keep in touch.
In moments when things are difficult and hopeless, remembrance is a way of disempowering suffering - of subverting it. Remembering is prophetic, it's present-shaping, and it transforms how we lean into our tomorrow.
Remembrance Is Anxieties Antidote is a prayer and contemplation from Prayer Vol.01. You can find the book and more details about Commoners Communion at www.commonerscommunion.com.
Produced by Strahan Coleman & Jonathan Class.
Music by Jonathan Class.
Mastered by Alex Dobbert.
Episode art by Leah Surynt.
Visit www.instagram.com/commoners_communion for more written prayers and contemplations and to keep in touch.
There is a mystery and a romance to how God hides from us. But when it comes to the veil between us and God, between the Father of the heavens and my soul, it's generally a veil that I myself create (through shame, distance-imagination and untruth) not a divine reality.
Not Far is a prayer and contemplation from Prayer Vol.01. You can find the book and more details about Commoners Communion at www.commonerscommunion.com.
Produced by Strahan Coleman & Jonathan Class.
Music by Jonathan Class.
Mastered by Alex Dobbert.
Episode art by Leah Surynt.
Visit www.instagram.com/commoners_communion for more written prayers and contemplations and to keep in touch.
God longs for a divine closeness with you that you’ve not yet discovered.
A closeness beyond the questions of circumstance.
A closeness beyond the confusion of knowledge and understanding.
A closeness beyond the woundedness and hurt that you carry.
A closeness beyond what you feel or don’t feel, your emotions, runaway thoughts & anxiety.
A closeness beyond the busyness and chaos of the world we live in.
God has created you for and longs to sit with you at the table of divine hospitality and love.
Communion Has Always Been Your Priority is a prayer and contemplation from the book Prayer Vol.01. You can find it and more details about Commoners Communion at www.commonerscommunion.com.
Produced by Strahan Coleman & Jonathan Class.
Music by Jonathan Class.
Mastered by Alex Dobbert.
Episode art by Leah Surynt.
Visit www.instagram.com/commoners_communion for more written prayers and contemplations and to keep in touch.
God is continually dethroning the 'little g' god of our life. Blowing apart and expanding it to reveal himself, the read God, beyond.
Faith could be seen as a journey in the continual rediscovery of God. A never ending adventure of knowing, unknowing and knowing again the person of God as he really is, accepting that change is not only inevitable, but good, and trusting that God has you in his hands throughout the process.
For The Beginning of Adventures is from my book Prayer Vol.01. You can purchase Prayer Vol.01 and find out more about Commoners Communion at commonerscommunion.com.
Produced by Strahan Coleman & Jonathan Class.
Music by Jonathan Class.
Mastered by Alex Dobbert.
Design by Leah Surynt.
Before the wheat of any harvest can be used for sharing and baking it must be threshed.
Before the wheat of any harvest can be used for sharing and baking it must be threshed.
The next stage in our journey is the harvesting of the seed we have sown and watched over. The initial promise has bloomed and it’s time to remove what’s fully grown and make new space for the movements of God in our tomorrows.
The second stage of our journey is about protecting and growing that which God has sown in us.
The first step in the process of God sowing his seed in our lives is His providing the nourishment that brings us the promise. We receive.
To finish off this first season we'll be embarking on a five-week devotional journey through Isaiah 55. Each week there will be questions to wrestle with, devotionals to meditate on and prayers to prompt you into your own space with God.
Practicing newness isn't just a nice idea, it's the gritty foundation of our entire Christian spirituality.
The music in this podcast is kindly provided by Rhys Machell from his meditative album 'In Glass'. Click here to hear more.
Following on from our last episode, this week I'm looking at the concept of exile - spiritual, physical, emotional, societal - and how we both flourish in the wilderness and find our way back into the city afterwards. Exile can be the seedbed for character growth, destiny, newness and a more loving life. I share how I've found this to be true in my own life and we look at an important historical figure who experienced exile in their own profound way. The music in this podcast is kindly provided by Rhys Machell from his meditative album 'In Glass'. Click here to hear more.
In a daring move of unprecedented nervousness, I'm taking Commoners Communion on the road!
I'm hoping to invite more people to join us in these conversations and to connect face to face with all of you who have been listening, writing and sharing.
Throughout the North Island tour, I'll be sharing on living a life of poetry (maybe even sharing some of my own poetry God-willing), starting some discussion, Q & R and maybe even a little liturgy to ground us in the Great Tradition.
My hope for the tour is that we can start brewing a community that crosses cultural, denominational and social boundaries to encourage each other to live a life of beauty, mystery and revelation.
It feels like there has never been a more important time to see beauty in the other nor to find new language and ways of being in a world starved for connection and intimacy.
I'm really excited to come hang out with you guys and share the love.
Arohanui,
Strahan.
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I'm doing something a little different in this episode. I sat down last week to record an entirely different episode and couldn't deny the leading to go off script a little and share what I was feeling the Spirit saying to a few of us. Not everything in this episode will apply to everyone listening but I hope it's an encouragement to those whom it does connect with. You may know someone who could be encouraged to hear this one and if you do feel free to pass it on.
Spiritual life is about seasons, and sometimes there can be a shift seasonally that applies to both individuals and a whole. I sense that we're in one of those seasons right now and by voicing that we're not alone we can gain a little strength to step out of it together. Commoners Communion is really a community of people searching for a new way of being in a social, political and spiritual landscape that is rapidly changing around us. If you've found this podcast it's probably because you feel that, and in some way you've experienced your own kind of estrangement in the process. If that's you, this podcast is my word to you. With love, and a whole lot of personal vulnerability.
Arohanui, Strahan.
The music in this podcast is kindly provided by Rhys Machell from his meditative album 'In Glass'. Click here to hear more.
Intimacy with God is not an option in our spiritual walk, it's the entire point. We were kissed by God in the beginning and restored to wholeness by a kiss by Christ. In a culture starved for intimacy, we're invited to receive the hongi of God and to share that hongi with the world as we reconcile earth with heaven in the age we live.
The music in this podcast is kindly provided by Rhys Machell from his meditative album 'In Glass'. Click here to hear more.
God is not an idea, a political persuasion or a theology we can knit tight. He is a Person who transforms knowledge into revelation through the process of spending time with him. In today's information age we need more than ever to sit with him, and others, in the tension of what we think we know and that which we don't. Revelation is the way in which we draw God's eternal present into the social, economic, political and ideological battles we face and it's the deeper beauty of our claim of living within the life God himself.
It can sometimes be hard starting a new year. What do we do with unmet promises from the year before? How do we hope for flourishing in times of transition or tension? Just as there are times and seasons in the earth and times and seasons in our lives, there are also times and seasons in kingdom spirituality. In this episode I share what I feel God has been saying to me over these past months about 2018 and how we can start the year open heartedly and with intention. The music in this podcast is kindly provided by Rhys Machell from his meditative album 'In Glass'. Click here to hear more.
We don't often celebrate the beauty of not-knowing in our walk with God, but if he truly is Spirit, truly the God of all existence, then embracing mystery is foundational to our walking with him. God is not always interested in telling us the why of what we're going through, because in the tension between our longing and our lack he's making his goodness all the more satisfying to us. The music in this podcast is kindly provided by Rhys Machell from his meditative album 'In Glass'. Click here to hear more.Visit www.commonerscommunion.com to join the conversation.
In this episode, Strahan discusses how beauty can be lost and found in the pilgrimage of our faith and why beauty should be central to our walk with God. The music in this podcast is kindly provided by Rhys Machell from his meditative album 'In Glass'. Click here to hear more.Visit www.commonerscommunion.com to join the conversation.
In this episode, Strahan begins the conversation on how understanding ourselves as the poetry of God can breathe beauty and life into our walk with God. The music in this podcast is kindly provided by Rhys Machell from his meditative album 'In Glass'. Click here to hear it in full! Visit www.commonerscommunion.com to join the conversation.