Latter-day Faith

NOTE: This episode features a discussion between Jody England Hansen and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon about deep themes in Christopher Nolan's newly released film, The Odyssey. It contains a few minor spoilers, so if you haven't yet seen the film, you may not want to listen right now. If you have already seen it, you will likely be delighted to hear new perspectives that will enhance your own processing of your watching experience. Jody and Dan also bring up a few things from Homer's epic poem that were not included or explored deeply in the film. _____

One of Western literature's formative texts is Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, which tells the story of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, and his trials during and following his participation the Trojan War. It is often cited as a quintessential example of what Joseph Campbell has named the "Hero's Journey," in which a protagonist learns to face her or his deepest fears, including the consequences of their actions and how they have affected their families, communities, and the world. They then, with the wisdom they gained through their trials, find their way to heal and bless others.

In sharing their thoughts on the film, Jody and Dan often refer to this model, noting places where the hero's journey framing is helpful to us in understanding the nature of Odysseus's trials and why they are so important for him to face. One of these elements is the nature of the gods and monsters we must face in our healing processes—gods and monsters of our own creation that can lead us to do awful, even evil, things. As we descend into the innermost parts of our souls, is it possible we can then create something new and good?

The poem and film play with universal archetypes and themes that are familiar to us even as they are presented in settings that are quite foreign to our time and way of seeing the world. By telling the specifics of one person's journey, we can better see how we, too, face similar dynamics and decisions that we, in the midst of our confusing walk through this world, might to be able to see in any other way. Listen in! Tough material but spectacular payouts if we pursue the path it points towards.

In many people's minds he word "metaphysics" immediately conjures up thoughts of "woo woo" ideas and "spacy" people those who teach them under the banner of "metaphysics." And much that we find in these spaces indeed seems to be way too far out for most of us. But metaphysics has a larger and longer history, and is, indeed, a long-established branch of philosophy. It is the philosophical quest to find and understand the basic nature of existence, including the question of "why is there something rather than nothing"? It involves thinking beyond what the scientific method alone can fully describe. But throughout history, as science continues to unfold new things, metaphysicians seek to understand the implications of these finding in wider and deeper ways. In this episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon shares what he believes are important insights that certainly would fall within the category of "Mormon metaphysics" which are laid out in places in the Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, the LDS temple ceremony, and other teachings of Joseph Smith, especially those in the King Follett Discourse. These suggest that everything that exists in uncreated and at least capable of some sort of "experience." If everything is eternal, everything has intrinsic value, and everything is interconnected with everything else.

These insights provide a beautiful starting point for expanding our ethical concerns, reverence of other forms of life, and other spiritual sensibilities. Dan takes a pastoral turn with each, showing how Joseph's sensibilities about the foundational stuff of the universe are capable of changing us deeply once we learn to experience our own deep connection with what lies beneath what science can prove, but which in important ways seems to be lining up with many of its emerging discoveries. This still may sound "woo woo" to some, but hopefully it will be an episode that inspires new thinking and wider spiritual experiences.

Listen in!

Most often when we talk about doing "shadow work," we usually focus on pains, wounds, and fears that we've tucked away (in our shadow). We don't see them until we do this kind of inner work but they affect our lives in harmful ways. Carl Jung opened up a new window by recognizing a "golden shadow" that also operates in the deepest, repressed part of our psyche. A quick overview is that we have wonderful gifts that we don't put forward into the world. Sometimes our hesitation is the result of family dynamics, bad messaging, or even church-influenced taboos about staying in our place, yielding authority in our lives to leaders. Deep down we know we harbor many gifts, but we fear letting them step out of our shadow. In this episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by a brilliant therapist, Valerie Hamaker, and a certified life couch who has been working with clients for nine-plus years, Jana Spangler. Each of them adds much wisdom to the subject of the golden shadow, especially the dynamics of how it manifests or doesn't in our lives. We are all of us magnificent, light-filled, talented, whole beings. Why do we hesitate to own and project those parts of ourselves? Their conversation is brilliant. You must listen in!

Terri Petersen interviews Heather Pack for our series "women outside the Garden" discussing the concept of "holy disruptors" as those who challenge accepted norms to create long-term solutions. They explore biblical examples of women who advocated for change against the system of their day, including the Canaanite woman who challenged Jesus' boundaries and the five fatherless daughters who approached Moses to change existing inheritance laws. Heather emphasized that disruptors should focus on fixing systems rather than just creating chaos and highlighted how Jesus himself was a disruptor who encouraged others, particularly women to speak up and advocate for themselves. Terri and Heather discuss the concept of obedience and sovereignty in religious practice, particularly about President Nelsons quote "exact obedience brings miracles". They explore how Mormon women can navigate making independent decisions while seeking to live a life with God. This episode focuses on courages women in the Bible, willing to advocate for themselves, even if it means breaking the status quo

Heather's Website: https://timesoffaith.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/times.of.faith/ Free newsletter signup: https://times-of-faith.kit.com/free-bible-guide

In this monologue episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon shares some of his recent thinking about the ways Western Christianity has misinterpreted (or ignored) his actual teachings in such a way that we have the rise of Christian Nationalism, increased Patriarchy, name calling, scapegoating, devastating harm to individuals and families, and the notion that Christians have the right to pass judgment on everything! Dan approaches these issues by first asking if Christianity is right about its views that the primary problem in the world is sin (particularly individual sin), which therefore requires a "Savior" to overcome the effects of it and allow us to be "saved." Dan takes us through a fast survey of other religious traditions that don't see "sin" as the primary problem. Eastern traditions don't talk about it in any depth, naming instead things like people being out of harmony with the Tao, out of balance with one's surroundings, suffering because crave things to go the way we want them to but never will, etc. These traditions produce many adherents who are transformed, who see clearly, act harmoniously, are compassionate, eschew violence, and so forth. We Christians might say they are "Christlike," yet we know they became so without any thought of "sin" and "Saviors." So how do we see Jesus and his work differently? As we read scripture, we see that he proposed the two great commandments as forms of "Love." Wholehearted, fully conscious, love. He teaches of the virgins who were able to enter into his presence and why they were allowed. His responses to the temptations in the wilderness reveal much about him and what he is about, while also suggesting for us that we meet the challenges in our lives and fearfulness in the same way. He talks about the Kingdom of God being "within" us--not "out there" or a place to go to. And much more. Listen in! See if he makes a compelling argument that Christianity's ability to transform us in Godlike ways requires us to see Jesus and his actual messages in new ways.

This year's Sunday School curriculum is the Old Testament (better titled the Hebrew Bible). And before too long, those of us who follow the Come Follow Me calendar will begin moving into the study of the prophets Isaiah through Malachi. For most Latter-day Saints, this is generally their least favorite months of study. They don't contain much narrative, action, or other things that keep readers' attention.

But are there profound lessons to be learned from the prophets and their writings? The wise and powerful writer Richard Rohr thinks so, and this episode features some of his approaches. Latter-day Faith hosts Dan Wotherspoon, Terri Petersen, and Mark Crego have each recently finished his beautiful book, The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom in an Age of Rage and discuss their takeaways from Rohr's book, focusing on the way we presents the prophets as teachers, but also very much themselves "works in progress." Rohr even singles out two Hebrew Bible and one New Testament prophets as "unfinished" prophets. They also focus on one of the primary reminders in Rohr's book that prophets always come from "outside" a communities' power structure. And it must be so, because only someone not tied up in the various hierarchies (whether royal or religious/priestly) can truly look at the consequences/suffering inflicted upon others by their policies, teachings, and rites. It is very hard to worry about organizational and purity concerns and also see the big picture. Hence there is need for wise community members to critique what is happening and to offer paths it might follow to draw closer to its highest ideals and its covenant with God Rohr also argues that, as evidenced by their writings, each of the prophets have and are experiencing what he refers to as the "prophetic wisdom pattern": moving from "order" to "disorder" and then (in most cases) "reorder." When they notice failures in "order" they will become angry, railing on the failures of the leaders and community members. Others will exhibit great suffering themselves (such as in Jeremiah's Lamentations.") It is only after experiencing this great disorder themselves that they can and do begin to offer messages of hope. How can their lives and struggles be examples to us? Inspire us? Call us to learn to be truth-tellers who still very much love their communities? How might we be "faithful" and also voices who critique things in our circles from a place of love? It is rich material. Listen in as Dan, Terri, and Mark try to make sense of some of it!

In this remarkable discussion that is part of the "Women Outside the Garden" series hosted by Teri Petersen, Terri talks with Susannah Clarke about several topics, preeminent among them is "generational trauma." Based on the science of epigenetics, each of us inherit DNA from our ancestors, and carried within it are propensities, temperament, fears, and more. Not all manifest within us, but it is important to understand these as part of our makeup. One of the most difficult things inherent in our genetic makeup are the effects of any unhealed trauma our forbearers they may have experienced. Likewise, our own children will carry within them the effects of our own traumatic experiences. Hence, we are all called to learn how to heal those pieces of us in order to break the negative patterns we inherited. There are many remarkable things about Susannah Clarke, and Teri draws out of her the ways she confronted the effects of her own generational and personal trauma. It is a fascinating story that includes church messaging, divorce, and raising a profoundly disabled child, and her healing path she found through learning to advocate for her daughter as well as herself. Listen in!

Using as launching pad the Western Christian liturgical calendar celebration of Epiphany (the day recognizing Jesus's first revelation to Gentiles--in this case, the Magi) this episode is a discussion between LDF host and co-host Dan Wotherspoon and Mark Crego about the importance of being ready at all times and within any group to share our witness with others. As it says in 1 Peter 3:15: "and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear," Dan and Mark share how we might be able to do this effectively during or after our faith has begun to shift because the once easy "I know" responses no longer feel authentic for us.

How do we share what is currently going on with us in language that indicates the "hope" that is still in us? The hosts focus on three situations: speaking with active LDS family and friends, speaking with friends who want to tear down the church, and speaking with outsiders to our tradition. Listen in!