Modern Spirituality

On this episode of the Modern Spirituality Podcast, Stephanie Welter, a realtor with Keller Williams Success Realty, sits down with a special guest - Reverend Scott Donahue. Not only is Reverend Scott the President of Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, he is also the priest that married Stephanie and her husband and baptized their children. Good friends already, these two quickly get into conversation around Reverend Scott's upbringing and how he found his way to priesthood. Growing up in Mt. Prospect, Reverend Scott paints a picture of an idyllic suburban childhood filled with neighborhood kids running around. By the time he reached 7th grade, however, his life took a serious turn with the sudden death of his father.  His mother, wanting him to have a positive educational environment as well as mentors in his life, put Reverend Scott into a Catholic high school, St. Viter run by Viatorian priests and brothers.  “I was really influenced by the Victorian priests and the brothers and their commitment to education, but also their commitment in terms of lifestyle, taking care of people, being inquisitive, compassionate, good listeners, you know, and that stuck with me.” While a student at Loyola University, Reverend Scott was on track to going to law school, taking the LSATs when, as he calls it, the “hound of heaven” that was nagging him inside.  “So have you thought about ministry? Have you thought about priesthood? And so truly it was very pragmatic. So I went to a fifth year of college and I took some more theology and some philosophy.” From there, he tells his story of his love affair with the Church and how that drew him to make a commitment that has led him to 40 years of service to the Church this upcoming May.  “I think the great gift in life is journeying with people.” The pair go on to talk about how important it is to align your thoughts and your behavior and how that is reaching true integrity - the opposite of cognitive dissonance. They also chat about Reverend Scott's book, Years of Mercy, a collection of stories of ten children he's worked with at Mercy Home. It's a book filled with love's remarkable power in changing traumatic and dire circumstances.  Join these two in a beautiful conversation about the power of love, hope, and living out the Gospel to truly help and inspire others on this episode of the Modern Spirituality Podcast.

Bryan McDonald is a partner with onPurpose Growth serving as a Sales and Executive Business Coach. Bryan's background is in service based businesses such as financial services and insurance, where he spent his 20+ year career in business development and new revenue growth. Bryan says what he does is about understanding his clients needs and positioning their products/services to be seen as rare by their clients. “It's everything around sales systems, sales process, sales skills, sales strategy and what our clients tell us is that when they learn and apply the things that we talk about, they're assessed as rare by their prospects and clients. Therefore, their offers are more readily accepted and everybody makes more money.” What Bryan has learned in business has come more from his spiritual evolution than from his professional experiences. As he explains, he's had several spiritually awakening moments, but it was a retreat he attended that would forever change his perspective.  “When I did that (attend retreat), it was really the biggest jump I made from giving myself permission to be who I was, because it allowed me to go on a certain type of spiritual journey and maybe down a certain path that would unlock things that I could serve the world even more.” That experience would not only transform him personally, but his business as well. With a newfound approach to life, Bryan would coach his clients from that perspective to help them achieve their goals.  “I tell clients once they come in the door, what if I told you that all of your business issues have nothing to do about your business strategy and it has everything to do with who you are. Sometimes I get a sideways (look). Sometimes I get absolutely. What I've learned is that when I serve people and help them transform to become who they want to be, usually everything takes care of itself.” Having been raised Catholic, Bryan talks about how he wanted to go beyond the religion to find a deeper meaning than what he'd been taught.  “My spiritual journey is not about this outer religion. It's about my inner journey and where I'm going.” Tune in to hear Bryan's share his story of overcoming obstacles and finding meaning in his life and work through his spiritual practice. 

Our first episode of the Modern Spirituality Podcast is a special one. TFOCB Influencer, Myra Nimchaiyong sits down with her friends Kimberly Buss, Lindsey Miller, and Andy Gaston to talk about what spirituality means to each of them; specifically what each believes.  Myra starts off the discussion by indicating all three of her guests have played such an instrumental part in her own spiritual journey the last couple of years. Kim kicks it off sharing how her spiritual journey started and how tied it was to her move from Alabama to Chicago at the age of 13. “From an early age, I realized God has a plan for you. And you can sit here and you can pray for the things that you want to happen. But at the end of the day, I think God knows what is, God knows what's best for you. He knows what's best for you more than, you know, what's best for you. Coming from the opposite end of the spectrum, Lindsey shares her story of not growing up with religion or faith at all and the near-death and life changing moment she found God.  “I think everybody has to start somewhere, especially for those of us that haven't really been exposed to it.” Andy talks about growing up as an altar boy reading the Bible every night and how that curiosity evolved beyond the Bible to other spiritual texts.  Together, these four delve deep not only into their own journeys and what spirituality means to them but also how that translates to each other. All coming from different backgrounds and religions, they come together to see how those different experiences fit within each other.