Podcast appearances and mentions of Howard Thurman

Today, I share a bit about something we need so urgently. Howard Thurman is a spiritual mentor I most cherish. You can do a search on this website and find much more work I've down related to him. Please check it out. ONE MORE THINGA related article I just wrote is a great companion to my audio here. https://sparkmymuse.substack.com/p/where-is-the-treasure-in-the-field?r=388bh I go into the two most important things to root out to grow in maturity and transformation.

Song: Glimmer in My Eye Music by: Jordan Mudd   Notes: Jordan takes us through a journey of listening for a call, listening for our ancestors, listening to the generations to come -- and an exploration of the wild delight of being alive! I felt like so much of what he said is common to the shared experience in song circles where people are “Just singing to sing – and… I didn't know that was what I'd been looking for…” He said, “It feels like what we are doing in our song circles is an experiment in culture building… that we want to move into the fabric of daily life.” And, “We get to be here making something wildly beautiful – not just our sounds but in the sharing of our souls.” Yes!   Songwriter Info: Jordan Mudd is a songleader, vocal coach, grief tender, and ritualist based in Boston, MA. He co-founded Boston-Area Singing Circles in 2023, where he leads regular community singing gatherings combining oral tradition songs, vocal improv, and ritual, as well as training workshops for aspiring songleaders. He has been catching & leading songs for a decade, and is committed to using song as a tool for personal, collective, and spiritual liberation.   Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but he always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:32 Start time of reprise: 01:08:48   Links:  “Gimmer in My Eye” on Bandcamp: https://jordanmuddsings.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-generations-past-future Boston-Area Singing Circles: https://www.bostonareasingingcircles.com/ Jordan's website: https://www.jordanmudd.com/ Songleader Training with Jordan + milly roberts: https://www.bostonareasingingcircles.com/songleading-intensive   Emma Thomas Mitchell: https://www.emmathomasmitchell.com/ Sunrise Movement: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/   A Breath of Song episode from Sunrise Movement: https://www.abreathofsong.com/p/172-dont-go-putting-the-world-on-your-shoulders “I Send my Hope” https://jordanmuddsings.bandcamp.com/track/i-send-my-hope Ep 244: “I Am Listening” on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/p/244-i-am-listening Brandeis University: https://www.brandeis.edu/ Howard Thurman: https://www.bu.edu/thurman/about-us/who-is-howard-thurman/ Jordan's Songleading Offerings: https://www.jordanmudd.com/songleading David Ruffin: https://www.davidruffinvoice.com/ David on A Breath of Song (ep 185): https://www.abreathofsong.com/p/185-vocal-improv-with-guest-david-ruffin David's GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/780f3ecf6 elena elizabeth hendrick: can be contacted at elenanicaragua@gmail.com Ukumbwa Sauti: https://about.me/ukumbwa IG:@ukumbwa Dagara cosmology: https://www.theafricangourmet.com/2016/07/whats-your-dagara-cosmology-sign.html Malidoma Somé: https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/26930-holding-our-power Sobonfu Somé: https://www.schoolofintegratedliving.org/grief-forgiveness-ritual-sobonfu-some/ Gaia Music Collective: https://linktr.ee/gaiamusiccollective Amos Lee: https://www.amoslee.com/ Esperanza Spaulding: 12 Little Spells: https://esperanzaspalding.com/   Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, round   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: I Am Listening Music by: Jordan Mudd   Notes: Recording this episode was sheer joy -- I was with a community of vocal improvisors at Back to the Well at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY (see shownotes for links to participate next year!) -- and I shared Jordan's song with a small group of us who were free one afternoon. Please sing with us, letting the song sink in and sing inside you in whatever way is just right today. I love the way this song remembers me into Howard Thurman quote: “Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”   Songwriter Info: Jordan Mudd is a songleader, vocal coach, grief tender, and ritualist based in Boston, MA. He co-founded Boston-Area Singing Circles in 2023, where he leads regular community singing gatherings combining oral tradition songs, vocal improv, and ritual, as well as training workshops for aspiring songleaders. He has been catching & leading songs for a decade, and is committed to using song as a tool for personal, collective, and spiritual liberation.   Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but he always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:04:01 Start time of reprise: 00:18:27   SINGERS: Laurie Ellington -- suspensionbridgejazz.com Suzzette Ortiz -- suzzetteortiz.com Eileen Webb -- IG: @leenwebb Linnea Dolf -- IG:@linneasings Patti Shaffner -- jazzdakini.com Roy Willey -- voicecirclecolorado.com Giovanna (Gio) Velino -- IG:@giovanna.velino Rosi Amador -- IG:@rosiamadorlala Onome -- onome.org IG: @onome.om Paola Faoro -- IG: @circlesingingboston_jp TatiAnah Thunberg -- vocalwilds.com Carisa Wilder  Links: Back to the Well workshop: https://rhiannonmusic.com/omega-2026 Listen to and purchase Jordan's music on bandcamp: https://jordanmuddsings.bandcamp.com/ Learn more about Jordan's work at www.jordanmudd.com Learn more about the singing community Jordan stewards at www.bostonareasingingcircles.com   Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, unison with optional harmonies   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

In a world that often rewards speed over connection, what ifone of the greatest forms of wisdom is simply learning to be fully present? In today's episode, Michelle reflects on a powerful quote from Howard Thurman and explores what it means to approach others with humility, curiosity, and awillingness to learn. She reminds us that every person, regardless of their background or perspective, has something to teach us if we are disciplined enough to truly listen.In this episode, you'll discover:Why presence has become a rare and valuable leadership skillHow humility opens the door to unexpected wisdomThe importance of learning from people whose experiences differ from your ownSimple ways to become more intentional about listening and connecting each dayReflection QuestionsWho in your life might have wisdom to offer that you've beentoo busy or distracted to fully hear?When was the last time someone changed your perspectivesimply because you listened with an open heart?How could practicing greater presence improve yourrelationships at home, at work, or in your community?What assumptions or judgments might be preventing you from learning from someone who is different from you?What intentional practice could you begin today to becomemore disciplined in receiving the wisdom others have to share?Questions or comments? I'd love to hear from you! Michelle@GrowBy1.comIf you're ready to deepen your ability to connect,communicate, and influence others in meaningful ways, join us at our upcoming Coaching Retreat. You'll develop practical coaching, leadership, and relationship building skills in a supportive environment designed to help you grow personally and professionally. Learn more at GrowBy1.com/CoachingRetreat.

Why nervous systems built to care about others can leave us feeling disconnected in a globally connected world. I’ve been dipping into Britt Frank’s book, The Science of Stuck, over the past week. It’s much more of a self-help book than I was hoping based on the title, but it’s providing some ideas to explore. This concept of stuckness has been on my mind recently… What does it mean to be stuck? What causes us to feel stuck? Does feeling stuck always mean we are stuck? How do we get unstuck when we know what we want to do but can’t seem to take the action we know is required? What happens when our nervous system gets caught in patterns of defence and self-protection when we try to make meaningful changes? https://youtu.be/lbpdjTgJA9w Stuckness and Sensitivity I’m especially interested in the type of stuckness we might see in highly sensitive people. Frank writes: “If you feel guilty because ‘other people have it worse,’ remember—perspective is helpful, but comparison is not. You have a right to exist. You have a right to take up space on this planet. You have a right to feel angry, scared, and hurt. And you also have the right to experience happiness in your life and to feel at home in your body.” Many HSPs I’ve known downplay their right to take up space, particularly when it comes to valuing their own feelings and needs. What I liked about this quote is that it invites both/and thinking. At least, that’s how I’ve interpreted it. It’s not about denying the comparison so much as giving it perspective. Comparison happens because we are social beings. What is unhelpful is letting our response to it diminish ourselves. It’s about making room for both things to be true. When being built to care about others makes it difficult to care for ourselves Highly sensitive people may sometimes see need, pain, and injustice around them and feel stuck when it comes to their own needs, wishes, and feelings. Maybe it’s guilt or shame. Maybe it’s sadness, anger, or hopelessness. We might dismiss our own situation by saying “I shouldn’t complain” or “I should count my blessings.” And again, to bring some both-and perspective, there is nothing wrong with having a sense of the bigger picture. Being built to care is a survival strength rather than a flaw. But both things can be true at once… Allowing your own needs, feelings, and preferences to breathe doesn’t diminish someone else’s. Recognising that someone else is in what appears to be a worse situation doesn’t need to diminish your own. But this isn’t only about validating our own feelings. It’s also about recognising what is lost when we shrink back and disappear from our own lives in that way. The world needs people who have come alive There’s a famous quote by Howard Thurman: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” For years, I’ve ended my podcast episodes with the words: “You are an artist. The world needs your art. Now, go and make somebody’s day.” I say this because when sensitive people disconnect from what makes them come alive, everyone loses something. The world becomes poorer for it. I shared this idea in my Notes From a Slow Coach email newsletter at the weekend, and someone replied to emphasise their own experience with this. They quoted: “When you do bad in the world, you make the whole world that much worse, but when you do good, you take the whole world with you, and you make it that much better. People need so little encouragement for it to make a huge difference in their lives.” That’s so true. It takes so little encouragement to make someone’s day. And yet, when focused solely on the big picture, we might believe we can’t make a difference at all. When The “Strategy” of Care Meets a Global World I wonder whether the paralysing effect of “other people have it worse” is a scaled-up version of a highly sensitive trait that operates at a local level. One reason high sensitivity has endured as a successful survival trait is its social element. Rather than being a by-product of low self-esteem or a diminished self-concept, it reflects a nervous system that finds safety by nurturing peace and soothing distress within the surrounding community. At a local level, this is an effective strategy. When you notice someone struggling in your immediate environment, your awareness and attention can make a meaningful difference. Being wired to care means noticing subtleties and patterns that can predict and prevent escalation. Whether of disease, dis-ease, or potential dangers from the surrounding environment. The capacity to sense subtle changes, anticipate needs, and respond with compassion can strengthen the community. But when this same instinct is plugged into the whole world, with instant access through technology, it can rapidly become a reason we feel stuck. It’s impossible to reconcile in any meaningful sense. There will always be people in distress, news of suffering somewhere in the world, and horrifying decisions made by people with far more power to implement than we have to prevent. The Pressure To Care About Everything Maybe you feel this. If you’re built to care about everything, the constant flow of news can leave you feeling helpless. Like there’s no meaningful action you can take that will make much of a difference. And when our attention and compassion are pulled in so many directions, it becomes all too easy to overlook those things that make us come alive. Both what we already know we love, and those things we are yet to discover we love. When we start close in and small, maybe we can recover some sense of perspective. It’s not about pretending the wider world doesn’t exist or that these other things aren’t happening, but about remembering that we’re part of this tapestry too, and that the art we are creating with our lives creates ripples through space and time. And while it might not feel directly related to those things beyond reach that emotionally affect us, and however trivial they seem, if they matter to us, they matter. Caring about others isn’t the problem I would love to hear from you if this feels familiar. Maybe you’ve found ways to reconcile these feelings. Or maybe you’re feeling stuck because you can’t seem to avoid shrinking yourself and feeling like you don’t have as much right as others to take up space on this planet. We can be gentle and encouraging with ourselves and one another as we explore what makes us come alive, while also caring about, grieving for, and living within the contradictions of our messy world. Figuring it out together The Haven Courtyard Membership provides free access to the community space within.

Two men about Stan's age died within days of one another. One was a lifelong friend. The other was his own brother. Their passing became more than heartbreaking news—it became a deeply personal reminder that every one of us is living on borrowed time. In this thoughtful and surprisingly hopeful episode of Inconvenient Ideas, Stan reflects on those losses and asks a question that most of us avoid: How do we become fully alive before our lives come to an end? Drawing on the wisdom of philosopher and theologian Howard Thurman, Stan explores the difference between merely paying the bills and discovering the work that truly makes us come alive. Rather than focusing on death itself, this conversation turns toward purpose, calling, relationships, and what may become the most meaningful years of our lives. Along the way he introduces a new idea—the upcoming Encore Zone—designed especially for those entering the later chapters of life who believe their greatest contribution may still lie ahead. Whether you are twenty-five or eighty-five, this episode offers an invitation to step back from the noise, rethink your priorities, embrace new tools such as AI and modern media, and begin living more intentionally. Death may be inevitable. Living fully is still a choice. Things to Remember Life is fragile, and none of us knows how much time remains. Success is not measured only by what we accomplish, but by how fully we live. Discover what makes you come alive—and do that. The world desperately needs people who are fully alive. Your Encore Years may become your most significant years. Things to Share Share this episode with someone who has recently experienced loss. Share it with someone approaching retirement or wondering what comes next. Share it with anyone who needs encouragement to live with greater purpose. Take Special Note Stan introduces the upcoming Encore Zone—a conversation for people who believe life still has another chapter to write. Ask not simply 'When can I retire?' but 'What am I uniquely created to contribute while I still have time?' A Life Challenge Set aside fifteen quiet minutes this week. Ask: What truly makes me come alive? Am I spending enough time doing it? If I had five more years to make a difference, what would I begin today? Connect with Stan Stan Hustad has spent more than four decades behind the microphone and more than three decades helping leaders, entrepreneurs, organizations, and communicators discover greater purpose, performance, and impact. Email: Stan@witradio.net Because a better future rarely happens by accident. Sometimes it begins with one inconvenient idea.   And if you'd like to watch the program on a video you can do so https://youtu.be/PfZa58OIUTU  

This was a live one, recorded on the eve of the 250th at Wake Forest Divinity School with the Double Deans in the room. Corey Walker's Theology Summit lecture — which spent six hours at the top of Substack the week we recorded — uses two moments in American history to name where we are: James Duane's October 1775 letter hoping this winter would bring revolution, and Gil Scott-Heron's 1973 album Winter in America, a lament for the arrested development of democracy after Nixon. Corey's argument is that 2026 is another winter. Bill Leonard, the founding dean who trained a generation to think about dissent, added the second layer: a perfect imperfect storm in which Christian nationalism has fused with authoritarian government and the church is the least helpful it has been in his lifetime. Three questions run through the conversation — Is God dead? (Sojourner Truth to Frederick Douglass in 1850), Is America possible? (Vincent Harding), and What does our religion say to those with their backs against the wall? (Howard Thurman) — and none of them get answered. What they get instead is Corey's proposal that the 250th is calling us to a counter memory — not the memory of those who prevailed, but of Miss Audrey, Mister Pugh, and Mister Linwood, the neighbors whose first names were their titles. Plus the Snake Handler Fund is officially open. Join our Online Summit - ⁠⁠⁠Unsettled Ground: Faith & the American Story at 250⁠⁠⁠ This summer, Diana Butler Bass and I are launching Faith at 250 — ⁠⁠⁠an online summit⁠⁠⁠ featuring scholars like Randall Balmer, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Elesha Coffman, and more, each offering their own take on religion and America at 250 years. We built it so faith communities have something honest and substantive to turn to when the nationalist narratives start flying. Sign up at ⁠⁠⁠www.TheologySummit.com⁠⁠⁠ to get access to every lecture, livestream, and discussion guide. The summit is donation-based, including 0. Dr. Corey D. B. Walker is Dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities, and inaugural Director of the Program in African American Studies. A native of Norfolk, Virginia and an ordained American Baptist clergyperson, he previously served as Vice President and Dean at Virginia Union University's Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, founding dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, Business and Education at Winston-Salem State University, and chair of Africana Studies at Brown University. He is a former student of Cornel West at Harvard, and sits on the board of Lincoln University (the country's first HBCU). Books: A Noble Fight: African American Freemasonry and the Struggle for Democracy in America (University of Illinois Press); Community Wealth Building and the Reconstruction of American Democracy (co-edited with Melody Barnes and Thad Williamson, Edward Elgar, 2020); and Beyond a Politics of Nostalgia: Religious Freedom and the Ends of Democracy (co-edited with Sabrina E. Dent). Forthcoming: Disciple of Nonviolence: Wyatt Tee Walker and the Struggle for the Soul of Democracy(University of Virginia Press). His Theology Summit lecture — Winter in America — is at theologysummit.com. Dr. Bill J. Leonard is the founding Dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity and Professor of Divinity Emeritus. He writes a regular column for Baptist News Global. His most recent book is Appalachian Mountain Christianity: The Spirituality of Otherness (University of Georgia Press, 2024). Earlier books include A Sense of the Heart: Christian Religious Experience in the United States (Abingdon), Baptist Ways: A History (Judson), and The Challenge of Being Baptist (Baylor). He is, to the best of anyone's knowledge, the only person in Wake Forest history to have brought a serpent-handling preacher to campus with actual serpents (Reverend Carl Porter, 1997, five snakes minimum). The Snake Handler Fund at Wake Div is now, officially, open. This podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠production. 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In this episode, Steve and Dan Fouts explore the profound quote attributed to Howard Thurman: 'Don't ask what the world needs, Ask what makes you come alive and go do it, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.' They explore the meaning of coming alive, its connection to purpose, courage, and social justice, and how self-knowledge can lead to a more fulfilled and impactful life. Check out teachdifferent.com for more resources on the Teach Different Method. If you are a teacher or parent, join our certificate programme by reaching out to us on our website. We look forward to hearing from you! Episode Chapters 00:55 - The Power of Coming Alive06:42 - Self-Knowledge and Purpose15:21 - Teaching and Self-Actualization21:12 - Courage and Civil DisobedienceImage Source: By Addison N. Scurlock - Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives NMAH.AC.0618.S04.01, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69597951 

In this episode, Carl reflects on the idea of obsession—not as something unhealthy, but as the kind of deep fascination that brings a person fully alive. Drawing on wisdom from Howard Thurman and a Zen teaching about living “as though a fire were raging in your hair,” he explores what it means to rediscover the interests, questions, and pursuits that quietly call to us. It's an invitation to notice what captures your attention, rekindle what once lit you up, and make a little room for the thing that won't stop asking to be noticed.Want more from Carl? Get the shortest, most impactful weekly email on the web! Sign up for the Weekly Letter from Certified Financial Planner™ and New York Times columnist Carl Richards here: https://behaviorgap.com/ 

Most people are waiting to find their purpose. Adrian Starks says that's exactly why they're stuck. The podcaster, voice narrator, professional speaker, and entrepreneur behind Your Purposeful Life returns to the show to share with Lesley Logan about the real cost of perfectionism, the salmon's lesson on fighting your purpose, and the daily self-reflection practice that quietly rebuilds your direction. This one's for anyone in a rebuild season, ready to stop searching and start moving. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:Why saying "I don't know" is the most underrated leadership move.The three cycles every purposeful life moves through on repeat.What happens when you stop checking in with your own purposeThe two questions Adrian asks instead of just journaling his thoughts.The real difference between nice people and kind people in your life.Episode References/Links:Adrian Starks Website - https://adrianstarks.comYour Purposeful Life Podcast - https://beitpod.com/purposefullifeAdrian Starks on YouTube - https://beitpod.com/adrianyoutubeAdrian Starks LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/?nis=trueAdrian Starks Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/adrian.starksEp 191. with Adrian Starks - https://beitpod.com/ep191The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish - https://a.co/d/0iNbLUALAre You My Mother by P.D. Eastman - https://a.co/d/0clbpmbUSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questions If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! 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It's going to evolve with time, and that's okay. Having self-doubt is okay; not knowing everything is okay.Lesley Logan 0:13  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 0:55  All right, Be It babe. I'm gonna keep this short and sweet, because you've got some gems, some nuggets, some magic coming at you. We have one of the best conversations I had at the beginning of this pod, episode 191. Our guest is Adrian Starks, and he is back, and he is back with so much. It's so fun how a difference of a few years can make when you're living your life and you're following your purpose and reflecting what you can do and what you learn about yourself that you can share with others. So here are so many amazing tips on helping you find your purposeful life. And if you love Adrian, go check out his podcast, Your Purposeful Life. Lesley Logan 1:29  All right, Be It Pod, we have a guest back. I think, honestly, this might be the biggest gap from the first episode to the next episode. So, Adrian Starks, we have a lot to talk about. We, one, probably have to reintroduce you to everybody, and then two, we have to hear what you've been up to, how you're being it till you see it. So, tell everyone who you are and what you're rocking at these days.Adrian Starks 1:48  Well, it is so great to be back, Lesley. Let me tell you. My name is Adrian Starks, of course. I'm a podcaster, voice narrator, speaker, entrepreneur, all the good stuff. But yeah, that's who I am.Lesley Logan 2:01  Are you reading books? Are you a narrator like that? Are commercials what we're doing with it? I mean, a great voice.Adrian Starks 2:06  We're reading books, we're narrating for commercials, we're doing a lot of things.Lesley Logan 2:11  Cool, that's so fun. How did... okay, we have to talk more about that. But first, so we had you on for episode 191, and I was on your pod, and we really had a great time because you had some really great "be it till you see it" moments. And I think maybe we can go back a little bit of the be it till you see it where we left off to here, because maybe I missed it, maybe I didn't get as excited, but I can't believe narrating commercials and stuff like that. That's got to be so fun using this amazing voice you have to do what you're doing. So take us back a little bit, so we can get to the present.Adrian Starks 2:48  Okay, so how did I get into that? Well, that's a good question. I started out as speaking, professional speaking, and then I just started making connections along the way, started auditioning for certain things. I did a lot of things on certain platforms, like reading for children's books, I did some audios for other people's books, and then one thing led to another. The next thing I know, I'm getting offered opportunities to do other things, like narrating, and it's fun for me. I enjoy it, and I love it. So that's where I'm at today, doing that, along with podcasting, along with just being it till you see it.Lesley Logan 3:20  Yeah, how has your podcast changed? It's been like almost 400 episodes since we've talked, so that's like at least two years.Adrian Starks 3:28  Yeah.Lesley Logan 3:30  Because when we start our podcast, we have an intention of what it is, and then we evolve. The podcast has to evolve. What have you kept the same, and what have you realized that as you've changed, you've changed?Adrian Starks 3:44  Wow, the podcast has evolved, and I've changed over time, in a way of not so polished like I was before. Before, I was very astute, and I had to talk about this, talk about that, and make sure all my answers are correct. Now I was like, you know what, there's some things I just don't know, and I'm gonna show certain sides of myself that no one's ever seen. So now people are seeing the comical side of me. I'm into comics, I'm into a lot of fun things, comic cards, comic books, superheroes, of course, reading. But the podcast has evolved in a sense of me now just... I'm not looking for the answer of purpose. I just want to understand what people's perspective of it is, and that has changed.Lesley Logan 4:30  Oh, I understand that. I get that, because it's called Your Purposeful Life. And I love that you're like, "I thought it has to be astute. Everything has to have an answer, because that's what everyone wants." Everyone wants an answer. I have these students in this mentorship program, and they asked a question, and I talked for seven minutes. My fathom is like that's like a monologue, and I was like, "I have fully answered your question, and I want to acknowledge that it doesn't sound like there's an answer in there because you want yes or no."Adrian Starks 5:01  That's the truth.Lesley Logan 5:01  But it's such a lot of questions about our life and the things that we do. There's nuances; there's things that might be too much purpose for you and not enough for someone else. And so it's complicated.Adrian Starks 5:14  It's very complicated. And I go by the philosophy of Socrates. He said that "I know that I know nothing," and that is something that is very courageous to do in this day and time. Yes, we want to be knowledgeable about things. Yes, we want to have things that we give to people that are correct, because, like in your case, when you're teaching people, you want the knowledge to be there for them. But there's a lot of cases where there's just some things we don't know, and that's okay. That's what learning is for, and being able to be a person in your field and be a leader, and say, "You know what, I don't know, but I would like to find that answer out with you, or find some type of solution to what this is." And that's where I feel like we're living now in this day and time; people are looking for solutions, but they're also looking for connection to that solution.Lesley Logan 6:06  Yeah, and I think there's a trust to be built there. There has to be something that there's an alignment. I actually remember when I first became a Pilates instructor, I think I had to know the answer to everything, and I have found that my clients and the students I teach, they might not love when I say, "I don't know. Let me think about it," but also I may never know. The person I studied under has passed, the person he studied under has passed, like there's just going to be some things we don't have an answer to. So I think it's very brave and courageous to be like, "I don't know the answer to that, but this is what I know, and I know enough of this to keep going in this direction." Being a recovering perfectionist and overachiever, I used to really need someone to tell me the right or left turn to take, and I've gotten better at going, "Oh, I'm going to take this left-hand turn, and based on the information I have, it should get me where I'm going, and if it doesn't, we'll get as far as we did, and we'll figure it out."Adrian Starks 7:05  That is the same way with me, too. You and I both share that common theme of being the perfectionist and wanting to have, we call these Type A personalities, they want certain things a certain way, and that's okay. But there are times where you have to just let things flow. I was thinking about this the other day. I had a day where everything seemed to be going against me, and I was trying my best, because I'm very stubborn, to make things go the way that I wanted them to. And the more I did that, I found that there was more resistance, something got delayed, something didn't happen, something fell through, and then I realized that, okay, I'm going against the nature of things. And when we go against the nature of things, when we try to make things perfect when they're not meant to be, that's going to be major resistance, because everything has to flow a certain way.Lesley Logan 7:57  Yeah.Adrian Starks 7:57  I'm all about looking at nature as a way of teaching, and if you look at the salmon, so I'm from the Pacific Northwest, here in Seattle, and the salmon, when they go upstream, that one last journey to lay their eggs then spawn, they go upstream. That's the last thing they do when they get there, is do that, and then they die. Now, the question remains: is it the exhaustion that gets them? Is it just that that was their purpose, like we're going to go back, we're going to give life, and then that's it? Well, there's a number of things going on, but the true essence is that that journey against the flow of the river, that's what exhausts them. So, by the time they get to the top and they do their thing, there is no energy left to go back.Lesley Logan 8:47  Yeah.Adrian Starks 8:47  And when I look at our days and our lives, and when we're going against the grain of what our purposes are, then that creates major resistance. It makes us feel like we're not worth it, makes us feel like we're not perfect. It makes us feel like we're incompetent, and the answer to that is that we're not. We're truly good at where we are. We can always be better, but we don't need to be perfect.Lesley Logan 9:11  Yeah, I interviewed someone about being 1% better every day, and eventually that just is too compounding for me. I've done math, and that's a lot, for the recovering overachiever. 1% better every day, and it's like some days you're gonna be 3% worse, because you made a mistake that you had to go learn and unravel and go back, and that requires... there's just things, it's a lot of pressure. But I do think that as long as your intention is to be a learner and to continue to put out what you feel your creative spirit is, then you're going to make mistakes, but you can recover from them and keep going, and you learn more, you have better muscle strength. Some days when you're having those resistances, you actually just build stronger resilience for what you're going to do, because the closer you get to the thing that you want, you'll have a lot of rejection along the way. People doubting that your idea is a good one, and you need to strengthen your resilience, so you can get to where you want to go. Because when you get there, there's going to still be some doubters; it's going to be even more, because now you're more known for it. And so now there are these people who are like, "Who do you think you are?" And it's like, I think I'm the person who's been working on this for 20 years. Where are you? You just got here.Adrian Starks 10:25  Exactly. That's what people see, they see the outcome, they see just that result. They don't see the build-up to it.Lesley Logan 10:31  Yeah.Adrian Starks 10:31  And it's like when you look at trees when they grow, you don't see the roots that are deep into the ground that have spent years getting its grounding so the tree can go upward and it can balance itself. You only see the blossoming of the tree, and we forget that there's a lot going on in the dark here, a lot that's causing this tree to be the way it is. And I love the fact that you said learning too, because that kind of rang a bell with me when I talk about purposeful living. There's three cycles, and one of them is learning. We have to be constant students of ourselves and our environments, learning what is actually going on in my environment, what am I not getting, what mistakes am I making, what can I improve, and then that learning process will trigger the second step. Once you realize that, that second step is growth.Lesley Logan 11:19  Yeah.Adrian Starks 11:20  We trust what we've learned. Right now, we're beginning to put it into action a little bit. We're starting to apply it, like, "Okay, this didn't work. Let me dial back here. Let me try this now. Let me try something different. Let me try a different road. Let me not go down this road anymore." And then, once you do that enough, that growth, then we move into the third part of the cycle, which is self-expression. That's the complete trust that now you've learned it, you put it into action, and now you know what works and what doesn't work for you. Now you're just going to have some fun with it. Then once you start having fun, the confidence builds up. Okay, now let's learn some more, let's grow some.Lesley Logan 11:58  Yeah.Adrian Starks 11:59  And you just keep doing that over and over through your lifespan here on the planet. And the beautiful thing is, like you were mentioning, you don't have to be perfect doing it, make a mess, and then clean it up as you go.Lesley Logan 12:10  Oh my god, I think the best things... I look at them in my office at the end of the day, and I'm like, "Yeah, we did some great work here." Maybe that's the ADHD that just puts things down instead of putting it away, but at the end of the day I look and go, "Oh yeah, if I thought I didn't do anything today, I was wrong." Clearly, I've been in every place in this room, I've done all these things, and I think that's a sign of a good day. It's interesting. I think another part of that growth process you're talking about is putting yourself around people who are the next step ahead, because if you end up doing all of that, and then you're just surrounded by people who haven't done that, it's really easy to either get a little full of yourself or to stop growing, or think that there's not another level. I've always had some great friends in my career that are about seven to 10 years ahead of me in age or in the profession, and I love it because they are always telling me what their complaints are, and I can go, "Oh, well, I don't have to experience that complaint. That sounds like a terrible thing, that sounds really exhausting." If I just change it now, I feel like I'm a little bit... not skipping ahead, but just having stronger guidance towards where I'm at and what I'm doing. So it's almost like the HOV lane on the freeway. I'm still going to be in a little bit of traffic, but it's a little less, less people.Adrian Starks 13:33  No, I agree with you. I love that, because it's so true. We do need to surround ourselves with people that uplift us, inspire us, and also show us what not to do. We can learn two ways: learn what to do and learn what not to do. A lot of times, learning what not to do is even bigger than learning what to do. It saves you time and energy. And we also have to be careful, too, with people that are around us that may be, not intentionally but unconsciously, pulling us away from that thing that we really want to do for ourselves, for our communities, for society. We get used to just being the person that's like, "Okay, we're good, we have a good time, and we get along." But is this person really, or this group, are they really challenging you to grow? Are they really allowing you to see things that you need to see in order to move forward? And it's hard. It's really hard to think about that consciously, because we get so used to just being in the group, and we can talk a lot about self-reliance, but we need each other.Lesley Logan 14:40  Yeah.Adrian Starks 14:41  You can never ascend alone; I believe that completely. Back in the day when I was doing my professional speaking on stages, I was in Canada, I was speaking, I thought it was all about me. I was like, "Hey, I got the answers, I'm teaching everybody." Then, boom, COVID hit. Humbleness, you know. It was like there was nobody around, because I was just by myself, and I was just doing my thing. I didn't have that group or those people to reassure me to say, "Hey, okay, you need to recalibrate here. We're doing this over here, you might want to take a look at what we're doing." I didn't have that group, and I'm glad that you said that, because there needs to be people that kind of challenge you. But at the same time, when you hit a pocket where it's like, "What do I do? How do I get better?" then you have that group to look to, or that person to look to, as an example.Lesley Logan 15:40  I agree. I think it's really easy, and I see it happening now, because it's almost like we forgot that there was a COVID. My schedule, even though as intentional as I've been, it's been very busy, and people are like, "Oh, when are you coming back?" And I'm like, "Probably not till 2028. I have not accepted any gigs for next year. I've not accepted any gigs." I've got an idea that I need to do, and that's gonna require me to be at home, and I've got another idea that won't happen unless I'm at home, so I gotta do that. And people just look at me like, "What?" And I'm like, "This is how busy I was pre-COVID." And then during COVID, it became very clear who my friends were because we were just at the same places at the same time, and who my friends were because they wanted to talk to me even when we weren't running into each other. So that really helped me go, "Okay, these are the people who care about me, no matter how they benefit, right?" And then these other people, they're not bad people if that's all they want to talk to me, but it's just that it's interesting to note who you want to share things with. But I think we have to realize that there was this beautiful time that helped us reflect on where we were going, and we got this reset, and how we used it hopefully was intentional. And then now we're back at it, and it's so easy to forget what that was. I'm seeing people fall back into the patterns of pre-COVID, and I'm like, I need to have intentional relationships. And speaking back to your podcast, my purpose is something that will probably change, will change as my life goes on, but if I'm not paying attention to it, I'm not gonna realize that; I'm gonna be doing five years ago's purpose.Adrian Starks 17:19  It's true. In the purpose thing, it's not what you find, it's what you do, and it's constantly evolving with you. We talked about in the beginning, you were asking me about what changed and what brought this about; it was just the changing of my purpose. I realized that there were things now that... okay, now I'm interested in this, or now this is moving into this direction because of these external situations that I can't control, so how do I adapt? Thomas Carlyle, he was a Scottish philosopher, and he said that a person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder. What that means is that when you don't have a rudder in your ship, when something comes around unexpectedly, your ship just starts spinning and it goes off course. But when you have a rudder, meaning you have a purpose, something you're working with, no matter what's happening, you can navigate and be like, "Okay, let's make a little adjustment here. This may not work, but we're still going to go ahead with the plan." The plan is just altered a little bit, and that's what it is to be purposeful. It's just actively knowing that this year was different than three years ago, and so this year, what can we do that matches the frequency and energy and intensity of where we're at right now? And that's what I've come to realize, it's just you don't have to look back and say, "This is where I was, oh poor me." A lot of people felt this way, and I felt this way, like what happened to that spark, what happened to that person that was doing all these things over here? And I have to come to a reality check. Life... shit happens. Things happen, and we can't control them, but we also have the amazing ability as human beings to adapt and adjust.Lesley Logan 18:56  Yeah.Adrian Starks 18:56  We're the only species on the planet that can do that. All the other things of nature and animals, if there's a cliff, they just keep going because they know they got to get on the other side, migration-wise. But when it's us, we're like, "That shit ain't working. This is not working, we'll go over here." That's our ability to do that, and that's why I said the purpose, it's like you can guide it, it doesn't necessarily have to pull you, and that's where we get our true self-creative factors coming from and just making changes that we need to make in our lives.Lesley Logan 19:30  Yeah, so I want to go back to because you know what your podcast has become now. Brad and I have been making changes to our pod, and we were on our vacation in Europe, and we're listening to a podcast, and it started with like... I say we're gonna stop playing the music before the ads. Why are we doing that? Because if we want it to sound really produced, we have great producers, they're listening to this, you guys are amazing, love you, but they're great producers with or without that. And all these other podcasts I listen to, they don't have the music going into it, they just go into an ad. And that's kind of annoying, but you know what? How the podcast gets paid is for ads, so sorry, that's how it's paid for. These things cost a lot of money to do, so we're doing that. And it's like, "Well, what else?" And I'm like, "You know, I'm actually bored of this. I'm actually tired of that." And then you're like, "Oh my god, but my listeners are so used to it, people don't like change." But also it's like, "But this is my podcast, and I have to like doing it." So, what are some changes you've made, or decisions you've done? And then, did you think about how did you... did you tell the listeners, or you just did it? How did you do it?Adrian Starks 20:32  I have to say, to be honest and fully transparent, I did not tell my listeners I was going to take a hiatus off. I just did it. And what's interesting is that listeners... they begin to listen more because they missed that space. There's this saying that people don't miss you until you're gone.Lesley Logan 20:53  Yeah.Adrian Starks 20:54  When people don't hear from you, they get very curious. I always say this to people, I say, "I'm incubating." They're like... "I'm cooking up some stuff here, I'm working on some other things that I'm just incubating right now, but there's still things you can listen to." And I think that it would be nice to tell our listeners that, "Hey, I'm going to go on a five-month hiatus here, or six months, or seven months." But in all honesty, I don't think that would be... for me, that wouldn't be a good idea, because then they just stop listening. They'll just start moving on to something.Lesley Logan 21:23  Yeah because they know, "Okay, they'll be back in six months."Adrian Starks 21:25  So they're like, "Well, he's not gonna release anything new, so we're just gonna move on to the next person." And some people will do that, but I think that at the end of the day, we're human. If we're taking off and we're gone, we're gone. And when we come back, then we can explain, like, "Hey, I was gone for a minute. This is what's been going on." People want the real these days, and they want to know what is going on in your life.Lesley Logan 21:48  Yeah.Adrian Starks 21:49  Like I remember when professional speaking was so polished, everyone was on stage, they had suits and ties on, and I'll never forget I started out with a suit and tie. For some people, they can feel good; that makes them feel great. But I was like, "This is not me, I can't be this person." So I stopped wearing the suit and tie, I started being myself, wearing casual clothes. Then the podcasting industry kicked off, it boomed. It started back in 2018 is when it really began to take off, and at the podcasting stage, I was beginning to do the same thing: well-polished, all this stuff, and then I realized, no, not me. And the podcast over time has changed, it's evolved. You will see different perspectives of myself. There was one person asking me, "Do you think you should take down the episodes from the very beginning, because it's so not in alignment with what you're doing now?" And I said, "Absolutely not." I said, "This shows transparency, that I started with this idea, now we're moving on to these things, and it just shows the purpose, how it's constantly changing." And that's where we're at. But yeah, back to your question, I kind of went on a tangent there, but back to your question about whether you tell people or not: I think no. I think we do what comes natural, and yeah. In this day and time, everyone wants attention. I've noticed this on social media, I'm gonna have to say it, I'm gonna have to bring it up here, it's been on my mind a lot, everybody wants attention, everybody's doing podcasting right now. Lesley, you've been around for quite some time, you're a veteran in podcasting, but the people now... everybody, birds, cats, dogs, they all have podcasts now.Lesley Logan 23:26  I know everybody wants.Adrian Starks 23:27  To be on a podcast, and you know what? It's saturated the market. We're competing with people who don't really have a passion for what they do; they're just getting people on their show to talk to. I know some people will disagree with that, and that's okay, but this is my perspective because I've seen it. When we feel a certain way, like something doesn't resonate with us, it's okay to pull away. That shows we truly are in our essence. We're not doing this to impress, and we're not doing this hoping you stay with me and follow me. If you connect with me energetically and you really like what I do, then you'll go with the flow. I understand it's a business for us too, and we have to continue to do the things that bring business, but at the same time, it is what it is. You just have to know that if you're feeling a certain way, either do it or don't do it. I have this thing I do: if I'm not feeling an episode, I'm not going to get on a mic. I'm not going to talk if I'm having a shitty day, sorry for my language here, but if I'm having one of those days where I've encountered someone or done something in business and it's just not sitting right with me, then I'm not going to get on the mic. At that point, that energy is going to come across, my head will be somewhere else, and I'm not truly present. So, I think it's great for us to be able to take time off and just step away for a bit.Lesley Logan 24:49  I appreciate you saying that. There's this one podcast that Brad listened to, and the guy was like, "I'm taking off three months. Here's why I'm doing that, and here's what's going on." He was very honest. He said, "I'm having some burnout, I feel like I'm overworking, and I want to put some new systems in place." Then he said, "And here are the things I created for you." And I thought, Oh my god, why would you do that? You are tired. It was very thoughtful, but that was just extra work just to get to the finish line. And this other podcast I listened to, I realized, like, a couple, because he's a Friday podcast, it's True Crime of the Week, and so obviously it's very topical, it's very like time sensitive, and like after a couple weeks I was like, oh, that's interesting, I haven't heard from him in a bit, right, and then it kind of just went on, and the other day, two weeks ago, he came back, and I was like, oh, they're The True Crime of the Week, right, I was so excited to see it in my lineup, so I like hit it, and he goes, yeah, it was supposed to take a two week hiatus, and I took four months, and I apologize, it's been a while, but I really.. this is what I didn't know. There's a lot going on that just.. it felt like I didn't feel like I could talk about true crime with all the heaviness that's going on, and I didn't have the words to say what I was feeling, and so I just took time for myself, and I was like, you know what, I actually hold nothing against him, because I actually found that to be even more honest. It was like I needed time off, because I'm a big fan of, like, I'm not going to share anything with the world unless I fully processed it, because then, and I learned this from Tiffany Haddish, from her book, The Last Black Unicorn, she's like, if you have fully processed it, then no matter what people say, it's just going to bounce right off of you, right, but if you haven't fully processed it and you shared it, you're gonna take whatever they're saying personally, or you're gonna be offended by it, or you're gonna get frustrated, or you're gonna feel like you defend yourself again. And so I'm often late to some of the topics that are online, because it takes me a little bit to go, well, how do I feel? Does that bother me? Why does it bother me? What's going on? And then when I've processed it, then I'll, then I'll share it, and I find, like, I think it's better to be human, and social media is a problem. Podcasting, oh my god, there's so many. I'm proud to say this podcast in the top 1% of all podcasts in the world, even with all the crap that's out there. But, like, I find that sometimes I'm like, oh, I should have more followers or more likes on the posts that I have based on my career, but I won't do the click bait stuff. I refuse to do these three exercises, help you trim your waist. It's like, no, if you're perimenopausal, good fucking luck, and your hormones.. like, I'm sorry, there isn't, you know? My girlfriend was like, "Just say these three, and then, and then get them to click and go sorry, there is none. Go talk to your doctor." I'm like, that is just going to get people mad, like that would piss me off. I felt lied to, so it's not my style. So, I think, you have to stay true to yourself, and sometimes that means just honoring the pause. But also, Adrian, I feel like that requires self-reflection. So, what are you doing? Because it feels like you're quite knowledgeable about yourself. What do you do to make sure you're checking in with yourself? Do you journal? What do you do?Adrian Starks 27:41  So, I would say that the first thing I do is I ask myself questions. I know that a lot of people talk about journaling, and that's part of it, but in all honesty, I just ask myself, what's going on? You just gotta sit down somewhere and just say, okay, what's going on? What am I not happy about? What do I want? That's the big thing. What do I want? And then you start thinking in your head, and then thoughts start rolling. And as those thoughts start rolling, write some of them out or record them. Either way, document them somewhere. Then I ask myself, what do I want to do? Not like what do I want to do in five years, because that's just too much processing in a time where you're just likeLesley Logan 28:23  I agree. Just here to harm me, but I do know what I have told my team is I want to be retired in 10, but what I want to do in five is like a whole different story.Adrian Starks 28:34  It is, and we put time frames on ourselves, or we put this limit of like, I got to be here in five years, it's a good marker to get you going, but it's not necessarily something you need to be focused on, like that's what you, that's how it's going to end up, like it could be a number of things that happens between that point that brings that goal about, but like I said, there's, and I have to be careful the word goal, because the goal I feel is very saturated too, and I use it in a different term, I use goal as this, g o a l, get out and live, do something. Yeah, I use that as that's what I use for it. It just teaches me that when I said something, it forces me to get outside of my box and start living a little bit. Scare yourself a little bit. Say I'm gonna go over here, I'm gonna fly over here, I'm gonna spend time over here, or I'm gonna do this, do something that's just out of your comfort zone to get you out of that rut. And then that's what I do. So, once I'm out of the rut, then I'm like, okay, now let's sit down and let's look at creating a plan. But the first thing is, you got to get yourself out of the rut, you got to do something just to move, move your body, so to speak, right? You tell your clients this, move your body, you got to move, move, move your thoughts out of this head, and to put it somewhere else, but I do that, so I do a lot of self-reflection of asking myself, what do I want, what's going on, and then I also remind myself of what I've been doing. You've got to give yourself a pat on the back, because whatever you've been doing, it's been working.Lesley Logan 29:58  Yeah.Adrian Starks 29:59  And a lot of times we have high expectations for ourselves because we live in a world of comparisons, and it's very easy to do that now. Because when you go online, it's not just people who are very successful out there. You can see your friends, your family, and you're like, "Oh, hey, they flew over here and went to the Bahamas. I'm stuck here in this area over here, I can't even do this." And then you start down-talking yourself.Lesley Logan 30:25  Yeah.Adrian Starks 30:26  This happens with people in relationships and business and social environments, and so I think be careful with comparisons.Lesley Logan 30:32  Yeah.Adrian Starks 30:33  So I make sure I don't do that. That's why I get away from social media sometimes. I'll spend maybe a few days detoxing. I won't even look at social media, and then I'll just kind of sit in the dark a little bit, so to speak, away from technology, and just ask myself questions. I do reading a lot. Reading is a big part of my life. You mentioned a book before, and I love reading books. I don't necessarily read the whole book. I do what I call check-ins, so I will find something in the book that resonates with me, and then I will reflect on thatLesley Logan 31:07  Yeah.Adrian Starks 31:08  Along with my other things.Lesley Logan 31:09  Yeah, I like the talking to yourself, because journaling for me is really great, but it's really easy for it to become a to-do list. Like I could be, "Oh, don't forget that." But if I am out walking my dog, I mean, maybe it's because I have ADHD and I'm an Aquarius, so I live in my head, but I have these interesting thoughts pop in and I'm like, where's that coming from? Why am I thinking that? What have I been doing? And I love the pat yourself on the back with what you did do, because I do think most people, the reason they get into comparison is because they've forgotten what they did do. It's why this podcast has a Friday episode where people have to share their wins, because I really think people need to realize there's a lot of wins. And we had someone in one of our groups who was like, she had her best friend's mom die three months ago, and her best friend died two weeks ago, and she's like, "How do I still work on my goals during this time?" And I'm like, you don't. You're going through something. Loss is real, and we all grieve very differently. And maybe someone can work on their goals because they're not tackling the grief right now, it's not hitting them, and it hits them in five years. I don't know, there's different things, but I can't sit here with the life experience I've had and the business coaching I've done and go, "Yeah, just do one thing a day." No. Did you shower and sleep today? That's great. Did you actually eat some food? Are your kids still alive? You're nailing it, like you're going through something. I think people aren't realizing that the Bahamas trips are not the win. The win is, especially when you're in something, the win is that you got up and you tried again today, you know? And I think reflecting on that is really important. I do think asking yourself what I want, that is, because I often think people ask themselves that five years ago but forgot to ask themselves four and three and two and today. And so they forget why they're doing what they're doing, because that's not what they want anymore, but they never checked in.Adrian Starks 33:03  They never checked in. And here's the catch: the answer won't come to you right away, and it's not supposed to. You're asking something deeper inside yourself that hasn't been listened to with all the noise. So, once you put that there and you say, "What do I want?" then overnight, who knows? You may wake up in the morning and you've got an idea about something, so that's coming from that deep part of you. And there was a Howard Thurman, he was the mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and he said that the greatest and the longest and hardest journey ever is a journey inward. And we avoid that journey because we don't think there's anything there. The answer is inside of us. We just don't take out time to really probe and ask ourselves that question. We're very good about asking other people questions, but we don't want to ask ourselves questions, and that's something that has evolved with me. It's like, okay, you're good at asking questions and interviewing, but what about you? What's behind that skin of yours? What's going on? What's going on, dude? What are we doing today? You want to start checking in and being like, okay, what's really the problem here? You got irritated with this person, they didn't do anything to you. Then you got to pull yourself aside and say, okay, what's happening?Lesley Logan 34:16  Yeah.Adrian Starks 34:17  Why am I upset? And that's that self-reflection of like, okay, you're upset because there's a number of things that you're ignoring that you're putting to the side, and you're feeling like people don't see you because you don't see yourself.Lesley Logan 34:30  Yeah.Adrian Starks 34:30  So therefore you're putting that on other people, and that's where we have to be very careful with ourselves and just be patient and be kind to ourselves more often, because that was a problem I had. I held myself to very high standards, that I had to do this, I had to be this way, I had to be well-polished. That's why now you hear some curse words coming off of me, because I'm just being natural.Lesley Logan 34:54  Yeah.Adrian Starks 34:54  I mean, I can go off and say all these astute, know all these great words, and make myself look very articulate, blah blah blah blah, but at the end of the day, it's like, how am I showing up right now? That's the truth, and that's what people need to hear. So, I would say, yeah, talk to yourself, ask yourself questions, and be careful with who you ask information from.Lesley Logan 35:20  Yes.Adrian Starks 35:21  Because that's what gets you in trouble. And a lot of times with people working in environments where they may not be around the people that they choose to be around, I want to get to these people too, because a lot of people out there, they're working in environments they don't really want to be in, but they have an objective to get the hell out of there. But in the meantime, you're with people, let's just say the work world, seven, eight hours a day, and then you're dealing with those people, and then you're trying to get out of that environment. Well, you have to be careful what you listen to, how you conversate with them, and for goodness' sake, don't ask them for advice if they're not doing what you're doing, or if they haven't dove into what you're learning. Do not ask them, please, no, don't confide in them. I don't care how nice they are. There's this thing too that came up about nice versus kind.Lesley Logan 36:09  Yeah.Adrian Starks 36:10  And people get in trouble with this. It's like, okay, they're a nice person, great, but do they have good intentions towards you? And most likely, it's probably not.Lesley Logan 36:18  Yeah.Adrian Starks 36:19  A kind person, they just want to do good, they don't need nothing from you, right? So, a lot of people get mixed up in that, so be careful. I would say to people, when you're in that moment where you're vulnerable, the vulnerable state, guard that.Lesley Logan 36:32  Yeah.Adrian Starks 36:32  Be careful, be careful, be careful. And one more thing about the grieving that you mentioned: I lost my father a few years ago, and I'm still grieving because he had such a powerful presence in my life. So, grieving is not something we get over. We're supposed to learn to live with it. And I've cried multiple times, and every now and then, sometimes I catch myself, I'll just tear up, but you know what? I let it flow, because that's how he impacted me.Lesley Logan 36:59  Yeah.Adrian Starks 37:00  And for the person that you just mentioned, I would advise for them not to ignore that. If you have a moment and you're with somebody, tell somebody, "Hey, you know what? I'm having a moment right now. I need to step away." It's okay to tell people that.Lesley Logan 37:15  It's actually kind. It's kind because you're being super... you're actually being real authentic. You're feeling your feel, and you're letting people in like, "Hold on, I know we're supposed to have coffee right now, I just need to have a moment." And you can however you want to have that moment, go into your car, take the extra time, whatever that is. But I do think people think that they have to get over a loss like that, and the grief coaches that I've interviewed on this podcast, what I have really understood is that you don't. That's why grief is so hard. Your brain has to learn new rhythms and new patterns because that person's not there, and that person was part of a blanket that you've woven of your life, and so you're expecting that person where they repeat, and they're not. So you have to weave a new pattern for your brain. It takes time.Adrian Starks 38:00  It so takes time, and that's all we've got. At the end of the day, we only have time. And time doesn't go backwards, it doesn't go forward, it's just right there. And when we're grieving something, or it could be not just someone in our family, could be anything, could be a loss of an opportunity, that's a grieving thing. It could be a loss of a business or something. I mean, it could be anything. We have to just be mindful that we're human, and don't blame ourselves and don't beat ourselves up internally about it. We have to just know that this is something that's happened. Now, what can I do that can move me forward? And sometimes it's just going to take time. Patience is what we have to have.Lesley Logan 38:43  Yeah, also people don't realize that you could be excited about the next step, and there's still grief for what you left behind, you know? Like, I was so excited to move to Las Vegas, I still grieve that I closed a studio to do it, and I was very proud of that work, and I wasn't really actually ready to close that studio, but this is really exciting. So, something can be exciting, and there's still a loss that's there that you have to go, "Oh, what about that am I bummed about? Where..." You have to let those feelings happen. And I think that the more people actually self-reflect, the more they're going to find purpose in their life, they're going to figure it out. I find like people are looking to others to figure out their purposes, and I want to go back to your advice thing, because I really think people have to hear this 17,000 times. And I love that you brought up like you can have that job that pays the bills, but don't ask those people for advice. That might even be family too. I love mine, they listen to this pod, and sometimes I'll tell you personally, I'm not asking them for advice. They're not entrepreneurs, their face is not the business. If they say the wrong thing, they don't have people who will be disappointed, like hundreds of people, you know. So, they're not the best people for advice. Could I tell them things? Of course, that's different, telling people something, sharing your life with them is very different than asking them what to do. And so you really might need to take some time to write down who would be the best people in my life to ask advice from. If you don't have those people, like when I was first starting out, I didn't have money or mentors, I had to go, okay, I've listened to podcasts starting like 2012, 2013, I'm like, "This person makes a lot of sense. This is the person I'm going to infer advice from," and I would search their pods to find the thing that I thought might be an answer to my question. Sometimes it's that. Sometimes you don't even know the person you're asking advice from, but be intentional about that. I agree.Adrian Starks 40:33  Yeah, being intentional and just knowing that you're going to vibe with people a certain way. There are some people out there in the industry when I first started that I liked, and some that I didn't really vibe with. Didn't mean that there was anything against them, it's just that everyone's different. So, advice I would also give is that don't look at someone for their popularity, look for how they make you feel.Lesley Logan 40:55  Beautiful.Adrian Starks 40:56  Don't look at someone and say, "Oh, they've got millions of comments, they've got millions of likes. Oh, they must know a lot. Let me listen to them." No, nope, nope, nope, nope. That's something that's going to get your attention; it's designed that way.Lesley Logan 41:09  Yeah.Adrian Starks 41:10  How do they make you feel?Lesley Logan 41:12  Yeah.Adrian Starks 41:13  No, how do they make you feel? How do they sound when you listen to them? Could you listen to them all day? Could you listen to them in your times of need? How do they make you feel? That's the important thing of connection that we're missing today. We're so quick to look at the external, like, what has this person accomplished? Cool, then they're credible. Awesome, I'll follow. Awesome, I'll subscribe. Awesome, I'll comment.Lesley Logan 41:35  Yeah.Adrian Starks 41:35  They have a person over here, they may have a lot less, but they got a lot more to offer, and you're passing that up because you're just looking at numbers here. It's like I would encourage people that now is the time for us to find guidance that aligns with our purpose of being. And everyone, there's over how many people are on the planet right now? Lesley Logan 41:57  It's like 8 billion.Adrian Starks 41:58  8 billion people on a planet. I heard this stat one time. Out of 8 billion people, no matter what you do in life, 5% of people are not going to like you, they're not going to vibe with you, you're not going to connect with them. 5%. So, my math may be really off, I'm not going to even say it, but it's in the millions.Lesley Logan 42:20  Yeah.Adrian Starks 42:20  That you're gonna have a disconnect with people, no matter what you do. You could be well-polished, have everything together, and someone's gonna come around and be like, "Ah, they're phony." They're gonna talk some shit about you, because they just don't connect with you. They have no idea.Lesley Logan 42:35  Yeah.Adrian Starks 42:36  About your background, your pedigree, what you've done. They just want to.Lesley Logan 42:40  We all do it. We all do it, like you see something on your Instagram out of social, and you're like, just the first second, don't like it. Moving on.Adrian Starks 42:51  You move on. You're like, "Hey, I'm not interested in it. What is this? This is silly."Lesley Logan 42:57  Yeah.Adrian Starks 42:57  And that's part of us. We just have a natural sense of either we connect or we don't connect with certain things, and I think that in this time we're living in now, people are very overstimulated.Lesley Logan 43:07  Yes.Adrian Starks 43:08  There's so much information, there's so many solutions, there's so many offers, and we don't know where to look. It reminds you of like when you're sitting down and you have that night where it's a movie night, right? And you're just like, "Let me watch a movie, let me watch a TV show." And all of a sudden you got all these options, applications, and you're going from this application to this application, this application. Before you know it, it's like 30, 40 minutes later, and then you just give up and say, "You know what, damn it, just pick something, pick anything," because you're tired of looking.Lesley Logan 43:41  Yeah.Adrian Starks 43:41  And that's what's happening with us. We're just picking anything now we think is going to entertain us or bring us some type of joy.Lesley Logan 43:48  Yeah, because we can't handle being bored. Adrian, I could talk to you literally for more hours, but we do have to wrap this up. So we're gonna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find where people can find you, follow you, listen to your voice for many, many hours, and your Be It Action Items. Lesley Logan 43:59  All right, Adrian, where do you hang out? Where can they listen to your podcast?Adrian Starks 44:06  Okay, so you can listen to my podcast anywhere, pretty much. It's called Your Purposeful Life with Adrian Starks. And go to my website, adrianstarks.com. You can listen to the podcast from there. You can go to my YouTube channel, which has the videos. You can also listen to some audio, I have affirmations that I've been doing lately as well.Lesley Logan 44:25  Oh my god, do you have, if you don't, you should have a Patreon for affirmations because if people are paying for you to be a narrator, can you imagine every day you read me an affirmation or a mantra? I love that.Adrian Starks 44:39  I can do that, Lesley. Yes. They could go to adrianstarks.com. I just want to keep it simple for people, go to adrianstarks.com, all my social media handles are there, and you can just go wherever you choose and just be inspired and listen. And if you can, yeah, definitely subscribe to the podcast, it always helps. Share it whenever you can, but more importantly, just know this: that your purpose in life is not something you find, it's something that you do, and that is going to change, is going to evolve with time, and that's okay. Having self-doubt is okay, not knowing everything is okay. And now we live in a time where you're never too old, don't put an age on anything to start something new, or to pick up where you left off with something.Lesley Logan 45:27  Oh my god, those are Be It Action Items if I ever heard any. Like, you just led right in, and I'm obsessed with all of them. Great. Adrian Starks, I'm so happy we did this. We'll have to do this again. You'll have to be a person who keeps going back on, because you just have so much great wisdom. You guys, share this with a friend who needs to hear it. Share with a friend who's stuck on like, "What's my purpose?" They need to hear this, because it's like that Dr. Seuss book, like, Are You My Mother? You know, it's like that's not how you find it. It's got to be some self-reflection. So, thank you. We'll do this again, and until next time, my loves, Be It Till You See It.Lesley Logan 46:03  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 46:45  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 46:50  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 46:55  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 47:02  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 47:05  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Text us your questions!We continue our conversation with pastor and author Matt Erickson of Eastbrook Church in Milwaukee. The job of many pastors feels like that of a CEO, with a focus on leadership strategy and the "three Bs": buildings, budgets, and butts in seats. This conversation offers a slower, deeper, and more hopeful way to think about church health, discipleship, and long-term spiritual formation.We dig into the sequoia metaphor: doing work you may never see mature, trusting God with fruit you can't control, and learning to “know the soil” of a local congregation. That leads into the daily practices that make this possible, from deep roots in a pastor's own life with God to the courage to let certain ministries die and become compost for what comes next. Then we take a hard turn into prayer, including Simone Weil's claim that “unmixed attention is prayer,” and why contemplative attention can be a distinctly Christian practice rather than mere mindfulness.From there, Matt helps us frame pastoral work inside Charles Taylor's “secular age,” where belief is an option and we all live under cross-pressure from competing ideas and value sets within a larger secular frame. We talk about the constant temptation to become a religious salesperson in a spiritual marketplace and why “bearing witness” could be a better model. We also wrestle with orthodoxy, the role of the creeds as family story, and the difference between right belief and lived faithfulness. Finally, we go straight at the question many pastors dread: how to pastor through Trumpism, political idolatry, and public Christian compromises, with the Black church and voices like Howard Thurman and Bonhoeffer shaping the horizon.Catch Part 1 of this conversation here.=====Want to support us?The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal.Other important info:Rate & review us on Apple & SpotifyFollow us on social media at @PPWBPodcastWatch & comment on YouTubeEmail us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.comCheers!

What does it mean to stay at the table when disagreement, division, and distrust seem to be everywhere? In this episode, talks with Rev. Terri Hord Owens, General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), about her book Staying at the Table: Being the Church We Say We Are. Drawing on her experience as a denominational leader, pastor, and former corporate executive, Hord Owens reflects on the spiritual practices, theological commitments, and communal habits needed to sustain Christian unity in a polarized age. The conversation explores why staying at the table is both difficult and necessary, how churches can balance accountability with radical welcome, and why biblical literacy and spiritual formation remain essential for Christian witness. Hord Owens argues that churches often become more committed to preserving institutions than embodying the gospel, and she challenges Christians to recover a deeper commitment to love, humility, and community. They also discuss denominational identity, the future of small churches, the role of data in understanding ministry realities, and how congregations can create space for people who are searching for a faith community after leaving more rigid religious environments. Together they explore: What it means to "stay at the table" amid disagreement When unity is possible—and when leaving may be necessary Why spiritual practices and biblical literacy matter The tension between loving institutions and loving the gospel Welcoming people who are deconstructing or leaving other traditions Small churches, bivocational ministry, and denominational realities Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens is the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. She is the first person of color and second woman to lead the denomination, and the first woman of African descent to lead a mainline denomination. Elected in 2017, Rev. Hord Owens was re-elected to a second term as General Minister and President in 2023. Her ministry actively reflects the Disciples' priority of being an anti-racist church, being a movement for wholeness, welcoming all to the Lord's table as God has welcomed us. Her exhortation to the church is “Let's be the church we say we are. It is in being who we say we are that we actively bear witness to God's limitless love for all.” Rev. Hord Owens earned her bachelor's degree from Harvard University and her MDiv from the University of Chicago Divinity School, where she subsequently served as Dean of Students for 12 years. Rev. Hord Owens' resume includes more than 20 years of leadership in corporate America leading diverse teams in data management. She serves on the National Council of Churches as the Vice Chair of the Governing Board and is a member of the World Council of Churches Central Committee. Rev. Hord Owens is married to Walter Owens, Jr. They are the proud parents of an adult son, W. Mitchell Owens, III and daughter-in-law Adriana Owens. She is also the joyful grandmother of Zachary Owens. Mentioned Resources:

Theology, love, and Howard Thurman are the focus of this conversation with my colleague, the Rev. Dr. Kathryn House.Link to the recording of Howard Thurman reading his work, “Meditations of the Heart,” part of the Howard Thurman Collection in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University Libraries https://digitallibrary.bu.edu/readings-meditations-heart-part-1-2Text referenced: Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies, editor Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt https://uuabookstore.org/products/love-at-the-centerRev. Kathryn House, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies and Practical Theology and Chair of the Rev. Dr. Lee Barker Professorship of Leadership Studies at Meadville Lombard Theological School. She was previously Visiting Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and a Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. House received her BA in Religion from Duke University and her MDiv. and PhD in Theological Studies from Boston University School of Theology. House is ordained in the American Baptist Churches, USA and affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists.House is co-editor, with Dr. Sara Moslener, of "Purity Culture and its Discontents," a special issue of Theology and Sexuality. She has also contributed chapters to Trauma and Lived Religion: Transcending the Ordinary (Palgrave Macmillan) and Faithfully Feminist: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Feminists on Why We Stay (White Cloud Press), and her writing has been published in journals such as Perspectives in Religious Studies, Pastoral Psychology, and American Baptist Quarterly. Her current book project, an expansion of her dissertation, The Afterlife of White Evangelical Purity Culture: Wounds, Legacies, and Impacts, investigates the theological scaffolding of white evangelical purity culture and its continuing impact on American religious and political life.Her teaching and scholarship are generated at intersections of leadership studies, trauma-informed pastoral and spiritual care, and liberation theologies. She serves on the steering committee for the Ecclesial Practices Unit of the American Academy of Religion and on the Advisory Committee of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion. She is also an active member of the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion (NABPR) and NABPR Region-at-Large.__________________________Thank you for listening. Many Windows: Conversations on Ministry is a production of Meadville Lombard Theological School. Theme music is “Destination” by Justhea. This episode is produced by Jules Taylor.(Justhea: spoti.fi/2NycVfd and apple.co/3u51z2V)

For a lot of women in midlife, the goal has quietly become just getting through — getting through the week, the season, the transition. But getting through was never supposed to be the destination. Survival mode was designed to be temporary, but for many midlife women it has become the default — managing life rather than inhabiting it. Drawing on Howard Thurman's challenge to come alive, Courtney maps out the five specific practices she consistently sees in women who have made the shift from surviving to genuinely thriving. Get your free chapter of The Consistency Code at https://theconsistencycode.com/freechapter #thrivinginmidlifewomen #beyondsurvivalmode #midlifeflourishing #womenover40thriving #survivingvsthriving #howardthurmancomealive #intentionallivingmidlife #midlifetransformationwomen #howtostopjustgettingthrough #midlifewellnesslifestyle #comingaliveinmidlife #womenswellbeingafter40  

Send us Fan MailKen welcomes back professor, author, and activist Dr. David Dark to discuss his new book, We Become What We Normalize. David shares the recent tragedy on Belmont University's campus in the shooting of the popular freshman, accomplished musician Jillian Ludwig . He tells us about the impact of this horrible incident on his students. The entire nation took note - raising the issue of gun control. David asks a provocative question: "Am I responsible for the lies that other people voice in my presence unchallenged?" When we are silent, we normalize. The conversation picks up Part I - discussing David's assertion that all of us -because we are human - are "religious." There exists good and bad/toxic and healthy religion. We must apply critical thinking to discern. Dr. Dark agrees with Christopher Hitchens that there is a form of religion that "poisons everything." To illustrate, they consider a diverse collection of individuals including Colin Kaepernick, Howard Thurman, Rush Limbaugh, and Donald Trump. In conclusion, David shares his long-time work in the Tennessee prison system - regrettably, a for-profit enterprise.David Dark - PART 1 Life's Too Short To Pretend We Aren't ReligiousSupport the showBecome a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you!Ken's Substack PageThe Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

This is a special Friday Yay, and Jake and I welcome back Pete the Cat! Pete Fitzsimmons, veteran actor who has been in two of my plays (Four Men in Paris, Judicial Process) was last on the Yay in 2018 (Episode 65) and he brings Arleigh Prelow on as a special guest. Ms. Prelow is the writer and director of a new documentary, The Psalm of Howard Thurman. We talk about the documentary, what's been going on with Pete and other topics about bay area theatre life. You can learn more about the film via Arleigh's website: https://www.howardthurmanfilm.com/ On the Yay, we often talk about mental and spiritual health, especially for us actors, because our emotions are our currency. My good friend Cary Ann Rosko (Episodes 77 and 296) is not only a great actress, but is a psychotherapist and she's opening up her business to the online community. She's offering virtual psychotherapy services to individual adults in California. Check out her website, https://www.caryannroskomft.com/what-i-offer, and take the first step in taking care of your personal health. Sometimes we need a hand to hold in healing, and Cary has her hand out, waiting to help you. We also want to thank Charles Blades Barbershop for sponsoring The Yay! Charles Blades Barbershop is located at 180 Second Street in downtown Oakland. It's a very cool, relaxing place where you can get your cuts and they'll even serve you a complimentary drink. Book an appointment online here: https://www.charlesblades.com Kehinde Koyejo (Episodes 214 and 262) has been a friend of mine since 2005, when I stage managed her for the Ray of Light musical, Bat Boy. She's an amazing actress, model and creative artist. She's also an incredible entrepreneur – and I want to introduce you to her business, Kalm Korner. Kalm Korner is an online boutique that specializes in aromatherapy gifts – love rubs, moisturizers, sprays, tea blends and candles. Kalm Korner also sells Choc'late Mama cookies – she brought some over the last time we interviewed her and it was fantastic. Let's support a black female-owned business, a local business and make your first order by going to this website: https://kalmkorner.com/ SHOWS: Mean Girls (Ray of Light Theatre) LAST SHOW TOMORROW (May 30) Marah Sotelo (Episode 124) is in the show https://www.rayoflighttheatre.com/meangirls Shakespeare Over My Shoulder (African American Shakespeare Company) May 12 – June 7 Gary Moore (Episode 278) is in the show https://www.simpletix.com/e/shakespeare-over-my-shoulder-tickets-239794 anthropology (City Lights Theatre) May 14 – June 7 Maria Marquis (Episode 331) is in the show https://cltc.org/event/anthropology/ The House of Bernarda Alba (Oakland Theatre Project) May 22 – June 7 Eiko Moon-Yamamoto (Episodes 120 & 225) is in the show https://oaklandtheaterproject.org/house The Laramie Project (Coastal Rep) June 5 – 21 Danny Martin (Episode 71) is in the show https://www.coastalrep.com/upcoming Arab Spring (Golden Thread Productions) June 19 – July 12 Denmo Ibrahim (Episode 199) wrote the play https://goldenthread.org Scabmuggers (The Freight Theatre) July 7, 14 & 21 Adam Kuveniemann (Episode 274) is in the show Tanika Baptiste (Episode 253) is directing the show https://secure.thefreight.org/15960/15961-scabmuggers-260707 A Midsummer Night's Dream (Actor's Ensemble) Aug 22 – Sept 7 Cynthia Lagodzinski (Episodes 96 & 266) is in the show Bruce Kaplan (Episode 294) is in the show https://www.aeofberkeley.org/94-news/latest-news/430-a-midsummer-night-s-dream-opens-august-22nd-2026 Follow us on Facebook and Bluesky (TheYayPodcast)

In this episode, Carl reflects on a quote from Howard Thurman that has shaped his thinking for years: “Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it.” He explores the tension between building a life around demand versus building one around aliveness, and the complicated reality that often follows when what makes us come alive doesn't fit neatly into stability, responsibility, or conventional success. It's a thoughtful exploration of ambition, freedom, roots, creativity, and the difficult question of what it actually means to “go do it.”Want more from Carl? Get the shortest, most impactful weekly email on the web! Sign up for the Weekly Letter from Certified Financial Planner™ and New York Times columnist Carl Richards here: https://behaviorgap.com/ 

Send us Fan MailREPRISE - When Wheaton College released it's anticipated Report on Race, there was a glaring omission. A comprehensive self-study over the history of the college had an arbitraty cut-off date of the year 2000. While it was an attempt to be transparent, vulnerable, and forthright over past mistakes, the report failed to address the painful departure of the first African American woman tenured professor, Dr. Larycia Hawkins. Ken reached out to Professor David Dark of Belmont University, an outspoken advocate of Dr. Hawkins and her work. They discuss the Wheaton episode. A very popular professor, Dr. Dark is active on social media and highly regarded for his books, his lectures and social commentary. Ken and David cover many topics including the Nashville political scene. Dr. Dark has a personal connection to The Covenant School, where a mass shoting gained national attention and introduced us to the "Tennessee Three" - legislators who made "Good Trouble" on the floor of the legislature demanding a debate on gun control. Ken asked David to continue this lively conversation in a part two, scheduled for next week where they will continue the conversation, including his book Life's too Short to Pretend you aren't Religious. SHOW NOTESSupport the showBecome a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you!Ken's Substack PageThe Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

Host Cat Brooks talks to interfaith minister, educator, and activist Dr. Liza Rankow about integrative paths toward healing and social transformation, rooted in our kinship with one another, the Earth, and all of life. Dr Liza J. Rankow is the founder and former executive director of OneLife Institute, which for almost 20 years supported the well-being of frontline changemakers. She has been a spiritual counselor and teacher for more than three decades, and is co-editor of The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman audio collection. She is the author of Soul Medicine for a Fractured World: Healing, Justice, and the Path of Wholeness.   — Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/ The post Integrative Paths Toward Healing and Social Transformation w/Dr Liza J. Rankow appeared first on KPFA.

At fifteen, Martin Luther King Jr. didn't want to be a preacher—he wanted to be a lawyer, a sharp dresser, and nothing like his father. Stanford scholar Lerone A. Martin joins Mark Labberton to discuss Young King—a revelatory new account of Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood, adolescence, and calling to ministry. "He's extraordinary and ordinary and everything in between." In this episode, Martin reflects on how MLK's early formation forged the conviction and courage of the man the world would come to know. Together they discuss King's childhood encounters with racism, the transformative summer in Connecticut where King first preached, his courtship of Coretta Scott, his first sermon at Dexter Avenue, the theology of Personalism, and Martin's own formation in Black Baptist and Pentecostal traditions. Episode Highlights "His mother tells him a message that really sticks with him his entire life and is really core to his ministry. And that is that you are somebody and that you're in God's eyes. You are just as good as anybody else." "I kept my mind at the front of that streetcar, and I said to myself, one day, I'm going to put my body where my mind is." "She says within the first 20 minutes he starts to become handsome because they start talking about dismantling Jim Crow." "He's extraordinary and ordinary and everything in between." "God has chosen to work with us and to invite us to be coworkers with God, to bring about God's will in the world." About Lerone A. Martin Lerone A. Martin is the MLK Jr. Centennial Professor in Religious Studies at Stanford and director of the King Research and Education Institute. His books include Young King, The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover, and Preaching on Wax. He holds a BA from Anderson University, MDiv from Princeton Seminary, and PhD from Emory. His commentary has appeared on NBC's Today Show, PBS, CNN, and NPR. Helpful Links and Resources Young King by Lerone A. Martin https://www.amazon.com/Young-King-Making-Martin-Luther/dp/0063340941 The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691218939/the-gospel-of-j-edgar-hoover Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu Lerone A. Martin on X https://x.com/DirectorMLK The Luminous Darkness by Howard Thurman https://www.amazon.com/Luminous-Darkness-Anatomy-Segregation/dp/0913408468 Show Notes Martin's upbringing between Black Baptist and Pentecostal traditions Parents debating religion and politics during the Moral Majority era Anderson University, Princeton Seminary, Emory PhD Martin's mother told him he was "a child of God" and "beautiful"—a refrain shaped by her awareness of sending her darkest-skinned child into a world defined by colorism and racism "He's extraordinary and ordinary and everything in between." King and his brother dismembering his sister's Barbie dolls Incessant curiosity—trying big words on the Auburn Avenue librarian Racism at age six: white friends' parents ending the friendship "You are somebody and in God's eyes you are just as good as anybody else" King's mother explained racism to a six-year-old as something manmade, not what God intends—a distinction that became core to his ministry for the rest of his life "One day, I'm going to put my body where my mind is." Jitterbug dancer, sharp dresser, speech contest competitor King Sr. as fighter and provider—but King Jr. was sensitive, nonconfrontational, and determined to find his own path outside his father's shadow Resisting his father's model of ministry—wanting to be a lawyer Appearing to acquiesce to Dad, then doing what he wanted Connecticut tobacco fields at 15—first time outside the segregated South King wrote letters home marveling that he sat anywhere he wanted in restaurants, went to a white church, and didn't have to sit in the balcony at the movies "His sister says he left a boy and came back a man." Professor George Kelsey's Bible course at Morehouse—King's only A Howard Thurman's The Luminous Darkness and the enormous psychological energy required just to maintain a sense of "somebodiness" under Jim Crow's built environment of dehumanization "Within the first 20 minutes he starts to become handsome because they start talking about dismantling Jim Crow." Coretta wrestled with giving up her music career to become a minister's wife, ultimately deciding that partnership with King was itself an act of service toward justice First sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church: "Love Your Enemies" Theology of Personalism—humanity as coworkers with God #YoungKing #MLK #LeroneMartin #KingInstitute #CivilRights #BlackHistory #FaithAndJustice #ConversingPodcast Production Credits Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment Magazine and Fuller Seminary.

Today we are talking to Liza Rankow about some things that just might hold the power to change the world. Liza J. Rankow, PhD, MHS, is an interfaith minister, educator, activist, and author. Her lifework centers the deep healing that is essential to personal and social transformation. Liza is the founder and former executive director of OneLife Institute, which for almost 20 years supported the well-being of frontline changemakers. She has been a spiritual counselor and teacher for more than three decades, working with individual clients, facilitating healing retreats, and offering classes and workshops in a variety of community and academic settings. Liza is the producer and co-editor of The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman audio collection. Her new book is Soul Medicine for a Fractured World: Healing, Justice, and the Path of Wholeness and she's joining us today to talk a bit about it. Enjoy! SHOW NOTES: LIZA RANKOW: https://www.lizarankow.org SOUL MEDICINE FOR A FRACTURED WORLD: https://amzn.to/3Qc4RAP MY NEW BOOK: https://a.co/d/fsUTllj ART STUDIO: https://www.whatifproject.net/art EBAY ART: https://www.ebay.com/usr/what_if_project SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.whatifproject.net/support (**NOTE: these show notes contain Amazon affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something I may earn a small commission)

Send us Fan MailGood Friday isn't just a date on the calendar—it's a truth test. What happens when real integrity shows up in public life and refuses to be bought, bent, or silenced?In his 1964 meditation Discovery, Howard Thurman suggests that death isn't the worst outcome. The real tragedy is living without dignity, without conviction—without the integrity of your spirit and soul.In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright wrestle with the uncomfortable logic of the cross. If Jesus embodies a truth that heals, feeds, and restores, why do systems react as if that truth is a threat? Maybe it's because truth—real, lived truth—disrupts what's convenient. Bishop Wright offers a simple invitation: anchor yourself in God's goodness, treat every person as a sibling, and live a truth the world can recognize. Listen in to the full conversation.Read For Faith, the companion devotional. Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright. 

We guide a short meditation into Howard Thurman's reminder to ask what makes you come alive and act on it. Through questions and a poem about quiet usefulness, we show how to find patterns that reliably light you up and turn them into simple, repeatable choices.• soft breath and body scan to settle• Howard Thurman quote reframing purpose• reflective questions to spot aliveness• noticing patterns in vivid, energized moments• moving beyond vague bliss toward specific contexts• poem on usefulness over spectacle• applying patterns to daily choices and actionsBecome a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.comTake 20% Off With Coupon Code: PodcastEmail: Sean@MindfulnessExercises.comMindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life.Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work.Each episode offers a mix of:Practical mindfulness and meditation teachingsConversations with respected meditation teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchersReal-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregiversGentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or changeIf you're interested in:Mindfulness meditation for everyday lifeTrauma-sensitive and compassion-based practicesTeaching mindfulness in an authentic, non-performative wayDeepening your own practice while supporting others…you're in the right place.Learn more at ...

AbbeyoftheArts.com Abbey of the Arts Wisdom Council member Michael Moore reads Howard Thurman and invites you into 5 minutes of contemplative silence to hold a loving intention for peace, justice, and compassion to flourish in the world. Credits: All texts under fair use or with permission. Howard Thurman, “How Good to Center Down!” from Meditations of the Heart. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1992), pgs. 28–29 AbbeyoftheArts.com

Today, Michael welcomes Dr. Liza Rankow, an interfaith minister, educator, activist, and author of Soul Medicine for a Fractured World: Healing Justice and the Path of Wholeness. For more than three decades, she has guided individuals and frontline changemakers in integrating deep spiritual practice with social transformation. A longtime student and steward of Howard Thurman's teachings, she helped produce The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman audio collection and continues to explore how mysticism and justice are not separate callings—but one sacred breath expressed in two directions. Conversation Highlights include: -Growing up without organized religion yet surrounded by spiritual seeking shaped a life rooted in both mysticism and justice. -A chance encounter with Howard Thurman's portrait at Morehouse College became the doorway into a lifelong spiritual lineage. -Seeing this moment in history as a "portal" invites us to meet upheaval not only with fear, but with agency and possibility. -Understanding the difference between self-care and soul care reminds us that while pampering relieves stress, soul care reconnects us to the larger life that sustains us. -Recognizing that the medicine is often hidden inside our wounds reframes suffering as a potential teacher rather than a permanent sentence. -Trusting that life moves in cycles of collapse and renewal helps us engage change without despair, knowing transformation rarely begins or ends with us. -Redefining purpose as a quality of being—rather than a job title or achievement—brings clarity to how we live and serve. -Seeing how cultural definitions of success can distort purpose invites a return to soul-led contribution over ego-driven accomplishment. -Practicing three intentional breaths—receiving what we need, sending love to others, and extending healing to the world—creates embodied connection. Next, in the closing meditation, Michael guides listeners into intentional gratitude, reminding us that the world we experience reflects the consciousness we cultivate.

Angela Duckworth is known for her work on grit, the topic of her best-selling book and her famous TED-talk. In this wide-ranging conversation, Angela explores the wisdom of Howard Thurman and Viktor Frankl, the alignment between values and decision making, and the ways a constellation of mentors can benefit students as they explore their calling. Her research on the overlap between perseverance and passion offers new perspectives on vocation, especially relating to goal-setting and risk-taking. Flourishing and calling, Angela explains, is about uncovering a pathway that, over time, has become overgrown and buried. Grit might help us continue pursuing that path.

Dr. Robert Ganung, chaplain and teacher at Taft School, joins Rick to explore how deep contemplative practice can ground a life of service, justice, and education. Drawing from Celtic Christianity, Buddhism, Vedanta, and the civil rights tradition, Robert shares how daily meditation, interspiritual study, and a sense of the sacred in all beings inform his work with students and his view of a world in crisis yet ripe for awakening. They discuss non-duality and interconnection, inner practice as fuel for action, the impact of mystical experiences, near-death research, and living with love and courage amid social and planetary upheaval. The Rev. Dr. Robert Ganung is an ordained minister, educator, and school chaplain whose life and work have been shaped by a deep engagement with both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. He holds a doctorate from the Boston University School of Theology, where his dissertation explored how the mindfulness and meditation practices taught by the Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh can enrich and nourish the spiritual lives of Christians. That work grew out of years of personal practice and study, including retreats with Thich Nhat Hanh in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as a lifelong interest in contemplative spirituality. For more than four decades, Dr. Ganung has served at the intersection of education, ministry, and social justice. He is currently Chaplain at The Taft School in Connecticut, where he also teaches philosophy, ethics, world religions, and global studies, and where he has brought an extraordinary range of voices into the community—among them Cornel West, Bill McKibben, Ibram X. Kendi, Angela Davis, Tibetan monks, and many others addressing spirituality, human rights, environmental justice, and the moral challenges of our time. Earlier in his career, he served as chaplain and teacher at Milton Academy, Punahou School in Hawai‘i, and Cardigan Mountain School. During these years, he also served as a minister in the United Methodist and United Church of Christ congregations in New England and Hawai‘i. Dr. Ganung's spiritual formation has been deeply influenced by the Christian mystical tradition—figures such as Howard Thurman, Bede Griffiths, Richard Rohr, & John O'Donohue—as well as by Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, and interfaith dialogue. Introduced to Hindu philosophy and Sufism as an undergraduate philosophy major at Boston University, he later engaged Siddha Yoga and Advaita teachings, while continuing to explore how contemplative practice leads naturally toward nonviolence, compassion, and justice in the world. Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group, Interview recorded February 7, 2026

Singer-songwriter Jon Guerra joins Mark Labberton to explore devotional songwriting, public faith, and the tension between the kingdom of Jesus and American cultural power. Through music and reflection, Guerra considers how art can hold grief, courage, and hope together in turbulent times. "Love has a million disguises, but winning is simply not one." In this episode with Mark Labberton, Guerra reflects on songwriting as prayer, the call to love enemies, and artistic courage in moments of cultural crisis. Together they discuss devotional music, George Herbert's influence, the Beatitudes and American culture, citizenship and immigration imagery, increasing polarization, suffering and grace, and the vocation of Christian artists. Episode Highlights "Love has a million disguises, but winning is simply not one." "When Jesus says to love your enemies… he is giving us a means of survival." "This is not sentimentality… the only way to resist becoming what one hates." "My songwriting… would be a means of coming into contact with the invisible God." "Beauty puts us in contact with invisible things." About Jon Guerra Jon Guerra is a singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas, known for devotional music that blends poetry, theology, and contemporary cultural reflection. His albums include Little Songs (2015), Keeper of Days (2020), Ordinary Ways (2023), and American Gospel. Guerra has also composed music for film, including Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life (2019). The son of immigrants from Cuba and Argentina, his work often explores themes of citizenship, prayer, justice, and the teachings of Jesus. His songwriting draws inspiration from figures like George Herbert and Howard Thurman, and seeks to connect spiritual devotion with public life. Helpful Links and Resources Jon Guerra website: https://www.jonguerramusic.com/ American Gospel album: https://jonguerra.bandcamp.com A Hidden Life film: https://www.searchlightpictures.com/ahiddenlife Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman: https://www.beacon.org/Jesus-and-the-Disinherited-P1781.aspx The Porter's Gate: https://www.portersgateworship.com/ Show Notes Devotional songwriting George Herbert influence on the pursuit of prayerful craft "Music for attending to the soul." Monday morning prayer music framing devotional practice Beauty and invisible realities in artistic experience American Gospel song introduction and cultural critique Beatitudes inversion in American culture "How do I give Christ a say in this conversation?" Love Your Enemies composition and album Jesus Howard Thurman's influence on enemy-love theology (Jesus and the Disinherited) Emotional formation through news, anger, and public life Death of ego and kingdom discipleship Kierkegaard and faith beyond ideology Worship as reordering power Kingdom of Jesus song and Pilate encounter Allegiance to a greater kingdom beyond nationalism Citizenship as foreignness imagery Immigrant family background shaping songwriting Citizens song written after 2017 inauguration "Come to you because I'm confused." Five-four musical structure expressing disorientation Groaning beauty and Romans 8 resonance Artists as "holy fools" naming reality Moltmann and theology near the cross Simone Weil: gravity and grace reflection "Love has a million disguises, but winning is simply not one." Hashtags #JonGuerra #DevotionalMusic #LoveYourEnemies #ChristianArt #AmericanGospel #PublicFaith #Jesus #Gospel #SpiritualFormation Production Credits Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment Magazine and Fuller Seminary.  

The Upside-Down Kingdom is a three-part podcast series exploring Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Together, we look at how Jesus redefines blessing, power, and righteousness—calling his followers into a way of life shaped not by success or control, but by mercy, integrity, trust, and love.Head, Heart and Hands... by Dennis P Hollinger: https://shorturl.at/AlE2uDisciplines of the Spirit by Howard Thurman: https://tinyurl.com/4r2zdpd8Discussion Questions — Episode 21. Why do you think Jesus insists he fulfills the Law instead of replacing it?2. Which of Jesus' reinterpretations feels most challenging?3. Where do you notice yourself defaulting to rule-keeping instead of heart change?4. How does moving righteousness inward feel freeing — or frightening?5. What might “enemy love” look like in everyday life, not ideal scenarios?

DateFebruary 1, 2026SynopsisIn this sermon, we continue our series, Building the Beloved Community: A Blueprint from Dream to Reality, by diving into the structural integrity of the 'frame.' We move past the foundation of 'somebodiness' to see how the prophet Micah's call reveals the essential, non-negotiable components: to do justice, embrace hesed (faithful love), and walk humbly with God. These three elements are the core beams and joists of a life of faith, ensuring that your efforts do not collapse into self-righteousness, cheap charity, or burnout, so the Beloved Community you're building can actually bear weight.ReferencesScripture: Micah 6:1–8About The Local ChurchFor more information about The Local Church, visit our website. Feedback? Questions? Comments? We'd love to hear it. Email Brent at brent@thelocalchurchpbo.org.To invest in what God's doing through The Local Church and help support these podcasting efforts and this movement of God's love, give online here.

What does renewal really look like when a community is rebuilding—after loss, disruption, or discouragement? In this sermon, we turn to one of the most overlooked chapters in Scripture: Nehemiah 3. At first glance, it reads like a list of names and tasks. But beneath the surface, it tells a powerful story about how God's work unfolds—not through heroes or grand gestures, but through ordinary people showing up, taking responsibility, and tending the part of the work placed right in front of them. Drawing from a childhood memory of a church wall that collapsed during a storm, reflections on the quiet faith of Howard Thurman, and the witness of the builders of Jerusalem's wall, this sermon invites us to reconsider what faithfulness looks like in the life of the church. Renewal does not begin when everything is fixed. It begins when people are willing. This message is an invitation to notice where God is calling you to be present—to relationships, ministries, and small acts of faithfulness that often go unseen but hold the community together. Everyone has a brick in the story. The question is whether we are willing to pick up the one entrusted to us.

Send us a textIn this episode I share an edited version of a Zoom lecture I gave in the spring of 2025 called "Group as Spiritual Practice." A collection and synthesis of some of my favorite spiritual teachings, this lecture explores how interpersonal process groups are a way of "getting beyond conditioning," of learning how to be alive, of cultivating courage, of becoming more of oneself and accepting life on life's terms—all definitions of spirituality that I love (among others). The ideas of Anthony de Mello, Paul Tillich, Martin Buber, Howard Thurman, Shunryu Suzuki, and Edward Espe Brown will support my thesis that group's many invitations are guiding us into closer and closer contact with the truth of the present moment and how we are both a reflection and a integral part of that moment, of this eternal here and now.

In this episode, we welcome back journalist and author Katherine Stewart, whose work has become a trusted guide for us as we continue to think about the intersection of politics, religion, and public life. Over the years, we've often found ourselves returning to her writing and asking, “What would Katherine say about this?” especially as stories emerge around Christian nationalism and the erosion of democratic norms. As the pace of the news accelerates, Katherine helps us slow down and look beneath the headlines. She reflects on how economic inequality, disinformation, and anti-democratic movements reinforce one another, and on the ways certain forms of religion are being distorted to justify exclusion, hierarchy, and control. Together, we explore how language around religious freedom and moral certainty can mask deeper concentrations of power. Katherine reminds us that hope exists and of our responsibility in this moment. She speaks to the importance of attention, organization, and moral clarity, particularly within faith communities; naming the growing presence of religious leaders and institutions who are resisting these distortions and reclaiming faith as a force for dignity, equality, and the common good. As always, her voice invites us not only to understand what is happening, but to consider how we might respond with courage, honesty, and care. Resources referenced in this episode: “They're doing to America what they did to Christianity”, The Guardian, November 23,2025 Jesus and the Disinherited, Howard Thurman (1945) Djesus Uncrossed, SNL, 2013

The lights and the tree have been taken down or put away, but the real work of Christmas is just beginning.  Barry turns to a poem written by Howard Thurman (1899-1981), an African-American theologian and civil rights leader who reminds us that the Star in the sky may be gone, but the heart of the Christmas message is just beginning. Barry also invites his newly retired wife Mary (a professor at Shenandoah University for 37 years) to share how her first few days of retirement are going.  

Bonita Gill shares Howard Thurman's thoughts on crying through the hard things God calls us to do.

This is a special episode of For the Good of the Public, cross-posted with "Conversing with Mark Labberton." https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversing-with-mark-labberton/id1161564408 Can joy be anything but denial in a rage-filled public life? Michael Wear joins Mark Labberton to reframe politics through the kingdom logic of hope, agency, and practices of silence and solitude. As 2025 closes amid political discord, we might all ask whether joy can be real in public life—without denial, escapism, or contempt. "… Joy is a pervasive and constant sense of wellbeing." In this conversation, Michael Wear and Mark Labberton reflect on joy, hope, responsibility, and agency amid a reaction-driven politics. Together they discuss the realism of Advent; the limits of our control; how kingdom imagination reframes anger; hope beyond outcomes, dignity under threat, and practices (including silence and solitude) that restore clarity. About Michael Wear Michael Wear is the Founder, President, and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, a nonpartisan nonprofit that contends for the credibility of Christian resources in public life, for the public good. He has served for more than a decade as a trusted advisor to civic and religious leaders on faith and public life, including as a presidential campaign and White House staffer. He is the author of The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life and Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America. Learn more and follow at https://www.michaelwear.com. Helpful Links and Resources Michael Wear, The Spirit of Our Politics https://www.zondervan.com/9780310367239/the-spirit-of-our-politics/ Michael Wear, Reclaiming Hope https://www.thomasnelson.com/9780718082338/reclaiming-hope/ Center for Christianity and Public Life https://www.ccpubliclife.org/ A National Call to Silence and Solitude https://www.silenceandsolitude.org/ Dallas Willard: "Personal Soul Care" https://dwillard.org/resources/articles/personal-soul-care Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited https://www.beacon.org/Jesus-and-the-Disinherited-P1781.aspx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Light Within Us All, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski. Series: Rediscovering Jesus A Spacious Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of Bend, Oregon. Scripture: John 1:5.Curious about finding light in the darkest times? Join us this Sunday, either online or in-person, for an uplifting message from Rev. Dr. Steven Koski. Reflect on the profound truth that just a little light can illuminate even the deepest shadows. We might just carry the light of love and hope into the new year together.Join us each Sunday, 10AM at bendfp.org, or 11AM KTVZ-CW Channel 612/12 in Bend.  Subscribe/Follow, and click the bell for alerts.At First Presbyterian, you will meet people at many different places theologically and spiritually. And we love it that way. We want to be a place where our diversity brings us together and where conversation takes us all deeper in our understanding of God.We call this kind of faith “Spacious Christianity.” We don't ask anyone to sign creeds or statements of belief. The life of faith is about a way of being in the world and a faith that shows itself in love.Thank you for your support of the mission of the First Presbyterian Church of Bend. Visit https://bendfp.org/giving/ for more information.Keywords:light of Jesus, bearers of light, Christmas Eve, Howard Thurman, work of Christmas, let there be light, mirror metaphor, bus driver story, reflecting light, agent of illumination, force of peace, candle of comfort, peace and love, small acts, ripple effect, presbyterian, church, online worship, bend, oregonFeaturing:Rev. Dr. Steven Koski, Rev. Sharon Edwards, Becca Ellis, Brave of Heart, GuestsSupport the show

This week, Pastor Dennis begins our new series, "Being With God" by focusing on the way prayer is not about getting God to align with our agenda, but instead prayer is about building a deep, intimate, trusting relationship with God. We can make prayer into something where we ask God for what we want and expect Him to give it to us, or we can think that prayer is what draws God's attention to us. But, God is always paying attention to us, He's always attentive and attuned to us, and He's always desiring deeper relationship with us. Drawing on Howard Thurman's writings about prayer in his book Disciplines of the Spirit, and Jesus's words in John 15 about Him being the vine and us being the branches, we can see that we're already connected to Jesus and prayer is about bringing our desires and will into alignment with God's eschatological vision for our lives, as well as our neighbors, neighborhoods, and cities.

Can joy be anything but denial in a rage-filled public life? Michael Wear joins Mark Labberton to reframe politics through the kingdom logic of hope, agency, and practices of silence and solitude. As 2025 closes amid political discord, we might all ask whether joy can be real in public life—without denial, escapism, or contempt. "… Joy is a pervasive and constant sense of wellbeing." In this conversation, Michael Wear and Mark Labberton reflect on joy, hope, responsibility, and agency amid a reaction-driven politics. Together they discuss the realism of Advent; the limits of our control; how kingdom imagination reframes anger; hope beyond outcomes, dignity under threat, and practices (including silence and solitude) that restore clarity. Episode Highlights "Joy is a pervasive and constant sense of wellbeing. … Joy is not a technique to then get people to do what you want them to do." "God's Kingdom is the range of his effective will." " Someone whose hope is rightly placed sees that a dignity denying culture does not have the final say." "Our will is effective and those things in which our will is not effective." "The pattern of domination and violence is an old one." About Michael Wear Michael Wear is the Founder, President, and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, a nonpartisan nonprofit that contends for the credibility of Christian resources in public life, for the public good. He has served for more than a decade as a trusted advisor to civic and religious leaders on faith and public life, including as a presidential campaign and White House staffer. He is the author of The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life and Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America. Learn more and follow at https://www.michaelwear.com. Helpful Links and Resources Michael Wear, The Spirit of Our Politics https://www.zondervan.com/9780310367239/the-spirit-of-our-politics/ Michael Wear, Reclaiming Hope https://www.thomasnelson.com/9780718082338/reclaiming-hope/ Center for Christianity and Public Life https://www.ccpubliclife.org/ A National Call to Silence and Solitude https://www.silenceandsolitude.org/ Dallas Willard: "Personal Soul Care" https://dwillard.org/resources/articles/personal-soul-care Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited https://www.beacon.org/Jesus-and-the-Disinherited-P1781.aspx Show Notes End of 2025, cusp of Christmas; fraught public moment; joy as the lynchpin for faithful presence in politics and public life Joy held with pain, suffering, complexity Refusing denial while trusting a God who relentlessly pursues the world in love and hope Joy intertwined with hope, responsibility, agency Where does responsibility end and faithful agency begin? "Willard would say joy is a pervasive and constant sense of wellbeing." " It is very difficult to have joy if you are taking responsibility for things that are not your responsibility." Public life as joyless space; lacking imagination for joy amid provocation, antagonism, and constant political showmanship "If there are places in our life where we can't conceive of joy, it's a problem with our view of God." Misplaced responsibility, misplaced hope; joy collapses when taking on burdens that aren't ours and treating agency as ultimate "God's kingdom is the range of his effective will." "We each have our own little kingdoms … where what we say to be done is done." Politics reveals limits; a clarity about what we can do, what we can't do, and what we must import into the rest of life "Our will is effective, and there are things in which our will is not effective." "Faithfulness is not the ability to determine a righteous outcome … to everything in which our lives touch." False responsibility, obscured agency Are we taking charge of what isn't ours while ignoring the real choices we do have? "That's a recipe for joylessness." Poked and prodded by provocations; entertainment, antagonisms, and helplessness normalize reaction and justify complicity Anger as political fuel Many assume that raising your voice is the only faithful posture inside the public arena. "I've had people respond to me: 'How am I going to get anything done in politics without anger?'" "Political imagination has been taken over by a political logic as opposed to a kingdom logic." Relearning responsibility and agency; hope not grounded in our effectiveness, but in what God is doing beyond our reach. "Ultimate hope lies outside of the range of our effective will." "It is in that realm in which we are perfectly safe." Hope is for a life that pervades all things. "So when your hope is in the right place, you can hope for a whole range of things." " Someone whose hope is rightly placed sees that a dignity denying culture does not have the final say." Hope and joy "when your back is against the wall" Allen Temple Baptist Church: Joy at the margins of culture Fannie Lou Hamer Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited First Presbyterian Church in Evanston, IL Michael Wear, The Spirit of Our Politics Psalm 23 as distress-psalm: Enemies are still present, yet God leads beside still waters and cares most in greatest distress. "Take off the old self with its practices and put on the new self." "Put on Christ now in a way that will affect everything around us." Herod: The paranoid leader Advent into Christmastide—what it means to dwelling in Emmanuel "This is why the incarnation is such an extraordinarily important cornerstone: It's that God enters in through Jesus into our world, in a world in which, yes, there may be great praises in heaven and on earth from those who understand something at least of who he is and what he's there to do. But it also lands him in a world of immediate physical and familial vulnerability of political and social, if not military, violence." Are we protected from vulnerability, or living in precarity? The pattern of domination and violence Refusing forgetfulness as 2026 approaches with fresh pressures and fresh calling. National call to silence and solitude; disinvesting from reactionary instincts to engage the world with renewed vision and clarity. silenceandsolitude.org "Silence and solitude… can infuse your public activity with right vision and right clarity." #MichaelWear #MarkLabberton #ChristianPublicLife #ChristianPolitics #SpiritualFormation #Joy #Advent #SilenceAndSolitude #Hope #PublicWitness Production Credits Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment Magazine and Fuller Seminary.  

This past Sunday, we began our Advent series, Peace in Disorienting Times. Advent invites us into the tension of the “not yet,” where life often feels unsettled, uncertain, or even overwhelming. Drawing from voices like Walter Brueggemann and Howard Thurman, we explore how disorientation can become a space for formation—where honesty, vulnerability, and patience open us to new understanding. We look at the story of Mary, the message of the angels, and the biblical vision of shalom as a wholeness that embraces both our physical and spiritual wellbeing. Together, we consider how practicing hospitality, connection, and presence with one another becomes a pathway toward peace. Find out more about Storied Church @ STORIEDCHURCH.org TO GIVE storiedchurch.org/give JOIN SC DISCORD: https://discord.gg/V8Dh2kDJ JOIN OUR LISTSERVE: storiedchurch.org/connect instagram.com/storiedchurch facebook.com/storiedchurch YouTube: @storiedchurch921

Claire and Rachel caught up with Dr. Shelly Rambo, a theologian at Boston University, working in the areas of trauma, spiritual care and chaplaincy. Shelly's book Spirit and Trauma is a seminal work in the field of trauma and theology, and she brings over twenty years of thought and exploration to the study of Scripture and the Christian tradition through the lens of trauma. We talk about the reality of trauma that remains, and how Jesus prepares us to live with the unresolved, what we can learn from Julian of Norwich about regaining inner spiritual authority, and the theological classroom as a site of post-traumatic growth. Shelly finishes by sharing insights from Howard Thurman on maintaining spiritual vitality in the midst of embodied threat. In a time when many are leaving institutional religion, Shelly brings wise insight into the reasons people leave and ways in which they can develop a sustaining spiritual community in the aftermath of harm.Shelly's BioDr. Shelly Rambo is a theologian and professor at Boston University School of Theology, whose work explores the intersections of trauma, theology, and spiritual care. Her research has shaped trauma-informed approaches to chaplaincy and theological education, particularly in seminary contexts. She is the author of Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining, and Resurrecting Wounds, and is a leading voice in rethinking how Christian theology engages suffering, survival, and the work of healing.Regent College Podcast Thanks for listening. Please like, rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice and share this episode with a friend. Follow Us on Social Media Facebook Instagram Youtube Keep in Touch Regent College Summer Programs Regent College Newsletter

In this conversation with Aizaiah Young, we dove deep into what it means to live a contemplative life in our hyperaccelerated culture. Aizaiah, who works at the Collegeville Institute and draws from thinkers like Raimon Panikkar and Howard Thurman, made a compelling case that contemplation isn't passive navel-gazing—it's about bringing your full self to every moment, whether you're protesting injustice or wiping your kid's bottom. We talked about how the monastery's vow of stability offers a radical alternative to our culture's obsession with speed and productivity, how Internal Family Systems can help us dialogue with different parts of ourselves instead of just trying to fix what's "broken," and why swimming upstream with elegance might be the key to sustainable social action. Tim and I both confessed how drawn we are to this approach, even as we wrestle with the tension between needing to combat misinformation online and recognizing that real transformation happens in those slower, face-to-face conversations where we can actually see each other's humanity. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Aizaiah G. Yong is an ordained Pentecostal Christian minister and practical theologian who has served in leadership roles in religious and higher education for over a decade, devoting his energy to healing and advocacy work that centers on QTBIPOC communities. His recent book, Multiracial Cosmotheadrism: a Practical Theology of Multiracial Experiences, received the internationally acclaimed 2022 Raimon Panikkar Prize. ONLINE CLASS - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The God of Justice: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Longing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This transformative online class brings together distinguished scholars from biblical studies, theology, history, and faith leadership to offer exactly what our moment demands: the rich, textured wisdom of multiple academic disciplines speaking into our contemporary quest for justice. Guests this year include John Dominic Crossan, Kelly Brown Douglas, Philip Clayton, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Jeffery Pugh, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Andy Root, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Noreen Herzfeld, Reggie Williams, Casper ter Kuile, and more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get info and tickets here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. _____________________ This podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ production. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Substack - Process This!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get instant access to over 50 classes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When leaders fuse role with identity, misalignment leaks into culture. Discover how ILR separates role from identity so you can lead with clarity, trust, and peace.Leadership is heavy when your identity is fused with your role. Every mistake feels like a threat to your worth. Every conflict feels personal. Every decision is weighed down by the fear of being exposed. And it doesn't stay contained — it leaks into your team, creating misalignment, mistrust, and burnout.In today's episode of The Recalibration, Julie Holly shows why misaligned leaders create misaligned teams — and how recalibration shifts leadership from pressure to presence. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, and the story of Howard Thurman's influence on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this episode unpacks:Why identity-fused leadership creates fragile cultures where teams walk on eggshellsThe toll of “always on” leadership on your nervous system and your healthWhy therapy helps you understand and coaching helps you manage — but ILR releases role-driven leadership at the rootHow Howard Thurman's faith-rooted identity shaped a generation of leaders without chasing titlesA practical test to know if you're leading from identity or just sustaining a roleToday's Micro Recalibration: Ask yourself: Am I leading from clarity of identity or from a role I'm trying to sustain? Notice where leadership feels heavy — that weight is often the signal that role and identity have fused.If leadership has ever felt like it's costing you yourself, this episode will help you step out of pressure and into presence — leading with clarity, stability, and peace.If this episode gave you language you've been missing, please rate and review the show so more high-capacity humans can find it. Explore Identity-Level Recalibration→ Follow Julie Holly on LinkedIn for more recalibration insights → Schedule a conversation with Julie to see if The Recalibration is a fit for you → Download the Misalignment Audit → Subscribe to the weekly newsletter → Join the waitlist for the next Recalibration cohort This isn't therapy. This isn't coaching. This is identity recalibration — and it changes everything.

Welcome to another short but empowering episode of Monday Motivation, giving you a dose of inspiration as you head into your week... Today, we explore Howard Thurman’s powerful call to action - a quote that ignites something within us and encourages a different way to live: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Here are three key takeaways you can expect from this episode: The transformative power of tuning inward and asking yourself what truly makes you feel alive Three practical steps to begin aligning your daily life with your unique sense of purpose How choosing purpose over perfection can create positive ripple effects for yourself and others Listen in and discover how living your purpose can energise you, inspire others, and bring you one step closer to your dream life—whatever that looks like for you. As always, I’d LOVE to hear what resonates with you from this episode and what you plan to implement after listening in. So please share and let’s keep the conversation going in the Dream Life Podcast Facebook Group here. Have a wonderful week …and remember, it all starts with a dream

Clinical psychologist Alexis Abernethy explores burnout, Sabbath rest, and resilience—reframing rest as spiritual practice for individuals and communities.“For me, it's knowing that the Lord has made me as much to work as much to be and to be still and know that he is God.”On this episode, clinical psychologist Alexis Abernethy (Fuller Seminary) joins Macie Bridge to discuss burnout, Sabbath, worship, mental health, and resilience in the life of the church. Defining burnout through its dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of accomplishment, Abernethy reflects on how church life can intensify these dynamics even as it seeks to heal them. Drawing from scripture, theology, psychology, and her own experience in the Black church and academic worlds, she reorients us to Sabbath as more than self-care: a sacred practice of being still before God. Sabbath, she argues, is not a quick fix but a preventive rhythm that sustains resilience in leaders and congregations alike. Along the way, she points to the necessity of modeling rest, the impact of daily and weekly spiritual rhythms, and the communal posture that makes Sabbath transformative.Episode Highlights“For me, it's knowing that the Lord has made me as much to work as much to be and to be still and know that he is God.”“Often people have overextended themselves in face of crises, other circumstances over a period of time, and it's just not really sustainable, frankly, for anyone.”“We act as if working hard and excessively is dutiful and really what the Lord wants—but that's not what He wants.”“When you are still with the Lord, you look different when you're active.”“Sabbath rest allows you to literally catch your own breath, but also then be able to see what the congregation needs.”Helpful Links and ResourcesThat Their Work Will Be a Joy, Kurt Frederickson & Cameron LeeHoward Thurman, Meditations of the HeartEmily Dickinson, “Some Keep the Sabbath” (Poetry Foundation)About Alexis AbernethyAlexis Abernethy is a clinical psychologist and professor in the School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy at Fuller Seminary. Her research explores the intersection of spirituality and health, with particular focus on Christian spirituality, church leadership, and group therapy models.Topics and ThemesBurnout in Church Leadership and Congregational LifeDefining Burnout: Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Reduced AccomplishmentSpiritual Misconceptions of Work and DutySabbath as Sacred Rest, Not Just Self-CareSilence, Stillness, and the Presence of GodScriptural Foundations for Sabbath: Psalm 23, Psalm 46, John 15The Role of Pastors in Modeling RestPandemic Lessons for Church Rhythms and ParticipationEmily Dickinson and Creative Visions of SabbathResilience Through Sabbath: Lessons from New Orleans PastorsPractical Practices for Sabbath in Everyday LifeShow NotesExodus 20:8-11: 8 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.Opening framing on burnout, Sabbath, and confusion about self-careIntroduction of Alexis Abernethy, her background as psychologist and professorChildhood in a lineage of Methodist pastors and formative worship experiencesEarly academic path: Howard University, UC Berkeley, affirmation from her fatherDefining burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduced accomplishment“I'm just stuck. I used to enjoy my job.”The church as both source of fulfillment and site of burnoutMisconceptions of spirituality equating overwork with dutyReference: That Their Work Will Be a Joy (Frederickson & Lee)Scriptural reflections: Psalm 23, Psalm 46, John 15Stillness, quiet, and Howard Thurman on solitude“When you are still with the Lord, you look different when you're active.”Sabbath as sacred rest, not a quick fix or pillPastors modeling Sabbath for congregations, including personal family timeCOVID reshaping church rhythms and recalculating commitment costsEmily Dickinson's poem “Some Keep the Sabbath”Lessons from New Orleans pastors after Hurricane KatrinaSabbath as resilience for leaders and congregationsPractical steps: scripture meditation, playlists, Lectio Divina, cultivating quietClosing invitation: Sabbath as both individual discipline and community postureProduction NotesThis podcast featured Alexis AbernethyInterview by Macie BridgeEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Alexa Rollow and Emily BrookfieldA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

In our last sermon based off of Howard Thurman's, The Inward Journey, we dive into the wisdom of Ecclesiastes with special guest speaker Amanda Samuel. Together, we explore the call to remember our Creator, the fleeting nature of life, and what it means to seek God with authenticity and depth. Amanda brings fresh perspective and spiritual insight, helping us reflect on how the pursuit of God shapes our daily choices, our hopes, and our inner journey.

As we continue our series inspired by Howard Thurman's The Inward Journey, we turn toward the longing for peace—in our lives, our communities, and our world. Alongside Thurman's wisdom, we listen to the voice of poet Pádraig Ó Tuama, who closes one of his poems with a simple but profound refrain about choosing love again and again. In a world filled with conflict and division, we ask: What does it mean to let peace begin in us, shaped by the daily choice of love?

How do we live with hope when the path forward demands surrender? In this episode, we explore Chapter 5 of Richard Rohr's book, The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage, titled “Jeremiah: The Patterns That Carry Us Across.” Through conversation with Richard, we reflect on the prophetic vocation as a lifelong invitation to move from anger and lament into love—and how Jeremiah models that transformation. After our dialogue with Richard, we're joined by the beloved Reverend Dr. Walter Earl Fluker, Howard Thurman scholar and prophetic voice of ethical leadership. Together, we delve into what it means to be “dismembered to be remembered,” as Dr. Fluker shares his lifelong journey to find home, the role of the trickster God in transformation, and why there can be no liberation without struggle. This episode walks the listener through the wisdom pattern of order, disorder, and reorder as it shows up in Jeremiah's life—and our own. From ancient covenant to inner apocalypse, from personal grief to collective trauma, this episode is a deep meditation on how tears and laughter both reveal the path to freedom. This episode invites you to consider: What if the tears you cry in sorrow are the same tears that prepare you for joy? What if the very act of being broken is the beginning of becoming whole? Resources: Listen to Dr. Fluker's episode of The Cosmic We here. Grab a copy of The Tears of Things ⁠here⁠. To learn more about The Tears of Things and additional offerings, including the trailer, a FREE Reader's Guide, and more, visit ⁠thetearsofthings.com

Holy smokes, theology nerds – buckle up for a prophetic ride through Black Christology that'll completely recalibrate your understanding of Jesus and faith in times of empire. I am joined by Dr. Adam Clark as he traces the revolutionary lineage from Howard Thurman's mystical Jesus who refuses the "hounds of hell" (after being called a traitor to dark peoples for following Christianity), through Albert Cleage's literal Black Messiah who'd be riding in the colored section of Jim Crow buses, to James Cone's God who shows up at the lynching tree. At a moment when Christian nationalism weaponizes the gospel to enforce xenophobic authoritarianism, this prophetic tradition reminds us that authentic Christian witness is found in loving solidarity with the crucified of today. This isn't polite reflection, friends – it's resistance theology that exposes how God deliberately identifies with the oppressed, choosing foolishness to shame the wise and weakness to shame the strong. This episode might flip your theological world upside down, but that's precisely what good theology should do. To get Adam's lecture and four more, join the class,⁠⁠The Many Faces of Christ Today⁠⁠. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Dr. Adam Clark is Associate Professor of Theology at Xavier University. He currently serves as co-chair of Black Theology Group at the American Academy of Religion, actively publishes in the area of black theology and black religion and participates in social justice groups at Xavier and in the Cincinnati area. He earned his PhD at Union Theological Seminary in New York where he was mentored by James Cone. Previous Episodes w/ Adam: Thinking Liberation From Contemplation to Liberation The Living & Liberating Mystery Cancel Culture, Rogan, Whoopi, Chappelle, & the NFL Gary Dorrien & Adam Clark: James Cone and the Emergence of Black Theology Serene Jones & Adam Clark: Theology Matters and the Legacy of James Cone The Crisis of American Religion & Democracy: 1/6 a year later Christmas, BLM, Abortion, & the War on White Evangelicalism Jan 6th Theological Debrief: Adam Clark and Jeffrey Pugh Adam Clark: What is Black Theology? From Lebron James to the Black Panther: Black Theology QnA w/ Adam Clark Adam Clark: James Cone was right Upcoming Online Class:⁠ Rediscovering the Spirit: Hand-Raisers, Han, & the Holy Ghost⁠ "⁠Rediscovering the Spirit: Hand-Raisers, Han, and the Holy Ghost⁠" is an open-online course exploring the dynamic, often overlooked third person of the Trinity. Based on Grace Ji-Sun Kim's groundbreaking work on the Holy Spirit (pneumatology), this class takes participants on a journey through biblical foundations, historical developments, diverse cultural perspectives, and practical applications of Spirit theology. Moving beyond traditional Western theological frameworks, we'll explore feminist interpretations, global perspectives, and innovative approaches to understanding the Spirit in today's world. Whether you've felt the Spirit was missing from your faith journey or are simply curious to deepen your understanding, this class creates space for thoughtful discussion, personal reflection, and spiritual growth. ⁠As always, this class is donation-based, including 0. To get class info and sign up, head over here. ⁠ _____________________ ⁠⁠⁠Hang with 40+ Scholars & Podcasts and 600 people at Theology Beer Camp 2025 (Oct. 16-18) in St. Paul, MN. ⁠⁠⁠ This podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠ production. Follow ⁠⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 80,000 other people by joining our⁠⁠⁠ Substack - Process This!⁠⁠⁠ Get instant access to over 45 classes at ⁠⁠⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Thema describes curiority and shares the benefits of opening our minds. She then prepares concrete strategies to becoming more curious, more open. Intro and Outro music by Joy Jones. Opening reading by Howard Thurman. To learn more check out Dr. Thema's new book Matters of the Heart.