Latter-day Faith

Mental illness and other mental health issues are common among the human population, including among those who attend church and wrestle with religious questions. Sufferers may struggle to feel beloved and "seen" within their faith communities. In this episode, Susan Hinckley and I talk about our experiences growing up in homes deeply affected by mental illness. We also discuss the ongoing challenge of navigating these illnesses in our personal lives, as well as ways we each feel blessed by our unique difficulties and the wrestles into which they have led us.

We explore some of the reasons mental illness is perhaps considered more taboo and something to hide within religious (including Mormon) communities. What theological hurdles does mental illness bring into play? How might it create real or assumed distance from other members of our congregations?

We talk about bright spots that indicate an effort to normalize these struggles for Latter-day Saints, but also dive into the challenging effects of mental illness on personal spirituality and one's sense of connection with the Divine.

This is a very personal episode but one we hope you'll connect with, and share with anyone who might benefit from an open discussion of this topic. We'd love to foster increased awareness and conversation—in our homes, church communities, and within ourselves.

With quite a bit of help from the early twentieth century intellectual giant William James, in this episode host Dan Wotherspoon introduces two framings that assisted him greatly when his faith first began to shift. One is a model that contains four characteristics of religious/mystical/direct experience and helps differentiate such events from emotional experiences or other day-to-day moments when we feel close to God, feel God or the Spirit is "with" us, comforting us, etc. The second is the down-to-earth way that James, a skeptic by nature (but one who chooses to go where ever the evidence seems to lead rather than trying to fit what he sees and experiences into certain already-circumscribed and confining boxes), speaks about religion and its power in human lives. And he does this without feeling the need to get specific and express the dynamics of religious experiences in terms of "God's" actions in the world and in us. Wotherspoon introduces James' term, the MORE, as a much broader and yet very powerful category to elucidate that "something" that is beyond what our physical senses and intellectual faculties can touch. James speaks of an "intimacy" with this MORE that far exceeds that which we experience through other means. It's beautiful, and it's very helpful for anyone who feels uncomfortable or triggered by God-talk or typical spiritual/religious terminology. It can even help us explain to more traditionally believing family and friends what is going on within ourselves as we wrestle, and do it in ways that they might be able to understand and not be offended by. Please give this episode a listen!

With quite a bit of help from the early twentieth century intellectual giant William James, in this episode host Dan Wotherspoon introduces two framings that assisted him greatly when his faith first began to shift. One is a model that contains four characteristics of religious/mystical/direct experience and helps differentiate such events from emotional experiences or other day-to-day moments when we feel close to God, feel God or the Spirit is "with" us, comforting us, etc. The second is the down-to-earth way that James, a skeptic by nature (but one who chooses to go where ever the evidence seems to lead rather than trying to fit what he sees and experiences into certain already-circumscribed and confining boxes), speaks about religion and its power in human lives. And he does this without feeling the need to get specific and express the dynamics of religious experiences in terms of "God's" actions in the world and in us. Wotherspoon introduces James' term, the MORE, as a much broader and yet very powerful category to elucidate that "something" that is beyond what our physical senses and intellectual faculties can touch. James speaks of an "intimacy" with this MORE that far exceeds that which we experience through other means. It's beautiful, and it's very helpful for anyone who feels uncomfortable or triggered by God-talk or typical spiritual/religious terminology. It can even help us explain to more traditionally believing family and friends what is going on within ourselves as we wrestle, and do it in ways that they might be able to understand and not be offended by.

Please give this episode a listen!

This episode takes on the topic of healing, but foremost through the sharing of two healing journeys and the new world and sense of self that can open up when we find the courage to explore those messages and wounds that we pick up through life that distort our vision of reality, and especially our own sense of self worth. Too often, we choose to keep on functioning with certain stories of ourselves and others simply because they are known to us, they form the world we know that isn't great but at least it's predictable. Luckily God/Life/Love keep serving up to us invitations to go inside and figure out what is hidden in the shadows so we might heal from negative experiences and integrate in healthy ways the lessons and perspectives these have given us. Sometimes it is great love that causes us to start exploring our patterns and views, but far more often it takes great suffering and finding ourselves at the end of our own resources to deal with it that forces us to confront what we've tried so hard to hide from ourselves and others. That's not what we went to hear, but it is pretty close to universally true. In the discussion you are about to listen to, Carma Hyde and Shelly Wilkinson, two wonderful and brave women who have chosen to risk being vulnerable about their healing journeys, share sadnesses and messages and events in their past that have led them to seek and eventually find peace through going inward, facing shadows, and trusting that light and love would be with them all the way through. Both have now emerged as healers themselves, with one of them, Shelly, formally becoming a sought-out healer in the Salt Lake Valley. In addition to hearing their stories, we got to a more objective view, drawing from all our experiences to reflect on aspects of healing in general. Please listen in! You'll be glad you did! Dan

This episode takes on the topic of healing, but foremost through the sharing of two healing journeys and the new world and sense of self that can open up when we find the courage to explore those messages and wounds that we pick up through life that distort our vision of reality, and especially our own sense of self worth. Too often, we choose to keep on functioning with certain stories of ourselves and others simply because they are known to us, they form the world we know that isn't great but at least it's predictable. Luckily God/Life/Love keep serving up to us invitations to go inside and figure out what is hidden in the shadows so we might heal from negative experiences and integrate in healthy ways the lessons and perspectives these have given us. Sometimes it is great love that causes us to start exploring our patterns and views, but far more often it takes great suffering and finding ourselves at the end of our own resources to deal with it that forces us to confront what we've tried so hard to hide from ourselves and others. That's not what we went to hear, but it is pretty close to universally true.

In the discussion you are about to listen to, Carma Hyde and Shelly Wilkinson, two wonderful and brave women who have chosen to risk being vulnerable about their healing journeys, share sadnesses and messages and events in their past that have led them to seek and eventually find peace through going inward, facing shadows, and trusting that light and love would be with them all the way through. Both have now emerged as healers themselves, with one of them, Shelly, formally becoming a sought-out healer in the Salt Lake Valley. In addition to hearing their stories, we got to a more objective view, drawing from all our experiences to reflect on aspects of healing in general. 

Please listen in! You'll be glad you did!
Dan

Kajsa Berlin-Kaufusi is a wonderful example of someone whose spiritual connection has guided her and encouraged her even through her many spiritual wrestles. She has a varied and rich background, familial as well as scholarly, and in addition to being a mom of three, she teaches Ancient Scripture courses at the BYU Salt Lake Center. I know you'll very much enjoy getting to know her and learning about the various ways she has come to be able to bring together her faith and academic understandings, in addition to multi-cultural and multi-religious experiences.

She is powerful, and our discussion throughout highlights again and again just how vital it is that we first and foremost ground ourselves in and remain connected with the Divine. I believe you will also find fascinating the way she approaches scripture in her college classrooms, as well as those times in which personal and institutional revelations don't mesh. She is a great model for thoughtful, prayerful, soulful wrestling alongside a deep commitment to engagement and service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Please listen in!

Kajsa Berlin-Kaufusi is a wonderful example of someone whose spiritual connection has guided her and encouraged her even through her many spiritual wrestles. She has a varied and rich background, familial as well as scholarly, and in addition to being a mom of three, she teaches Ancient Scripture courses at the BYU Salt Lake Center. I know you'll very much enjoy getting to know her and learning about the various ways she has come to be able to bring together her faith and academic understandings, in addition to multi-cultural and multi-religious experiences.

She is powerful, and our discussion throughout highlights again and again just how vital it is that we first and foremost ground ourselves in and remain connected with the Divine. I believe you will also find fascinating the way she approaches scripture in her college classrooms, as well as those times in which personal and institutional revelations don't mesh. She is a great model for thoughtful, prayerful, soulful wrestling alongside a deep commitment to engagement and service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Please listen in!

This episode follows up on the notion that we are experiencing a transition time in today's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during which the outlines of one dominant way of being Mormon, thinking Mormon, living Mormon is losing sway, with another, a more experiential way, slowly rising and establishing itself as here to stay. Two great conversationalists, active church members, and astute trend watchers, Susan Hinckley and Mark Crego, join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to share reactions to the earlier podcast and its proposal. What did they hear about the proposal? What were their own reactions to it and how it was presented? How have they experienced the shift in their own wards or circles? What cautions do they have for those who feel called to be part of this movement to model new ways of interacting at church and in other typically Mormon settings they find themselves in? The episode is also full of broad themes that go beyond just the paradigm model, such as stepping into our own spiritual development, learning to experience God/Christ and speak of these in language that doesn't move into "correlation speak," and the call to be patient in trusting the slow work of God. Please listen in and comment below!

This episode follows up on the notion that we are experiencing a transition time in today's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during which the outlines of one dominant way of being Mormon, thinking Mormon, living Mormon is losing sway, with another, a more experiential way, slowly rising and establishing itself as here to stay. Two great conversationalists, active church members, and astute trend watchers, Susan Hinckley and Mark Crego, join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to share reactions to the earlier podcast and its proposal. What did they hear about the proposal? What were their own reactions to it and how it was presented? How have they experienced the shift in their own wards or circles? What cautions do they have for those who feel called to be part of this movement to model new ways of interacting at church and in other typically Mormon settings they find themselves in? 

The episode is also full of broad themes that go beyond just the paradigm model, such as stepping into our own spiritual development, learning to experience God/Christ and speak of these in language that doesn't move into "correlation speak," and the call to be patient in trusting the slow work of God. Please listen in and comment below!

This short(ish) episode contains the announcement of a change to the upcoming Latter-day Faith retreat for October 11th to 13th. Natasha Helfer Parker cannot be part of that event, so Jana Spangler, Jody England Hansen, and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon have re-designed it to focus more on spirituality, development, possibilities for reframing what we had previously experienced only in limited ways, various spiritual practices, and more. And though the episode was launched because of the changes needed for the upcoming event, the panelists all try to make what they share here relevant for those who might not even be able to consider coming to the retreat. What are some of the larger issues at play in LDS lives and faith journeys that serve as excellent jumping off points for our own spiritual reflections?