Hints and Guesses

"We have to know the darkness to be able to search for the light," according to Henri Nouwen.  And he goes on to claim that we need lostness, in the search for meaning.  With so much disorder, lostness, darkness, denial and confusion, I'd like to read most of a letter written by Nouwen that seems to address our age, people like you and me.  I hope you'll hear something encouraging, no matter how wild and meandering your path.  Enjoy!

In an age obsessed with "knowing oneself," how do we not get stuck in endless autobiography and self-absorption?  At its best, a healthy spiritual and religious life helps free us from the cul-de-sac of narcissistic feedback.  In the episode, we'll look at a story from Saint Antony, a paragraph from C.S. Lewis about hell, and I'll outline the four foundations of a spiritual life from the book Journey Into Emptiness by Robert Jingen Gunn (a book about Dogen, Merton and Jung).  See below for the link I promised in the episode about the Cree mountains of human development.  Enjoy!  

https://decolonialfutures.net/portfolio/fourmountains/#:~:text=Each%20mountain%20represents%20a%20stage,one%20mountain%20to%20the%20other.

https://www.patreon.com/c/kentdobson

Here's the final episode of The Christ Symbol.  This episode is about Authority and Resurrection (stage 6 and 7).  What does real authority look like?  What does it mean for a "grain of wheat to go into the ground and die?"  What is the nature of real change?  Hope you hear something from Jesus own transformed life, that may in fact trans-form your own.  Enjoy!

Here's the next episode in The Christ Symbol.  This episode is about Wilderness and Mission (stage 4 and 5), the necessity of the desert and the nature of a soul-oriented mission in the life of Jesus, a life transformed.  Hope you hear a hint or guess for your own spiritual growth.  Enjoy!

Here's the next episode in looking at Christ through a symbolic lens, a life transformed.  This episode is about Transcendent Encounter (stage 3), those moments we could not have predicted, manufactured, controlled, or made up.  Those moments when we know we are ushered into something larger.  Hope you hear a hint or guess for your own spiritual growth.  Enjoy!

What's going on with our thumbs?  Plus, the next episode in this series looking at the life of Christ through a symbolic lens, a life transformed.  This episode is about calling, the first nudges of our sense of meaning and destiny.  Hope you hear a hint or guess for your own spiritual growth.  Enjoy!

This is a long-format, unscripted, very personal conversation, with Paul Vanderklay.  We talk a bit about our stories, what it's like to be a pastor, what's been happening in the changing landscape of Christianity, and what the future might hold.  Check out Paul's YouTube channel for more content.  Enjoy! 

This episode is part of my series, Wandering through the Bible, where I look again at these ancient stories through a symbolic lens.  Beginning with a quote from Teilhard about the slow work of God, we then turn to the first stage of a life of Christ, a life transformed, the birth stories.  Special thanks to my Patrons.  Enjoy!

In this episode, I describe the changes faces of Jesus over the centuries, and what I mean by the Symbolic Christ.  I also explore in more detail what I call the three chords of listening to the Bible: story, context and symbol.  This is part of a series called Wandering through the Bible, where I return to some of the most important stories and images from the Christian tradition.  Hope you hear a hint or guess.  Enjoy!

I'm starting a new series on the Bible, particularly through the lens of symbol.  It feels like I've come back around again to the central stories and images of my tradition, but seeing and hearing new things.  To begin with, I'll be releasing parts of my audio book (A Grain of Wheat), which had only been free for my Patrons.  In this experimental audio book, I look at the stages of Christ's life, and the symbols that still feel potent.  Clearly Jesus lived a life transformed, and left a few hints and guesses.  No matter how you feel about the Bible, or what you might think, I hope you'll hear something meaningful and rich.  Enjoy!