REFLECTING LIGHT

The Feast Day of St. Mary Magdalene, July 22, honors this remarkable woman. This podcast is a updated version of the most recent information about this singular disciple of Christ and the illuminating path she forged forward for the rest of us.  Additional reading: 

The Saturdays of our lives are sometimes our darkest hours, as we wait, like disciples of old, for the new life promised in Christ. In this episode, Mandy speaks to this darkness as we wait and hope.  artwork: The Grey Havens, by Matt Stewart, as seen in the Middle-earth Collectible Card Game INTO THE WEST, Lyrics by Annie Lennox, Produced by Howard Shore Lay down Your sweet and weary head The night is falling You have come to journey's end Sleep now And dream of the ones who came before They are calling From across the distant shore Why do you weep? What are these tears upon your face? Soon you will see All of your fears will pass away Safe in my arms You're only sleeping What can you see On the horizon? Why do the white gulls call? Across the sea A pale moon rises The ships have come to carry you home And all will turn To silver glass A light on the water All Souls pass Hope fades Into the world of night Through shadows falling Out of memory and time Don't say We have come now to the end White shores are calling You and I will meet again And you'll be here in my arms Just sleeping And all will turn To silver glass A light on the water Grey ships pass Into the West   READING: For Holy Saturday: Pg. 174-175 From: Have a Beautiful Terrible Day by Kate Bowler. (SO MANY GEMS IN THIS BOOK! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!) To purchase on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3TX23pE or on Target: https://www.target.com/p/have-a-beautiful-terrible-day-by-kate-bowler-hardcover/-/A-89186641#lnk=sametab   HEBREWS 12:5-12 “My son, do not despise the [c]chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If[d] you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened usas seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no [e]chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

Today's podcast features guests, Adelaide Roberts, Miss Wyoming For America Strong and Tyler Schwab, President and CEO of Libertas International, an organization committed to the rescue and after care of girls imprisoned in human trafficking. It's a tough and tender conversation--and an necessary one. To beat an evil of this magnitude, it's going to take all of us! Please listen to the end if possible. For more information about how you can help or to sponsor a girl, please visit: Libertas International

Better late than never! Mandy returns with Easter Greetings and a look at the beauty of the mayhem the first Easter, as recorded in the Book of Mark. Wishing you all some beautiful Easter mayhem. xoxo art by He Qi: Women Arriving at the Tomb He Qi Copyright 2021. Limited use. To Purchase Kate Bowlers book:  https://amzn.to/4anG81J    

Are we willing to ride out our storms knowing the Lord is in the boat with us? Matt 8, Luke 5. Image Credit: Yongsong Kim, "The Hand of God.'  https://yongsungkimart.com/products/the-hand-of-god-by-yongsung-kim?variant=40700331393189

With all of the focus on love the past month, it's important to remember to love ourselves. Join Mandy as she discusses how we are each "wonderfully and fearfully made," (Ps. 139:13-18). Love After Love The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the other's welcome, and say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was your self. Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life, whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, the photographs, the desperate notes, peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life. © by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes  

When was the last time your rested? TRULY rested? When was the last time you ceased from doing anything--totally stopped and just emjoyed existence? If you're like me, it's been too long. And that's why I recorded this podcast.  Exodus 20: 8-11Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. All other quotes taken from Chapter 5 of Soul Feast by Marjorie Thompson. https://amzn.to/3SZrUhp TRY IT! SET A GOAL TO CEASE FROM EVERYTHING A FEW TIMES THIS WEEK AND BUILD UP FROM THERE. It's harder than you imagine! (Which means the Elohim probably had an idea of how important it would become to us as humans!) xoxo. Mandy

Small Kindnesses  Danusha Laméris I've been thinking about the way, when you walk down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you” when someone sneezes, a leftover from the Bubonic plague. “Don't die,” we are saying. And sometimes, when you spill lemons from your grocery bag, someone else will help you pick them up. Mostly, we don't want to harm each other. We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot, and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder, and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass. We have so little of each other, now. So far from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange. What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here, have my seat,” “Go ahead—you first,” “I like your hat.” From Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection (Green Writers Press, 2019). Posted by kind permission of the poet.   Small Kindnesses grateful.org "Am I then really all that which other men tell of, or am I only what I know of myself, restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage, struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat, yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds, thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Who Am I."   Welcome to RandomActsofKindness.org randomactsofkindness.org 2024_RAK_kindness_calendar PDF Document · 8.5 MB

"And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been." Rilke Word of the Year: "Affection" noun af·​fec·​tion ə-ˈfek-shən  Synonyms of affection 1: a feeling of liking and caring for someone or something : tender attachment : FONDNESS She had a deep affection for her parents. Middle English affeccioun "capacity for feeling, emotion, desire, love," borrowed from Anglo-French, "desire, love, inclination, partiality," borrowed from Latin affectiōn-, affectiō "frame of mind, feeling, feeling of attachment," from affec-(variant stem of afficere "to produce an effect on, exert an influence on") + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns Referench: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affection philostorgos: tenderly loving Original Word:φιλόστοργος, ον Phonetic Spelling:(fil-os'-tor-gos) Definition:tenderly loving Usage:tenderly loving, kindly affectionate to Reference: https://biblehub.com/greek/5387.htm For the full text of the Jefferson Lecture 2012, by Wendell Barry, please visit: https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/wendell-e-berry-biography Photo by Guy Mendes Quoted excerpts from the lecture: “Because a thing is going strong now, it need not go strong for ever,” [Margaret] said. “This craze for motion has only set in during the last hundred years. It may be followed by a civilization that won't be a movement, because it will rest upon the earth.E. M. Forster, Howards End (1910) p. "The term “imagination” in what I take to be its truest sense refers to a mental faculty that some people have used and thought about with the utmost seriousness. The sense of the verb “to imagine” contains the full richness of the verb “to see.” To imagine is to see most clearly, familiarly, and understandingly with the eyes, but also to see inwardly, with “the mind's eye.” It is to see, not passively, but with a force of vision and even with visionary force. To take it seriously we must give up at once any notion that imagination is disconnected from reality or truth or knowledge. It has nothing to do either with clever imitation of appearances or with “dreaming up.” It does not depend upon one's attitude or point of view, but grasps securely the qualities of things seen or envisioned. I will say, from my own belief and experience, that imagination thrives on contact, on tangible connection. For humans to have a responsible relationship to the world, they must imagine their places in it. To have a place, to live and belong in a place, to live from a place without destroying it, we must imagine it. By imagination we see it illuminated by its own unique character and by our love for it. By imagination we recognize with sympathy the fellow members, human and nonhuman, with whom we share our place. By that local experience we see the need to grant a sort of preemptive sympathy to all the fellow members, the neighbors, with whom we share the world. As imagination enables sympathy, sympathy enables affection. And it is in affection that we find the possibility of a neighborly, kind, and conserving economy." "But the risk, I think, is only that affection is personal. If it is not personal, it is nothing; we don't, at least, have to worry about governmental or corporate affection. And one of the endeavors of human cultures, from the beginning, has been to qualify and direct the influence of emotion. The word “affection” and the terms of value that cluster around it—love, care, sympathy, mercy, forbearance, respect, reverence—have histories and meanings that raise the issue of worth. We should, as our culture has warned us over and over again, give our affection to things that are true, just, and beautiful. It is by imagination that knowledge is “carried to the heart” (to borrow again from Allen Tate). The faculties of the mind—reason, memory, feeling, intuition, imagination, and the rest—are not distinct from one another. Though some may be favored over others and some ignored, none functions alone. But the human mind, even in its wholeness, even in instances of greatest genius, is irremediably limited. Its several faculties, when we try to use them separately or specialize them, are even more limited. The fact is that we humans are not much to be trusted with what I am calling statistical knowledge, and the larger the statistical quantities the less we are to be trusted. We don't learn much from big numbers. We don't understand them very well, and we aren't much affected by them." ((Who Owns America? edited by Herbert Agar and Allen Tate, ISI Books, Wilmington, DE, 1999,  pages 109–114. (First published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1936.) [Nature] "As Albert Howard, Wes Jackson, and others have carefully understood, she can give us the right patterns and standards for agriculture. If we ignore or offend her, she enforces her will with punishment. She is always trying to tell us that we are not so superior or independent or alone or autonomous as we may think. She tells us in the voice of Edmund Spenser that she is of all creatures “the equall mother, / And knittest each to each, as brother unto brother.” (The Faerie Queene, VII, vii, stanza XIV.) "To hear of a thousand deaths in war is terrible, and we “know” that it is. But as it registers on our hearts, it is not more terrible than one death fully imagined. The economic hardship of one farm family, if they are our neighbors, affects us more painfully than pages of statistics on the decline of the farm population. I can be heartstruck by grief and a kind of compassion at the sight of one gulley (and by shame if I caused it myself), but, conservationist though I am, I am not nearly so upset by an accounting of the tons of plowland sediment borne by the Mississippi River. Wallace Stevens wrote that “Imagination applied to the whole world is vapid in comparison to imagination applied to a detail.” (Opus Posthumous, edited, with an Introduction by Samuel French Morse, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1957, page 176.) "But we need not wait, as we are doing, to be taught the absolute value of land and of land health by hunger and disease. Affection can teach us, and soon enough, if we grant appropriate standing to affection. For this we must look to the stickers, who “love the life they have made and the place they have made it in.” "E. M. Forster's novel, Howards End, published in 1910. By then, Forster was aware of the implications of “rural decay,” and in this novel he spoke, with some reason, of his fear that “the literature of the near future will probably ignore the country and seek inspiration from the town. . . . and those who care for the earth with sincerity may wait long ere the pendulum swings back to her again.” (Howards End, page 15, 112). Margaret's premise, as she puts it to Henry, is the balance point of the book:  “It all turns on affection now . . . Affection. Don't you see?” (Ibid., page 214). To have beautiful buildings, for example, people obviously must want them to be beautiful and know how to make them beautiful, but evidently they also must love the places where the buildings are to be built. For a long time, in city and countryside, architecture has disregarded the nature and influence of places. It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness, to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times more wonderful than one square mile . . . That is not imagination. No, it kills it. . . . Your universities? Oh, yes, you have learned men who collect . . . facts, and facts, and empires of facts. But which of them will rekindle the light within? (Ibid., page 30)." “The light within,” I think, means affection, affection as motive and guide. Knowledge without affection leads us astray every time. Affection leads, by way of good work, to authentic hope. The factual knowledge, in which we seem more and more to be placing our trust, leads only to hope of the discovery, endlessly deferrable, of an ultimate fact or smallest particle that at last will explain everything. Margaret's premise, as she puts it to Henry, is the balance point of the book:  “It all turns on affection now . . . Affection. Don't you see?” The great reassurance of Forster's novel is the wholeheartedness of his language. It is to begin with a language not disturbed by mystery, by things unseen. But Forster's interest throughout is in soul-sustaining habitations: houses, households, earthly places where lives can be made and loved. In defense of such dwellings he uses, without irony or apology, the vocabulary that I have depended on in this talk:  truth, nature, imagination, affection, love, hope, beauty, joy. Those words are hard to keep still within definitions; they make the dictionary hum like a beehive. But in such words, in their resonance within their histories and in their associations with one another, we find our indispensable humanity, without which we are lost and in danger. Of the land-community much has been consumed, much has been wasted, almost nothing has flourished. But this has not been inevitable. We do not have to live as if we are alone.

This week Mandy discusses the distinction between belief and knowledge and examines the heights and depths of "knowing."  1 Ne 8:10 And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy. 11 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen. 12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirousthat my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit. "We wanted life, however high the cost. We suffer because we were willing to pay the cost of *being* and of being here with others in their ignorance and inexperience as well as our own. We suffer because we are willing to pay the costs of living with laws of nature, which operate quite consistently whether or not we understand them or can manage them. 

We suffer because, like Christ in the desert, we apparently did not say we would come only if God would change all our stones to bread in time of hunger. We were willing to *know* hunger. Like Christ in the desert, we did not ask God to let us try falling or being bruised only on condition that he catch us before we touch ground and save us from real hurt. We were willing to *know* hurt. Like Christ, we did not agree to come only if God would make everyone bow to us and respect us, or admire us and understand us. 

Like Christ, we came to be ourselves, addressing and creating reality. We are finding out who we are and who we can become regardless of immediate environment or circumstances.” From Francine Bennion's: “A Latter-day Saint Theology of Suffering” Art: ENCOUNTER Painted by Daniel Cariola from a chapel mural in Magdala, Israel

Welcome to 2024~ We start the year by concluding the Christmas liturgial season ending in Epiphany! noun epiph·​a·​ny i-ˈpi-fə-nē  1 capitalized : January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ 2: an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being 3a(1): a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2): an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking (3): an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure b: a revealing scene or moment https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epiphany Journey of the Magi By T.S. Elliot A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.' And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow. There were times we regretted The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, And the silken girls bringing sherbet. Then the camel men cursing and grumbling and running away, and wanting their liquor and women, And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly And the villages dirty and charging high prices: A hard time we had of it. At the end we preferred to travel all night, Sleeping in snatches, With the voices singing in our ears, saying That this was all folly. Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley, Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation; With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness, And three trees on the low sky, And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel, Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver, And feet kicking the empty wine-skins. But there was no information, and so we continued And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory. All this was a long time ago, I remember, And I would do it again, but set down This set down This: were we led all that way for Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death, But had thought they were different; this Birth was Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death. We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, With an alien people clutching their gods. I should be glad of another death. "Every hero needs to venture into the Belly of the Beast. It's essential to be devoured at least once by the monster. The hero never begins as a hero. He becomes a hero, and that entails the annihilation of his own, unheroic, former self. The hero always undergoes a metamorphosis, from ordinary to extraordinary. The hero, like the snake, sheds its old skin and takes on a new form. To change, you must enter a sacred space, a transformational space. Nothing ever changes in the ordinary space. The familiar world keeps you the same. It has no alchemical power. If you are confined in the same old world, you remain the same old person. You must cross the threshold into the New World."--David Sinclair (Taken from the instagram account: @robertedwardgrant on 1-3-2024

Thank you for joining me for this advent season! Wishing you and yours a truly magical, beautiful holiday season! xoxo Mandy For more information on "Forbidden France: In Search of the Black Madonna" visit: https://www.forbiddenadventure.com/forbidden-france Advent Reading: Helaman 13: 1 And now it came to pass that Samuel, the Lamanite, did prophesy a great many more things which cannot be written. 2 And behold, he said unto them: Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name. 3 And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day. 4 Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is born. 5 And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you. 6 And behold this is not all, there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven. 7 And it shall come to pass that ye shall all be amazed, and wonder, insomuch that ye shall fall to the earth. 8 And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall believe on the Son of God, the same shall have everlasting life. 3 Nephi 1:4-22 4 And it came to pass that in the commencement of the ninety and second year, behold, the prophecies of the prophets began to be fulfilled more fully; for there began to be greater signs and greater miracles wrought among the people. 5 But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled, which were spoken by Samuel, the Lamanite. 6 And they began to rejoice over their brethren, saying: Behold the time is past, and the words of Samuel are not fulfilled; therefore, your joy and your faith concerning this thing hath been vain. 7 And it came to pass that they did make a great uproar throughout the land; and the people who believed began to be very sorrowful, lest by any means those things which had been spoken might not come to pass. 8 But behold, they did watch steadfastly for that day and that night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night, that they might know that their faith had not been vain. 9 Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet. 10 Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful. 11 And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers. 12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord aall that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying: 13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. 14 Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given. 15 And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came. 16 And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who fell to the earth and became as if they were dead, for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated; for the sign which had been given was already at hand. 17 And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished that they fell to the earth. 18 For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years, and that the sign which had been given was already at hand; and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief. 19 And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given. 20 And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets. 21 And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word. 22 And it came to pass that from this time forth there began to be lyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe in those signs and wonders which they had seen; but notwithstanding these lyings and deceivings the more part of the people did believe, and were converted unto the Lord. Peace on earth to all people of good will.

Welcome to our third Sunday of Advent. In this episode, Mandy invites us to consider how each of us may show up for the advent of Christ, as our truest selves. For show notes see: www.mandybgreen.com/podcast Matt 5:48: https://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/5-48.htm Patience doesn't mean making a pact with the devil of denial, ignoring our emotions and aspirations. It means being wholeheartedly engaged in the process that's unfolding, rather than ripping open a budding flower or demanding a caterpillar hurry up and get that chrysalis stage over with. Sharon Salzberg somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond E. E. Cummings somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond any experience, your eyes have their silence: in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me, or which i cannot touch because they are too near your slightest look easily will unclose me though i have closed myself as fingers, you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens (touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose or if your wish be to close me, i and my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly, as when the heart of this flower imagines the snow carefully everywhere descending; nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals the power of your intense fragility: whose texture compels me with the colour of its countries, rendering death and forever with each breathing (i do not know what it is about you that closes and opens; only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses) nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands From Complete Poems: 1904-1962 by E. E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage https://poets.org/poem/somewhere-i-have-never-travelledgladly-beyond

Artwork by Tshikamba: Samuel Wells, A NAZARETH MANIFESTO! https://chapel-archives.oit.duke.edu/documents/sermons/July11WhatMustIDotoInheritEternalLife.pdf IF YOU ARE ABLE, the COLUMBUS LEARNING CENTER is in desparate need of volunteers and supplies! columbusaec.org

Welcome to the beginning of Advent as we explore the condescension of God through the lens of Isaiah, in "The Ascension of Isaiah."*  1 Nephi 11:16 "And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?" Art: Prophet Isaiah, Marc Chagall Le prophète Isaïe, 1968; Saint-paul-de-vence, France   Music compliments of: https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  *As an Amazon Associate, the podcast receives earnings from your purchases that funds further episodes. Thank you!

Recognizing is different than seeing. Perhaps a shift in perspective can help us recognize heaven in our lives. Happy thanksgiving! Blessed are my listeners. Thank you for your support! Show notes at: Mandybgreen.com/podcast

Today's podcast offers a little breather from life. "Come Away" from Unfoldinglight.net

Welcome to SEASON FOUR OF REFLECTING LIGHT!  Mandy starts off the newest season by asking us to ponder this question found in Matthew 16:13-15.  Join us! For Show notes, please visit: mandybrookegreen.com For Tour information, please visit: www.forbiddenadventure.com For information about classes or the weekly COME FOLLOW ME video cast, please visit:  www.projectillumination.thinkific.com SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU HERE!

Heres a short and sweet last thought for summer, "What Things?"  Invite the divine into your life.  Song for this episode: "The Scientist" by Coldplay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm-Y9idMMQ4 For those interested in enrolling in classes each Wednesday with Jon Ewer and Dena Hall, please email: itsgreektome@hotmail.com. This is a rare opportunity.  Take it! Photo: Gang nach Emmaus, Robert Zünd, 1877

Join Mandy as she interviews Dr. Marie Shelton about the roots of alchemy in Ancient Britain and the various ways people can learn truth through the newest tour offered by Forbidden Adventure, "Grail Legend, The Knights Templar and Alchemical Traditions.  Www.forbiddenadventure.com  

Join us for a reading of the book "The Hymn of the Pearl" written by Lori Driggs, illustrated by Tshikamba with essay by Mandy Green.  Mandy explains why this hymn is so important and relevant to each of of us, here and earth, and how it can help us remember who we truly are, and what our purpose, or pearl, is here to recover.  

Continuing on with the celebration of Mandikah, Mandy finished out her list of the 50 Most Important Things she's learned in her first half century.  Join us!

To celebrate Mandy's golden birthday this week, she shares with us 50 Things She's Learned from her first fifty years of life, complete with an epic playlist. "L' haim!"

Still basking in the joy of the marriage of her oldest child, Mandy looks at what marriage can teach us and some of the ways it shows up on in ancient mythology, the scriptures and in the Saviors life.  Tune in!

Have you ever felt "cumbered about" with much serving?  Or overwhelemed by the tasks you feel you need to do?  Or left to do all the work alone while someone else is able to just sit back and enjoy the moment?  Then this episode is for YOU!  Join Mandy as she discusses Luke 10 and the change of heart and attitude we can experience when we feel troubled about many things.  

 Easter, Through the Eyes of Matthew.  Matt 21-28 This is the first installment of the new Come Follow Me video cast.  But I found I wanted to share it with the podcast as well, so I doubled down.  And when I say that, I mean to say that I perhaps quadrupled down!  This is by far the LONGEST PODCAST KNOWN to Reflecting LIght. So FAIR WARNING.  It's LOOOONG.   Break it up, take it in chapters, or not at all.  Just let me know if you learned something new or if this was a complete bust.  It's an experiment.   Above all Happy Easter to each one of you!!!  May you be blessed with heavenly love and light!

Our discussion of "Treasures in the Heavens" by Hugh Nibley continues with the talk of creation of world and souls.  Show artwork: Jehovah Creates the Earth (Jesus Christ Creates the Earth and the Heavens) by Walter Rane

Mandy continues her reading and commentary of the essay, "Treasures in the Heavens" by Hugh Nibley.  Creation is actually organization and is overseen by the Great Sent One, Jesus Christ.  Show artwork is: "God creating the universe, using the compass to measure its dimensions, manuscript illumination from an Old French Bible moralisée "(c. 1208-15), Codex Vindobonensis 2554, fol. lv, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.  

This week, Mandy continues her discussion of "Treasures in the Heavens" an essay by Hugh Nibley, and introduces a discussion of the Hymn of the Pearl from the Gospel of Thomas.  Show artwork is from The Hymn of the Pearl by Lori Driggs, Illustrated by Tshikamba!  For information on how to access these writings, and to pre-order this beautiful book, please visit: https://www.mandybgreen.com/show-notes.  Happy Studying.  

The Sermon on the Mount is an invitation for the students of Christ to follow him to higher ground.  In an effort to examine that, join Mandy as she begins disucssion of Hugh Nibley's essay, "Treasures in the Heavens."  

According to a Hopi Prophecy, we are living in the time of the third great awakening--a time we must learn to be inclusvie and loving with people of all races and backgrounds.  Join Mandy as she discusses how expressing LOVE for others, or ourselves is made so much better when we are able to extend it as grace and space for others.  

Sitting within your soul and spirit is this magnificent power of choice!  Join Mandy as she discusses "The Grand Inquisitor" a chapter from one of the world's most renouned novels, "The Brothers Karamatzov" and your magnificent ability to choose to follow Jesus the Christ.  Time after time.  Day by day.  Hour by hour.  The gift is in your ability to choose Him--over all else. 

Have you ever experienced grief fatigue?  Have you bottomed from feeling overload and retreated?  I sure have.  Join me as I talk about the importance of feeling all of our feelings and beauty these darker, richer hues offer to develop us spiritually and teach us compassion.

If, like Ignatius of Antioch said, "Faith the beginning and love the end," how to go from faith to love?  The answer is Hope.  In Hebrew, the word for hope is "tikvah" and means a cord.  Join Mandy as she uses the wisdom of the past to explore how we can hold on to hope to make it through the storms and tests of life.  

Join Mandy as she takes discusses the challenges of translation and illustrates them by taking a deeper look into the first few verses of the Gospel of John.   If you would like to enroll in her live course about the Gospel of John, beginning at the end of March, please visit: Projectillumination.thinkific.com

Happy New Year from Reflecting Light!  Rather than rushing into the new year with resolutions, Mandy discusses greeting the new year with a sense of shabbat, rest, or a pause. Join us as she explores clues from the Gospel of Mark that exemplify how the Lord found rest and solace.  

Merry Christmas from Reflecting LIght!  Join Mandy as she walks you through the Judean Hillside to take in the events of the Saviors birth.  Happy Holidays!

Holiday Greetings from Reflecting Light!  Join Mandy as she discusses the best idea of how to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas this Year.  Hint: The answer is in the title.  Episode artwork found from an article: https://www.templeton.org/news/can-forgiveness-bring-healing-to-the-world. Illustration by Rachel Aparicio.

Join Mandy in this weeks podcast to learn about the prophecies of Isaiah related to the birth of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, we are healed of our infirmities.  Other times, we must bear them.  Either way, we can find heavenly peace in Christ.  Join us as Mandy kicks of the season with the "Peace that was prepared before ever your war was."  

We all have garbage in our lives.  What makes the difference is how we view it.  Join Mandy as she shares some of the lesson she learned from her recent visit to Garbage City in Cairo.  There is just something beautiful about Heaven's alchemy--even when it shows up as "garbage."  Love and Light and Happy Holidays my freinds!

Anciently, when you invited someone to break bread with you, it signified admitting someone into your family and life.  Join Mandy as she shares a store of her Shabbat in Jerusalem and a little bit of wisdom about how we can be open up and share our commonalities with others.  

This is one of my very favorite episodes, but I recorded it VERY early on in the podcast.  So while I am out of town, I wanted to re-share it for all of our new listeners and as a reminder for all of those who have already heard it, but could use the reminder.  Love and light!

Have you ever wondered if your life is off course?  Did you somehow miss your chance at redemption?  Is all of this part of the plan?  As it turns out, it IS.  Tune in as Mandy discusses this model that emcompasses every one of our mortal journeys.  As it turns out, we are ALL on the path--just at different stages.

Today is a love story from the Bible that asks us to look at love through a different lens.  Join Mandy as she looks as the story of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, the Song of Songs, and some of the beautiful ways that love expands our souls, and teaches us about the Elohim and the Lord's great love for us.

Welcome to Season 3!  We kick things off by learning what the pattern of nature can teach as the seasons change.  By following this pattenr, fall can be a time of harvest, cleansing and letting go.  It can also be a time to sit still and learn from the darkness.  Tune in!

Or more appropriately, Summer Heart-work.  Join us as Mandy bids a fond farewell on the final episode of Season 2 of Reflecting Light.  

Who can find an "Eshet Hayil" or a woman of strength and valor, as recited in Proverbs 31?  Perhaps she is not so far as we think or even WHO we traditionally thought her to be.  Join Mandy as she dives a little deeper into what true, righteous womanhood looks like and the ways we can find HER in the scriptures, in our lives, and in OURSELVES.  Happy Mothers Day!