UnBoxing “God” - Irreligious 12 Step spirituality exploration: Recent Episodes
UnBoxing “God”
Navigating the Twelve Steps with an Alternative Higher Power. Al-Anon, AA, ACA, and all other 12 Step programs ask us to "Come to Believe in a Power Greater than Ourselves". Drop your preconceived notions of god and explore “out of the box” concepts of a higher power in order to more deeply connect with the divine, others, and ourselves. ...Cuz sometimes tackling an unmanageable life requires an unorthodox Higher Power. Join McCall (+ friends/listeners) every other week, with mini BONUS episodes in-between. Contact: WaldoLovesMe@gmail.com +1 (925) 365-6833 or +1 WALDO-LOVE-3 Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/unboxinggod/support
In this episode, you’ll get to know the captivating ‘Mom of TikTok’, Samantha Howsden Ward aka @MONW0102. She shares her spiritual evolution, which developed from a God-FEARing relationship as a child, with a Bible beating, mentally ill mother.... into (co)dependency with a toxic first marriage... and finally, to the place where, now she actively chooses Love over Fear. Tune in to hear all the juicy bits of Samantha’s life story and expanding belief system, from the positive impacts of divorce, to her son changing her parents’ expressions of love. How have YOU Chosen Love today? This Bonus Holiday Gift episode of Unboxing “God” is an atypical format (like the “Complete Convos” I post on Patreon) in which Samantha calls herself a ‘conundrum wrapped in an enigma’, as she has interests all over the place. She is who she is - growing daily and meeting people where they are. I (hey there, McCall speaking!) wholeheartedly agree and I suspect you will too, after listening to this whirlwind of an episode. Happy holidays!! - - • Samantha’s TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@monw0102
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/monw0102
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/samantha.howsden
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCC60MfqcUTuPGkog4m3piuA
• Website: www.monw0102.com
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On Thursday night (Nov. 26th, 2020), McCall had the honor and opportunity to share her story of Experience, Strength and Hope - for an online, quarantined, holiday, Zoom call conference. The childhood memories that flowed forth were thanksgiving miracles, because it was suddenly so easy to remember the good, and took actual effort to recall the “bad”. What you will hear is the story of an only child raised by a single mother - a magical, creative, beautiful poet of a woman, and also an alcoholic. Hear how, with the help of Al-Anon and AlATeen (and a higher power she calls “Waldo”) McCall discovered gratitude, joy, and contentment. (Los Angeles, CA.)
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For the final episode of Season One, McCall and her husband, Kyle, disclose their journey through a very unhealthy relationship and into the intimate and loving marriage they now enjoy.
With five guests, this is a Jam Packed episode... which make make you salivate! Like an English Muffin, the Nooks and Crannies are where the goodness resides. It's the Space In between that solidifies any relationship and fosters healthy boundaries.
Kristin Combs, shares about how she is approaching her new relationship differently. Author Juan Lee (Love Made Simple) talks boundaries and the responsibilities of love. Professor Mormon Mike is back to talk about deep connections and allowing love. Finally, executive coach, Sarah Goodson (www.threebeatsconsulting.com) brings some valuable tools for instilling boundaries, compassion and forgiveness... for others and ourselves.
WARNING: Talk of crock-pot chili, English muffins, ice cream cake, and other food analogies... may make you salivate.
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In this episode, McCall unboxes awe and wonder.
She contemplates the causes and effects of her own limited opportunities to experience awe as a child and endeavors to discover the benefits, and possible downsides of awe.
McCall explores the history of awe and its evolution in society, the sources of awe, it’s power to create social bonds, and even provide physical healing.
In an interview with Mike Richardson professor of Adolescent Development and Classroom Management at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, McCall hears about the wondrous nature of grapes, and posits awe as a form of worship.
Finally, McCall relays the value of boredom in sparking curiosity, and encourages all of us not to worry, because worry leaves us “feeling awful instead of awe filled.”
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
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Sacred Geometry: Understanding the Underling Meanings of Shapes + Patterns
In this episode of Unboxing God, we talk about sacred geometry and the meaning and connection of certain shapes, like the square, circle, and triangle. Is the ultimate answer in the Great Architect or just a series of extremely unlikely coincidences? Paying attention to your surroundings reveals patterns appearing all around us both in nature and in human made structures; we take a closer look at how this is especially true of the golden ratio.
We also try to unbox the number five, and the irrationality of pi and phi. It is important to that from our earliest days humans have been using images, shapes, and numbers to represent our understanding of the universe. But we also need to understand that there’s still so much more we don’t know and highly unlikely that we will ever achieve the theory of everything.
Listen in to learn how sacred geometry brings healing, harmony, and rebalancing on every level. You will also understand why the triangle is the magic shape uniting the body, mind, and spirit. What you will learn:
· How sacred geometry deals with more than proportions of geometric figures, but also with forms and structures of natural objects.
· My struggle with finding balance with any two things and the solution of some possible third option.
· The circle - is the undifferentiated unity and a sign of completion.
· A snippet of Devon’s interview - she’s a freemason and has been interested in satanic literature since she was a child.
· Unboxing the number five - the Fibonacci Sequence and the golden ratio and how by paying attention you can see patterns appearing all over.
· Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man mystery - on whether he used the golden ratio or not.
· How sacred geometry supposedly connects the inner with the outer in unity.
· The triangle - represents the union of our body, mind, and spirit and is the symbol that underlies all other symbols. It is the magic shape.
· Why we’ll never achieve the theory of everything but can be inspired by the natural phenomena we can see all around us.
This episode is sponsored by
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A special Trick and (several) Treats from Brother Matthew Paul... on the REAL DEAL of Halloween.
Drop your all of your preconceptions before listening, cuz I bet this is not at all what you expect to hear.
Especially coming from a “Religious Brother” of Catholicism.
From the history of trick or treating and dressing in costumes, to the merging of many holidays into a harvest filled bounty of celebration that many folks may know, Brother Matthew Paul talks druids, Wicca, Catholicism, and The Order of The Bards, Ovates, & Druids. He shares his own Dominican order’s reverent practice of honoring their families and ancestors, but especially their dead. Learn the truth about Samhain, Neopaganism, Purgatory, All Souls’, Guy Fawkes - from Saints to Satan, Brother Matthew Paul leaves no caldron untipped (or pumpkin Un carved) in this fantastic expose of a really wonderful holiday!
As always, friends, things are precisely what you make of them.
Boo!
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
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Fact: Explaining Sacred Geometry and Vortex Math for a podcast... audio and no visuals... suffice to say: It is a BEAST. And although I have been working diligently on an epic episode all about Sacred Shapes, Divine Digits + Persistent Patterns - it’s still pretty rough at the moment. It needs at least a few more days of TLC (and Kyle’s ruthless editing cuts) before it is ready to meet you. Instead of working myself into a tizzy, and entirely forgoing sleep again tonight, I am practicing the pause and giving myself some grace. Anything Important, isn’t (usually) also Urgent. The world will keep spinning, and I won’t ask you to sit through a 2+ hour, mathematical furry of concepts. I will breathe and be grateful.... that Thankfully, I have held on to this particular Plan B in case I should stumble upon just this sort of situation. Alas, today, you shall hear my first public Al-Anon speaker lead - in all its imperfection. (The sound is pretty rough and, due to nerves, I talk super fast at first. But, I slow down and share my story of how it was, what happened and how it’s different now. It was off the cuff and from the heart, and I hope you find something in it that touches you. (In Waldo we trust.)
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Regardless of whether you want to complete your basketball season, get from point A to point B, or deliver a healthy baby... the safest place to be is cushioned in the middle of a protective “bubble”.
This week's episode really packs a punch - and a few kicks - as McCall has three conversations with different martial arts practitioners who offer their insights into the importance of finding an equilibrium... where one is not teetering at either end of two extremes, but instead expands that line to an encompassing sphere - at the center of which, lies safety and security.
- Beth W. practices a Kabbalah connected martial art in NYC.
- Rich H. is learning Jeet Kun Do, created by Bruce Lee.
- Masters Tanya and Wally Bagot, who run Sunset San Soo in LA, explain to McCall that this style of Kung Fu is not for sport, but self-protection.
And what do they all have in common...?Balance, training, mindful awareness, and flow.
Also, featuring the wise words of Bruce Lee and Joseph Campbell, on dangerous dichotomies, following your bliss & finding the safe balance of the center.
Quotes
- “One of the basic Kabalistic concepts is that God creates the universe anew - every day. The world is in a constant state of creation.” -- Beth Wilensky
- “Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless -- like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend." --Bruce Lee
- “Whenever one moves out of the transcendent, one comes into a field of opposites. These two pairs of opposites come forth, as male and female, from the two sides. What has eaten of the tree of the knowledge -- not only of good and evil, but of male and female, of right and wrong, of this and that, and light and dark. Everything in the field of time is dual - past and future, dead and alive. All this. Being and non-being. Is/isn't. They always come in pairs and put your mind in the middle. Most of us put our minds on the side of the good, against what we think of as evil. It was Heraclites, I think, who said: ‘For God, all things are good, and right, and just. But for man, some things are 'right' and others are 'Not'.’ You're in the field of time when you're man. And one of the problems of life is to live in the realization of both terms. That is to say, ‘I know the center. And I know that good and evil are simply temporal apparitions.’” -- Joseph Campbell
- “Follow your bliss. …with a deep sense of being informed. And … then going where your body and soul want to go. When you have that feeling, then stay with it! And don't let anyone throw you off.” -- Joseph Campbell
- “Martial arts means honestly expressing yourself.” -- Bruce Lee
- “Humility is a willingness to learn.” -- Wally Bagot
- “Running water never grows stale.” -- Bruce Lee
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
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Because sometimes tackling an unmanageable life requires the help of an unorthodox higher power.
Each week we will dig into a topic that challenges us... from the "God" in 12 Step Recovery, to Social Justice issues like Gender, Race and Arranged Marriage... using less than traditional tools and ideas.
Take what you like... and leave the rest.
Contact: WaldoLovesMe@gmail.com
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/unboxinggod/support
Today has been known as Columbus Day for over a century but federally recognized since 1934. In more recent years, however, October 12th (or the second Monday of October) has come to be known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Today we celebrate, honor, and uplift indigenous people. Also, our friend and guest, Laura, stops by to tell us a little about Canadian Thanksgiving (which is coincidentally the same day).
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/unboxinggod/support
What do the sworn virgins of Albania, Caitlyn Jenner, Elagabalus, and Caster Semenya all have in common? They’re transgender -- or, perhaps, third gender. How long have we known about transgender? Is gender just biological sex like some say or is there something more to learn from other cultures’ and countries’ histories of gender which is not binary? Pink or blue only gender reveal parties, get ready to meet your match!
Summary:
- [1:00] International Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, and Intersex Association - Trans Legal Mapping Report 2019 / Criminalization of trans people globally
- [03:51] Trans around the world / Muxes in Mexico
- [04:45] The Sworn Virgins of Albania
- [05:55] Elagabalus, perhaps the first trans Roman Emperor from 200 CE
- [10:00] Trans in the military / Christine Jorgensen post-WWII
- [11:27] Ryan on Australian school uniforms
- [13:10] Ryan on transitioning genders and a first Al-Anon meeting
- [16:32] Trans in history / Hijras in India
- [18:18] Celia Daniels on Hijras
- [24:29] Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Hijra from India
- [25:52] Indian Trans Olympic Games / Trans in Sports
- [27:21] Caster Semenya
- [33:06] Caitlyn Jenner
- [33:42] Gender spectrum / Evolution to Third Gender ?
- [35:29] 5 Genders? The Bissu of the Bugis people
- [38:02] What’s to come, McCall?
Recommended Resources
- ILGA Trans Legal Mapping Report 2019
- Five Genders? | National Geographic video
- Muxes in Mexico
- Sworn Virgins | National Geographic
- Muslim-Trans in Indonesia
- India’s Third Gender
- Changing Gender Dynamics in Current Structure of India | Laxmi Narayan Tripathi | TEDxSIUHinjewadi
- Roman Scandal 22: Elagabalus and the Problem of Teen Rule
- Find Celia Daniels on Facebook or on LinkedIn or Instagram
- Support Celia Daniels’ work at https://transcanwork.org/
- Join the conversation on Facebook!
- Support UnBoxing “God” here
- Email Waldo (McCall and the team) at waldolovesme@gmail.com if there’s anything you’d like to unbox with us!
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/unboxinggod/support
Arranged marriage - what reaction does that incite in you?This week, we’re delving into Indian marriage: who has arranged ones and can people be happy in them? McCall and Cass have conversations with Celia Daniels, an Indian trans woman in a heterosexual arranged marriage; Monique, an Indian Australian woman who opted to have a non-arranged marriage; and Manpreet, a Punjabi woman who opted to marry a fellow Sikh.
Summary
- [02:22] Reminder: Who is Celia Daniels?
- [03:02] Celia Daniels on Indian, Christian, Arranged Marriage
- [07:04] Celia on her duality as womxn and husband/father
- [08:35] McCall + Cass on arranged marriage
- [09:11] Who participates in arranged marriages? Where did this idea come from?
- [12:01] Types of arranged marriages
SPONSOR AD [15:23-16:30]
- [16:30] "Moonies'" Unification mass-ceremony arranged marriages
- [20:40] Love is Blind…?
- [22:13] Divorce + statistics, in the U.S.
- [24:00] The caste system - in the U.S, too….?
- [24:47] Is arranged marriage like the show “Married at First Sight”?
- [27:20] Introduction to Manpreet in Punjab
- [27:47] Manpreet on arranged marriage
- [28:21] Monique's happy marriage
- [30:29] Monique on gender roles in India
- [34:52] What’s to come, Cass?
Quotes
- [19:27] “The mirror of love is blind. It makes zucchini into okra.” --Arabic saying
- [29:04] "I don't think it's the things that keep you together... It's when things go bad, and they're not enough to break you apart... that's when you know that it's a good relationship." --Monique Kalmar
Recommended Resources
- Find Celia Daniels on Facebook or on LinkedIn or Instagram
- Support Celia Daniels’ work at https://transcanwork.org/
- Email Monique Kalmar at monique@psychologypathways.com
- Join the conversation on Facebook!
- Support UnBoxing “God” here
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/unboxinggod/support
Indian born and raised, a loving arranged marriage, a deep abiding Faith in God, and a sense that HE was a SHE from a very early age.
This week, McCall delves into conversation with Celia Sandhya Daniels, who opens up about their life: Growing up a Christian boy in India; loving God, but hating the "girl inside"; an arranged marriage, to an incredible woman; coming out as transgender; and her struggles through depression and suicidality, in coming to terms with who God designed her to be - for the world, and who God created HIM to be - for his treasured wife & daughter.
Trigger warning: This story talks about molestation, sexual assault, and suicide ideation and behavior.*
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Are women the downfall of humanity? The Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) would have you believe so.
- Did monotheism's misogyny intentionally kill the Feminine Divine?
- Are there other interpretations of Eve, Adam, and the Creation Story?
- Are we positive that Adam was actually male?
- Who was 'Lilith'?
- Might females really be the chosen ones, to redeem all of 'man'kind?
- Is Androgyny the goal of human evolution?
From Eunuchs to Elvis. Ruby Rose to Virginia Woolfe. We use every resource we can, to face the hard questions we have, in an attempt to recover from the biased judgments we've developed.
Starting with the concept of Women's Intuition, breaking down preconceptions of androgyny, and exploring God's possible intention with Adam & Eve, McCall & Cass use history, literature, interviews, and conversation..., to "UnBox" Gender and Religion.
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Since it's Labor Day in the States, and well over 100 degrees in Los Angeles (where McCall lives)... okay and also cuz we are still hard at work on a PACKED Episode 11 - Cass and McCall (and Kyle) are taking the week “off” and will offer up, instead of your regularly planned programming: some exciting info and a few teaser clips from interviews that will be featured over the last four weeks of Season One!
PLUS: A Call for "Listener Shares"!
Brother Matthew Paul re-joins us for some biblical enlightenment, as well as Alison WhiteAcre, the brilliant musician turned transition coach. Plus, there are a few new guests - Michelle, a trans woman exploring her faith and sobriety, and Monique, who shares her experience navigating different faiths through Indian culture, in her native Australia.
Come here more from these guests and others... Next week!
- Join the conversation on Facebook!
- Support UnBoxing “God” here
- Email Waldo (McCall and the team) at waldolovesme@gmail.com if there’s anything you’d like to unbox with us!
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Spoiler: We’re all basically androgynous. McCall’s ex talks masculinity and femininity during gender transition and Cassidy helps McCall unbox toxic femininity, through the lens of Jung’s theory of Anima (the feminine aspect in a male) and Animus (the masculine aspect in a female) and the toxicity that occurs when those characteristics become too extreme. This week, Alison Whiteacre, a transfemme transition coach (a perfectly suited career, we think!) and an old lover of McCall’s, joins the show to speak candidly on how she feels about femininity and masculinity and what transitioning has taught her so far. Also on deck this week is Cassidy, whose work in rape crisis gives her an interesting, albeit biased, perspective on terminology she unboxes with us.
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In Episode 10, McCall is unloading the box of all things woowoo! Most of us are familiar with archetypes, but Jung’s collective unconscious theory leads us to the fringe of what we know as mainstream and into the dreamworld, tarot card reading, and intuition. This week she’s asked several guests to fill in the gaps of “woowoo” that she proclaims she is “both drawn to and repelled by”. Jenny Sieck gives us a crash course on Jung’s archetypes, intuition, and dream analysis. Haleigh gives us a practical tool to tap into our own archetypes: tarot! Plus, Cassidy and Ryan are back again -- this time breaking down a few archetypes and helping us float through the concept of the collective unconscious. This week McCall is asking listeners, “What can the woowoo do for you?” (NOTE: You do NOT need to like Patchouli, and may absolutely gag at the smell of Nag Champa, and you will still dig this episode.)
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In this week’s bonus episode, McCall examines the shadow, or the dark side of Self, and the mask, or what is projected to the world. Through the exploration of an Al-Anon reading, Pinnochio, and Pandora’s Box, McCall guides us through these Jungian archetypes and how she handles her own mask these days. For this episode, she also enlists the help of Kyle, her husband, to unpack these concepts in a more relevant way: through rock and roll. Then singer-songwriter Kaciny has something to say, er, sing about it.
This episode is sponsored by
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Today, we will attempt to “UnBox” the following ideas, with an open mind:
The development of “self”, identity formation, personal unconscious, childhood trauma, fractured selves, burdened parts, Internal Family Systems, and Epigenetics... with 3 special guests:
- Cherish Asha Bolton, is an intercountry, transracial adoptee from India raised in America. She is completing her Ph.D. in History and serves as the President of People for Ethical Adoption Reform (PEAR).
- Margot Schrader, is an artist, licensed clinical mental health counselor and only child of a Holocaust survivor. She is also Mom to her 22 year old daughter and pretty much any kiddo that needs love. She strives to BE who she needed when she was younger. She and her Partner of 5 years Live in NH where she works to improve access to mental health services for the Medicaid population.. Margot has been on a healing journey for more than half of her life. Trying to make sense of her own childhood trauma so that she can help others do the same. Margot is passionate about trauma research,Trauma therapy, neuroscience and Epigenetics. Margot's current area of interest is equality issues around poverty, class and race and how these issues intersect with Trauma and Epigenetics.
- Jessica Ferretti, a holistic health & life coach + owner of www.MeditationForMuscles.com - a Trauma-informed Massage and Healing sanctuary in Los Angeles.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
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The Links in the Chain that led to A.A. - From one conversation in Zurich, between Carl Jung and his 'hopeless' patient... through the Oxford Group and on... to a trip to Vermont in 1935... then Ebby's line: 'I don't need a drink; I got religion"... to Bill Wilson and next, in Akron, came Dr. Bob Smith... and the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.)... and then, on to every other 12-Step program there is, including those for "General Neurotics", like me. Carl Jung and Bill Wilson admired, and were inspired by, one another; their correspondence (dated Jan. 1961 - March 1961) prove this to be a fact. But, the letters between these epic pen-pals also illuminate a series of serendipitous links in an almost contagious chain that gives one pause.
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In this week's episode, McCall unboxes the psyche, the self, and the soul.
What are they, and how do they differ, if at all?
McCall discusses these topics with two guests, William Ragan, PhD - professor of psychology, and Cherish Bolton - The Other(ed) Woman and (P.E.A.R.) People for Ethical Adoption Reform. They each shed light on aspects of 'self' through the lens of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung - with an overview of Freud's concept of id, ego, and super ego versus Jung's archetypes.
McCall shares her own research and thoughts (on Self, Soul and Mind) as she challenges listeners to ask the unanswerable question: "Who the hell am I?"
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If you liked this Bonus Episode, check out: * Applying the writings and philosophies of William James to addiction and Alcoholics Anonymous, by Edward Mendelowitz, Ph.D. (from Society for Humanistic Psychology Newsletter - Oct. 2017) * Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, by William James (a series of 20 lectures on 'natural theology' that psychologist/philosopher William James, from Harvard, conducted at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, from 1901-1902) * Spiritual, Not Religious Experience * BIG BOOK THEOLOGY: “WE AGNOSTICS” and William James, by James R. * Cravings for Deliverance: How William James, the Father of American Psychology, Inspired Alcoholics Anonymous, by Paul Schulte
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While researching the UBG episodes on Mysticism, I stumbled upon this book called Empath to Mystic: The Art of Mastering Your Intuition and Fearlessly Being Yourself, by Aaran Solh, and although it didn't quite make its way into a full episode, I thought it was special enough to share it with you here, in a BONUS Bonus episode. Enjoy!
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Have you ever wondered how taking psychedelics (or, "tripping" as it’s typically called) leads to experiences with the unknown? Or how some people have trips that completely transform them? This week we’re unboxing what “ego death” means and how humans have long sought to lose their egos, to transcend themselves, through a variety of pre-mortem death and rebirth rituals (such as baptism ) including… psychedelics. Yep, drugs!
Complete Show Notes for all UBG episodes can be found here, with a full summary, quotes, and links to external resources.
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In this Bonus Episode #6, I continue my exploration of Mysticism by introducing you to a mystic named Meister Eckhart (1260–1328), who heavily influenced my own personal pursuit of 'detachment' (which he called "dis-interest"). I will also talk a bit about Perennial Philosophy (aka Perennial Wisdom), a perspective in spirituality that views all of the world's religious traditions as sharing a single, metaphysical truth or origin from which all esoteric and exoteric knowledge and doctrine have grown. Finally, I will tease you with a little bit from the British writer and novelist Aldous Huxley who wrote the dystopian novel Brave New World as well as the 1945 non-fiction book The Perennial Philosophy. (FYI: In the Spring of ‘53, Huxley had his first mescaline induced mystical experience, which he details in The Doors of Perception - the book that inspired Jim Morrison to name his band 'The Doors'. I will tell you much more in next week's Full episode!)
Complete Show Notes for all UBG episodes can be found here, with a full summary, quotes, and links to external resources.
Join the conversation on Facebook! NOTE: I briefly touch on The Upanishads ("secret teaching"), which are a series of Hindu sacred treatises - one of Hindu's sacred texts, written in Sanskrit c. 800–200 BC, expounding the Vedas in predominantly mystical terms. The texts are written in a passionate poetic verse describing mystical states and spiritual concepts as well as descriptive short stories and dialogues between historical figures. They discuss things such as meditation, philosophy, Karma, higher states of being, and the nature of our maker... and even though the teachings are now thousands of years old, they are just as relevant today as they were back then. I encourage you to explore them further.
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A whole lot of history and, hopefully, a deeper understanding of what, exactly, IS Mysticism... what defines a "Mystical Experience"... as well as HOW can we (+ WHY should we) all be modern-day mystics, of sorts? Guests: * Iris (from Florida) on the 'How To Listen To Listen To God' meditation practice * Brother Matthew Paul Grote OP gives a master lesson in Biblical Mysticism - including a wealth of recommendations for further reading/googling/learning
Complete Show Notes for all UBG episodes can be found here, with a full summary, quotes, and links to external resources.
Join the conversation on Facebook!
To reach Iris or learn more about her... * www.facebook.com/imlaflamme (Facebook) * www.imlaflamme.wixsite.com/heal (Website) * https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDhBbxFidQjOWnXighg87cw (YouTube) * https://www.amazon.com/dp/179154348/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_7d0-Eb6EECW42 (Buy her book!)
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
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Further exploration into the Stoic Philosophy/Lifestyle with special friends and fellow travelers, Cassidy and Ryan. Specifically, we will unbox "The 4 Stoic Virtues". Also, we take a deeper look at the concept of “Sympatheia”, which if internalized, can change how we interact with the world—for the better.
Complete Show Notes for all UBG episodes can be found here, with a full summary, quotes, and links to external resources.
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Today, we will take a look at an ancient Greek philosophy called Stoicism, which is a school of philosophy centered around personal ethics, founded about three hundred years before the time of Jesus.
We’ll unbox some examples of Stoic practices and exercises. 1. Train Perception to Avoid Good and Bad 2. Take The View From Above 3. “Is This Within My Control?” 4. Amor Fati: Love Everything That Happens
Guests: Cassidy and Ryan
Complete Show Notes for all UBG episodes can be found here, with a full summary, quotes, and links to external resources.
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After a full week or protests, reading ‘White Fragility’, watching the news, and looking up the nose of Juneteenth, I have chosen to amplify the voices of black men and women for this week’s Bonus Episode [#5].
Complete Show Notes for all UBG episodes can be found here, with a full summary, quotes, and links to external resources.
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Isolation vs Community, Connection, and Belonging.
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Introduction
What is “church”?
In this episode of Unboxing God, we delve into the true meaning of the word and why we feel we need it. Join us as we explore what “church” means for a few of our friends: Kyle details the experience of skating top speed on the roller derby track, completely focused and in the moment, as his “church”; Anthony finds his “church” out on the open road; and Scott chronicles a sailor’s lifelong “church” out on the open water.
Summary
Why church? Where is church? What’s in a church anyway?
“Yes, but…” is a deadend; “yes, and…” is the path forward.
Churches universally provide: a place of safety and support, belonging and community, and inspiration and growth.
Belonging is a universal human need, just like the need for food and shelter
Quotables * “It doesn’t have to be in a building for me; it doesn’t even have to be inside at all. For me, the feel of that road just running underneath me, and the breeze in my face, and the sun beating down on my shoulders… That’s where I find my church. That’s where I’m closest to my God.” -- Anthony * “...I use a sailboat analogy in my 12-Step recovery to picture the Serenity Prayer… I think of the Serenity Prayer, asking for the “courage to change the things I can” being the courage to change my sails because I can’t change the waves and the wind. …[I]nstead of fighting it ... so that I can experience the serenity that it provides.” -- McCall * “More and more as I get older [in the sport of sailing] I find that I do my best when I just let go. I ground myself firmly in the present, I don’t look back, I strictly breathe deeply, and try to figure out how to make the most out of the moment that I’m in. -- Uncle Scott * “When you’re thinking about it, you don’t sail well. When you just let go and experience it, you do very well.” -- Uncle Scott
Recommended Resources * Support Unboxing God here * The Quorum: A Place of Belonging by Elder Carl B. Cook, from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints * Create a Sense of Belonging by Karyn Hall, from Psychology Today, 2014 * Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs * Cleveland Sailing Charters, Lake Erie Cruises with Captain Scott Sanders
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In this episode, McCall's 11-year-old son (Marley) explains The Hero's Journey as a lens through which we can all choose to view our challenges, while his dad (McCall's awesome hubby, Kyle) reflects and applies each stage of the monomyth to Star Wars. Then McCall and Marley debrief on why the Monomyth can be such a helpful Knowledge Checkpoint in anyone's life adventures.
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From poetry to lyrics, I am finding all sorts of ways to experience communion with the God of my understanding through prayer. Gratitude lists, music, and meditation are all ways to praise The Divine, and “worship” can be done through art, singing, dance, even just sitting in intentional wonder as we gaze upon Nature’s splendors. This week on Unboxing "God", McCall and fellow travelers explore PRAISE.
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In Episode 1, 'Sensing God", I discovered a favorite quote of Hellen Keller's from a poem called "Grieve Not For Beauty" by Witter Bynner: "Therefore, O spirit, as a runner strips Upon a windy afternoon, Be unencumbered of what troubles you - Arise with grace And greatly go! - the wind upon your face! " I have continually gone back to read a much larger chunk of the piece, seeing new angles each time and I'd like to share it with you.
See, I love using poetry, or even song lyrics, as a sort of prayer. Unwrapping the words deliberately and dancing in the ideas that come to me. I believe this is a form of Higher Power "worship" even, where we speak to each other, Waldo and me.
I invite you to try it out for yourself. Get lost in the words and allow something Greater to lead your thoughts. I will also share my own... in this BONUS episode.
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How a 10-day experiment in calling God “Waldo” helped me begin a love affair with the God of MY understanding. Other people’s “takes” of their own Alt. Higher Power. Where’s Waldo, and how did I find God in him? In a relentless effort to fill my personal God-Shaped-Hole, I’ve journeyed through a variety of faiths and soul seeking - from Synagogue to Catholic school to an Ashram, Wicca, shamanism, all the way to good ole JC. It wasn’t until I began my journey to a PERSONAL relationship with the unique God of MY understanding (a sort of Ms. Potatohead deity, whom I lovingly call Waldo) that my vision of what is possible really began to expand and my access to uninhibited conversations about “The Divine” began. The interpersonal connections that my playful experiments of “God” have fostered are some of the most real, raw, and magical relationships I’ve ever known... and an unfiltered connection to myself is at the very top of that list!
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Today we will explore ways we might SENSE GOD.
Think about it for a moment... have you ever seen fingerprints of a power greater than yourself in Nature and the landscapes? Do you notice repeating numbers around you and wonder if it might not be a God WInk?
How about HEARING God? Is there music or poetry that sets your soul on fire? Is their a voice in your life that cuts through the outside chatter and reaches into your heat? Can you TASTE God, What about those with sensory impairments... might they have some secret "key" to a shared space with a Higher Power? Today. I ask that very question of an old friend, who happens to be deaf.
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Just a brief musing on what the idea of “Recovery” means to me, McCall, personally. Take what you like... and leave the rest. But please share YOUR “take” on the word/idea by email: waldolovesme@gmail.com or phone +1-WALDO-LOVE-3 If we get some usable clips (wav, mp3 or types shares) you could be featured in a future episode. As always, send ideas, thoughts, questions too! Let’s make this a conversation!!
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Because sometimes tackling an unmanageable life requires the help of an unorthodox higher power.
Each week we will dig into a topic from 12 Step Recovery using less than traditional tools and ideas. Take what you like... and leave the rest. Contact: WaldoLovesMe@gmail.com
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