Earth and Spirit Podcast: Recent Episodes
Earth and Spirit Center
The Earth and Spirit Podcast fosters engaging conversations with change-makers working at the intersection of meditative spiritual practice, social healing, and ecology. It is a production of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center (www.earthandspiritcenter.org), a nonprofit, interfaith spirituality center located in Louisville, Kentucky.
In this brief episode, Earth & Spirit Podcast host and producer Kyle Kramer gives some background on why the podcast feed has been dark for a bit, and what the future holds for the podcast moving forward.
David Gershon is the co-founder and CEO of Empowerment Institute, author of a dozen books, and is one of the foremost social change experts in the world. In this conversation, David shares his vision of world peace by 2030 and the inspired and inspiring way he is helping create the means to achieve it.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Registration link for World Building Workshop in Louisville on September 9, 2024: https://poe.earth/POEWBWorkshop
Learn more about the Peace on Earth by 2030 Movement: https://peace2030.earth
Learn more about the Peace Game and the Peace Game App:
https://peacegame.earth
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1arS7L8fkp2DgKgfuD3GOAxykugYm3TwGusaZ8Zw5ZA4/edit?usp=sharing
https://poe.earth/app
Learn more about David’s work and writing: https://empowermentinstitute.net
Brayton Bowen is an organizational consultant, author, educator, and speaker, who served as a senior human resources officer for Fortune 500 companies. He’s also a fierce advocate for compassion in the workplace. In this episode, we explore the benefits compassion can bring in organizational life and beyond. RESOURCES: Donate to support the Earth & Spirit Podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/ Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/ Brayton’s website: https://buildingbetterworldsofwork.com/ Brayton’s books: https://buildingbetterworldsofwork.com/success-resources/
John Gage is a Louisville-based folk singer-songwriter and a former public radio host. For over six decades, his music has engaged deeply with spirituality, social justice, and care for the Earth. John brought his beloved old Martin guitar with him to the Earth & Spirit Center to add a few live songs to this wide-ranging conversation about music as a force for good in the world. His most recent album, Circles of Our Lives, features several Wendell Berry poems that John set to music, one of which he performed during this conversation. John teaches music for the Camp Odyssey summer programs at the Earth & Spirit Center, so since our summer camps are in full swing, we are re-airing this episode, which originally aired in 2021.
Resources:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
John Gage on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/26zYYPXePtVOO7hHjieUGj
Mat McDermott is Senior Director of Communications for the Hindu American Foundation, a non-profit advocacy organization for the Hindu American community, and an author and contributor for many Hindu American Foundation policy positions on environmental care and the ethical treatment of animals. This conversation explores how Hindu spirituality, and especially the various forms of yoga, help cultivate an ethic of love and care for the sacred world we all share.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Hindu American Foundation: https://www.hinduamerican.org/
Learn more about the June 21 International Day of Yoga
In honor of the Earth & Spirit Center’s upcoming summer camps, we’re replaying an episode from the archives, about the importance of nature-based free play. Claude Stephens is the Facilitator of Outreach and Regenerative Design for Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. He’s also the director of Bernheim’s Children at Play Network, an initiative that helps connect children to nature through free play. This conversation explores the importance of free play in nature as an engine of inspiration and imagination, empowerment, equity, and efforts to sustain healthy communities and landscapes.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
Bernheim Research Forest and Arboretum: https://bernheim.org/
Children At Play Network: https://childrenatplaynetwork.com/
Reverend Seifu Anil Singh-Molares is a priest in the Rinzai Zen Buddhist tradition and serves as the executive director of Spiritual Directors International, an interfaith non-profit that provides resources for spiritual guidance and counsel. This conversation explores what spiritual direction is and how important it is for discerning wisdom and divine presence in all aspects of our life.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Spiritual Directors International: https://www.sdicompanions.org/
Contact Rev. Seifu: anilsm@sdiworld.org
Rebecca and Pete Davis are a sister-and-brother filmmaking team who have created “Join or Die,” a documentary film about the decline of civic life in America and the importance of joining clubs and other associations as a way to restore the health of our democracy. This episode explores how we are all made for belonging and how we can lean into the profoundly joyful work of becoming more deeply connected to our places and to each other.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Join or Die film: https://putnamdoc.com/
Osprey Orielle Lake is the founder executive director of WECAN, the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, and the author of The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis. In this episode, we explore how embracing a different story about our belonging in a living, animate world can transform our self-understanding and can help to heal our relationship with ourselves, each other, and the rest of the living Earth.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Osprey’s organization, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network: https://www.wecaninternational.org/
Osprey’s new book, The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis
Tom Williams is a Louisville-based labor relations attorney with a deep commitment to the contemplative path, with the wild idea that a lawyer’s vocation may ultimately be to serve as a healer. In this conversation, Tom shares how he puts spiritual principles and insights into action as a tireless advocate for radical compassion, restorative justice, equity, and inclusion.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support the Earth & Spirit Center and this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Visit the Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Learn more about Restorative Justice: https://www.voamid.org/services/restorative-justice/
Learn more about Tom’s legal practice: https://www.skofirm.com/attorney/thomas-m-williams/
Compassion Games International: https://www.compassiongames.org/
Dr. Susan Taylor is a PhD economist who has given her life to weaving together commitments of religious faith and commitments to a more just economy. In this episode, we reflect on the central and complicated role that money plays in human life. As an alternative to bare-knuckled capitalism, Susan offers the idea of Sabbath Economics – a radical vision of abundance and economic justice for people and our planet – a vision that each of us and all of us can start living toward right here and right now.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support the Earth & Spirit Center and this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Visit the Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Susan’s financial advising firm, Just Money Advisors: https://www.justmoneyadvisors.com/
Faith and Money Network: https://faithandmoneynetwork.org/
OneEarth Jubilee: https://oneearthjubilee.com/
Dr. Michael Hollifield is a psychiatrist and general practitioner who serves as the Founder, President, and CEO of the War Survivors Institute, a nonprofit organization devoted to restoring health to civilians and soldiers who have been harmed by war, as well as mitigating the causes of violent conflicts. In this conversation, Michael reflects on the causes of war, its devasting effects, and how mindfulness and other spiritual practices and insights can bring peace in troubled hearts and troubled times.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support the Earth & Spirit Center and this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Visit the Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
War Survivors Institute: https://warsurvivors.org/
War Survivors Institute Virtual Walkathon: https://givebutter.com/2024onewalkathon
Upcoming WSI Events in Louisville, KY:
WSIwill be in the military section all day at Thunder Over Louisville (April 20, 2024): https://thunderoverlouisville.org/
WSI Healing Hearts Evening Event: May 16, 2024 at the Muhammad Ali Center: https://warsurvivors.org/event/healing-horizons-event-at-the-muhammad-ali-center-louisville-ky/
Denise Davis taught writing for decades and is deeply committed to the spiritual journey and to journaling as a particular avenue of spiritual practice. In this conversation, Denise describes journaling as a chance to create what Howard Thurman called an Isle of Peace, where it’s safe to reflect on our experience, cultivate compassion for others, and seek the imprint of the divine in our lives.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support the Earth & Spirit Center and this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Visit the Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Learn more about Denise’s Earth & Spirit Center course, “Journaling as a Spiritual Practice” (begins March 4, 2024): https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/journaling-as-a-spiritual-practice/
Stephanie Barnett is a healthcare consultant, spiritual director, and nonprofit leader who understands her work as accompanying those on the margins, including young mothers who are in active recovery from substance abuse. In this conversation, Stephanie shares how compassion is the spiritual thread woven throughout all her work, knitting together communities of kinship and belonging, where all can know their own worth and belovedness.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support the Earth & Spirit Center and this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Visit the Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Stephanie’s nonprofit, iAccompany/ChooseWell Communities: https://www.choose-well.org/
Homeboy Industries: https://homeboyindustries.org/
Matthew Fox is an author, theologian, and activist Episcopal priest whose radical interfaith work attempts to reawaken us to the sacredness of the created world. In this conversation, originally released in October 2022, Matthew reflects on how creation-centered spirituality, and the marriage of the divine feminine and sacred masculine, can help us respond with hope to the troubles of our apocalyptic times.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Websites related to Matthew’s work:
http://www.matthewfox.org
http://www.thecosmicmass.com
http://www.orderofthesacredearth.org
http://www.dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.org
Andy Loving is the founder of Just Money Advisors, a financial advising firm that specializes in working with clients who have strong interests in socially responsible and ecologically sustainable investing. This conversation delves into the complicated role that money plays in our lives and how spiritual values can inspire us to use money and investing as tools for bringing about the more beautiful world that our hearts know is possible.
RESOURCES AND LINKS:
Donate to support the Earth & Spirit Center and this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Visit the Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Just Money Advisors Inc.: https://www.justmoneyadvisors.com/
Hope Credit Union: https://hopecu.org/
Faith and Money Network: https://faithandmoneynetwork.org/
Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC: https://inwardoutward.org/
Koinonia Farm: https://www.koinoniafarm.org/
Dr. Patricia Gianotti is the Academic Director of The Institute for Advanced Psychotherapy at Loyola University Chicago. As a clinician in private practice, she works with clients around issues related to trauma, shame, and narcissism. She’s also the founder of the Center for Spiritual Integration, an organization dedicated to the integration of spiritual and psychological aspects of the human psyche. This conversation explores what spiritual integration means in the context of human resilience, authenticity, purpose, building community, and other themes of living and aging well.
RESOURCES AND LINKS:
Donate to support the Earth & Spirit Center and this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Visit the Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Patricia’s website: www.patriciagianotti.com
The Center for Spiritual Integration: https://www.patriciagianotti.com/spiritual-integration
Patricia’s consultation and coaching practice: www.thewoodlandgroupllc.com
Patricia’s latest book: Embracing Therapeutic Complexity: A Guidebook to Integrating the Essentials of Psychodynamic Principles Across Therapeutic Disciplines.
Institute for Advanced Psychotherapy at Loyola University Chicago: https://www.luc-iap.com/
After successful careers in business, Di Anne and Tom Kerrigan have become deeply involved in sharing mindfulness with those who need its practical benefits but may have barriers to access. This episode is the second half of a conversation with them about the democratization of mindfulness and the role mindfulness and compassion can play not only in improving the lives of individuals but also in changing the systems that perpetuate inequity.
RESOURCES:
Please donate to help cover the costs of this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Learn more about the nonprofit Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Earth & Spirit Center’s Mindfulness Mentors program, bringing free mindfulness instruction to those with barriers to access: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/learn-to-meditate/mindfulness-mentors/
Register for our free Listen, Learn, Act Meet and Greet event, December 7, 2023, 6 – 7:30 EST: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/meet-and-greet/
Di Anne and Tom Kerrigan are an entrepreneurial couple who sold their successful business and then devoted their considerable energy and talents to sharing mindfulness with underserved community members, in collaboration with the Earth & Spirit Center. In this first of a two-part conversation, Di and Tom reflect on the difference mindfulness can make in the lives of people who face extraordinary challenges.
RESOURCES:
Please donate to help cover the costs of this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Learn more about the nonprofit Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Earth & Spirit Center’s Mindfulness Mentors program, bringing free mindfulness instruction to those with barriers to access: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/learn-to-meditate/mindfulness-mentors/
Scott Russell Sanders is a Cambridge-educated novelist, essayist, conservationist, and a distinguished professor of English, emeritus, at Indiana University. He wrote and taught for decades about nature and place, family and community, and the concerns of social justice and ecology, woven together with a spirituality that is rooted in awe and wonder. This conversation, from our archives, explores the joys and disciplines of spiritual imagination, writing, and a well-lived life, in communion with others and within our one shared world.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Scott’s website: https://scottrussellsanders.com/
Some of Scott’s books:
Small Marvels: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/small_marvels.html
The Way of Imagination: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/way_of_imagination.html
The Engineer of Beasts: A Novel: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/engineer_of_beasts.html
A Conservationist Manifesto: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/conservationist_manifesto.html
A Private History of Awe: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/private_history_of_awe.html
Hunting for Hope: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/hunting_for_hope.html
Writing from the Center: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/writing_from_the_center.html --
Jim Wayne is a psychotherapist, business owner, a novelist, and for almost three decades until 2019, an elected representative in the Kentucky House. He’s been a tireless advocate for tax reforms, concern for the poor, and mental health care concerns. He’s also a person for whom prayer, meditation, and religious belonging have played an important role in the person he is, the commitments he holds, and how he does his work. In this conversation, Jim reflects on how his faith and contemplative practice are woven into a life lived in service to others.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Institute for Applied Mindfulness: http://www.instituteforappliedmindfulness.org/
Wayne Corporation: https://www.waynecorp.com/
Jim’s novel, The Unfinished Man: https://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Man-Jim-Wayne/dp/0996012001
Sister Kathleen Duffy is a member of a Catholic religious order, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, and she’s also had a decades-long academic career as a molecular physicist at Chestnut Hill College. In this weaving together of science and spirituality, she’s been guided by the paleontologist and mystic, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, also a person with deep commitments to both scientific inquiry and religious faith. In this conversation, Sr. Kathy reflects on Teilhard’s understanding of our Universe as a journey of both matter and spirit, evolving toward greater unity, beauty, and love.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Institute for Applied Mindfulness: http://www.instituteforappliedmindfulness.org/
Sr. Kathy's upcoming retreat at the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, November 10-12, 2023: https://nazarethretreatcenterky.org/programs/65/teilhards-cosmic-images-of-god/
American Teilhard Association: https://teilharddechardin.org/
Institute for Religion and Science at Chestnut Hill College: http://irands.org/
Dr. Sue Stuart-Smith is a UK-based psychiatrist and psychotherapist, an avid gardener, and the author of The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature. In this second installment of a two-part conversation, Sue reflects on the fundamental human need to connect with the rest of the living world and how we can overcome the modern world’s alienation from nature through equitable access to green spaces. She also offers insights as to how gardens can provide healing from trauma, help us manage stress and burnout through a new relationship to time, give us a sense of agency and hope, and help us come to terms with our own mortality.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Sue’s book:The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature.
Sue’s website: https://www.suestuartsmith.com/
Sue on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suestuartsmith/
Dr. Sue Stuart-Smith is a UK-based psychiatrist and psychotherapist, an avid gardener, and the author of The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature. Over her long career in psychotherapy, Sue has seen the power of gardens and nature connection to heal trauma, cultivate mindfulness and spirituality, navigate anxiety, stress, and burnout, and help us become our full, embodied human selves. In this first of a two-part conversation, Sue and I talk about the co-evolution of gardens and humankind and the essential role nature plays in human physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being. Whether you’re a gardener or not, I hope you enjoy Sue’s powerful, moving reflection on the deep relationship between green nature and human nature.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Sue’s book: The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature.
Sue’s website: https://www.suestuartsmith.com/
Sue on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suestuartsmith/
Dr. Kathleen Coyne grew up among the indigenous peoples of Northern Canada, which set her on a lifelong journey as a community development expert and an advocate for equity and justice, especially with those who are on the margins. She’s also deeply committed to the spiritual path of Christian meditation. In this beautiful, heart-opening conversation, Kathleen shares how the spiritual practice of contemplative, heart-centered compassion and listening provides a powerful and grounded way to engage the needs of the most vulnerable.
RESOURCES:
Make a tax-deductible donation to support this nonprofit podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Center for Applied Mindfulness homepage: https://www.instituteforappliedmindfulness.org/
Upcoming virtual retreat Kathleen will lead with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth: “Listening as Sanctuary: Introduction to Compassionate Listening as Contemplative Practice.” https://nazarethretreatcenterky.org/programs/391/listening-as-sanctuary-virtual/
Kathleen’s bio: https://nazarethretreatcenterky.org/teachers/392/kathleen-coyne-medes-edd/
syiyaya Reconciliation Movement, supporting dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast: https://syiyayareconciliation.ca/
Compassionate Listening Project: https://www.compassionatelistening.org/
Compassionate Integrity Training: https://www.compassionateintegrity.org/
Boundless Compassion: https://www.boundlesscompassion.org/
Martin Boroson’s experience spans the study of Western and Eastern spiritual traditions, much of that work done at Yale University, but also the world of business and management. An ordained Zen priest, Marty also earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He is the founder of the One Moment Company, LLC, which provides meditation and mindset training to large healthcare institutions and Fortune 500 companies. He also provides consulting and coaching services for organizational leaders, especially helping them bring mindfulness to issues of time management. In this second of a two-part conversation with Marty, we focus on the themes of his book, One-Moment Meditation: Stillness for People on the Go. We also dive into the tensions and possibilities of bringing spiritual practice into the everyday world of action and especially into the workplace.
RESOURCES: Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/ Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/ Institute for Applied Mindfulness: http://www.instituteforappliedmindfulness.org/ https://martinboroson.com/ https://onemomentcompany.com/ https://www.becomingme.com/
Martin Boroson studied Western philosophy at Yale, followed by private study of Eastern philosophy and the work of Carl Jung. He also earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He is a leadership coach, founder of the One-Moment Company, and an ordained Zen priest in the Hollow Bones Rinzai Zen order. He’s the creator of One-Moment Meditation and the author of One-Moment Meditation: Stillness for People on the Go. With artist Chris Gilvan-Cartwright, he’s also created Becoming Me, his recently reprinted book that is part beautifully-illustrated children’s book, part mystical treatise on the nature of existence and our place in it. In this first of a two-part episode, Marty reflects on Becoming Me and the gentle, essential truths it holds for people of all ages, backgrounds, and religious persuasions.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Institute for Applied Mindfulness: http://www.instituteforappliedmindfulness.org/
https://www.becomingme.com/
https://martinboroson.com/
https://onemomentcompany.com/
We’re trying something a little different for this episode. As the host of the Earth & spirit Podcast, I always get to ask the questions. But this time, we’re turning the mics around. Dan Galvin, who’s part of the Earth & Spirit Center team, agreed to be the host and to put me in the hot seat this time, to talk about some of my background and the work of the Earth & Spirit Center, including our new Institute for Applied Mindfulness. I hope you enjoy this conversation about contemplative spirituality and its connections to building healthy communities and cultivating a deep relationship with the rest of the living world.
RESOURCES AND NOTES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Institute for Applied Mindfulness homepage: http://www.instituteforappliedmindfulness.org/
More info on Kyle: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/about-us/our-team/kyle-kramer/
Kyle’s latest book: Making Room: Soul-Deep Satisfaction Through Simple Living.
Lois Luckett is a licensed clinical social worker who has been in private counseling practice since 1980. In this podcast conversation, Lois shares how mindfulness, body awareness, and connection to the natural world can help us feel safe, learn to trust, and become more healthy and whole.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Hakomi Institute: https://hakomiinstitute.com/
Lois Luckett on Psychology Today site: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/lois-s-luckett-louisville-ky/835522
Sr. Gail Worcelo co-founded the Green Mountain Monastery in 1999, encouraged and supported by her friend and mentor, the late Thomas Berry. Berry, a cultural historian and Passionist priest, was a ground-breaking thinker who contemplated the new story science has given us of 13.8 billion-year history of our evolving Universe. He considered the implications of this new story for our religion, education, economy, and government. In this conversation, first aired in 2020, Sr. Gail reflects on how Thomas Berry’s vision has guided the Green Mountain Monastery community and offers wisdom for all of us, here at the choice point between an ecozoic or a technozoic future.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Green Mountain Monastery: http://www.greenmountainmonastery.org/
Thomas Berry Resources: http://thomasberry.org/
The Journey of the Universe: https://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/
Jud Hendrix is the executive director of Interfaith Paths to Peace, a nonprofit organization with a mission of building peace, justice, and compassion by uniting and organizing people of diverse faiths, races, and cultures. In this episode, Jud reflects on spirituality, social change, hope, and what it means to help build the beloved community.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Institute for Applied Mindfulness: http://www.instituteforappliedmindfulness.org/
Interfaith Paths to Peace: https://paths2peace.org/
Zoom link for Wednesday 3:30pm EST weekly conversations mentioned in the show: https://zoom.us/j/9847872987
Dr. Hannah Bland is a licensed counselor, an assistant professor of mental health counseling, and the director of the mental health counseling education program at Spalding University. She has worked extensively in prisons, the foster care system, and rape crisis centers, among other difficult circumstances. In this conversation, Hannah shares the important synergy between mindfulness and mental health care, especially with those who face extraordinary life challenges.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Institute for Applied Mindfulness: http://www.instituteforappliedmindfulness.org/
Dr. Bland’s Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program: https://spalding.edu/master-of-arts-in-clinical-mental-health-counseling/
Jimmy Springston is a former Air Force officer and chief operating officer of a multi-million-dollar commercial construction company, who now coaches other leaders. In this podcast conversation, Jimmy reflects on how to create organizational cultures that are more mindful, emotionally intelligent, effective, and sustainable.
RESOURCES:
- Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
- Connect with Jimmy Springston: https://jimmyspringston.com/
- Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
- Institute for Applied Mindfulness: https://www.instituteforappliedmindfulness.org/
- The Center for Nonviolent Communication: https://www.cnvc.org/
- More on Entrepreneurial Operating System: https://www.eosworldwide.com/
Joe Grant is a Scotland-born modern-day mystic, spiritual guide, retreat leader at Holy Hills Hermitage in rural Kentucky. He is the author of numerous books and articles about scripture, justice and spirituality. Joe has worked with indigenous peoples of the U.S. and in Latin America. In this conversation, originally released on February 27, 2020, Joe reflects on his spiritual journey, which has led him to live with indigenous peoples deep in the Amazon rainforest, as well as making a home amid the pain and violence of inner-city Louisville. In all of this, Joe follows a vocation of heart-wide-open engagement with our beautiful, wounded world.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Joe’s latest book, Wandering and Welcome: Meditations for Finding Peace, published by Franciscan Media.
Joe’s retreat center in rural Marion County, Kentucky, Holy Hills Hermitage: https://holyhillshermitage.org/
Dr. Ursula Goodenough is professor emerita of biology at Washington University, the president of the Religious Naturalist Association, and the author of The Sacred Depths of Nature: How Life Has Emerged and Evolved. This conversation explores conversation, Ursula and I explore the story of how science can inspire deep reverence and care for our shared, evolving world.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Info about Ursula’s latest book, The Sacred Depths of Nature: How Life Has Emerged and Evolved: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-sacred-depths-of-nature-9780197662069?cc=us&lang=en&
Religious Naturalist Association: https://religious-naturalist-association.org/
Gretchen “Bunny” Nash has worked for decades with children and adults facing emotional and behavioral challenges as well as various forms of trauma. In this conversation, Bunny shares how mindfulness practices can rewire our brains to foster stress resilience, compassion, and greater well-being for individuals and communities.
RESOURCES:
Bunny’s “Practicing the Daily Pause” course at the Earth & Spirit Center, beginning April 4, 2023: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/continuing-meditation-practicing-the-daily-pause/
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Learn more about the Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Elaine Miller-Karas and the Community Resilience Model: https://www.traumaresourceinstitute.com/tri-staff
Amelia and Emily Nagoski, authors of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Jill Bolte Taylor, author of Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey: https://www.drjilltaylor.com/
Sr. Toni Temporiti, PhD is the founder of Microfinancing Partners in Africa, an organization that provides loans to empower women who struggle with poverty. In this episode, Sr. Toni reflects on the power of listening, community, and courage for creating a more beautiful and sustainable world – one person, one community, one small loan at a time.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Microfinancing Partners in Africa: https://microfinancingafrica.org/
Dr. Tony Zipple is an expert in behavioral health and rehabilitation counseling, in both clinical and academic settings, with extensive background in executive leadership of large organizations. In this episode, we reflect on Tony’s experience with positive psychology, mindful self-awareness, and how individuals and organizations can flourish, especially amidst change.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Tony Zipple’s website: https://tonyzipple.com/
Incite Consulting Solutions: https://inciteconsultingsolutions.com/
Phil Lloyd Sidle is an Earth and Spirit Center faculty member who provides mindfulness instruction for incarcerated people and those in the LGBTQIA+ community. In this episode, Phil shares how mindfulness can help those on the margins – and all people – to embrace their own worth and value, navigate suffering, and cultivate compassion for themselves and others in our deeply interdependent world.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth and Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Louisville Vipassana Community: http://www.louisville-vipassana-community.org/
Dharma Seed: https://dharmaseed.org/
Insight Meditation Society: https://www.dharma.org/
Plum Village: https://plumvillage.org/
Day Schildkret uses found natural materials in outdoor settings to create Earth-based art whose beauty is utterly impermanent. He’s also the author, most recently, of Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration, and Change. In this episode, Day and I reflect on how nature, creativity, and ritual help us navigate change, make meaning, and remember our true wholeness and belonging.
RESOURCES:
Please support this podcast at https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Day’s new book, Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration, and Change: https://www.dayschildkret.com/books
Day’s websites:
https://www.dayschildkret.com/
https://www.morningaltars.com/
Day in Instagram: http://instagram.com/morningaltars
Day on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/morningaltars
Dr. Broderick Sawyer is a clinical psychologist who integrates mindfulness and compassion practices into his work with organizations and individual clients. This episode explores how mindfulness can inform psychological wholeness, promote healing from racial stress and trauma, and help overcome mind-states that perpetuate division.
NOTES AND RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Broderick Sawyer’s website: https://www.brodericksawyer.com/
Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim are a husband and wife team of Senior Lecturers and Research Scholars at Yale University in the School of the Environment, the Divinity School, and the Department of Religious Studies, with specializations in East Asian religions and Indigenous religions. They co-direct the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology and are the creators of the new Coursera series, Religions and Ecology: Restoring the Earth Community. In this 2021 episode from our podcast archives, Mary Evelyn and John discuss their decades of work at the intersection of ecology and the world’s religions, as informed by their mentor Thomas Berry and with the hopeful, deep-time perspective of our evolving universe.
RESOURCES:
Please donate to support this podcast and the Earth & Spirit Center nonprofit organization: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/category/podcast/
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Coursera courses by Mary Evelyn and John:
Religions and Ecology: Restoring the Earth Community
https://www.coursera.org/specializations/religion-ecology
Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times
https://www.coursera.org/specializations/journey-of-the-universe
Yale Forum on Ecology and Religion: https://fore.yale.edu/
Journey of the Universe film/book/podcasts: https://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/
Thomas Berry Website: https://thomasberry.org/
United Nations Environment Programme Faith for Earth Initiative:
https://www.unep.org/about-un-environment/faith-earth-initiative
Greenfaith: https://greenfaith.org/
Ecology and Religion, by John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker. Washington DC: Island Press, 2014.
The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams. New York: Celadon Books, 2021
Deborah Eden Tull is a Buddhist teacher, activist, author, and sustainability educator. In this conversation, we dive into her latest book, Luminous Darkness: An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown. We reflect on how darkness is an invitation to open-hearted, full-spectrum living, fierce compassion, relational mindfulness, and hopeful, courageous dreaming in the service of life.
RESOURCES:
Please donate to support this podcast and the Earth & Spirit Center nonprofit organization: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/category/podcast/
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Eden’s website: https://www.deborahedentull.com/
Eden’s new book, Luminous Darkness: An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown: https://www.deborahedentull.com/luminous-darkness
Eden’s nonprofit, Mindful Living Revolution: https://www.deborahedentull.com/non-profit
Jason Shulman is a spiritual teacher who straddles the worlds of Jewish Kabbalah mysticism and Zen Buddhism. In this episode, Jason shares his practical, deeply grounded, nondual vision of reality and how it plays out in conflict resolution, the integration of polarities and paradox, and above and beneath all, love.
RESOURCES:
Jason’s school, A Society of Souls: https://www.societyofsouls.com/, https://www.facebook.com/asocietyofsouls/
The Foundation for Nonduality: https://www.nonduality.us.com/, https://www.instagram.com/foundationfornonduality/, https://www.facebook.com/FoundationForNonduality,
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ml_7AMW7UL15uD_CI9mQQ
Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Nina Simons is an activist, author, social entrepreneur, and the co-founder of Bioneers, a nonprofit organization committed to social and environmental justice work that honors the web of life, now and into the future. In this conversation, Nina reflects on how feminine and indigenous leadership are crucial paths for cultural and ecological regeneration.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Nina’s website: https://www.ninasimons.com/
Nina’s new book, Nature, Culture & The Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership, 2nd edition: https://www.ninasimons.com/writing
Bioneers website: https://bioneers.org/
Matthew Fox is an author, theologian, and activist Episcopal priest whose radical interfaith work attempts to reawaken us to the sacredness of the created world. In this conversation, Matthew reflects on how creation-centered spirituality, and the marriage of the divine feminine and sacred masculine, can help us respond with hope to the troubles of our apocalyptic times.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Donate to support this podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
Websites related to Matthew’s work:
http://www.matthewfox.org
http://www.thecosmicmass.com
http://www.orderofthesacredearth.org
http://www.dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.org
Stephen Jenkinson is a Harvard-trained author, activist, farmer, sculptor, and canoe-builder who has worked in his native Canada as a palliative care provider for dying people and their families. In this challenging conversation, Stephen reflects on the deep roots of our troubled times and on how rich and full human belonging – in one’s life, one’s culture, one’s place – means letting go of our drive for autonomy to embrace the beauty of our limits.
RESOURCES:
Donate to support this podcast at https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Stephen’s website: https://orphanwisdom.com/
Stephen’s latest book (with Kimberly Ann Johnson), Reckoning: https://orphanwisdom.com/reckoning/
Stephen’s Nights of Grief and Mystery 2022 Tour: https://orphanwisdom.com/nights-of-grief-and-mystery/
Bethany Gonyea is the founder of Numinous, a nonprofit that facilitates interfaith spiritual practices to reduce human suffering. In this conversation, Bethany shares about her work in creating mass meditation events aimed at reducing crime and violence in specific geographic areas (in statistically verifiable ways), as well as bringing benefits to the meditators themselves.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Numinous homepage: https://numinousonline.com/
Global Peaceful Cities Project: https://www.peacefulcities.org/
Bethany’s book, Become a Consciousness Athlete: A Step by Step Program to Heighten Consciousness for Daily Happiness
Bethany Gonyea is the founder of Numinous, a nonprofit that facilitates interfaith spiritual practices to reduce human suffering. In this conversation, Bethany shares about her work in creating mass meditation events aimed at reducing crime and violence in specific geographic areas (in statistically verifiable ways), as well as bringing benefits to the meditators themselves.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Numinous homepage: https://numinousonline.com/
Global Peaceful Cities Project: https://www.peacefulcities.org/
Bethany’s book, Become a Consciousness Athlete: A Step by Step Program to Heighten Consciousness for Daily Happiness
Justin Magnuson is a Zen Buddhist who works with the elderly and terminally ill. In this episode, Justin reflects on how approaching death and dying with intention can be an invitation to a fuller way of living.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
University of Louisville Trager Institute and Republic Bank Foundation Optimal Aging Clinic:
https://www.tragerinstitute.org/
Justin Magnuson is a Zen Buddhist who works with the elderly and terminally ill. In this episode, Justin reflects on how approaching death and dying with intention can be an invitation to a fuller way of living.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
University of Louisville Trager Institute and Republic Bank Foundation Optimal Aging Clinic:
https://www.tragerinstitute.org/
Peter Mayer is a singer and songwriter whose music reflects a profound love of the world, as we’re coming to understand it through the new story science tells us about our place in the 14-billion-year-unfolding of our universe. This conversation reflects on science, spiritual practice, social justice, and environmental care, all animated by a sense of our belonging to deep history, to each other, and to the entire cosmos.
Jeanette Prince-Cherry had careers in the Air Force and as an industrial engineer before dedicating her life to Zen Buddhism. A Zen priest and instructor, she divides her time between the Louisville Zen Center and the Rochester Zen Center in New York. In this episode, Jeanette explains the basics of Zen, how it is similar to and different from secular mindfulness, and how it provides tools and resources for mental health, resilience, and the strengthening of communities, especially in a post-pandemic world. This episode is from the archives and was originally released July 31, 2021.
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Louisville Zen Center homepage: https://www.louisvillezen.org/
Rochester Zen Center homepage: https://www.rzc.org/
Once a farmer in rural Kentucky, Chris Isgrigg is now a practicing psychotherapist in Louisville, KY. He’s thought deeply about the relationships that weave each of us to each other and to the more-than-human world and has integrated the natural world meaningfully into his therapeutic approach. This conversation explores how a deeper spiritual connection to our places can help heal and mature us as individuals and as a culture.
RESOURCES:
Earth and Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Chris Isgrigg’s counseling practice, Deeply Rooted Counseling: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/chris-isgrigg-louisville-ky/156084
Bill Plotkin’s Animas Valley Institute: https://www.animas.org/
Over the past year, the Earth & Spirit Center, with funding from the Kalliopeia Foundation, has collaborated with Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest to create two documentary films featuring environmental activists working on climate change and watershed health. In this episode of the podcast, we’ve taken audio clips from some of the interviews we conducted and have woven them together to present the perspectives of several activists of various ages, races, and backgrounds, united by their common concern about our changing climate.
Resources:
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
“Grounded” film: https://youtu.be/fL_rHzS3rcQ
“Reflections on Water” film: https://youtu.be/LwgJZPmQugE
Dr. Justin Mog’s “Sustainability Now” program on Forward Radio: https://www.forwardradio.org/sustainabilitynow
Renewable Energy Alliance of Louisville: https://renewableenergylouisville.org/
Outdoor Afro: https://outdoorafro.org/
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, office of ecological sustainability: https://nazareth.org/office-of-ecological-sustainability/
Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest: https://bernheim.org/
Kalliopeia Foundation: https://kalliopeia.org/
Phyllis SanAngelo is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother with decades of experience from a long career in spiritual formation and hospice work. She also facilitates a “Conscious Eldering” course at the Earth & Spirit Center. This conversation is a reflection on what it means to age with grace, dignity, and active intentionality, claiming the great spiritual gifts of elderhood.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Phyllis’s course on Becoming a Conscious Elder: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/becoming-a-conscious-elder/
Deryl Sweeney is an entrepreneur, business coach, and the co-founder of Cure CF, a nonprofit that raises funds to support cystic fibrosis research. In this episode, Deryl and host Kyle Kramer reflect on how mindful curiosity and intentional commitment to core values can help all of us show up as leaders, deeply rooted in love and connection.
Sr. Kathleen Deignan is a Sister of the Congregation of Notre-Dame and a professor emerita of religious studies at Iona College. She’s also an accomplished composer and singer. In this episode, which weaves in music that she wrote and performed, Kathleen shares the wisdom of the Shaker community, Thomas Merton, Thomas Berry, and other spiritual exemplars of courageous, contemplative creativity, who invite us into new ways of being together and embracing the beautiful dance of our evolving world.
Resources:
Passionist Earth & Spirit Center: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Kathleen Deignan, CND Institute for Earth and Spirit at Iona College: https://www.iona.edu/academics/schools-institutes/kathleen-deignan-cnd-institute-earth-and-spirit
Thomas Berry Forum for Ecological Dialogue at Iona College: https://www.iona.edu/academics/schools-institutes/kathleen-deignan-cnd-institute-earth-and-spirit/thomas-berry-forum
American Teilhard Society: https://teilharddechardin.org/
Kathleen Deignan’s music on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeyGG2o20TkjWxpDiE9up_g
Sr. Caroljean Willie, who goes by CJ, is a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati. With a doctorate in multicultural education, she has worked in 48 countries as an environmental educator, teacher-trainer, and cultural diversity consultant. She has also served as an NGO representative at the United Nations, working on social development, education, environmental sustainability, human trafficking, interfaith dialogue and poverty eradication. In this podcast, Sr. Caroljean shares her insights about how we might lean into interconnection and step out into what she calls our grace margin, where we can truly learn from and care about those whose lives are very different from our own.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
EarthConnection, a ministry of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati and run by Sr. Caroljean, is a center for learning and reflection about living lightly on Earth: https://www.scearthconnection.org/
Sr. Caroljean’s June 24-26 2022 retreat at the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth retreat center: “Called to Hope: Catholic Social Teaching and the Environment” https://nazarethretreatcenterky.org/retreat/called-to-hope/
Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati: https://www.srcharitycinti.org/
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: https://sdgs.un.org/goals
United Nations Millennium Development Goals: https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
Microfinancing Partners in Africa: https://microfinancingafrica.org/who-we-are/
Scott Koloms believes that businesses can both make money and do good. He is the President and CEO of Louisville, KY-based Facilities Management Services, the first janitorial service company in the world to be certified as a B-corporation, committed to a “triple bottom line” of financial profit along with social and environmental benefits. He is also the Founder of Canopy, a non-profit working to help other Kentucky businesses evolve toward greater sustainability. In this episode, Scott reflects on his commitment to mindful leadership and his drive to help other for-profit businesses strike a balance between profit and purpose.
RESOURCES:
Facilities Management Services website: https://facilitiesmgmt.com/
Canopy KY – Making Kentucky First in Good Business: https://canopyky.org/
B-corporations: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Donate to support the Earth & Spirit Podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
In addition to a career in nursing and a graduate degree in philosophy, cosmology, and consciousness, Mary Underwood has through-hiked the 2600-mile Pacific Crest Trail and other long-distance wilderness treks. Through all of this, the search for healing – personal and planetary – has been her compass. In this broad, rich conversation about health, spirituality, and deep connection to nature, Mary and I reflect on curiosity and vulnerability as key spiritual virtues, the art of solitude and deep listening, and how there is profound, hopeful medicine in the embrace of woundedness.
RESOURCES:
More info on “Awakening to the Land,” Mary’s upcoming April 23, 2022 half-day nature retreat at the Earth & Spirit Center: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/awakening-to-the-land/
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Donate to support the nonprofit Earth & Spirit Center podcast: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/donate/
California Institute for Integral Studies: https://www.ciis.edu/academics/graduate-programs/philosophy-cosmology-and-consciousness
Farmer-philosopher-musician Cameron Howard farms with horses on the 71-acre farm that he and his family call home in southern Indiana. In this episode, recorded on the Howard farm amidst the domestic background noises of their hand-built home, we reflect on how the spiritual and material intertwine in the joys and challenges of a made-by-hand life, crafted with deep intentionality and thoughtfulness.
NOTES AND RESOURCES:
All of the music on this podcast was written and performed by Cameron Howard. Click here for the most recent album from Cameron and the Howard Family: https://www.amazon.com/Farm-Fresh-Howards/dp/B002PETCZS
Earth & Spirit Center website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
There was more to this interview than would fit in the podcast episode. For bonus material, please click here: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/cameron-howard-bonus-material/
Dr. Kathleen Dean Moore is a philosopher, nature writer, and environmental activist who makes her home in Oregon and Alaska. In this conversation, Kathleen reflects on her fierce, reverent love of this worthy and wounded world and its secular sacredness, and how we’re called beyond hope and despair to act with moral integrity for its healing.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Kathleen’s website and blog: https://www.riverwalking.com/
Kathleen’s most recent book: Earth’s Wild Music: Celebrating Life in a Time of Extinction. https://www.riverwalking.com/earths-wild-music.html
Claude Stephens is the Facilitator of Outreach and Regenerative Design for Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. He’s also the director of Bernheim’s Children at Play Network, an initiative that helps connect children to nature through free play. This conversation explores the importance of free play in nature as an engine of inspiration and imagination, empowerment, equity, and efforts to sustain healthy communities and landscapes.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
Bernheim Research Forest and Arboretum: https://bernheim.org/
Children At Play Network: https://childrenatplaynetwork.com/
Scott Russell Sanders is a Cambridge-educated novelist, essayist, conservationist, and a distinguished professor of English, emeritus, at Indiana University. He has written and taught for decades about nature and place, family and community, and the concerns of social justice and ecology, woven together with a spirituality that is rooted in awe and wonder. This conversation explores the joys and disciplines of spiritual imagination, writing, and a well-lived life, in communion with others and within our one shared world.
RESOURCES:
Earth & Spirit Center website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Scott’s website: https://scottrussellsanders.com/
Some of Scott’s books:
Small Marvels (forthcoming): https://iupress.org/9780253061997/small-marvels/
The Way of Imagination: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/way_of_imagination.html
The Engineer of Beasts: A Novel: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/engineer_of_beasts.html
A Conservationist Manifesto: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/conservationist_manifesto.html
A Private History of Awe: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/private_history_of_awe.html
Hunting for Hope: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/hunting_for_hope.html
Writing from the Center: https://scottrussellsanders.com/book_pages/writing_from_the_center.html
Dr. David Haberman is Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. Much of his work focuses on Hindu temple worship traditions of northern India, where he has spent a great deal of time studying how worshippers encounter the sacred in stones, trees, rivers, and all of the more-than-human world. In this conversation I reconnect with my undergraduate mentor from decades ago to discuss the intersection of religion and ecology as it unfolds in the richly diverse religious landscape of India – and beyond.
Related Resources:
More about David Haberman: https://religiousstudies.indiana.edu/about/faculty/haberman-david.html
Books by David:
River of Love in an Age of Pollution: The Yamuna River of Northern India (University of California Press, 2006)
People Trees: Worship of Trees in Northern India (Oxford University Press, 2013)
Loving Stones: Worship of Mount Govardhan: Making the Impossible Possible in the Worship of Mount Govardhan (Oxford University Press, 2020)
Understanding Climate Change through Religious Lifeworlds (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2021)
Book mentioned on the podcast:
War against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin, by Carlos Eire (Cambridge University Press, 1986)
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
Sr. Susan Gatz is a member of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, formerly in community leadership and now serving as the chair of the sisters’ international ecological sustainability committee. Carolyn Cromer is the director of ecological sustainability for the sisters. In this conversation, Sr. Susan and Carolyn reflect on how deep spiritual commitments to caring for Creation play out in the context of communal religious life.
Resources:
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth homepage: https://nazareth.org/
Learn more about the SCN community’s ecological work, with tips for your own efforts: https://nazareth.org/office-of-ecological-sustainability/
Join the SCN family as an Associate member: https://nazareth.org/associates/
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
Marianne Welch is an avid gardener, a musician, an artist, a philanthropist, and a conservationist, deeply involved in support of the arts and environmental causes. This deep and broad conversation explores creativity and beauty as paths for the flourishing of people and planet.
Resources:
Documentary on Netflix about interconnection in forest ecosystems: “Fantastic Fungi”
Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard, by Douglas Tallamy. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2019
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate―Discoveries from A Secret World, by Peter Wohlleben. Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2016
National Resources Defense Council: https://www.nrdc.org/
Earth & Spirit Center Website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim are a husband and wife team of Senior Lecturers and Research Scholars at Yale University in the School of the Environment, the Divinity School, and the Department of Religious Studies, with specializations in East Asian religions and Indigenous religions. They co-direct the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology and are the creators of the new Coursera series, Religions and Ecology: Restoring the Earth Community. In this episode, Mary Evelyn and John discuss their decades of work at the intersection of ecology and the world’s religions, as informed by their mentor Thomas Berry and with the hopeful, deep-time perspective of our evolving universe.
Resources:
Coursera courses by Mary Evelyn and John:
Religions and Ecology: Restoring the Earth Community
https://www.coursera.org/specializations/religion-ecology
Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times
https://www.coursera.org/specializations/journey-of-the-universe
Yale Forum on Ecology and Religion: https://fore.yale.edu/
Journey of the Universe film/book/podcasts: https://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/
Thomas Berry Website: https://thomasberry.org/
United Nations Environment Programme Faith for Earth Initiative:
https://www.unep.org/about-un-environment/faith-earth-initiative
Greenfaith: https://greenfaith.org/
Ecology and Religion, by John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker. Washington DC: Island Press, 2014
The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams. New York: Celadon Books, 2021
Tina Brouwer is the co-founder of Red Oaks Forest School in Eastern Kentucky. Amid the beauty and ecological diversity of the Red River Gorge area, Red Oaks invites youth to connect deeply with the natural world in creative ways and in all sorts of weather. In this episode, Tina shares how interweaving nature and education helps cultivate wonder, curiosity, trust, vulnerability, courage, and mindful groundedness.
Resources:
Red Oaks Forest School:
https://www.redoaksforestschool.org/
https://www.facebook.com/redoaksforestschool
https://www.instagram.com/redoaks_explorers/
info@redoaksforestschool.org
Children and Nature Network: https://www.childrenandnature.org/
Natural Start Alliance: https://naturalstart.org/
Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest: https://bernheim.org/
Victoria Loorz is the co-founder of the Wild Church Network and Seminary of the Wild, and she’s the author of a new book, Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred. In this conversation, we explore what it means to reclaim our place in nature as an essential part of spiritual belonging and how to restore the great, necessary conversation between us, the divine, and the more-than-human world.
Resources:
Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred: www.victorialoorz.com/book
Seminary of the Wild: https://www.seminaryofthewild.com/
Wild Church Network: https://www.wildchurchnetwork.com/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
Dr. Justin Mog, Assistant to the Provost for Sustainability Initiatives at the University of Louisville, describes himself as a “car-free, TV-free, vegetarian, beekeeping, gardening Quaker with a fully solar-powered home.” This conversation explores Justin’s vision of a restored Earth, informed by both his faith and his environmental commitments, and how his radical lifestyle choices are far more about joy than sacrifice.
Justin hosts his own weekly podcast and community radio show called “Sustainability Now!” on Forward Radio 106.5 FM in Louisville. Check it out at https://www.forwardradio.org/sustainabilitynow.
Quaker Earthcare Witness: https://quakerearthcare.org/
Sustainability at University of Louisville: https://louisville.edu/sustainability
Project Drawdown: https://drawdown.org/
Earth & Spirit Center website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Halida Hatic is long-term student of the Enneagram, a tool for personal self-understanding and transformation. She serves as the Community Weaver for the nonprofit Enneagram Prison Project, with a mission to help free people on both sides of the bars from prisons of own making. In this episode, Halida reflects on the Enneagram as a key for personal, social, and environmental healing.
Halida’s October 23, 2021 Enneagram workshop (in-person and online):
https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/introduction-to-the-enneagram/
Enneagram Prison Project:
https://enneagramprisonproject.org/
Learn more about the Enneagram:
https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/
Earth & Spirit Center homepage:
www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Anthony Mullin is the founding executive director of the Thomas Berry Place, a non-profit center for spirituality, community empowerment, and ecological stewardship, in New York City. In this conversation, Anthony reflects on the vision and values that guide the work of what he describes as a spiritual startup.
Jeshima Lewis is a percussionist, a music educator, and a spiritual guide. This conversation explores how drumming, one of the most primordial modes of music, can be a path into deeper mindfulness, a greater sense of well-being, and stronger connections to others and the more-than-human world.
www.earthandspiritcenter.org
http://drumsmartllc.com/
Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest is a 16,000-acre non-profit nature preserve near Louisville, Kentucky. This conversation features Bernheim’s executive director Dr. Mark Wourms, and Dr. Kristin Faurest, the director of education, discussing the ecological and cultural significance of forest ecosystems and how creativity, play, spirituality, rigorous science, and nature immersion experiences come together at Bernheim to help forge deeper connections between the human and more-than-human world.
www.earthandspiritcenter.org
www.bernheim.org
Johnetta Roberts specializes in community project development and asset-building initiatives in West Louisville, an historically underserved area of the city. Johnetta played a key role in the creation of the new Village @ West Jefferson real estate development project and is committed to revitalizing West Louisville, from real estate development to fostering the growth of small businesses that provide essential community services. In this podcast, recorded from a live Earth & Spirit Center Community Conversation event, we explore a vision of an empowered, thriving West Louisville – and how all of us can participate to help such a vision become reality, whether in West Louisville or in other urban areas that face socio-economic challenges.
Earth & Spirit Center website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Earth & Spirit Center Community Conversations: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/community-conversations/
Johnetta’s real estate consulting company, The 40&1 Company : http://fortyandone.com/
Molo Village Community Development Corporation: https://www.molovillagecdc.org/
Sponsor 4 Success: https://www.sponsor4success.com/
Learn about AMPED Russell Technology Business Incubator
John Gage is a Louisville-based folk singer-songwriter and a former public radio host. For decades, his music has engaged deeply with spirituality, social justice, and care for the Earth. John brought his beloved old Martin guitar with him to the Earth & Spirit Center to add a few live songs to this wide-ranging conversation about music as a force for good in the world. His most recent album, Circles of Our Lives, features several Wendell Berry poems that John set to music, some of which he performed during this conversation.
Earth & Spirit Center website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
John Gage on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/26zYYPXePtVOO7hHjieUGj
John Gage bio on Kentucky HomeFront: https://kentuckyhomefront.org/john-gage.html
Jeanette Prince-Cherry had careers in the Air Force and as an industrial engineer before dedicating her life to Zen Buddhism. A Zen priest and instructor, she divides her time between the Louisville Zen Center and the Rochester Zen Center in New York. In this episode, Jeanette explains the basics of Zen, how it is similar to and different from secular mindfulness, and how it provides tools and resources for mental health, resilience, and the strengthening of communities, especially in a post-pandemic world.Earth & Spirit Center homepage: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Louisville Zen Center homepage: https://www.louisvillezen.org/
Rochester Zen Center homepage: https://www.rzc.org/
Dr. Andrew McCart is an assistant professor of health management and systems sciences in the department of public health at the University of Louisville. He has been a practicing Taoist for over two decades and is a certified senior instructor of the Healing Tao Association of the Americas, and he also holds black belts in three martial arts. In this conversation, Dr. McCart not only provides a primer on Taoism, but he also reflects on how Taoist practices and the Taoist worldview can be relevant for all of us, regardless of religious and spiritual creeds and commitments.
Dr. McCart’s four-week course on Taoism begins October 5, 2021: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/interfaith-spiritual-practice/
Dr. McCart’s blog: http://thetaoblog.com/
Dr. McCart’s book, The Alchemist's Tao Te Ching: Transforming Your Lead Into Gold
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Joe Grant is a Scottish-born poet, author, and spiritual director and was the inaugural guest on the Earth and Spirit podcast. In this episode, Joe reflects on Celtic spirituality and the lessons it offers for fostering awake, aware, abiding relationships with the living Earth and within human communities.
Morgan Atkinson is a documentary filmmaker based in Kentucky. Focusing on a wide range of subjects from the Trappist monk Thomas Merton to waterway pollution in his hometown of Louisville, his work asks deep questions about spirituality, social justice, and ecology. In this episode, Morgan reflects what he has learned over his filmmaking career and how we might navigate our polarized times with nuance, balance, and generosity.
Morgan Atkinson’s website: https://morganatkinson.com/
The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University: http://merton.org/
Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani: https://monks.org/
Earth & Spirit Center: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
Carmel Bowman and Maggie Hettinger describe themselves as ordinary citizens of rural Kentucky who are trying to help move the needle on climate change. From their own lifestyle choices to their active efforts with the Citizens' Climate Lobby, they are passionately engaged for positive change. In this podcast, recorded during one of the Earth & Spirit Center’s live community conversations events, Carmel and Maggie invite us to consider a realistic path for the U.S. to reach net carbon neutrality by 2050 or earlier.
https://citizensclimatelobby.org/
https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/community-conversations/
https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan is a first-generation Arab-American who has spent his life crossing borders. An agrarian ecologist and ethnobotanist whom Time magazine called the father of the local food movement, his work straddles both sides of America’s southern border in Arizona. As a professed ecumenical Franciscan brother, his spiritual practice goes far beyond the walls of institutional religion, and his new book, Jesus for Farmers and Fishers, describes the struggles of those living on the margins of empire, in the ancient Middle East and today. In this conversation, Gary reflects on the richness and challenges of life that unfolds on the wild edges of places, societies, and religion.
Book recommendation: Jesus for Farmers and Fishers: Justice for All Those Marginalized by Our Food System, by Gary Paul Nabhan
Gary's website: https://www.garynabhan.com/
Borderlands Restoration L3C: https://www.borderlandsrestoration.org/borderlands-restoration-l3c.html
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Doug Van Houten describes himself as an ardent beekeeper, a visual artist, a wily wanderer, a dream tracker, a deep ceremonialist, and a heart-centered activist. He’s an international wilderness guide with the nonprofit Animas Valley Institute, helping to foster nature-based personal development. In this episode, as part of our Community Conversations series, Doug shares how healing, eco-centric soulwork can help us become fully mature adults and elders, claim our life purpose as a member of the Earth community, and contribute our gifts for the healing of our culture and our planet.
https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
https://www.animas.org/
www.bodyartsoul.org
Dan Misleh is the executive director of the Catholic Climate Covenant, a national nonprofit organization devoted to faith-based education, advocacy, and practical actions related to climate change. In this episode, we explore how mainline religious traditions like Catholicism can help address climate issues with moral and spiritual leadership and practical resources and examples, but can also invite us into a deeper and richer belonging with each other and the more-than-human world.
Links:
Catholic Climate Covenant: https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/
Catholic Energies: https://www.catholicenergies.org/
National Religious Partnership for the Environment: http://www.nrpe.org/
Alliance of Religions and Conservation: http://www.arcworld.org/
Passionist Earth & Spirit Center: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
Malka Kopell has a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard and has over 30 years of experience doing collaborative, intersectional work with government agencies, nonprofits and the philanthropic sector to strengthen civic engagement and democracy. As part of the Earth & Spirit Center’s Community Conversations series, Malka shares her experience and wisdom about how to foster meaningful social change through robust, caring conversations across difference.
Malka's nonprofit organization: https://www.civity.org/
Earth & Spirit Center Community Conversations: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/community-conversations/
Carl McColman is a blogger, author, podcaster, and teacher, with a deep affinity for the Christian mystical tradition. This conversation explores the idea that the mystical path is open to all and that mystics offer practical, grounded wisdom for navigating the personal, social, and environmental challenges of our current moment.
Carl's four-week online course on Christian Mysticism at the Earth and Spirit Center, beginning April 19, 2021:
https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/interfaith-spiritual-practice/
Carl's website:
https://www.anamchara.com/
Earth & Spirit Center Website:
www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Shaikh Kabir Helminski is a Muslim educator, retreat leader, and a teacher and translator of Jallaladin Rumi, the beloved Sufi mystic and poet. In this conversation, Kabir unpacks wisdom from Rumi and the Sufi mystical tradition about what it means to be fully human, to engage skillfully with the darkness and disconnection of our time, and to live out of a whole-hearted sense of love and interdependence.
The Stages of the Journey with Rumi & Sufism: From Presence, to Heartfulness, to Intimacy with God - a four-week online course taught by Kabir Helminski, beginning March 17, 2021
The Threshold Society
https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Rev. Karl Ruttan, PhD is a retired Episcopal priest with a doctorate in spiritual formation and over forty years of ministry as a priest and as a spiritual director, especially with men. In this conversation, Karl and I talk about what it means to become a man in a healthy, holistic way, and how this process of spiritual maturity can help bring our entire culture toward a deeper awareness of our connection to our true selves, each other, the more-than-human world, and our common divine source.
Resources:
Earth & Spirit Men’s Contemplative Group: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/mens-contemplative-group/
Illuman is a global not for profit organization committed to supporting men who are seeking to deepen their spiritual lives. http://www.illuman.org/
Spiritual Directors International: https://www.sdicompanions.org/
Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
Earth & Spirit Center homepage: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Philip Goldberg has been studying the world’s spiritual traditions for more than 50 years, as a practitioner, teacher, and writer. He is the author or co-author of more than 20 books, including, most recently, Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times. In this conversation, Phil offers a wise village elder’s perspective on how to navigate skillfully the tumult of our inner and outer life.
Resources:
Phil’s website: www.PhilipGoldberg.com
Phil’s podcast: http://spiritmatterstalk.com
Phil’s course on The Four Pathways to the Divine: Hinduism’s Holistic Approach to God-Realization: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/interfaith-spiritual-practice/
Youtube conversation with Phil about his upcoming course: https://youtu.be/mf0Px1p7jCw
Earth & Spirit Center website: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
In a time of ecological and social crisis, it can be tempting to retreat from the world and pine nostalgically for some earlier, simpler, purer way of life: like the Garden of Eden. In this episode, scripture scholar and back-to-the-land homesteader Rev. Dr. Patricia Tull invites us to consider what lessons we might learn from Eden as we try to create a more just, beautiful, and thriving world. This conversation weaves together erudite scriptural reflection, intimate and practical experience on the land, and heart-felt conviction about what it means to be human.
Links and Resources:
Inhabiting Eden: Christians, the Bible, and the Ecological Crisis, by Patricia K. Tull
www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Our nation, our communities, and our families are divided more deeply now than they have been in decades, pitting us against each other exactly at a time when cooperation couldn't be more important to address the COVID-19 pandemic, racial justice, climate change, and many other pressing social and ecological needs. In this community conversation with a live Zoom audience, we speak with Cory Lockhart, who is an artist, writer, public speaker, peace activist and educator, about how compassionate, heart-centered, non-violent ways of communicating, rooted in contemplative spiritual practice, can help repair the torn fabric of our personal and civic relationships.
Cory's Compassionate Communication four-week course, starting January 6, 2021: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/compassionate-communication/
Cory's Communicating Across Divides workshop, February 3, 2021: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/communicating-across-divides/
Cory's website: https://www.corylockhart.com/
Earth & Spirit Center website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Being a parent or a grandparent during a pandemic is a challenge for which none of us were prepared. As COVID-19 stretches on, it's clear that we need strategies we can sustain for the long haul. In this community conversation, we check in with mindful parenting expert Nellie Springston about how to bring mindfulness to your (grand)parenting amidst the extraordinary challenges presented by the pandemic. We dive into how to create an environment of predictability, normalcy, and safety even in such extraordinary times, how to be present even on your worst days, how to manage the role of teacher or learning coach during online schooling, and how to escape a sense of guilt that you're not doing enough.
“The Cosmic Journey” is a new film produced by the Earth & Spirit Center, inspired by our new Cosmic Journey nature trail and outdoor art installation in the Earth & Spirit Center Nature Sanctuary. In this live Community Conversations event, we have a conversation with the film creator, Megan Maybee, the sound designer and voice actor Joe Brown, and the script contributor, Joe Mitchell. We reflect together on the process of creating this film as we share our hopes that it will invite viewers to celebrate the 13.8-billion-year story of our evolving Universe and the special place of the human species within that unfolding story.
The Cosmic Journey Film: https://youtu.be/7ObAVdhRChk
The Cosmic Journey Film Trailer: https://youtu.be/BDj4XhsFPh0
The Great Work Five-week Earth & Spirit Center Course: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/the-great-work/
Earth & Spirit Center Home Page: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Tara Remington, or “Remi,” is a Louisville-based artist who specializes in outdoor murals and other public-facing, large-scale media. In this podcast, recorded during a live online Community Conversations event, Remi reflected on Cosmic Journey Trail art installation she created on the Earth & Spirit Center campus. We also broadened the lens to contemplate the role of art for reweaving the social fabric and connecting us deeply to ourselves and to the rest of the natural world.
Links:
Tara Remington's website: http://www.tararemington.com/
The Cosmic Journey Film
The Cosmic Journey Film Trailer
The Earth & Spirit Center homepage: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
The Great Work five-week Earth & Spirit Center course: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/the-great-work/
Lois Luckett is a Louisville-based therapist in private practice. Especially during the coronavirus pandemic, Lois has cultivated close relationships with trees. In this podcast, recorded from a live online Community Conversations event, Lois invites us to explore what we might learn about being human from our other-than-human-kin, the trees.
https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/community-conversations/
https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Lois Luckett is a Louisville-based therapist in private practice. Especially during the coronavirus pandemic, Lois has cultivated close relationships with trees. In this podcast, recorded from a live online Community Conversations event, Lois invites us to explore what we might learn about being human from our other-than-human-kin, the trees.
https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/community-conversations/
https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/
Kailea Frederick is a bridge-building climate activist, writer, consultant, and mother with Black and First Nations heritage. In this conversation, Kailea reflects on living deeply out of a sense of place, the existential threat of wildfires, and what it means to expand our sense of family, reciprocity, and responsibility to include the more-than-human world.
Kailea’s website: https://www.earthisohana.com/
Loam Magazine: https://loamlove.com/
Kalliopeia Foundation: https://kalliopeia.org/
Earth & Spirit Center: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
Joe Phelps is a retired Baptist pastor with a long history of making good trouble in regard to hunger, poverty, race, and other social justice and equity challenges. As part of the Earth & Spirit Center’s Community Conversations series, Joe joined host Kyle Kramer along with a live Zoom audience to talk about the intense racial tensions in Louisville, KY, his many friendships and collaborations across color lines, and how he has sustained his engagement and advocacy over time. This extended version includes the Q&A segment from the Zoom audience, which comes after the formal close of the podcast.
Links and Resources:
Earth & Spirit Center Community Conversations: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/community-conversations/
Empower West: https://empowerwest.com/
Facebook group: White Women Demand Justice For Breonna
Black Power by Stokely Carmichael
White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity byRobert P. Jones
The Beatitudes: From Slavery to Civil Rights by Carole Boston Weatherford
Joe Phelps is a retired Baptist pastor with a long history of making good trouble in regard to hunger, poverty, race, and other social justice and equity challenges. As part of the Earth & Spirit Center’s Community Conversations series, Joe joined host Kyle Kramer along with a live Zoom audience to talk about the intense racial tensions in Louisville, KY, his many friendships and collaborations across color lines, and how he has sustained his engagement and advocacy over time.
Links and Resources:
Earth & Spirit Center Community Conversations: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/community-conversations/
Empower West: https://empowerwest.com/
Facebook group: White Women Demand Justice For Breonna
Black Power by Stokely Carmichael
White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity byRobert P. Jones
The Beatitudes: From Slavery to Civil Rights by Carole Boston Weatherford
An acclaimed jazz pianist and composer based in Louisville, Kentucky, Harry Pickens is also a teacher, mentor, and author who does deep healing work to promote the flourishing of individuals and communities. As part of the Earth & Spirit Center’s online Community Conversations series, Harry reflected on what is being asked of us at a time of pandemic and heightened racial tensions, and what opportunities we have to create a more just, more loving, more peaceful world. This extended version includes the Q&A from the live Zoom audience.
Earth & Spirit Center: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
Community Conversation Series: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/community-conversations/
Harry Pickens on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harry.pickens
An acclaimed jazz pianist and composer based in Louisville, Kentucky, Harry Pickens is also a teacher, mentor, and author who does deep healing work to promote the flourishing of individuals and communities. As part of the Earth & Spirit Center’s online Community Conversations series, Harry reflected on what is being asked of us at a time of pandemic and heightened racial tensions, and what opportunities we have to create a more just, more loving, more peaceful world.
Earth & Spirit Center: https://earthandspiritcenter.org/
Community Conversation Series: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/community-conversations/
Harry Pickens on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harry.pickens
Sr. Gail Worcelo co-founded the Green Mountain Monastery in 1999, encouraged and supported by her friend and mentor, the late Thomas Berry. Berry, a cultural historian and Passionist priest, was a ground-breaking thinker who contemplated the new story science has given us of 13.8 billion-year history of our evolving Universe. He considered the implications of this new story for our religion, education, economy, and government. In this conversation, Sr. Gail reflects on how Thomas Berry’s vision has guided the Green Mountain Monastery community and offers wisdom for all of us, here at the choice point between an ecozoic or a technozoic future.
Green Mountain Monastery: http://www.greenmountainmonastery.org/
Thomas Berry Resources: http://thomasberry.org/
The Journey of the Universe: https://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/
Rae Strobel Barr is an organic farmer, spiritual director and mother, living and working with her partner Adam at Barr Farms in Meade County, Kentucky, a seventh-generation family farm. She is passionate about building community and combining spirituality with eco-justice and eco-feminism through holding farm-based retreats and providing spiritual guidance and counsel. Our producer Parker Bowling traveled to meet Rae on the piece of land that she calls home, for an engaging conversation on what it means to listen to the movement of spirit: in the land, in ourselves, and in our collective body.
Links:
Barr Farms: http://www.barrfarmsky.com/
Black Farmer Fund: https://cfaky.org/kybff/
Black Soil: https://www.blacksoil.life/
Community Farm Alliance: https://cfaky.org/
New Roots Fresh Stop Markets: https://newroots.org/fresh-stop-markets/
Native Land: Map to learn about which indigenous tribes originally occupied where you live in North America (and other geographies)
Dr. Kate Bulinski is an associate professor in the environmental sciences department of Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY, specializing in geology and paleontology. She also claims the moniker of “Catholic scientist.” In this wide-ranging conversation, we explored the relationship between faith and science in the pursuit of truth, and we delved deeply into how thinking in deep geological time offers a wise and rich perspective for our own lives and for the human legacy to this planet.
Sarah Nunez is a Latinx folk healer and activist in Louisville, KY. Through her work helping to heal bodies, communities, and unjust systems, Sarah embraces the deep roots of indigenous wisdom and storytelling. She envisions a future in which people of all backgrounds can recover our connection with each other and with the natural world that is our home and kin.
Related links:
National Mijente Movement: https://mijente.net/
Louisville Mijente is on Facebook at Mijente Louisville
Aflorar Herb Collective is on Instagram at @aflorarherbcollective
This episode features Ashley Smith, the co-founder of Black Soil. Black Soil is a nonprofit in Lexington, KY, dedicated to reconnecting Black Kentuckians to their legacy and heritage in agriculture and to empowering Black farmers in Kentucky, who currently make up just 1.4% of the state's farmers. Anyone who eats has a stake in there being a just, sustainable food system, so tune into this episode to learn more about Black Soil's work and the powerful bonds of community that Black Soil is helping to cultivate in a state that still reckons with its history of slavery.
External Link: https://www.blacksoil.life/
This episode features Jennifer "Juniper" Owens, the co-founder of Bridge Counseling and Wellness, an integrative mental health and holistic therapy center in Louisville, KY. Juniper reflected on how our deep connection to the rest of the natural world can help us through our own individual struggles and through the collective trauma we are experiencing with COVID-19. We explored the Japanese practice of shinrin yoku, or forest bathing, the idea of "rewilding mental health," and pulled back the lens to reflect on what makes for lasting social and environmental change.
Dr. Chris Schrodt, MD, is a clinical psychiatrist in private practice in Louisville, a lifelong meditator, and a mindfulness instructor at the Earth & Spirit Center. Chris joined Earth & Spirit Podcast host Kyle Kramer for a conversation about the mental health issues associated with the coronavirus pandemic. We discussed the various resources, including mindfulness, that can help us deal with the trauma, fear, and anxiety that COVID-19 has brought up for so many people.
Karen Newton is a wellbeing and resilience integrator. Formerly the director of health promotion at the University of Louisville, and still on the UofL faculty, Karen is a certified mindfulness teacher specializing in stress resilience and compassion. She’s also an Earth & Spirit Center faculty member. From our respective homes, Karen and I had a virtual conversation about what resilience looks like amid the stress of a pandemic, and how mindfulness practices can help us not only survive, but thrive.
Sign up for Karen's online 5-week Basic Mindfulness for Stress Resilience course, starting 4/9/2020.
Sign up for Karen's online 5-week Practicing Mindful Self Compassion course, starting 4/7 or 4/9/2020.
Glenda Hodges-Cook is a senior meditation instructor on the Earth & Spirit Center faculty - and one of Louisville’s village elders. A mother and grandmother, she spent a career as a psychiatric nurse. With roots in the Christian and Buddhist traditions, Glenda has practiced insight meditation for over forty years and has studied with meditation icons Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, and Donald Rothberg, completing the Community Dharma Leader Training Program of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. She founded the Louisville Vipassana Community and has led this meditation group for twelve years. At the Earth & Spirit Center, Glenda teaches in our Mindfulness Meditation Training Program and offers courses on mindful aging, claiming elderhood, other topics. I sat down with Glenda to talk about how she is using mindfulness and meditation to navigate the uncertain territory of a global pandemic - and coming to grips with her own vulnerability.
In this episode, Earth & Spirit Podcast host Kyle Kramer sits down for a conversation with Nellie Springston, the Earth & Spirit Center's program coordinator for youth, family, and education. Nellie offers practical advice for parents who are having to figure out childcare, at-home schooling, and other challenges. Nellie is also the founder of Calma: Calm and Loving Minds Achieve (www.calmakids.org), which provides mindfulness resources for parents and educators.
Our guest for this episode is Joe Grant. A native of Scotland, Joe is a modern-day mystic, a blogger, and the author of numerous books and articles about scripture, justice and spirituality. Prior to moving to Louisville 25 years ago, Joe worked with indigenous peoples of the U.S. and in Latin America. His work has been rooted in the Catholic Christian tradition, but his sensibilities are deeply interdenominational and interfaith. Joe spends his time writing, leading retreats, and offering spiritual guidance. His latest book, Wandering and Welcome: Meditations for Finding Peace is published by Franciscan Media.
We sat down to talk about Joe’s spiritual journey, which has led him deep into the heart of the Amazon rainforest, into the pain and violence of inner city Louisville where he and his wife Anne make their home, and in all of this, into the heart of our beautiful, wounded world.
The Earth & Spirit Podcast is a production of the Earth & Spirit Center, a nonprofit, interfaith spirituality center in Louisville, KY, devoted to cultivating a flourishing world through contemplative practice. This podcast is made possible by the generous support from the Kalliopeia Foundation, whose mission is to reconnect ecology, culture, and spirituality through grantmaking, education, and media initiatives.
This short trailer introduces the Earth & Spirit Podcast, a production of the Earth & Spirit Center, a nonprofit, interfaith spirituality center in Louisville, KY (www.earthandspiritcenter.org). This podcast is made possible by support from the Kalliopeia Foundation (www.kalliopeia.org).