This is our final podcast in or Healing Journeys with Science and Scripture Series. We finish with some practical applications of the Tree of Life Concept. We define the “Trauma Healing Trinity” as the Alienated Parent/Good Shepherd/Tree of Life. We look a little closer at a parable that helps us meditate on the Alienated Parent idea.

I also highlight one more time the authors who’s work were threads the the tapestry we wove in the podcast series.

Please as always, like and share, but also tell us how you might have transformed even a little with hearing how God and the Bible plays a role in healing trauma. We would love to hear how HJSS is working in God’s community.

Thank you for joining us on the Healing Journeys with Science and Scripture. If you would like to contact us or book a workshop, please visit www.littlepiecesclub.org

The YouTube Link for this episode is: https://youtu.be/-OHTOr394S4

This week we dive into the final of our healing journeys as we contemplate becoming a tree of life. After a brief review, we spend a little bit of time reviewing the three characteristics of God that help trauma recovery. The first is The Alienated Parent the second is The Good Shepherd and the final is The Tree of Life.

This week’s focus is the scriptural basis for The Tree of Life idea. With the help of BibleProject.com and their amazing video about The Tree of Life, we look at how many passages link back to this idea. We also talk about the spiritual considerations with becoming a tree of life and what that means for our trauma recovery. As usual you will have journal prompts for solitude and community and an opportunity to Test the Spirits and this week I suggest an activity to reinforce the concept: A walk in nature.

Next week we will look at applying The Tree of Life practically to our walk with healing, and I will make concluding comments about the entire podcast series as we have come to the end of our Healing Journeys with Science and Scripture adventure.

The YouTube Link for this episode is: https://youtu.be/beDfCbPpufE

After a brief review of previous material, we are spending time on the aspect of God’s character. That is the good Shepherd. This week we asked the question are humans to be good shepherds like Jesus. In order to answer this question, we look at the life and character arc of Peter the disciple. We watch him grow and make lots of mistakes and even be called Satan by Jesus himself. But the end of all of this we see that Jesus connects with Peter after his mistakes, and then puts him in charge of his flock obviously expecting him to become the Good Shepherd. We are encouraged to see Peter‘s life in our life and the hope that it brings as we walk through our hard times, knowing that someone like us who has failed so much has the potential to grow into a good shepherd.

We return to two special skills that we see reflected in the good Shepheard concept. The first we spend time on this week is fighting. It just makes sense that a good shepherd can provide both physical and spiritual safety for his flock. And we see this reflected in the life of David, as he defeated Goliath with the weapons that he learned as a shepherd. We also see Jesus providing physical safety when he calms the storm. But what we focus on most is the spiritual battle that unfolds in Mark 11 and 12. we see Jesus going into enemy territory of Jerusalem. And there he strikes blows and the leadership strikes back and he answers them with both his authority and scripture. The way for us to contemplate how we provide both physical and spiritual safety for those that we walk with.

Next week, we will take a deeper dive into the concept of grieving and forgiveness that is also interwoven into the Good Shepherd concept.

The YouTube Link for this episode is: https://youtu.be/LuJVpPOUne8

This week we look at the concept of ezer kenegdo, the rescuing challenging helper. In the West we have been used to hearing that the female Eve was created as a suitable helper for Adam….there is deep context and wisdom that reveals just how bad, sad and dangerous this mistranslation has been. Instead we unpack the co-equal and breathtakingly beautiful message God is giving us about how men and women should relate. On our healing journey this gives us a sharper image of our destination, and a benchmark for our relationships. When we are choosing who we spend time with, understanding ezer kenegdo’s and choosing them expresses our health and maturity. We look at three examples of ezers (one failure and two successes) to see what scripture has to teach us.

Then we ask the question “what does an ezer rescue us from?” We remind ourselves about the The Good Shepherd and being a lost sheep. Our spiritual identity is what is in peril. We go through a very detailed self-examination, based on the spiritual bondage breaking of Neil Anderson, to get a sense of the degree bondage our identity is weighed down by.

Now that we are done looking at our tools for the healing journey, in the upcoming episodes, we will get to know our Good Shepherd more intimately, and see how He rescues us from evil influences and manipulation.

The YouTube Link for this episode is: https://youtu.be/c2oQU4wrsGo

This week, we actually take a minor step back and take a deeper look into the idea of testing the spirits. We roll in the amazing work of Jim Wilder and his book called Renovated. Specifically, we look at the six negative emotions and how they map to the Greatest Blessing relationships that we have talked about. We take a very slow walk through assessing our negative emotions as they impact our relationship with God ourselves and others. This one might be best experienced with the YouTube video so that you can see the visual representation of the journal prompts that we talk about.

Please take your time with this one. These concepts are very powerful, very emotional and we will revisit them when we get to the podcast on forgiveness that is coming up very soon.

The YouTube Link for this episode is: https://youtu.be/xRZkHEw7Ivc

This week we tackle two skills for the backpack for our Healing Journey. First is Kabod (“Kavode). While most Western Bible interpretations translate Kabod as Glory, we need to make sure this word is read in a more full context. With the help of Good Shepherd author Kenneth Bailey we find out that kabod is not the Glory that we think of in our modern context. It is NOT popularity, although God is possibly the most well-known figure. No it specifically calls to mind a heaviness or weight of character that forms by overcoming suffering by staying loyal to God or Love, a character trait that leads to community blessing. This opens the meditative door of why would God suffer? How can we reflect this. This connects us to God’s character of the alienated parent who much watch His children be deceived by the Father of Lies who then suffer all the more. This discussion helps us frame the suffering that we endure, and often gives rise to very effective witness to trauma or adversity survivors. In short it helps us put ultimate meaning to suffering in the spiritual space.

Sabbath: Next we pivot to the ancient concept of Sabbath. (BibleProject video is a must: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/sabbath-video/?utm_source=web_social_share&medium=shared_video ) Looking at the spiritual meaning first helps us see how Sabbath helps us. First resting from the work that dehumanizes us and then delighting in God and His gifts is essential to restoring our souls admit the harshness of this world. For a person (lost sheep) it is a constant or even weekly reminder that God deems us worthy to accept his gifts, which works very strongly against the voice of shame that we 1) Don’t matter 2) Are defective or 3) are dangerous and must hide ourselves from the world to protect others. We end with skills and suggestions for self-reflection and planning a future us.

The YouTube Link for this episode is: https://youtu.be/fe0yBzY7ZG0

In this episode we get back to the tools and skills needed for the healing journey. First we see that attachment is flexible. Think back to The Serpent’s Journey where you had the chance to test your attachment. Here we begin to see that not only is attachment flexible, but active discipleship is about learning wise-attachment to God, self and others (the three relationships) Knowing the Good Shepherd helps begin our attachment journey. From our safe secure attachment and love from God, we are better able to attach to others and trust and be comfortable with ourselves. There is an activity near the end that helps bring the idea of your attachment to the surface.

The next concept we take a deep dive into is “Testing the Spirits.” In our modern context this means we can and should pause and contemplate our feelings rather than simply expressing them and being ruled by them. With a scriptural spin, this is taking all thoughts captive to the Spirit of God. Within this concept we borrow from psychiatrist Dan Siegel MD. When we begin to pay attention to Sensations, Images, Feelings and/or Thoughts we are SIFTing our minds. Any of these could reflect light OR darkness. We open our minds to the fact we can choose light and reject dark, even when the feelings have deep roots in our past or trauma.

As usual we end with ways to self-assess, discover deceptions, and consider how we use these concepts when we disciple (or walk together with God and others)

The YouTube Link for this episode is: https://youtu.be/8Zt-oi-Wr08

Today in this episode, we meet the Good Shepherd for the first time. We take a brief break from reviewing the tools and skills needed for this journey to in essence, begin with the end in mind and meet the Good Shepherd. After a brief review of last week’s material, we take the work of Kenneth Bailey and apply it to Psalm 23. Here we see in more context, the true nature and character of the Good Shepherd. We will continue to build out the scriptural basis of this concept and apply it to our healing journey in subsequent podcast episodes. But for now, I encourage all listeners to simply listen to the full character of the Good Shepherd and meditate on how he relates to our healing journey.

Next week we will again take a look at the new skills in concepts that we can develop along this healing journey that fill our backpack for the journey.

The YouTube Link for this episode is: https://youtu.be/0nDMBXoUNHk