rooted (IN).ten.tionally

I'm thrilled to welcome author, speaker and friend Felicia Murrell back to the podcast as we talk about her new book, And: The Restorative Power of Love in an Either/Or World. You'll feel the power of love as you listen. Weaving together poetry, prose, prayers and practices, Felicia shares vulnerably, guiding us from her own story to encourage, challenge, confront and call us to love. This beautiful, healing book takes us on an embodied journey, inviting us to fully inhabit our humanity, to defy our divides, to live as one.  To hear more from Felicia, listen to our conversation about her first book Truth Encounters in Season 2 Episode 8.  You can connect with her at feliciamurrell.com and through her Facebook (felicia.murrell.9) and Instagram (hellofelicia_murrell) accounts.  If this conversation is meaningful for you, please take a minute to like, subscribe and share with a friend who needs this encouragement today. You can connect with me, find free resources, my book and more at susancarson.net.  Thanks for joining us! 

In this episode, my guest is author, professor and theologian James Bryan Smith. Jim is a prolific author with a brand new book in The Good and Beautiful Series, The Good and Beautiful You. The first book in this series, The Good and Beautiful God, released about ten years ago, was a milestone marker in healing my image of God. Today, we're talking about how our toxic self-narratives shape our view of God and ourselves, and how we can live more fully into the good and beautiful truth of who we truly are. As always, there's a practice at the end you won't want to miss! Jim is director of the Apprentice Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation at Friends University, and host of the Things Above Podcast. A founding member of Richard Foster's spiritual renewal ministry, Renovaré, he's all about spiritual practices that restore our souls. If this conversation is meaningful for you, please take a minute to like, subscribe and share with a friend who needs this encouragement today. You can connect with me, find free resources and more at susancarson.net. Thanks for joining us!

What a joy to welcome Gem Fadling back to our series! I spoke with Gem just before her latest book, Hold that Thought: Sorting through the Voices in Our Heads, released in the fall of 2022. In this conversation, Gem shares her own journey in healing as she learned to identify the unaddressed voices in her head. We all have them right? The voices that drive us to live from our false selves, wreaking havoc in our lives. We talk about the power of Trinitarian love, nonjudgmental self-observation, inner healing, finding our own voice and sense of self, and more. Then Gem leads us in a practice for transformation as we learn to sort through the voices in our heads.  Gem is passionate about training women to rest deeper, live fuller and lead better. (Spoiler alert: I have the honor of contributing to her new online community for women, Replenish!) She's founding partner of Unhurried Living, a Certified Life Coach, and a certified spiritual director who coaches women at the intersection of spiritual leadership and soul care. She's also host of the podcast I Can Do That! Connect with her at unhurriedliving.com/gem.  Are you looking for a safe haven for soul care and emotional healing? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

In this episode I'm sharing a prayer I pray almost daily these days. When my spiritual director first pointed me to this practice, honestly, I didn't like it at all. But I knew I needed it. With time, it's shaping, healing and deeply challenging me in all the best (but not comfortable) ways. This prayer invites us to a giant trust fall, inviting us to fall into the arms of Love working all things together for our healing and wholeness. While the prayer is associated with Father Thomas Keating, the practice was originally crafted by Mary Mrozowski, Keating's friend and colleague. I'm thankful to them both. Watch the YouTube version at @SusanCarson. Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

In this episode of rooted (IN).ten.tionally, I'm bringing you Bradley Jersak and Felicia Murrell (two of my favorites!). Together we talk about Bradley's new book, Out of the Embers: Faith After the Great Deconstruction, available now. This conversation is deep, rich and real as we consider how we're invited to heal from and through our deconstruction. What new life might be waiting to emerge? Listen to the end as Bradley leads us in a prayer experience to help us heal. This interview was part of our 2022 Virtual Fundraiser for Roots&Branches Network. Connect with Bradley at bradjersak.com, and with Felicia on Instagram at hellofelicia_murrell. Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

In this imaginative prayer experience, we engage with Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan. As you watch the story unfold, you'll consider the question, Who is your neighbor? Who, in your life today, is the outsider, the one religious leaders might pass by on the road? Jesus makes the outsider the hero of this story, the one who shows mercy. How are you being invited to show mercy, to move to the margins to love your neighbor, today? Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

This conversation with pastor, leader, podcaster and author Matt Tebbe is deep and wide, funny and true. We talk about the new book he's co-authored with Ben Sternke, Having the Mind of Christ: Eight Axioms to Cultivate a Robust Faith, and we cover lots of good ground--from the evolution of Matt's image of God; to how we see and re-see God; to the centrality of love; to God present with us; to the problem of pain; to embodied participation, trust experiments and transformation. Then Matt leads us in an embodied practice I've never experienced before, and it's a beautiful one, full of grace and healing. This is one of my favorite episodes to date! Matt and Ben co-pastor a church in Indianapolis, co-lead Gravity Leadership, co-host the Gravity Leadership podcast and co-author. You can connect with them and learn more about the amazing work they do at gravityleadership.com.  Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

In this prayerful, peaceful space, you're invited to release your burdens. What burden or weight are you carrying? What might you gain in releasing this to God? As we meditate on these verses from The Message version of Matthew 11, we'll consider with Jesus how we might learn to live more freely and lightly, even today. “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.” Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

What an honor to talk with pastor, speaker, author and truly such a nice guy, Rich Villodas! This conversation is rich (pun unintended) as we talk about his new book and his own journey into knowing God as good, beautiful and kind. In Good and Beautiful and Kind: Becoming Whole in a Fractured World, Rich speaks directly to the things that fragment us and our relationships; then leads us wisely through the internal and relational work of healing. We dive into the causes of our fragmentation; then focus in on prayer (what it is and isn't) and the contemplative life. (Spoiler alert, we've both been influenced significantly by the writings of Henri Nouwen and Brennan Manning.) Listen to the end as Rich leads us in a practice in examining our icebergs--all the stuff under the surface. It's so good! Connect with Rich at richvillodas.com. And you'll want to follow him on Twitter or Instagram. Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

This listening prayer practice, called The Meeting Place, comes to us from theologian, author and friend Bradley Jersak. Together, we're opening safe, imaginative space for you to meet with Jesus. No matter how close or far you feel from God today, no matter where you are in your life right now, Jesus has promised he never leaves you and you can hear his voice. This practice reminds us that Christ is alive, living within us and longing to immerse us in the high, wide, long and deep love of God. Connect with Bradley Jersak at bradjersak.com, and find this practice here: The Meeting Place. Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

In this episode, I have the joy of bringing you author and theologian Paul Young. Paul's books, including The Shack, The Pastor (co-authored with Bradley Jersak), and Lies We Believe about God (to name a few), have impacted millions, inviting us to see God and ourselves through the lens of love. In this rich and vulnerable conversation, Paul shares how his image of God was formed, his own deconstruction and his journey of restoration. We talk about the problem of pain and the question of protection as Paul invites us to understand the work of love in our lives. Then I lead us in an imaginative practice opening space for you to reflect on how you image Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit, and to notice where your images might be distorted. At the end, Paul lets us in on the three books he's writing right now, including (wait for it) a sequel to The Shack! Connect with Paul at wmpaulyoung.com and at opentableconference.com. Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

In this episode, you'll practice lectio divina (or sacred reading) meditating on John 15:9-12.  These are some of Jesus' words at his last meal with his friends. He knows he's about to leave them. He knows they'll be confused, lost, grieving. And his message to them is simple and central: Abide in my love. Remain in love. In these days, we're confused, lost, grieving, too. We've never needed these words more. Because this love is saving us all the time.   What if it really is all about love after all?  Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

This episode, I'm joined by Brian Zahnd, pastor, prolific writer and speaker. He's also full of energy, humility and practical insight. His new book, When Everything's on Fire: Faith Forged from the Ashes, is a helpful guide for all of us engaged in the renovation of our faith. Brian shares how and why his image of God has evolved through the years, and how practices and people have helped him navigate these waters. You'll get some beautiful insights into prayer. Listen to the end because Brian leads us through a practice from his own prayer life.  Watch the YouTube version at http://bit.ly/rootedonyoutube. Connect with Brian at brianzahnd.com and find his books at all the usual places. Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

In this first episode of Season 3, you'll pray imaginatively through Psalm 23 as we journey together through the shadows. Shadowy times are familiar to all of us. These are times when, perhaps, we feel death is near. Times of loss, lament, sickness. Perhaps, like me, you or a loved one have encountered the shadow of cancer. In the shadows we find we are never, ever alone.  Today, we'll pray imaginatively through a version of Psalm 23 from Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill. Engage all your senses to place yourself in the scripture. What do you see, feel, experience? How is Jesus with you today, even in the shadows?  Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

How we see God is how we see everything. In this episode, we wrap Season 2 with Gem and Alan Fadling, and a conversation on the way of unhurried living. This episode feels a little bit like a spa to me, an invitation to an internal slowing that restores your soul. How does your view of God affect your ability to live in an unhurried rhythm rooted in grace and rest? A beautiful guided meditation on Psalm 23 opens the way for you to re-image God as your good shepherd.    Gem and Alan are leadership coaches, spiritual directors, authors, podcasters and speakers. You can connect with them, sign up to receive weekly inspiration, and find their books and podcasts at unhurriedliving.com. Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

In this second half of Season 2, I'm bringing you a series on healing our image of God. Because how we see God is how we see everything. In this episode, I'm joined by the delightful Jonathan Puddle, author of You Are Enough and host of the Puddcast (one of my faves). In this very honest (and fun) conversation, we share our journeys of deconstructing and reforming our images of God. Then I get to lead Jonathan and you in a practice to illuminate the differences in how we image Father and Jesus. Turns out, it's a big deal.   Watch the full interview on my YouTube channel. And if you haven't watched Jonathan's first episode with me, check out the Zoomcast with Jonathan Puddle: Learning to Love Ourselves the Way God Loves Us. The practice he shares is beautiful!  Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

In this second half of Season 2, I'm bringing you a series on healing our image of God. How we see God is how we see everything. In this episode, I'm joined by Felicia Murrell, author of Truth Encounters. She shares how a broken image of God hindered her ability to fully receive God's love. Spoiler alert, both Felicia and I had help reimaging God from Paul Young's novel The Shack. Plus she leads us in a practice of guided inquiry that heals and restores. You're going to want to follow her on Facebook because her posts are honest, deep and meaningful.   Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

How we see God is how we see everything. In this second half of Season 2, I'm bringing you a series on healing our image of God. In this episode, theologian and author Bradley Jersak joins me to talk about how you form a more Christlike image of God through Scripture and encounter. With lightness and humor, Bradley encourages you to see the connection between theology and experience. Then, he walks you through a deeply transformational experience of beholding God, using me as his example. You guys, it made me cry right on camera! (No, I was not expecting that.) Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net. Find Bradley's books and resources at www.bradjersak.com.    

How we see God is how we see everything. Does that sound like an overstatement? Maybe. But I've come to believe it's true.  We're changing things up in the second half of Season 2 to bring you a series on healing our image of God. In this episode, spiritual directors (and super awesome people!) Dave and Beth Booram of fallcreekabbey.org. join me to talk about how your image of God is formed and why it matters. Then, they lead you through a powerful reflective exercise to identify how your image of God may be shaped by something other than love. How do you experience God experiencing you? This may be one of the most important questions you can explore as you seek to heal your image of God.   Are you looking for a safe space to experience a transformational encounter with God? Join me at www.susancarson.net.

Shame lies to you about who you are. It is a relentless abuser, telling you you're not fully loved by God. In this imaginative prayer experience from John 21, you'll engage all your senses to meet Jesus and Peter at the beach. As Jesus walks with Peter back to the scene of his betrayal, shame dissolves as love and grace break in. With Peter, you'll experience the healing work of love and the reminder of true self. Replay the podcast and return to this place on the beach with Jesus again and again. The story becomes richer with repetition.  Join the rooted community at susancarson.net. Find Susan's book there. You can also work with Susan as your personal spiritual coach or invite her to speak or teach at your next event, blog or podcast.

Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” St. Ignatius of Loyola agreed, but probably for different reasons. Today's exercise is a Prayer of Examen, one of the pillars of Ignatian spirituality. Examen invites you to intentionally notice the moments when you are living in love and when you are not. (Every day is full of both for me.) When you take silent time each day to reflect on these moments in the light of God's love, you will grow in both gratitude and repentance. Drink in this exercise today – and go back to it again if you find it helpful. It's a powerful tool to help you live more fully rooted and grounded in God's love. How is God inviting you to turn toward grace today? Join the rooted community at susancarson.net. Find Susan's book there. You can also work with Susan as your personal spiritual coach or invite her to speak or teach at your next event, blog or podcast.

As you go through life, you are constantly getting messages that more, bigger and faster are better. Perhaps even signs of God's love and approval. Jesus shows us another way. In this episode, Susan leads you in a practice centered on the self-emptying way of Jesus. As you contemplate the cross of Christ and meditate on the words of Philippians 2: 5-11 during this season of Lent, you'll encounter the transforming glory of Jesus. What if the way to freedom isn't more? What if it's less?  Join the rooted community at susancarson.net. Find Susan's book there. You can also work with Susan as your personal spiritual coach or invite her to speak or teach at your next event, blog or podcast.

Life is loud. Chaotic. Stressful. How do we move through the noise to be still and know God? In this extended episode, Susan is joined by Matt Tebbe, a pastor, communicator and co-founder of Gravity Leadership. To normalize the practice of silence, Matt models practical tools you can use to move into and experience quiet. In the stillness of silence, you'll find a new pathway to know God and your true self. Connect with Matt and learn more about Gravity Leadership at gravityleadership.com. Join the rooted community at susancarson.net. Find Susan's book there. You can also work with Susan as your personal spiritual coach or invite her to speak or teach at your next event, blog or podcast.

Welcome to a new season of the rooted (IN).ten.tionally podcast! For many of you, 2020 was a year of lament. And then, just as you turned the corner to 2021, the violence and chaos in the U.S. Capitol amplified your shock, frustration and sorrow. How do you move through the pain of lament to a deep and lasting hope? I invite you to meditate with me through a scripture from Lamentations 3. Together, we'll embody a prayer that moves us from the honest recognition of pain to an experience of God's great love. As you wait quietly, you'll find your hope renewed.  Join the rooted community and find Susan's book at susancarson.net. Susan is also available to work with you as your personal spiritual coach or you can invite her to serve as a guest teacher for your next event, on your blog or your podcast.

Are you overwhelmed by the distress, disappointments, and divisions of these days? How can the wrongs be set right? How do you even begin to pray? Jesus understands. And he offers you the way and the words. In this episode, you're invited to personalize the Lord's Prayer. As you pray through each phrase of this prayer, you'll enter safe space to express your heart to a good Father who loves you deeply. Join the rooted community and find Susan's book at susancarson.net. You can also work with Susan as your personal spiritual coach or invite her to contribute to your next event, blog or podcast.

As we face together so much that threatens to divide us, I invite you to pray with Jesus for oneness. It can feel impossible, this ideal of unity. And yet, in this prayer, you will find a promise. Pray this prayer with Jesus and listen for the invitation. As you hold honestly the things that divide, let God reveal to you his heart of love and guidance for this season. Join the rooted community at susancarson.net. Find Susan's book there. You can also work with Susan as your personal spiritual coach or invite her to speak or teach at your next event, blog or podcast.

As we seek to live rooted and grounded amidst all that's wrong in the world, we inevitably experience a mix of emotions--blessing, sorrow, and more. In today's episode, liturgist and author Aaron Niequist joins me to guide you through a practice that embraces both blessing and sorrow together. As you hold both the good and the bad in your life before God, you will enter the calming peace of God's presence no matter your circumstances. Join the rooted community at susancarson.net. Purchase Susan's book rooted(IN). Work with Susan as a your personal spiritual coach or to contribute to your next event, blog or podcast here.

Your rooted journey today will take you into a new and perhaps unexpected place: Lament. Prayers of lament are common in Scripture, particularly in the Psalms, and are a call for help in the midst of pain. Today I create safe space for you to bring the unedited cry of your heart honestly to God. As you reflect on the pain in your life and in the world– and then move back to a place trust - you will enter into a deeper experience of God's goodness. Join the rooted movement and find Susan's book at susancarson.net. Book Susan to contribute to your event, blog, podcast or retreat through the website or my emailing susan@susancarson.net.

During your times of reflection on this rooted journey, you may have noticed your human tendency to give soul space to things that crowd out the life of the Spirit. In today's episode, pastor Mandy Smith joins me to guide you in a prayer of emptying and filling. Drawing upon the scriptural metaphor of the clay jar (2 Corinthians 4:7-9), you will identify and release the things you are carrying to open space for the light of God within you. Join the rooted movement and find Susan's book at susancarson.net. Book Susan to contribute to your event, blog, podcast or retreat through the website or my emailing susan@susancarson.net.

Today, I invite you to engage in an ancient prayer of renewal: the Sign of the Cross. As you touch your forehead, chest and shoulders, and intentionally reflect along with me, you will become more mindful of the presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with and within you. Look for clarity and peace to wash over you as you connect your mind, heart, past and future in this present moment. Join the rooted movement and find the book at susancarson.net. Book Susan to contribute to your event, blog, podcast or retreat through the website or my emailing susan@susancarson.net.   Book Susan to contribute to your event, blog, podcast or retreat here.  

You've joined the rooted journey and found a safe space to connect with God through Susan's words. Not surprisingly, her depth of wisdom comes from a lifetime of walking closely with the Lord. In this episode, Susan is interviewed by long-time friend Steve Eklund. Journey with her as she discovers healing from depression, founds a ministry for people with AIDS, and becomes a practitioner in the art of healing prayer. Join the rooted movement and find Susan's book at susancarson.net. Book Susan to contribute to your event, blog, podcast or retreat through the website or my emailing susan@susancarson.net.  

In this episode, we step into the Christmas story as the angel speaks to Mary. I invite you to engage in Mary's experience, responding to the promise of God born in her and considering the life that God has deposited in you. How will you respond to the angel's words that nothing is impossible with God? Join the rooted movement and find Susan's book at susancarson.net. Book Susan to contribute to your event, blog, podcast or retreat through the website or my emailing susan@susancarson.net.

This ancient prayer from Ireland's beloved Saint Patrick helps center us again in the reality of (IN). Together, we'll contemplate the reality that Christ is in us as we are in Christ. Allow the reality of (IN) to expand in your heart and mind as you contemplate the prayer. The answers, the strength, the healing, the hope you need today are not out there somewhere. They are already here. Step (IN). Join the rooted movement and find Susan's book at susancarson.net. Book Susan to contribute to your event, blog, podcast or retreat through the website or my emailing susan@susancarson.net.

The worries and all the doing of life often leave us disconnected from God and ourselves. Through this listening and healing prayer experience, you're invited to move from worry and anxiety back to love. From a place of rest, we'll pray from Psalm 139, inviting Holy Spirit to search our hearts and show us what's in the way of connection. Join the rooted movement and find Susan's book at susancarson.net. Book Susan to contribute to your event, blog, podcast or retreat through the website or my emailing susan@susancarson.net.

Seeing really is believing. So today, we engage in a practice that will help us see and participate in a story told by Jesus. Watch how God is present to you as you engage your imagination and all your senses to see this story about a father and two sons. This practice of imaginative prayer from St. Ignatius gives us a powerful way to prayerfully reflect on Scripture. Join the rooted movement and find Susan's book at susancarson.net. Book Susan to contribute to your event, blog, podcast or retreat through the website or my emailing susan@susancarson.net.

Welcome to (IN).ten.tionally Rooted, ten (or so) minutes designed to help you connect more deeply with God and your true self. In this episode, we engage in an ancient practice known as lectio divina or sacred reading. Author Richard Foster describes it as “the kind of reading in which the mind descends into the heart and both are drawn into the love and goodness of God.” Are you ready to experience the high, wide, long and deep love of God today? Join the rooted movement and find Susan's book at susancarson.net. Book Susan to contribute to your event, blog, podcast or retreat through the website or my emailing susan@susancarson.net.