Latter-day Faith

When we struggle with previously held beliefs, various actions and teachings of authority figures, and/or religious teachings and practices that seem to not be loving--or even harmful--we can find ourselves wondering if all our work of pulling-apart and examining each element that has made up our worldview will ever end. It is a frightening process, full of many ups and downs. Part of the deep angst we can feel during these times of confusion is our concern that perhaps we will have to give up everything, including spirituality. In this terrific episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by Brittney Hartley, a spiritual director who specializes in working with folks who want spirituality "without the nonsense." Brittney tells us of her own deep wrestles with faith, belief, religion, questions of meaning, including if anything means anything at all! Ultimately, however, she has emerged from the other side of these struggles with a greater and richer spirituality than ever before, just one that is not reliant upon beliefs, religious structures, or outside authority figures (except ones we might choose for ourselves). In course of the discussion, Britney works through nine important topics that provide grounding for a wonderful life—showing how each can come alive and add vitality to our lives even if we give up on truth claims and religious trappings. These are: Rituals Death Morality and Ethics Rewriting your sacred story Meaning and purpose Shadow and Inner Child Work Awe and Transcendence Community and Inspiration Self-Actualization and Human Flourishing This is an important episode that many listeners will connect with in deep ways, and if this path is not really for them, it will be for others in their circle. Formally religious or not, listen in!!!

In Part 2 of this very powerful two-part episode, Jana Spangler and Jody England Hansen join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon for a discussion of the close relationship between mental and spiritual trauma and our bodies. Much of what they offer is also true of physical trauma, but their primary focus is on how to recognize, understand, and find healing for our bodies and minds by exploring what is less obvious than specific bodily injuries. So often, we don't even notice how mental, emotional, and spiritual trauma affects our bodies, nor understand how it is these very bodies hold wonderful keys for healing and new creation. Do we find ourselves acting and reacting in ways that don't align with our cognitive understandings? Why is this? Is it possible that our bodies have learned to become hyper-aware of potential threats to our well-being, and will therefore trigger reactions we don't understand? I've already dealt with has happened to me. Are we, perhaps, having trauma reactions that override our conscious situational awareness that tells us we are in a safe situation? Trauma causes both subtle and noticeable reactions, sometimes storing memories of bad experiences in certain areas of our bodies. And the best path to healing from these traumas and how they not only affect us but also others who can't understand what's going on with us as we react emotionally or physically in inexplainable ways. And, as we do pay attention to our bodies, we can often find clues to the originating events and fears that are manifesting in us. From there, if we are to heal, we will need to go inward, inside our life experiences, and sometimes even into the life experiences of those who have hurt us. Inner work is never easy, but it always pays off as we learn to face our pain and fears. It is from this work, that new neural pathways, and new understandings, new equanimity, and refreshed hope will spring forth. There is no way to adequately describe the insights, recognitions, and validations this discussion holds. You will definitely want to listen to this episode and share it with friends and family who may not understand you—or even themselves. Links to things referred to in the podcast Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, (Penguin, 2015) Teresa Pasquale, Sacred Wounds: A Path to Healing from Spiritual Trauma (Chalice Press, 2015) Film: The Wisdom of Trauma, available at thewisdomoftrauma.com To learn more about the traumatic experiences that were part of the debacle of Natasha Parker's excommunication proceedings, listen to Latter-day Faith Episode 90–91, "Witnessing Even When Things Hurt so Badly"

In this very powerful two-part episode, Jana Spangler and Jody England Hansen join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon for a discussion of the close relationship between mental and spiritual trauma and our bodies. Much of what they offer is also true for physical trauma, but their primary focus is on how to recognize, understand, and find healing for our bodies and minds by exploring what is less obvious than specific bodily injuries. So often, we don't even notice how mental, emotional, and spiritual trauma affects our bodies, and also understand how it is these very bodies hold wonderful keys for healing and new creation. Do we find ourselves acting and reacting in ways that don't align with our cognitive understandings? Why is this? Is it possible that our bodies have learned to become hyper-aware of potential threats to our well-being, and will therefore trigger reactions we don't understand? I've already dealt with has happened to me. Are we, perhaps, having trauma reactions that override our conscious situational awareness that tells us we are in a safe situation? Trauma causes both subtle and noticeable reactions, sometimes storing memories of bad experiences in certain areas of our bodies. And the best path to healing from these traumas and how they not only affect us but also others who can't understand what's going on with us as we react emotionally or physically in unexpected ways is to recognize where our bodies are hurting. And, as we do, we can often find clues to the originating events and fears that are manifesting in us. From there, if we are to heal, we will need to go inward, inside our life experiences, and sometimes even into the life experiences of those who have hurt us. Inner work is never easy, but it always pays off as we are able to face our pain and fears. It is from this work, that new pathways, new understandings, new equanimity, and hope will spring forth. There is no way to adequately describe the insights, recognitions, and validations this discussion holds. You will definitely want to listen to this two-part episode and share it with friends and family who may not understand you--or even themselves.

In this episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by the wonderful, gifted, powerful author Carol Lynn Pearson to talk about her most recent book and the ideas that underlie it. The book, The Love Map: Saving Your Love Relationship and Incidentally Saving the World, is the flowering of a more-than-forty-year interest that Carol Lynn has had in the deep energies of the soul and universe that are at play in both societies and individual human lives. In this book, she focuses on the chakra system, which outlines seven energy centers in our bodies, each with its own different but vital contribution to our well-being, both physically and spiritually. Carol Lynn uses the metaphor of "kingdoms" in speaking about the contributions of (and potential dangers inherent in) each chakra, but focuses on the fourth kingdom, the "heart" chakra, as the most important for our love relationships. But learning to live and flourish in this kingdom only comes after all sorts of inner wrestles, especially with ego and the dangerous (and wonderful) energy of the third kingdom in which "power" is preeminent. Through compelling narrative and first-person voice, The Love Map, traces the journey of human history as Carol Lynn describes the type of energy that is ascendent in different chronological epochs, as well as through developments in the life of Joanna, a young woman, the narrator, whose three-year marriage is nearing collapse. The book is a depiction of Joanna's hero's journey. The book's voice and prose allows us to understand ourselves and human development writ large through dramatic encounters with each energy in a way that isn't accessible through more academic approaches. We "experience" our lives in these kingdoms, and we are grateful to Carol Lynn for teaching us of these kingdoms through story, which includes humor, heartaches, and faced fears. You don't want to miss this book! Nor this conversation!

The title of this episode is the title of a poem written by this week's guest, Selina Forsyth. The poem, which she reads here, contains several wonderful metaphors that most of us can definitely relate to. In many ways, a work like this poem can aid us in actually coming to know our own selves better. The episode certainly contains conversation about the covenant path and spiritual journeys—rich territories in and of themselves. But it features much more. It discusses the creative process and its many parallels with revelation, instruction, and experiencing things at a much deeper level than when in our typical waking lives. In fact, for those who have struggled with meditation or other spiritual practices, diving into the world of creation/co-creation and working with our hands, our voices, and our imagination can often be a catalyst that assists us in coming to know more of what mystics know. It has paid off for Selina, and as an example, she credits it with a complete change in how she understands scripture. As the discussion turns to the poem itself, it raises several issues. One is the power of religious narratives and accompanying rituals have to, in some cases, lull us into a sense of being above the fray, and actually harming our sense of urgency to explore God and Spirit more deeply. In other sections, Selina and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon discuss various other things including the less formal stories we tell, and how goodness is far more powerful and affirming of God's presence in our lives than are ideas and theories and teachings. It's a terrific discussion! Come meet the wonderful and powerful Selina!

This episode is a follow up to Latter-day Faith 137, "The Hero's Return," which was released this past August. That episode featured a discussion between Stephen Carter and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon about an aspect of the Hero's Return model that is one of its lesser studied elements: the decision by the hero/heroine to return to their society of origin, bringing with them the insights and power they have gained from their journey. In this follow-up, Dan Wotherspoon adds a few additional insights about that pivotal decision that weren't explored in the first podcast. In order to help understand the cycle and the return better, Dan introduces and tells the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, penned by Richard Bach some fifty years ago. The fable is about a seagull who understands that there is more to a gull's life than being in the large flock that follows fishing boats and feeds on its scraps. Jonathan gains the sense that the key to unlocking a higher form of life is through flight for flight's sake, and through great effort, experimentation, risk, and practice he comes to new and rich understandings. After more and more training by other gulls on a similar journey, Jonathan differs from many of them by eventually choosing to return to the flock in order to serve other gulls who are interested in flight more than fighting for fish discarded by boats. Dan then focuses on the struggle to return, which most heroes only do reluctantly and that requires them facing different inner and outer obstacles. And if and when they do return, he introduces Joseph Campbell's notion of their ability to be a "master of both worlds." There is much in this episode that relates closely to spiritual journeys in general, including Mormon ones. Listen in!

We often hear the terms "holy" and "holiness," and we have a general sense of what they mean. But it is always good to look at familiar terms and concepts through different lenses, different eyes, and this is what we have done in this episode. In it, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by Mark Crego and Kajsa Berlin-Kaufusi, both of whom are scriptural scholars as well as partners with Dan in the Faith Journey Foundation, to examine "holiness" from many angles. Does something "holy" necessarily entail that it is accessible only by those who qualify themselves first through holding certain beliefs or behaving in certain ways? Is being "holy" better understood as a state one reaches, or is it perhaps understood best as an ongoing process? What are the linguistic roots of the word "holy," and how do these connect with language and ideas we are familiar with today? Is "holiness" achieved or uncovered, revealed? How have these concepts affected Latter-day Saint lives? What teachings and emphases come the closest, and which miss the mark? These questions and many other aspects of holiness come forth in this wide-ranging but focused discussion among friends. We hope you will tune in for it!

Today's show focuses on the Prosocial movement, a network of people who are studying and testing and putting into action practices guided by principles that put people first. Our guest, Jordan Harmon, a therapist with strong Latter-day Saint roots who practices in Utah, is part of this movement and brings it into focus for those of us who may never have encountered it. In the process, we learn what study has shown to be key factors in the success of groups whose goals are focused on the well-being of people, the biosphere, and this planet with its limited resources. He draws us into the work taking place in many fields, including his own, and leads us through the movement's guiding principles. In the final third of the discussion, he and Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon turn their attention to religion and how certain ideas, ideals, concepts, and phrases might align with prosocial notions and practices. And, of course, as they discuss religion, Mormonism and some of its notions make their appearance. Listen in! You will learn a lot and find yourself chewing on many of the conversation's wonderful morsels.

Many of us understand the basic structure of what Joseph Campbell has named "the hero's journey" and the wrestles and transformations it requires. But one element that is usually underemphasized is the final step in the journey, which is when the hero returns to community. In most cases, the journeyer comes back to the society and culture she or he had left, but even in the cases when it isn't back where they began, their journey isn't complete until they bring their transformed selves back to the real world, back into community. They left "home" because their society was sick, but now, through their journeying, they have obtained the secret elixir, some sort of healing knowledge and power that can overcome the disease and inspire others to go find it for themselves. In this terrific conversation, Stephen Carter joins LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to discuss various aspects of the hero's return. Does the hero have to physically leave her or his community in order to complete their journey? And if they can't or do not want to separate physically, what sort of things are helpful in assisting them in gaining a different kind of distance and some breathing room to do their healing and gain new perspectives? How will the hero know they are ready to fully reintegrate into community? Are there clear internal signals for them to watch for? This episode also contains an intriguing take on "judgment." How does a lens of judgment affect our experience in community, as well as in our healing work? Listen in! You will be glad you did!

Elder Bruce R. McConkie once proclaimed, "Obedience is the first law of heaven," which is an interesting statement when compared with Jesus's declaration that the first of all laws is love. Has the modern Church followed Elder McConkie's path, overemphasizing obedience over love? More recently, President Russell M. Nelson has proclaimed that "Obedience brings blessings, and exact obedience brings miracles." All of this is interesting for when we examine that actual scriptural meaning of "obedience" we find that it means nearly the opposite from claims like this. Can we turn "obedience" into mindfulness and love? This episode explores the dangers of "exact obedience" and the joys of turning obedience upside down. Listen in on this conversation between two Faith Journey Foundation chairs: Mark Crego and Dan Wotherspoon