Podcast appearances and mentions of Gerald G May

Today Pastor Dan, Mike, & Ryan will talk about the importance of modeling. They'll talk about why it's important to live this out daily and find people we can model our walk with Jesus after, as well as define Biblical Modeling and what that can practically look like in your life.  Join us for the conversation!Recommended Reading:The Dark Night of the Soul by Gerald G. May

Intro/Outro Signal to Noise By Scott Buckley https://www.scottbuckley.com.au Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The42Podcast Email: Badtheologyproductions@gmail.com Waterproof Bible: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1609690141/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_YZWPW5K6DE9N1MXDV01K  Epiphany Words: https://www.emsworthstandrews.com/blog/star-words-resources-and-guidance  Dark Night of the Soul by Gerald G. May https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060750553?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details 

I'm thrilled to bring you today's guest, Andrea Ross, author of Unnatural Selection: A Memoir of Adoption and Wilderness. Andrea shares how a health crisis lead her outdoors, and how a decade of spending time in the wilderness brought her a feeling of groundedness. We discuss the loneliness that adopted people can face and how we've both seen this theme of reconnecting with ancestral landscapes popping up more and more frequently. Full Show Notes Here Show Notes Recommended Resources Unnatural Selection: A Memoir of Adoption and Wilderness by Andrea Ross The Wisdom of Wilderness: Experiencing the Healing Power of Nature by Gerald G. May Adoption: The Making of Me podcast - Andrea's episode Notes for Colorado adoptees from a fellow adoptee, Anne: The Colorado Department of Human Services can give you your adoption file "If your adoption was handled by the state or a county, or the licensed child placement agency (LPCA) that handled your adoption has closed.“ I was able to receive this information even though I was not physically in Colorado. I just had to send a picture of my ID via email to confirm who I was. This service was free of charge. Colorado adoptees who want to get their OBC and Report of an Adoption (which is basically like an integrated birth certificate and lists your names pre- and post-adoption, your adoptive parents, your birth parents, the date, time and place of your birth, and the attorney who filed the court documents for the adoption), need to contact the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment or go to their website. There is a form to fill out and a fee to pay for this service. One piece of information regarding sealed adoption information in Colorado is that circa 1990 all of the paper files were collected from the county courthouses to be microfiched and held centrally. So be prepared to receive copies of microfiche film that is potentially difficult to decipher. More info and links available here from Adoption Search Resource Connection (based in Colorado): www.asrconline.org/get-records Connect With Us Andrea Ross: www.andrearosswriter.com | Twitter | Instagram | Personal Facebook | Facebook Page Haley Radke: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook Adoptees On: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio | Spotify | Stitcher | YouTube Support Adoptees On One Time Donation | Monthly | Secret Facebook Group Connect Occasional Newsletter | Send a Note This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

Last Tuesday evening, I watched the service for Officer Brian Sicknick who was killed in the attack on our capitol on January 6th. It made me again do some critical thinking about the personal and national crises we as a people are experiencing in our present culture.  We are facing this horrific pandemic, enormous pain and grief, loneliness, political unrest, racism, threats due to growing militias and white supremacist movements, and far too many people getting drawn into rabbit holes of conspiracy theories and lies. As I think about these challenges and our profound brokenness as people, my heart truly breaks. I mourn our deep brokenness. During dark times of challenge, it often seems that we as a people do not always remember God’s presence in our lives.  And, quite frankly, we may ask, “Where is God; has God abandoned us?  Who are we as a people?” Therefore, today’s scripture readings are again so life-giving. The words we hear in today’s reading from Isaiah were written after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. After one of the most horrific moments in Jewish history, the people are living in exile. They have experienced personal and national crises and their memory of God’s presence to them has diminished. They do not remember God’s promises to them. Their biggest questions are, “Has God abandoned us? Are the Babylonian gods greater than our God? And who are we now as a people?” In today’s reading, Isaiah repeats the rhetorical questions, “Have you not known? Have you not heard?”  And, the answer he ultimately gives is that God has always been with the people, giving strength to the powerless and power to faint. During difficult times, Isaiah inspires the people to trust in something bigger than their present circumstances. God is present with them in their pain, and they can be present to and with one another. Often, in times of crisis when we are suffering, we too forget the awesome power of God. Like the people who were in exile, this virus has tested our memory of God’s presence to us. Because of the hardships and suffering many have faced, we collectively as a people may have forgotten what God has done for us. Isaiah’s questions can and should still be asked of us today, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? God is with us!”  When crisis causes us to have short memories, Isaiah’s words remind us that God has been here since before the beginning of the world and God is the one who has been and continues to be fully in control.  In a time when many feel and face despair and hopelessness, Isaiah’s words speak directly to our fears saying, “God is the creator of heaven and earth, large and vast beyond our imagining and God does not grow faint or weary. If you feel faint and powerless, God will give to you power and strength. And, as you wait for the Lord, you are like a molting eagle. God will give you strength and new wings that will lift you up. God will raise you up to life.”  Isaiah assures us of God’s tender and empowering care. As we look at our gospel reading, Jesus enters a place where he finds hopelessness and powerlessness. If you remember last week’s gospel, Jesus had just been teaching in the synagogue.  While there, he was rudely interrupted by a man possessed with an “unclean spirit.” Jesus had then ordered the unclean spirit to leave this man and the man was healed.  It was Jesus’ first miracle in the gospel of Mark.  And, it was an action that was all about healing and hope, empowering and enabling that man to again be restored to life and full participation within the life of community.  This morning, we find the gospel writer continuing this narrative by connecting that story to what we have as today’s gospel reading.  Jesus leaves the synagogue and he “immediately” goes to Simon’s house where he finds Simon’s mother-in-law sick with a fever.  It is still the same day, the same Sabbath, only a matter of hours later, and we find Jesus again giving life by healing Simon’s mother-in-law.  He walks over, touches her, then he takes her by the hand and lifts her up, or “raises her up.”  The Greek word Mark uses for “lifted up” or “raised up” is the same word Mark uses to tell of Jesus being lifted up on a cross.  And, it is the same word used in the gospel narrative describing Easter morning when we hear the words “He is not here, he is risen!”  This is not coincidence.  Simon Peter’s mother-in-law is raised up from her illness.  And, what does she begin to do?  She gets up from her bed and begins to feed people.  She begins to serve, to minister to others.  Healed from her illness, she begins to live into a sense of purpose, a sense of vocation.  This woman who has been touched and healed by Jesus becomes the first active witness to what a healed and resurrected life in Jesus looks like. Healing, deliverance from pain and illness, and setting people free are the hallmarks of that great prophetic dream called the Reign of God. Isaiah and the prophets articulated the dream of God and it is expressed in one way or another as it is threaded throughout the entirety of scripture. Yet, the people had to always be reminded of that dream and we need to be reminded of God’s dream.  The dream of God is always describing a reality where no one goes hungry, the ill and grieving are healed, and those in various kinds of prisons are set free to live abundant life, life that truly matters.  Over and over, we hear that Jesus “went about healing many who were sick or possessed by demons.”  Healing and setting people free were foundational to Jesus’ ministry.  And, healing and setting people free are foundational to the ministry we share as members of the body of Christ. This image of healing and setting people free is something we share because, in baptism, we too have been raised to new life.  We too have been set free.  We too have been raised to live life that truly matters and live into the ministry of serving others. We live in a world that is desperate for healing. The need in this world is so great.  And, friends, God’s healing, life giving presence is closer to us than the air we breathe.  As we live together, participating in the community of faith, we live into God’s healing, gracious love.  Gerald May was a medical doctor who practiced psychotherapy in Washington, D.C.  He wrote of the importance of community in the healing process.  He writes: God’s grace through community involves something far greater than other people’s support and perspective.  The power of grace is nowhere as brilliant nor as mystical as in communities of faith.  Its power includes not just love that comes from people and through people but love that pours forth among people, as if through the very spaces between one person and next.  Just to be in such an atmosphere is to be bathed in healing power. (Gerald G. May, Addiction and Grace, 173.)               Friends, the good news to us in the depth of our present circumstances is this: Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? God is with us! In the person of Jesus, God comes to us in the depth of our circumstances, renews our strength, brings healing. God raises us up to serve others and to serve the greater community as we continue to live into the dream of God for this world, as we carry God’s healing presence in this world. And, we are doing just that! As our Caring Committee continues their outstanding work connecting to members and others in the community, we carry the good news message that God IS present to us and continues to be present to us and all others.  As we begin some new food pantry projects, we carry God’s message of healing love to others by connecting to people in the depth of their need.  And, as we continue the reconciling work of caring for our neighbor and living out God’s love in this community, God will continue to raise us up to a new life of hope, just as Jesus did to Simon’s mother-in-law.  God is raising us up, lifting us up so we can live lives of service to others and bear God’s creative and life-giving, redeeming love in this world. And that love, my friends, is what truly will transform the deep brokenness and challenges of this present time.

What happens when you record a podcast and the lawn service is working very hard outside your window? Find out on today’s podcast! We will also discuss the integration of psychology and spirituality – an important topic for spiritual leaders. Leaders can fall into the trap of over spiritualizing in order to avoid doing the hard psychological work of facing real brokenness. Ruth invites her friend Bob Watson, a licensed clinical psychologist, for a fascinating discussion. As part of their own self leadership leaders need to not just look at the spiritual aspects of their lives, but also attend to their mental health. Control, pain, drivenness, and shame are just some of the topics covered. The episode concludes with helpful guidance on how a leader can know when the thing that we are dealing with should be attended to psychologically with therapy--as part of their journey towards wholeness in Christ. Dr. Robert Watson, PsyD, LP holds an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Wheaton College and a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. Bob is licensed as a clinical psychologist in the states of Michigan and Illinois. Bob considers himself privileged to play a part in healing the “noble wounds” of those in ministry, and serves as the director of counseling at Alongside, a Christian retreat center offering professional counseling and shared community designed to help leaders and their families emerge from burnout or breakdown . Learn more Alongside by visiting their site. In addition, Bob maintains a counseling practice in Hoffman Estates, IL. SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES You can also access podcast on Google Play or Stitcher. Listen to other episodes from Season 9 Access past podcast seasons Mentioned in this podcast:Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, Robert MulhollandThe Divine Conspiracy, Dallas WillardThe Awakened Heart: Opening Yourself to the Love You Need, Gerald G. May M.D.Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology Gerald G. May M.D. Exploring Further:Transforming CommunityRuth Haley Barton Become a patron: Join a growing movement of transforming leaders. We’ve received fantastic feedback about the podcast, and we would like to create even more episodes. We need you! Become a patron during Lent and receive our Lent: A Season of Returning! Music Credit:New Way to Live written by Joel Hanson. I am New written by Joel Hanson and Jason Gray.

Shalom!  Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace.  Shalom is used as a word of greeting and farewell.  Shalom is not only about peace, it is about a healing wholeness, completeness and well-being.  The peace of shalom is not limited to the political domain and it is not a peace that is just about the absence of war.  It is not limited to the social domain and is not only about the absence of quarrel and strife.  Shalom is about a peace that covers many contexts and includes this cosmic principle – the manifestation of divine grace.  Shalom is the blessing of well-being and wholeness God desires for all people.  Shalom is all about God’s dream for this broken world.  As I have been thinking not only upon the experience of our mission trip, but also current events in our present culture and all that is happening around the world, I am again reminded of how desperately this world needs to hear of God’s healing grace, God’s healing love, God’s healing peace, and God’s healing message of shalom.  Healing was a major focus and aspect of Jesus’ ministry.  Jesus lived this sense of shalom as he healed people with all kinds of diseases and ailments.  Jesus lived this sense of shalom as he proclaimed God’s dream for this world wherever he went.    As Jesus encounters us in today’s gospel reading, he has just been teaching in the synagogue.  While there, he was rudely interrupted by a man possessed with an “unclean spirit.” Jesus had then ordered the unclean spirit to leave this man and the man was healed.  It was Jesus’ first miracle in the gospel of Mark.  And, it was an action that was all about healing and enabling that man to again be restored to life and full participation within the community.  This morning, we find the gospel writer continuing this narrative by connecting that story to what we have as today’s gospel reading.  Jesus leaves the synagogue and he “immediately” goes to Simon’s house where he finds Simon’s mother-in-law sick with a fever.  It is still the same day, the same Sabbath, only a matter of hours later, and we find Jesus again giving life by healing Simon’s mother-in-law.  He walks over, touches her – an action that was considered unclean – then, he takes her by the hand, and lifts her up, or “raises her up.”  The Greek word Mark uses for “lifted up” or “raised up” is the same word used to tell of Jesus being lifted up on a cross.  And, it is the same word used in the gospel narrative describing Easter morning when we hear the words “he is not here, he is risen!”  This is not coincidence.  Simon Peter’s mother-in-law is raised up from her illness.  And, what does she begin to do?  She gets up from her bed and begins to feed people.  She begins to serve, to minister to others.  Healed from her illness, she begins to live into a sense of purpose and a sense of vocation.  This woman who has been touched and healed by Jesus becomes the first active witness to what a healed and resurrected life in Jesus looks like. Healing, deliverance from pain and illness and setting people free are the hallmarks of that great prophetic dream called the Reign of God.  That dream of God is expressed in one way or another as it is threaded throughout the entirety of scripture.  The dream of God is always describing a reality where no one goes hungry, the ill and grieving are healed, and those in various kinds of prisons are set free to live abundant life, life that truly matters.  Over and over again, we hear that Jesus “went about healing many who were sick or possessed by demons.”  Healing and setting people free were foundational to Jesus’ ministry.  And, healing and setting people free are foundational to the ministry we share as members of the body of Christ.  This image of healing and setting people free is something we share because, in baptism, we too have been raised to new life.  We too have been set free.  We too have been raised to live life that truly matters and live into the ministry of serving others. As I was growing up, my mother would frequently remind me about the fact that we are the hands and feet of Jesus in this world.  Our very bodies, the way we use them, what we do and the way we live enables us to become God’s instruments of healing in this broken world.  I was reminded of this on the Mission Trip as I listened to people’s stories about loss, the loss they experienced during Hurricane Irma.  The devastation and loss were enormous.  In the mobile home community in which we worked, 27 homes had to be totally demolished, 34 homes had already been restored, and many more need to be either demolished or restored.  Our work supervisors estimate they will still be working on this two years from now.  And, the work we did was just a small portion of a much larger effort to bring restoration and healing to that community, a community that needs to be raised up.  We live in a world that is desperate for healing.  The need in this world is so great.  We live in a world where people desperately need and long for the touch of a caring hand.  I think each one of us has probably experienced that need at some point in our life, and we will likely experience that need again.  I also know that God’s healing, life giving presence is closer to us than the air we breathe.  And, as we live together participating in the community of faith, we live into God’s healing, gracious love, that sense of shalom.  Gerald May was a medical doctor who practiced psychotherapy in Washington, D.C.  He wrote of the importance of community in the healing process.  He writes: God’s grace through community involves something far greater than other people’s support and perspective.  The power of grace is nowhere as brilliant nor as mystical as in communities of faith.  Its power includes not just love that comes from people and through people but love that pours forth among people, as if through the very spaces between one person and next.  Just to be in such an atmosphere is to be bathed in healing power. (Gerald G. May, Addiction and Grace, 173.) Friends, this week we begin a whole new ministry as we welcome our first refugees to the parish house.  This ministry is a form of healing, reconciliation and shalom as we share God’s boundless grace with the young men who will live in the parish house.  This is just one way that we, as a community of Faith, continue to live into God’s healing, gracious love.  And, as we participate in this reconciling work, God is not only raising up these young men to a life of hope, God is also raising us up, just as he did Simon’s mother-in-law.  God is raising us up, lifting us up so that we can live shalom, so we can live lives of service to others and bear God’s creative and redeeming love in this world.  Frederick Buechner, an American pastor and theologian, has said something that has meant so much to me in my life, and I think it will mean something for us as we think about this new ministry to which we are called.  He writes, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”  Each one of us has been called.  Live into

Continuing the conversation that began with Episodes 1 and 2, we now turn to the question of how our relationship to silence can evolve over time. We take a closer look at how encountering silence has nurtured our faith in God — and how monasteries, churches, museums, the wilderness, and even a documentary film has played a role in our lives as each of us has "pursued" silence (or, perhaps we should say, how silence has pursued us). We explore how silence has been a teacher to each of us, teaching us the ways of silence, teaching us to simply "let silence be" and approach it in a spirit of humility and openness. We discuss the limitations of academic scholarship (at least in terms of relating to silence), the challenge of moving beyond dualisting thinking when relating to silence, and how essential art and poetry have been to us when it comes to our evolving relationship with silence — and our shared recognition that there is a deep intimacy between silence and beauty. We also look at silence as the center around which aesthetics, theology, and liturgy all revolve — each points back to the silence, which in turn "hosts" each of these ways of human knowing and expression. Silence for me has always been wrapped up with the question of the Divine. — Kevin Johnson It's so interesting to engage with a material that is not a material. It's like clothing a bodiless body. you can't do it, but we're forever trying. That's why this keeps constantly pointing me back to God because it's another aspect of my life that certainty always fails me. It's in the unknowing that I know. It's in my extreme amount of doubt that my faith is. It's the tension pieces, the paradox pieces. — Cassidy Hall Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Patrick Shen (director), In Pursuit of Silence (Documentary Film) Tilden Edwards, Embracing the Call to Spiritual Depth Gerald G. May, Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology Martin Laird, Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation Elias Marechal, Tears of An Innocent God: Conversations on Silence, Kindness and Prayer Alex Lu, Soundtrack for In Pursuit of Silence Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke, 1892-1910 Hans Urs Von Balthazar, The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics Karl Rahner, Encounters with Silence Bernard McGinn, ed., The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer Christian Bobin, The Eighth Day: Selected Writings Carl quotes Acts 17:28: "In Him we live and move and have our being" — which comes from a sermon of Saint Paul, who in turn is quoting the pagan poet Epimenides. The words are printed on the page just as the space between the ink is the page. It's all the page. There is a real presence of silence in the most ear-splitting noise. — Carl McColman Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based in Connecticut. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is an author, catechist, and retreat leader based in Atlanta. Episode 4: Encountering Silence As Adults Hosted by: Carl McColman With: Cassidy Hall and Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: October 23, 2017