Today’s podcast answers the question from someone who has been often misunderstood throughout their lives and in their parish, to the point of becoming alienated from their parish. They openly admit they have Asperger’s and are on the developmental spectrum. Today’s podcast discusses what this means for us spiritually, and how to fit it into the spiritual life and also the parish life.

Today’s podcast reflects on one of the reasons why God sometimes feels so distant when we need Him the most during times of stress. The sudden onset of stress or a crisis, trigger many of us in ways that cause us to over function and over control because we suddenly don’t trust anyone or anything. This can cloud out the presence of God in our lives and cause Him to feel very distant, like we cannot connect with Him.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone seeking advice on how to find long-term success and stability in their relationships. Attachment issues can be a big cause of instability in relationship building. The hypervigilance for any sign of rejection in a relationship can make friendships hard to sustain. Becoming aware of these patterns and having balanced hopes and boundaries in relationships are discussed.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone who feels completely disconnected from God, specifically His love and forgiveness. Children, when in stressful situations, will often cope by blaming themselves. This can lead to a life of guilt over things they never did wrong. This can often lead to believing and feeling like the love of God is for everyone except us.

Today’s podcast offers a reflection on how the healing work is a profound way of taking up our cross as well as deepening our ascetical life. It is very important to be reminded that our healing work is not outside of our spiritual life nor contrary to it, but rather an integral part of our spiritual life and a great enhancer of it.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone who is suffering from social anxiety, to the point where they no longer interact with people or go outside. The constant ruminating over how we talked, communicated, or interacted, can cause some to completely avoid interactions. Today’s podcast focuses on casting a light on the path that the submitter of question can take so that the sound of their voice and their own thoughts do not cause them pain.

Abandonment and rejection are painful experiences that can make us feel like we have no emotional home. Also, they can make us live like we are living a life on the run; running from humanity, and from ever having those experiences again. Unfortunately when we do this, we will never heal and we will stay trapped in the abandonment and rejection we experienced. Today’s podcast answers questions from someone who had such experiences and is encouraged to bloom where they are planted.

Today’s podcast answers the question from someone who spent years in a monastery, but after some struggles stepped away but plans on going back. The submitter of the question is struggling with their understanding and perceptions of their experience, and wondering if they need more counseling to resolve what feels unresolved.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone who endured painful experiences at an early age and is struggling to understand how they can find their way back to a healthy place in the church, with God, and as a healthy orthodox Christian. Traumatic experiences leave us feeling bad, shameful, and defective. We often have to come to realize that it was the experiences that were deeply flawed, not us. Trauma teaches us to expect far more of ourselves than God would ever expect.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone who had a negative experience in confession and is afraid to go back. The discussion focuses on what healthy confession should look like and how confession is in encounter with God. It is an opportunity to, in an experiential way, experience the mercy and love of God. It is important that we find our way back to confession in order to give ourselves an opportunity for a positive confession experience and to unlearn the procedural memories that formed from the negative experience.