Authentic Living

When life events, difficult circumstances and relationships come our way, we tend to get all caught up in what is going to happen next, and what strategy we can use to make it turn out the way we want it to. To do any less than that, it seems, would be to lay down and let life roll over you. But there is a way to be fully involved, yet fully surrendered to a deeper more authentic process that is happening always throughout all of our life events, circumstances and relationships. We can learn to trust the process. That's what this show is going to be all about. Don't miss it.

We are currently living in some very difficult times. Times of darkness, times of betrayal, times of fear, times in which we cannot trust the people in power to do the compassionate and humane thing. How do we learn to thrive in the midst of those flames? Eckhart Tolle talks about the difference between pain and suffering, and what we shall see, in today's discussion, is that the difference is the difference between despair and thriving. These circumstances in which we find ourselves today are demonstrating to us the shadow of American consciousness. And we must learn how to walk through those shadows, turning on the light of consciousness in our own minds all along the way. Working with shadow material is one of the most effective ways to thrive in the midst of darkness. Tune in to learn more.

There is a form of religion that has, over the past 10 years or so, taken over larger and larger portions of the American psyche. It is a religion made up more of fear of evil than love of and from the divine. It is a religion made up more of laws and judgement than compassion and redemption. It is a religion which allows plenty of room for hate, and recrimination of other people--and it is led by a leadership that Jesus would have called vipers and white-washed sepulchers. These modern-day Pharisees are, according to Jesus, keeping people from entering the kingdom of heaven. So, this is a difficult subject, but we are going to bravely go where many are afraid to go: We are going to offer a more authentic version of this religion.

There is a form of religion that has, over the past 10 years or so, taken over larger and larger portions of the American psyche. It is a religion made up more of fear of evil than love of and from the divine. It is a religion made up more of laws and judgement than compassion and redemption. It is a religion which allows plenty of room for hate, and recrimination of other people--and it is led by a leadership that Jesus would have called vipers and white-washed sepulchers. These modern-day Pharisees are, according to Jesus, keeping people from entering the kingdom of heaven. So, this is a difficult subject, but we are going to bravely go where many are afraid to go: We are going to offer a more authentic version of this religion.

We welcome Dr. E back again to the Authentic Living show this week for the fourth time, this time to talk about her latest book, “Untie the Strong Woman.” For many years, Dr. E has been sending a message to the world that the feminine aspect of humanity is powerful, beautiful and essential. The depth of her understanding of the feminine aspect of human (both male and female ) consciousness has facilitated an increased global awareness of the essentiality of the conscious expression of this power. And that is exactly what we’ll be talking about on this show. Author of the bestselling “Women Who Run With the Wolves” Dr. Estés has also been conducting online events at Soundstrue.com on specific topics relevant The Dangerous Old Woman, topics on which previous interviews have here on Authentic Living have been conducted. This week we are going to learn how to untie the feminine. Don’t miss it.

Generally speaking, we think of morality as a good thing. People should, we think, honor certain codes of behavior in order to prove that they are good people, and in order to maintain order in the world. But what we don't commonly know is that morality can often be a poor substitute for authenticity. We don't know it, but we are commonly doing the right thing, instead of doing the true thing. Yep, that's right, there can be a big difference between what's right and what's true. And today's show is going to point out that difference, as well as explore how authenticity gets us closer to a true spirituality than does morality. Don't miss this important show.

We live in a social environment now in which hate is overt, active and visible. Not so very long ago, in fact, just prior to the election of our current President, hate was hidden, covert, and only active in a passive/aggressive fashion. But there are many people out there today who are trying to tell us that hate is a good thing. That it is an essential survival skill. That, of course, we hate, for how could we feel any other way toward people of other races, other cultures, other skin colors and other sexual orientations, and gender identities. But hate is a response to fear. And fear is a response to ignorance. There is so much that we fear that we really have no reason to fear. So what do we do with all of this? We learn to find the love beneath the hate. This show is going to show us just how we can do that. Don't miss this important discussion.

We have lived for so long and so deeply entrenched in the good/evil paradigm that we truly believe that striving to be good, and fighting the so-called good fight against evil is the business of being a person. Indeed, we think it is the business of life. But what if we knew that the ONLY thing we need to do is peace. What if peace were how we survive? What if peace were how we negotiate with others? What if peace is how we form relationships? What if peace is the body? What if peace is the soul? What if peace is the big IT. Well, maybe it is. And we are going to figure all that out this week. This big fat deal of peace. Don't miss it.

This year, we’ve heard a lot about the bullying of gays and lesbians in schools all over the country. What we don’t hear so much about is the bullying of members of the GLBT population in churches and in Christian communities all across the nation. In fact, both overt and covert bullying is most often done by people who want to exclude members of the GLBT population based on the erroneous notion that God hates them, or wishes them punished or excluded. Well, today, we are going to be talking to United Church of Christ minister, Candace Chellew-Hodge, author of “Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians.” While far too many still think that the words “Christian” and “Gay” and “Lesbian” are oxymorons, Chellew-Hodge will tell GLBT Christians how to reclaim the authentic self and survive the onslaught of abuse coming from their own communities. If you fall on either side of this issue, you are not going want to miss this show.