Spirituality for Ordinary People

This amazing conversation with Juno-award winning musician, Steve Bell, was the 9th episode of the Spirituality for Ordinary People Podcast. I felt like it was worth re-sharing, and have also included the original “show notes” below. You can also get a transcript by reading this post in the substack app or on the substack website.This interview was such an amazing experience, recorded in Steve's own studio in Winnipeg. Steve was incredibly gracious and generous with his time and his honest sharing. Steve shared a ton in this episode, and you can find all kinds of links below that reference just some of what Steve spoke about.Thanks for reading Noticing Delight! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This podcast episode also features several of Steve's songs, used with his permission.CONNECT WITH STEVE BELL* Steve's Website – stevebell.com* Pilgrim Year * Steve's AlbumsSOME OF WHAT WE COVERED IN THE INTERVIEW:* Following Jesus as a Pathway* Interactions with First Nations People and the effect on Spirituality* The unhelpfulness of some of Western Christianity's theological assumptions for our spirituality.* Spirituality as relationality and grounded in the Trinity* Reading as Spiritual practice and way in to inner quiet* Scripture as art* The role of music and art in spiritual formation* Kindly guides for understanding art (and spirituality)* Being deliberate with your Spiritual “diet” to be spiritually healthy.QUOTES* “The Bible starts with the goodness of creation.”* “[You should] read 80% from people who are dead and 20% from people who are alive”* “If there is this deep relationality that goes beyond words and mere ideas, we need art to get there.”LINKS, RESOURCES, AND PEOPLE* Terry Leblanc, Ray Aldred, Cheryl Bear and North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies – http://www.naiits.com/* Richard Twiss – His books* Theresa of Avila – http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208* John of the Cross – http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=65* Edith Stein – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Stein* G.K. Chesterton – http://www.chesterton.org/who-is-this-guy/* C. S. Lewis – http://www.cslewis.com/* Charles Williams – http://www.charleswilliamssociety.org.uk/* Gerard Manly Hopkins – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Manley_Hopkins* Godric, a novel by Frederick BuechnerThanks for reading Noticing Delight! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com

There are certain Christian traditions that seem talk about how we need more “Bible-based teaching.” These same traditions that tend to indicate that they are elevating the Bible and take pride in “understanding the Bible literally” or, if they actually deign to admit that it is impossible to take the entire Bible literally because, well, least of all, there are poems in the Bible (even an entire book of poetry called the Psalms) and you can't actually take a poem literally or you've totally missed the point, then they will instead declare that they, and maybe only they, are “taking the Bible seriously.”Some of these same traditions have churches and leaders who have done things like silence women, perpetuate abuse and discrimination, gather enormous wealth, or created their own kingdoms and then done what is “necessary” to protect them. (See the Secrets of Hillsong documentary, and the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast)I'm not usually one to criticize other Christian traditions, but my aggravation at the way certain segments of the Christian Church are seen as representative of the entire Christian Tradition has grown in recent years. I usually want to try and just get along. Let's just keep talking about grace and do our best to love one another. But still, I have become sick of a term like “Bible-believing” being far-too-often a code for a supposed God-sanctioned exclusion of anyone who is not a white man.How is it that “Bible-believing” has come to mean in some circles that because there are a few places in the New Testament that have references like “women be silent in church” or “wives submit to your husbands” that that gives “wise male leaders” the right to subjugate women and pretty much anyone else they deem “less than” by using an institution that is actually meant to represent a community that is also described in that same New Testament as one where “there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus?” (Galatians 3:28)If I'm a leader in a true “Bible-believing church,” shouldn't I be shining a light on ALL the heroes of the faith, instead of just a select few? How about people like Sarah, Deborah, Hannah, Ruth, Naomi, or Elizabeth, just to name a few?And indeed what about Mary? Should we silence Jesus' mother in the church? In some churches it seems so, because how can Mary's song be heard as anything other than just a personal song of praise (I guess women are allowed to have those) in places that continue to perpetuate power for the few at the expense of others?Mary sings - and I'm just quoting the Bible here…He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly;he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:52-53)Hmm. I'm thinking there words are a little hard to swallow while flying in your private jet to your next speaking gig at the Bible believing mega-church where your college buddy is the head pastor?I'm sick of seeing Christianity being portrayed as synonymous with corruption, abuse, discrimination, and the like. And I don't want to defend the religion of Christianity. I want to instead point to the Bible, not as a proof-text about how to see things my way, but because it has a ton to say against the corruption of power, especially when that power is claimed as divine right.As a Christian, I am supposed to see things through the lens of Jesus Christ and Jesus didn't do any of the manipulating, excluding, discriminating, or defending or bolstering of his power or authority that you see among church leadership in certain circles. Sure, we can say, that if Jesus is God incarnate, then he simply **has** all power and authority (no defending needed), and we ought to just be obedient subjects. But interestingly, Jesus himself didn't even make that argument.He spoke of coming to serve and not be served. Instead of consolidating power and protecting his inner circle so that they would keep him in place so his religious movement would grow in numbers and also in political influence, Jesus was executed by a collusion of the state and religious powers of his day, and his inner circle was a scattered and broken mess (with one who denied he even knew Jesus, and another who betrayed him to the authorities).Of course we know the ones who did stay true to Jesus even after he was arrested and given the death penalty. They were the same ones who God chose as the first people to go and tell Jesus' other followers about the incredible news of him being raised from the dead. The real way the Jesus movement continued actually started with these people bringing this good news (Gospel!) and speaking it to other disciples. If that isn't speaking in church I don't know what is! These are the models for who should speak and to whom we ought to listen!Matthew says it was “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary,” (Matthew 28:1) Mark says it was “, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome,” (Mark 16:1), Luke says it was “Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James,” (Luke 24:10) and okay, John tells things a bit differently, but the key moment still involves Mary Magdalene as the central participant.All four sources agree that the most important message to convey to “the church” was first entrusted to women. So how about we listen! How about we also listen to Mary's song of justice? How about we listen to any woman who stands up to speak?My own denomination has been ordaining women ministers since 1966, before I was born. I've never known a time when there weren't women preachers. If you asked me to name you a few great pastors I know, the first few names out of my mouth would be Theresa, Heather, Jeya.I am flabbergasted that something like it being wrong to bar people from leadership based on their gender is still something we have to make a point of saying. It's enough to make someone walk away from this whole thing called Christianity. And people have. And people are.Maybe you need to step away for a while. Or maybe you need to walk away from a segment of the Christian tradition where you have experienced hurt. I get it.I pray, though, that you might still look for or stay in and work for a community where Mary's song is taken just as seriously as everything else in the Bible, where the reality of women pastors and preachers is just a given. I pray that together we can listen, speak, and help create communities actually centred on Christ who gave up power, who became human, whose love is without condition or bounds—the communities of grace, compassion, and care that people so desperately need. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com

A podcast episode based on a written reflection first posted to the Noticing Delight Substack. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com

Reading is interpreting. We know this more keenly than ever because we interpret all the time.You receive an email announcing that you have won a cruise. You read just a bit of it and already you have done your interpretation. It is spam or a scam. You delete it or send it to your Junk Mail folder.You read a news story and wonder if they have really got all their facts straight. Where is the news from? Is it the Globe and Mail or the National Post? NBC or Fox News? You interpret what you read or watch accordingly based on the source, on your beliefs, and probably a host of other things.The same goes for novels, plays, movies, TV shows. You are reading or watching, and interpreting. All the time.Reading the Bible isn't any different. We don't just read and get “the facts” or “the plain meaning.” Interpretation happens. One of the most important things to pay attention to is what we can call the narrative arc of Scripture.When reading the Bible one really must enter the world of the story. We often zero in on something small, but we also must zoom out to take in the wideness and wonder. We aim to resist proof-texting (quoting a single verse to just prove a point). Instead, we read one verse in light of another, a story in light of the law, a letter in light of a psalm, a series of proverbs in light of the book of Job and on and on.Thanks for reading Noticing Delight! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.So knowing something about the overall arc of scripture is important for us as we interpret particular parts of Scripture. When starting at the beginning, we discover that God created all that is and called it good. This seems to be as good a founding principle as anything. Creation is good, the animals are good, human beings are good. Then, there is a fall from original goodness. Things get twisted or distorted. And then, as we read forward in the story, there is a grand restoration. We could see this narrative arc as life - death - new life, remembering always that there is an original goodness.So, anytime we come up against a thought, or a whisper, or a hint of anything in all creation, and most especially humans (called images of the divine), being talked about as less-than, we know that this is simply not in line with the overall arc of Scripture that is emphatic about the high worth and goodness of all that has been created.The arc of scripture points to prevenient grace, a technical term that basically means grace before anything else. God's grace is not primarily seen as a response to some terrible thing that humans have done. It is not that the Almighty is waiting “up there” watching for us to slip up, to transgress, so He can decide suddenly at that point, to be gracious. No, God's grace is THE starting point. God is gracious. God's love is a constant: in good times and bad, when we get it right and when we get it wrong.The overall arc of scripture points to creation and then re-creation. There is something new that God is doing. It also points to God being all about justice and grace at the very same time. Justice and grace are not opposites in God's way of doing things. They belong together.The overall arc of scripture is not best communicated in concepts, but in story. This is why we might call it the narrative arc of Scripture.There is a story of God with a particular people.There is wandering in the wilderness, the experience of exile from home, and there is the jubilation of return.There is a garden with a tree of life at the beginning and a broken relationship between God and humans, and then stories about gardens and a tree of life and the reconciliation of God and humans toward the end.There is certainly far more that could be said about the narrative arc of Scripture, and in particular, what to do with the more challenging bits, but the important thing for us is that we enter into the narrative.You see, we are shaped by story, and this particular story that keeps speaking, and keeps being re-told, has deep truth and deep wisdom. It is worth interpreting.You enter this particular story and it becomes your story. Life - death - new life. Wandering in the wilderness, exile from home, the promised jubilation of return. Broken relationships and a loss of the ease of life in the garden, and a longing to find a way back. A story of God who enters human life as a baby born in the most humble of circumstances, whose mother sings of the powerful being brought down from their thrones and lifting up of the lowly. A crucifixion, humiliation, and abandonment, and yet a resurrection and vindication. You enter this story and let it shape you, more than all the competing stories out there. So interpreting this grand narrative, with all the stories, letters, poems, laws, prophecies, and sayings that it holds becomes quite important.This Saturday, Nov 18 at 9:30am, I'm leading a workshop on imaginative interpretation of the Bible. It is in-person only, so if you are in Winnipeg and you'd like to come, just email me at matt@mattbrough.com. Or, if you'd be interested in this workshop being on Zoom, email me and let me know.Thanks for reading Noticing Delight! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com

You can listen to the version audio or read the full reflection (transcript) below:The fact that we hold this collection of books as sacred (or if you personally don't, you may at least agree that there is deep ancient wisdom there), is enough to say that we may want to do our best to understand what the Bible is all about. Interpreting the Bible can be challenging but, believe it or not, it can also be fun, and diving into understanding the bible through imaginative engagement with the stories, letters, poems and more that lie within its pages can be deeply rewarding, even life-changing.On Saturday, Nov 18th, 2023 from 9:30 to 11:30, I will be offering a workshop on Interpreting the Bible Imaginatively. (In person only at 590 University Cres, Winnipeg) Email me if you plan to come!The idea for this started when last year someone asked me about where ideas for some of my sermons come from. They were basically commenting on how they seemed to “get more out of it” when listening to a sermon about a particular text than when they would read the same text on their own. This isn't really that surprising. It is almost always better to be in a community setting when trying to understand the Bible (or any text). Also, I spend many hours on a given sermon, I went to seminary, and I have over twenty years of preaching experience. At the same time, I really believe that there are things anyone can learn to help them in their understanding of the Bible, and one of the greatest things we can learn is how to read Scriptures while engaging our imaginations.What do I mean by that? Part of it is giving yourself permission. Permission to play with the text, to wonder, to ask questions, to focus in on specific images or words, and to focus out on the wider story arc, seeking connections with other parts of the Bible.This is what we will learn and practice together at our little 2 hour workshop on Nov 18th, but for now, here's a bit of a reflection on some of the challenges of this approach…It can sometimes be hard to interpret scripture by using our imagination because we can feel hemmed in by a number of things. We may feel restricted by tradition, by particular teaching that is ingrained in us. We may feel constrained by certain concepts of God. We may have been taught that God absolutely must be this way or that way. We may feel trapped by particular philosophies, world-views, or pedagogies. For example, we may subtly believe that authority is never to be questioned, or we may believe the opposite: that no authority is to be trusted. We may somehow feel limited by the Bible itself. Shouldn't we look at more than just scripture? Or we may feel paralyzed by a lack of biblical knowledge and so we hesitate to jump in. For some of us, we have been taught not to trust ourselves, or that our thoughts or ideas do not have value, or are probably wrong. Or we don't want to risk sharing something that we imagine coming from a biblical text for fear that we will sound stupid, or that others with more theological knowledge might shut us down or shame us. Maybe we've been shut down before.Another reason it can be hard to interpret scripture imaginatively is because we have a sense that the Bible is sacred, and so to wrestle with it, question it, read against it at times, or play with it, might seem somehow irreligious or just plain wrong.But, perhaps the most difficult barrier to interpreting scripture imaginatively is that many of us have all but lost our ability to imagine at all. We are more used to formulas, processes, techniques, and the application of critical methods. Of course, we can learn those tools as well and they can be of great help, but imagination is another matter, and is actually, for the average reader of the Bible, more readily available, and dare I say, more fun to employ.When confronted with a story from the bible it might be very useful to ask “what is the historical context of this story?” We may even have a good study bible or commentary that can help us answer that. But we might not be as used to thinking to ourselves things like: “I'm going to pretend that I'm a shepherd and think about how I would feel or what I would do if an angel suddenly showed up in my field.” This may not be the best example, but you get what I mean, I think. My point is that for some of us, somehow our imagination engaging with the text seems less legitimate than historical-critical knowledge. We have held some ways of knowing as the ONLY ways, and have often devalued and severely underused our imagination, to the point that we are hopelessly out of practice.The imagination is relegated often to the realm of children alone, and many adults have forgotten how to use it. This is to our detriment, because without imagination, our engagement with such a diverse and complex set of books ranging in literary forms from poetry to letters, to narrative, to law codes, to parables, will always languish. Not only will we understand less about what the Bible is saying, but this most sacred text will feel further and further from us. Engaging imaginatively with the Bible (and perhaps with anything) jumpstarts relevance and application. What I mean is that when you apply your imagination to a particular Biblical text, you are becoming invested. You are opening yourself up to what it might be saying to you. So, perhaps you'll join me, if you can on Nov 18th in the morning for a could have hours. We will actually look at some biblical texts and learn together about how to engage imaginatively with them. It would be helpful to me to know how many people to expect (for the purposes of snacks!), so please email me to let me know you're coming.Thanks for reading Noticing Delight! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com

The fifth in a 5-part series for Advent/Christmas 2022. He is born among us and is one of us. The incarnation. God with us and with intent, with imagination and creativity. Bearer of hope, and peace, and joy, and love. And so, we can be religious about the incarnation. As God came into the world and loved the place and people to which He came, we can do the same. You can see the places you find yourself through God's eyes. You can be incarnational about where you are.

The fourth in a 5-part series for Advent/Christmas 2022. The final advent theme is Love. Love is so central.  It is at the core of who we are as human beings. We naturally love.  Think of parents, children, grandchildren, wives, husbands, true friends. And our faith takes us further with love.  Over and over we are asked to give ourselves to love. To be religious about it.  To let our love reflect divine love. As we move toward Christmas, we glimpse once again God with is. Love incarnate. Love itself in human form, for God is love.

The third in a 5-part series for Advent/Christmas 2022. What if joy was something you could simply choose? We tend to think joy is something that happens to us. It isn't in our control. We would love to feel joyful, but that is really hard to do day in and day out. Is it the same as just being happy all the time? No, not really. So, what would it mean to be religious about joy? To say yes to joy, to make joy part of the pattern of our life. To give ourselves over to joy...

The second in a 5-part series for Advent 2022. Being religious about something is about devotion, it's about commitment. It is about staying the course even when you don't feel like it. We are compelled to stay with it. We've made it our religion, and ours is a religion of peace. War is rampant, but we claim peace. Jesus claimed “Blessed are the Peacemakers” and declared that they would be called the children of God. On Sunday, we share peace with one another. It is a sign of having reconciled relationships. Of a healing between us. Peace is far more than an end of war. It isn't about tolerating each other. It is things being set right. How they truly ought to be. It is a massive concept in the scriptures. The Hebrew word Shalom is peace, healing, wholeness, salvation. And we are people of this shalom.

The first in a 5-part series for Advent/Christmas 2022. Getting religious about hope is not about being unrealistic or having some pie-in-the sky, everything will always be totally fine attitude. Religiously hoping means a full on acknowledgment of life in all its mess, brokenness, and still we fend off cynicism. We lament, but we don't despair. We don't just “hope everything gets a bit better soon.” We go bigger than that. We hope for complete renewal. We hope for reconciliation. We hope for a new heaven and a new earth...

"From now on you will be catching people" -  Jesus says this to his followers and it does not sound positive at all. Catching people? So, the job of people who follow Jesus is to go and "catch" others? Trap them? Trick them into something? I'm going to just say NO to all of that, but also say that when Jesus said this, there was something far more going on (no surprise - it's Jesus!).

Matt welcomes AJ Sherrill for a conversation around a book that has one of the most amazing sub-titles of all time! - Being With God: The Absurdity, Necessity, and Neurology of Contemplative Prayer. AJ is the Lead Pastor at St. Peter's Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and is an adjunct professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he teaches popular courses on transformational preaching and the Enneagram. Visit is website at https://www.ajsherrill.org/

The Audio version of Prairie Presbyterian Church's Be Still and Behold series: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here. This is Part Ten - God With Everyone For the printed liturgy and the original video series, visit https://www.prairiechurch.ca/worship

The Audio version of Prairie Presbyterian Church's Be Still and Behold series: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here. This is Part Nine - Running Away From God's Presence For the printed liturgy and the original video series, visit https://www.prairiechurch.ca/worship

The Audio version of Prairie Presbyterian Church's Be Still and Behold series: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here. This is Part Eight - God NOT in the Earthquake, Fire, or Storm For the printed liturgy and the original video series, visit https://www.prairiechurch.ca/worship

The Audio version of Prairie Presbyterian Church's Be Still and Behold series: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here. This is Part Seven - God in the Temple part 2 For the printed liturgy and the original video series, visit https://www.prairiechurch.ca/worship

The Audio version of Prairie Presbyterian Church's Be Still and Behold series: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here. This is part Six - God in the Temple part 1 For the printed liturgy and the original video series, visit https://www.prairiechurch.ca/worship  

The Audio version of Prairie Presbyterian Church's Be Still and Behold series: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here. This is part Five - God in the Tent For the printed liturgy and the original video series, visit https://www.prairiechurch.ca/worship  

The Audio version of Prairie Presbyterian Church's Be Still and Behold series: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here. This is part Four - God on the Mountain For the printed liturgy and the original video series, visit https://www.prairiechurch.ca/worship  

The Audio version of Prairie Presbyterian Church's Be Still and Behold series: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here. This is part Three - God in Pillars of Cloud and Fire For the printed liturgy and the original video series, visit https://www.prairiechurch.ca/worship  

The Audio version of Prairie Presbyterian Church's Be Still and Behold series: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here. This is part One - God in a Dream and a Wrestling Match For the printed liturgy and the original video series, visit https://www.prairiechurch.ca/worship  

The Audio version of Prairie Presbyterian Church's Be Still and Behold series: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here. This is part One - God in the Garden. For the printed liturgy and the original video series, visit https://www.prairiechurch.ca/worship  

Matt Brough shares about a new series, Be Still and Behold: 10 Weeks Exploring God's Presence in the Hebrew Scriptures. Get an Overview of the series here.

Matt Brough welcomes Terence Lester to the podcast for a hopeful and inspiring conversation about justice. Terence is the founder of Love Beyond Walls, a nonprofit organization focused on poverty awareness and community mobilization and is the author of When We Stand: The Power of Seeking Justice Together.

This episode features reflections and a conversation with Rev. Mary Fontaine. Executive director of Hummingbird Ministries, ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and Indigenous Leader, Mary brings such wisdom as she reflect on her own work, the need for healing and listening, the power of music, dance, and the arts, and the the important of advocacy for indigenous youth. 

As Jesus indwells the world so we too indwell the world. This might be an apt description of what is called "incarnational ministry." How might the incarnation be important for us as we reflect on being together in-person, and how might technology continue to play a vital role? (Maybe it always has!) Based on a message that Matt Brough gave at an outdoor in-person gathering. Referenced in this episode... Finding an alternative to “incarnational ministry” - The Presbyterian Outlook Incarnation: Theology in the Body - Reformed Journal  

We made it to episode 100!! Whoohoo!  And what better way to mark this milestone, and all the work that went into it, than with a conversation about resting.  Matt Brough and Kate Rademacher talk about her latest book Reclaiming Rest: The Promise of Sabbath, Solitude, and Stillness in a Restless World This interview is so wide-ranging covering topics like: why truly resting is so hard why Sabbath on a Sunday can be difficult and how a practice of Friday night through Sunday afternoon might be a better pattern for many people. The importance of community in resting. The role of benedictions and liturgy in sabbath keeping. The deep connections between social justice and the sabbath. Hope you will give this 100th episode a listen!!

A lively conversation between Matt Brough and Steph O'Brien about how to "Make a Move." Often we have trouble making decisions and then even more trouble acting on them. Steph's latest book deals directly with this. On the big things and the small things, Steph provides sage wisdom for taking steps, even when they might be a bit stumbling or winding, along the path of your life. This episode focussed in on the importance of actually moving, experimenting, and just trying things, in the midst of discernment. Often we might think we are supposed to listen for God's leading and then make a move. Steph and Matt both talk about how hearing from God, seeing where God might be leading is more usually done in the midst of the journey, so the key ingredient is to start! Check out Steph O'Brien's book Make a Move:How to Stop Wavering and Make Decisions in a Disorienting World And Matt Brough's book Let God Send: Crossing Boundaries and Serving in Christ's Name

In this Episode, Matt Brough and children's author, Laura Alary, have a conversation about the long season of "ordinary time" and how it can be understood as a time of growth. This interview is wide ranging, including how to talk to kids about the ascension of Jesus, and also how do adults contend with the bizarre nature of the Pentecost narrative.  Laura reads from her latest book, Breathe: a Child's Guide to Ascension, Pentecost, and the Growing Time.  

Has anyone else been having a hard time with joy? Maybe joy is something to fight for, something to learn to spot and well... enjoy. In this episode we discuss becoming a student of joy and talk about Disneyland, holding newborns, baptisms, the resurrection appearances of Jesus, and the unexpected delight of a fire hydrant in the middle of a forest.

Matt Brough and Jen Ostash-Gooch reflect on their experience walking through the practices for the fifth and final week of the "Liturgy for Life" resource. This week the focus is on the Others, especially those different from yourself.

Matt Brough and Jen Ostash-Gooch reflect on their experience walking through the practices for the fourth week of the "A Liturgy for Life" resource. This week the focus is on the Self.

Matt Brough and Jen Ostash-Gooch reflect on their experience walking through the practices for the third week of the "A Liturgy for Life" resource. This week the focus is on Neighbourhood and Nation.

Matt Brough and Jen Ostash-Gooch reflect on their experience walking through the practices for the second week of the "A Liturgy for Life" resource. This week the focus is on Family, Ancestors, and Descendants.  

Matt Brough and Jen Ostash-Gooch reflect on their experience walking through the practices for the first week of the "A Liturgy for Life" resource. This week the focus is on creation.

In this special episode of the podcast, Matt Brough and Jen Ostash-Gooch go over a new resource for Lent that they developed together and invite you to think through how you will mark lent, paying attention to your relationships with God, creation, your family, your neighbourhood, and yourself.

Rich Lewis shares with Matt Brough about his latest book, Sitting with God: A Journey to Your True Self Through Centering Prayer. They discuss why this kind of prayer or any contemplative practice is so life-changing and how this particular practice might be a key one during challenging times.

This episode features a wide ranging conversation about the enneagram between Drew Moser and your host, Matt Brough. Drew covers some of the basics but also goes deep, especially in the areas of how our distinctive personalities effect our decision making. Drew speaks about his work as helping people navigate the big questions in life, such as Who am I? Why am I here? And Where am I going? Drew's latest book is The Enneagram of Discernment: The Way of Vocation, Wisdom, and Practice Matt Brough also shares about his upcoming book Let God Send: Crossing Boundaries and Serving in Christ's Name. Visit letgodsend.com for more details.

Loneliness is an epidemic, and is effecting young people and people of all ages in massive proportions. This may have only been heightened during the pandemic. In this conversation with Jason Gaboury, we consider whether we might be invited to wait and meet God in the midst of our loneliness and uncover a depth of presence and friendship. We also discuss imaginative ways of reading scripture and why that is important, and also having spiritual practices for particular contexts of life, even in times of exhaustion, confusion, or struggle.

In this conversation Matt Brough and Kate Rademacher talk about not always knowing or seeing, but still following, the spiritual path laid out by God. She shares her story of being raised Unitarian Universalist, being influenced by Buddhism, and being baptized as an adult in the Episcopalian Church.   What does it mean to listen to “the still small voice?”   Kate’s writing can be found at https://www.katerademacher.com/. Be sure to check out her books, Following the Red Bird: First Steps into a Life of Faith and Their Faces Shone: A Foster Parent’s Lessons on Loving and Letting Go.

In this conversation, Matt Brough and Ed Cyzewski talk about some of the perils of technology on our spiritual life, from distraction to addiction. Are there ways to use technology that don't lead toward the more negative side? What do we need to understand about the psychology of apps and social media in order to reconnect with what is most important? Ed Cyzewski is the author of Reconnect: Spiritual Restoration from Digital Distraction, Flee, Be Silent, Pray, A Christian Survival Guide, and Coffeehouse Theology. He co-leads the Renew and Refine Retreat and works as a freelance writer who has contributed to numerous magazines and book projects. He blogs about writing and prayer at www.edcyzewski.com.

Andria Irwin is the online minister with Highlands United Church in North Vancouver. In this conversation with her we talk less about the "tools" of online ministry, and more about the Spirituality of what it means to do and be Church in an online space.  

Matt Brough and J. Dana Trent have part 3 of their conversation on Ancient Wisdom in Chaotic Times, this time focussing on the season of Eastertide. Which Spiritual practices are most helpful right now and which ones might not be as much as we live with the realities of a Pandemic.

This is a replay of the Facebook Live that Dana and Matt did on April 1st, 2020 about how in this time of emergency, crisis, and uncertainty, we have resources available to us embedded in the ancient wisdom of our faith.   Together they explored: the 23rd Psalm, the Lord's Prayer, the difference between sabbatical and experiencing wilderness, and more.   J. Dana Trent is a professor of World Religions and Critical Thinking at Wake Tech Community College in North Carolina. An ordained Baptist minister and former hospital chaplain, her work has appeared on Time.com, and in Religion News Service, Sojourners, Religion Dispatches, and The Christian Century. She is the author of Dessert First: Preparing for Death While Savoring Life, One Breath At a Time: A Skeptic’s Guide to Christian Meditation and For Sabbath’s Sake: Embracing Your Need for Rest.   Matt Brough is a Presbyterian minister of a congregation in Winnipeg, Canada and also serves as the coordinator of the New Worshipping Communities Initiative of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. He hosts the Spirituality for Ordinary People podcast and is the author of Let God Be God: Give Control to the Only One Who Can Set You Free, Let God Be Present: Uncovering the Will, Courage, and Persistence to Truly Connect, and the Del Ryder series of fantasy adventure books.

This is a replay of the Facebook Live that Dana and Matt did on March 25th, 2020 about how in this time of emergency, crisis, and uncertainty, we have resources available to us embedded in the ancient wisdom of our faith. Together they explored: the importance of experiencing both joy and grief, how we need to lean into sabbath and why this is hard for us, and what we need in order to serve and love others in a time of physical distancing.    J. Dana Trent is a professor of World Religions and Critical Thinking at Wake Tech Community College in North Carolina. An ordained Baptist minister and former hospital chaplain, her work has appeared on Time.com, and in Religion News Service, Sojourners, Religion Dispatches, and The Christian Century. She is the author of Dessert First: Preparing for Death While Savoring Life, One Breath At a Time: A Skeptic’s Guide to Christian Meditation and For Sabbath’s Sake: Embracing Your Need for Rest.   Matt Brough is a Presbyterian minister of a congregation in Winnipeg, Canada and also serves as the coordinator of the New Worshipping Communities Initiative of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. He hosts the Spirituality for Ordinary People podcast and is the author of Let God Be God: Give Control to the Only One Who Can Set You Free, Let God Be Present: Uncovering the Will, Courage, and Persistence to Truly Connect, and the Del Ryder series of fantasy adventure books.  

We are living in very uncertain times as we continue to face the realities of the Corona Virus. We might be anxious and afraid. And we might have all kinds of voices or thoughts that tell us to "be strong" or to not feel certain ways.  In response to this, I am sharing a short meditation that I wrote recently. Start with your feelings Acknowledge how you feel and actually feel it. Don’t let voices creep in that tell you that you shouldn’t feel.“you shouldn’t be afraid”“you shouldn’t be anxious”“you shouldn’t be angry”“you should be crying”“you shouldn’t be over-reacting”“you shouldn’t be reacting at all”Stop all those words and pay attention to how you actually feel. Feel the place in your body that is reacting. The back of your throat maybetense shoulders perhapsPossibly the pit of your stomach Draw your attention to how you feel and where you feel it most. Now, know this deep truth:You are not aloneYou are not aloneYou are not alone There is one who loves you deeply and calls to you: “Come to me, you who are weary and burdened… and I will give you rest.” Focus on that callIt was Jesus who first spoke these words.Listen to them anew. Receive his friendship and companionship And be still.Be still and know.Know that you are not God, but that there is a God who is with you and loves you dearly. “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

This was such a fantastic conversation with Pastor Steph O'Brien about her book, Stay Curious, which is all about embracing curiosity, questions, and even doubts as a key to unlocking a more vibrant and dynamic relationship with God.A lot of us sometimes think that we aren't supposed to have big questions about fundamental ideas about God, Jesus or the Bible. Or we might believe that the life of faith is about overcoming and eliminating doubt to have "true faith." Steph really challenges these notions, encourages intentionality in spirituality, and at the same time upholds the importance of community, the Church, the Bible, and Jesus. While our conversation is really great, you should definitely check out everything Steph O'Brien does.  Among other things, she teaches at Bethel Seminary, is on the pastoral staff of a Church, and co-hosts an amazing podcast called "Lead Stories." Steph is a really gifted speaker and teacher, and is well worth following. Visit Steph's Website for more about her and what she does.A few books that were mentioned in this episode...Stay Curious: How Questions and Doubts Can Save Your Faith  by Steph O'BrienThe Myth of Certainty by Daniel TaylorBenefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty by Greg Boyd

The Spirituality for Ordinary People Podcast returns with a reflection on rediscovering our identity.

Season 3 of Spirituality for Ordinary People is all about Prayer Walking. In this third episode, Matt Brough continues the conversation from episode 2 with Robin McGauley about Labyrinths. Check out the resources below the picture of the Labyrinth... Overhead view of the Labyrinth in Chartres Cathedrale Resources: Veriditas: https://www.veriditas.org The Expressive Arts program at fleming college: https://flemingcollege.ca/programs/expressive-arts Robin's Website - Amazing metalsmithing - check it out! Season 1, Episode 8 of Spirituality for Ordinary People - Creativity, Metalsmithing, and Labyrinths with Rev. Robin McGauley Follow Spirituality for Ordinary People on Instagram Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play

Season 3 of Spirituality for Ordinary People is all about Prayer Walking. In this second episode, Matt Brough, welcomes Robin McGauley back to the podcast to talk about walking the Labyrinth. This is such an amazing conversation. So amazing, that it has been broken up into 2 parts - so there will be another episode with the second half of the conversation! Check out the resources below the picture of the Labyrinth... Overhead view of the Labyrinth in Chartres Cathedrale Resources: Veriditas: https://www.veriditas.org The Expressive Arts program at fleming college: https://flemingcollege.ca/programs/expressive-arts Robin's Website - Amazing metalsmithing - check it out! Season 1, Episode 8 of Spirituality for Ordinary People - Creativity, Metalsmithing, and Labyrinths with Rev. Robin McGauley Follow Spirituality for Ordinary People on Instagram Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play

Season 3 of Spirituality for Ordinary People is all about Prayer Walking. In this opening episode, Matt Brough, goes over a few different kinds of prayer walks and invites listeners to consider making prayer walking a regular Spiritual Practice. He goes over two main types: 1) Neighbourhood Prayer-Walking (Outward focus)This type of prayer walking intentionally focusses on a particular neighbourhood. Take time to walk around in a community and silently pray for the people who live, work, or go to school there. Pray for discernment - Seek the gift of seeing the community through God’s eyes and to discern what God may be up to in the neighbourhood. Pray for greater insight into how God is at work among the people, events, and places you observe. Pray for blessing - Observe situations and places that express both joy and brokenness in the community and silently give thanks and/or ask for healing, strength, or renewal. 2. Personal Prayer-Walking (Inward focus)This type of prayer walking focusses on your own relationship with God and/or how God may be guiding you. The action of walking is a powerful metaphor for following Jesus. You are encouraged to pray for personal direction from God. Most of this type of prayer is a listening prayer. Begin by praying questions such as:God, where are you leading me?God, what step would you like me to take?As you repeat these kinds of questions, try to quiet your mind and heart to listen to what God might be saying. This type of prayer can be done anywhere, but it is often best to be outside in nature or pray using a Labyrinth. Follow Spirituality for Ordinary People on Instagram   Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play