Living Our Beliefs: Exploring Faith & Religion in Daily Life

Episode 11.
Raised in an observant home, Susan has been a Jewish professional, educator, and artist throughout her adult life. Being married to a rabbi has reinforced, though not formed, this public engagement in the community. Now that her husband has retired, and her own engagement has mostly ended, they are in a post-retirement transition. In addition to hearing about Susan’s background and current transition, we talk about the challenges facing interfaith families.  

Highlights:
·    Her family switched from an Orthodox to a Reform synagogue for her confirmation.
·    Art, education and Jewish identity are deeply entwined for Susan.
·    Action precedes faith.  Observing the Mitzvot (Commandments) are critical steps in Judaism.  
·    She and her husband are in a post-retirement transition and the schedule is open.  

Quotes:
·    “I suppose I'm a person of faith, but I don't believe that my prayers to God will necessarily be answered.”
·    “In Judaism, actions are more important than faith. It's not enough to believe in God. You really have to live a Jewish lifestyle.”
·    “If you don't have anything grounding, how will you ever be grounded?”

References:
Hava Nagila & Utah Jazz sports – https://www.jta.org/2022/04/21/sports/why-do-the-utah-jazz-in-the-mormon-capital-play-hava-nagila-after-wins
the ‘old’ Hebrew Union Prayerbook – https://jweekly.com/1996/01/12/reform-movement-prayerbook-celebrates-century-of-existence/
Barbara Brown Taylor, Holy Envy – https://www.harpercollins.com/products/holy-envy-barbara-brown-taylor?variant=32117746139170

Social Media links for Susan:
Reform Judaism – https://www.reformjudaism.org/what-reform-judaism
My Jewish Learning – https://www.myjewishlearning.com/
Yontifications website, Susan’s Judaica (graphic design and jewelry) – https://www.yontifications.com

Social Media links for Méli:
Email – [email protected]
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Talking with God Project –  https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org


Transcript:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1851013/episodes/10573843-11-susan-fischer-weis-jewish-educator-artist/edit

Follow the podcast!
The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise:  Is your way similar or different?  Is there an idea or practice that you want to explore?  Understanding how other people live opens your mind and heart to new people you meet.     

Comments? Questions? Email Meli at:
[email protected]

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project. 

Episode 10.
Being a committed Evangelical Christian means living by example every day, not just on Sunday morning at her non-denominational church. Deana seeks to live the biblical precepts and inspire curiosity through example. As a life-long Christian with beliefs on the conservative side, having word and deed be shaped by scripture is what she’s always known.  

Her surety of belief provides a basis for interaction with people following other paths.  She welcomes the conversation and questions, as they either confirm her beliefs or prompt re-evaluation.  

Thoughtful guidance shows up in her podcast and her work with blended families, where the ‘inside’ blood relatives and ‘outside’ step people gradually find their places and become one family.  This takes time and dedication, but the parts do blend into one family.

Highlights of episode:
·       What it means to her to be a non-denominational evangelical Christian.

·       Living by example every day, not just on Sunday morning.

·       Challenges of parenting a blended family.  It takes time and effort. 

·       Moving towards marriage intentionally, guided by biblical precepts.

·       The value, and challenge, of taking time to listen, be quiet and be present.

·       How faith is woven into her professional life – comfort in Christian settings and growth through sensitivity in mixed settings. 

·       How to have civil dialogue across difference – listen and learn. 

·       Having steadfast faith yet being open to others. Confidence allows for questions.

 
Quotes:
“There's a cliché that you're the only sermon that some people will ever hear, or you're the only Bible some people will ever read. And so I really want to convey that with my life more, and then be invited into the conversation.”

 “I really like to let my life do the talking whenever possible.” 

“It's been great living out my faith in a capacity where it's super comfortable and I'm surrounded by it, but also living it out in a place where I do have to be more careful and gentle.”

 “So what I'm hearing Deana, is that what supports openness and connection with people who are different is a willingness to listen and learn.”

Reference:
See episode #5. Cathy Sirvatka – Faith in Jesus, for the alternate description of being evangelical that is referenced in this episode.

Social Media links for Deana:
Future Focused Parenting website ­– https://futurefocusedparenting.com
Facebook and Instagram – @futurefocusedparenting 

Social Media links for Méli:
Email – [email protected]
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Talking with God Project –  https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org

Follow the podcast!
The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise:  Is your way similar or different?  Is there an idea or practice that you want to explore?  Understanding how other people live opens your mind and heart to new people you meet.     


Comments? Questions? Email Meli at:
[email protected]

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project. 

Episode 9.
Shane's path in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called LDS or the Mormon Church) has had its share of change.  After his troubled teenage years, he got straightened out, grew during his Mission experience.  Family changes have prompted some adjustments in his beliefs and experience.  Despite the challenges, he remains committed to his Christian faith and the church's values, while honoring the complexities in his family, including opening his heart to the LGBTQ community.  Faith and family are supports for him, and he feels blessed to be a therapist providing family counseling, where he helps to strengthen loving relationships.

Social Media links for Shane:
Center for Marriage & Family Counseling website – https://cmfcdallas.com/
Podcast –  Help for Loving Relationships
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaneadamson/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/shane.adamson/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/shaneadamson/
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) –  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng

Social Media links for Méli:
Email – [email protected]
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Talking with God Project –  https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org

Transcript: 
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1851013/episodes/10339329-9-shane-adamson-mormon-lds-with-complexity/edit

Follow the podcast!
The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise:  Is your way similar or different?  Is there an idea or practice that you want to explore?  Understanding how other people live opens your mind and heart to new people you meet.     

Comments? Questions? Email Meli at:
[email protected].

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project. 

Episode 8.
Shabiha’s American upbringing by her Pakistani father and Guyanese mother and the multi-sect Islamic school her father organized built a strong base of knowledge about Islam.  She then committed to be a Muslim more seriously at Rutgers University, where her Islamic studies intensified and she began to veil, wearing a hijab.

Her Islamic identity and practice are foundational and inform her positive outlook.  She is an experienced and diligent pharmacist, committed to delivering excellent health care to her customers.  She is also a mother of two teenagers and an adventurous active woman.  In addition to supporting her mosque community, volunteerism includes being a co-leader of a local chapter of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom®.


Reference about Islam:
Al Maghrib Institute – almaghrib.org
Al-Huda Online – alhudaonline.org
Why Islam - whyislam.org
Yaqeen Institute - yaqeeninstitute.org
Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom – https://sosspeace.org


Social Media Link for Shabiha:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/shabiha-sheikh-4550475a

Social Media links for Méli:
Email – [email protected]
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Talking with God Project –  https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org

Follow the podcast!
The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise:  Is your way similar or different?  Is there an idea or practice that you want to explore?  Understanding how other people live opens your mind and heart to new people you meet.     

Comments? Questions? Email Meli at:
[email protected]

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project. 

Episode 7.
Maxine grew up in a Jewish home, including keeping kosher.  She has left that strict observance but retains the core identity and some observance.  Zen practice and meditation have been added, something she states proudly.  Improv has also been a part of her life, creatively and professionally. 

In her work with corporations, she combines business savvy, improv and humor in her Collaborcate® method to empower employers to improve the customer-employee relationship. 

Highlights:
·       Collaboration begins with yes/and.
·       Creativity comes from listening to the voice inside, and meditation helps you to hear it.
·       Judaism, Zen and improv all support her, and she finds connection and community readily.
·       She stretches herself to relate to people who are different, no matter how small the connection.
·       Being one means being present and open to the joy and suffering.
·       Be present, listen and lead with curiosity.

 
Quotes:
“I welcome anyone to go to any Buddhist temple whether they’re chanting or Zen, whatever they're practicing, and hear a chant and not feel the depth of it. And that's the magic of religion.”

“I love rituals. To me they just keep it so clean.”

“I think it's important wherever I go, to show up. I'm ‘gonna be present.”

“We don't have anything in the past. We have nothing in the future. It is about now. Are you allowing yourself to just be so present, either as the customer, [or] the representative of the service product?”

“Listening is one of the deepest gifts we can give to people.”

Social Media Links for Maxine:
LinkedIn – www.linkedin/in/maxineshapiro
Facebook – www.facebook.com/maxineshapiro
Twitter – www.twitter.com/maxineshapiro
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/maxineshapiro/
Website – www.maxineshapiro.com
Let’s Talk About CEX! The Customer and Employee Experience podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-talk-about-cex-the-customer-and-employee-experience/id1608414716

Social Media links for Méli:
Email – [email protected]
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Talking with God Project –  https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org

Transcript:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1851013/episodes/10218964-7-maxine-shapiro-jewish-roots-zen-practice-improv/edit

Follow the podcast!
The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise:  Is your way similar or different?  Is there an idea or practice that you want to explore?  Understanding how other people live opens your mind and heart to new people you meet.     

Comments? Questions? Email Meli at:
[email protected]

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project. 

Episode 6.
Brendan Killian reveals the entwined relationship between God, sobriety and his art making.  He talks about how he experiences God outside the church, yet continues to feel a calmness in an empty dark quiet church.  The aesthetics of a Catholic church, images he grew up with, continue to speak to him, even if the service distances him from God. Ten years of sobriety and the recovery movement, along with the prayers for every occasion, offer frequent moments of meditation and reflection.  The combination provide a response to the anxiety and fear that so dominate life outside his home and painting studio. 

Highlights:
- Art became an excuse to drink.
- Sobriety, daily prayer practice, and the recovery community.
- Beauty of a Catholic church appeals to his artistic eye as a painter.
- He carries booklets of AA prayers always.

References Mentioned:
Morning Prayer:
"God please direct my thinking and keep my thoughts divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-serving motives. Please keep my thought life clear from wrong motives and help me to employ my mental faculties that my thought life might be placed on a higher plane, the plane of inspiration."   The Big Book of Alcohlics Anonymous

Fear Prayer:
"God, thank you for helping me be honest enough to see this truth about myself and now that you have shown me the truth about my fears, please remove these fears from me. Please help me outgrow my fears and direct my attention to what you would have me be. Lord, demonstrate through me and help me become that which you would have me be. Help me do thy will always."   The Big Book of Alcohlics Anonymous


Social Media links for Brendan:
Brendan Killian website – https://www.brendankillianfineart.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/brendan.killian/

Social Media links for Méli:
Email – [email protected]
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Talking with God Project –  https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org

Transcript:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1851013/episodes/10117835-6-brendan-killian-god-sobriety-and-art/edit

Follow the podcast!
The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise:  Is your way similar or different?  Is there an idea or practice that you want to explore?  Understanding how other people live opens your mind and heart to new people you meet.     


Comments? Questions? Email Meli at:
[email protected]

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project. 

Episode 5.
In this engaging conversation with Cathy, a web design professional from Chicago, we delve into her walk with God and how she lives her faith.  From her Catholic upbringing through New Age, and on to her current home as a Born Again Christian.  Besides her path, we touch on the books of the Bible and some important terminology.  

Highlights:
-  Identifying as Christian rather than Evangelical.
-  Reading the bible as a daily practice.
-  Becoming part of a church community after initial reservations it was a cult.   
-  Personal relationship with Jesus enriches her life.
-  Proselytizing part of evangelical life but she's not comfortable with it.
-  Warmth of Christ's love has healed hurtful childhood.


Social Media links for Cathy:
Sirvatka Creative Services – https://sirvatka.com
Linkedin –  https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathysirvatka/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/cathysirvatka/
Ginger Creek Community Church – http://www.gingercreek.org/


Social Media links for Méli:
Email – [email protected]
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Talking with God Project –  https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org

Transcript:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1851013/episodes/10054096-5-cathy-sirvatka-faith-in-jesus/edit

Follow the podcast!
The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise:  Is your way similar or different?  Is there an idea or practice that you want to explore?  Understanding how other people live opens your mind and heart to new people you meet.     

Comments? Questions? Email Meli at:
[email protected]

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project. 

Episode 4.
Yasminah is many things – a wife, mother, writer and passionate Jewish educator.  She is a Jew of Color and as such is part of an increasingly visible minority within a minority.  Additionally, she is an Orthodox Jew with deeply held beliefs and practice.  The daughter of educators, she has been steeped in Jewish education since childhood.


Quotes:
“We are Jews through and through.”
 “I guess in most crowds, I say I'm a Jew of color, even though I truly believe I am a Jew, even though I am darker skin.”
 “I think each of us as individuals can do our part to be welcoming and inclusive.”
 “In Judaism, we don't believe that everyone has to be Jewish. Everyone has their purpose, their path. Yes, we ought to embrace that more and understand that. We’re supposed to learn from everyone. And yes, we need to be more of accepting of each other and other people.”
 “I guess human nature, sometimes we tend to be scared of the other, instead of recognizing that God Hashem created us all different and Hashem loves us.”
 “Every little bit that we can be the light to other people is such a Brachah, is such a blessing. And I feel like Hashem gives us the tools necessary to be able to do that.”

Highlights:
·       Yasminah is dedicated to her Jewish path, which has evolved over the years, from a Conservative upbringing to an Orthodox practice.

 ·       Raising their children within Orthodox Judaism is important to Yasminah and her husband.  They are continuing the heritage reaching back to our ancestors in the Bible. 

·       As a Jew of color, Yasminah is a minority within a minority, and the experience has strengthened her identity, but she sees herself as a Jew.

·       God/Hashem made us different, and we would be better off if we accepted those differences.

·       Each person has their path, and each way and level is good.  Observing the Mitzvot/Commandments are our connection to God/Hashem. 

Social Media for Yasminah, the first two created with her husband Ari:
Jewish Education Experience Podcast – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1257653
La-med Learning Center website – https://lamedlearningcenter.com
Flower of Hope blog  – www.flowerofhope.org

Social Media links for Méli:
Email – [email protected]
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Talking with God Project –  https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org

Transcript:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1851013/episodes/9980415-4-yasminah-respes-an-integrated-jewish-life/edit

Follow the podcast!
The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise:  Is your way similar or different?  Is there an idea or practice that you want to explore?  Understanding how other people live opens your mind and heart to new people you meet.     


Comments? Questions? Email Meli at:
[email protected]

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project. 

Yasminah is many things – a wife, mother, writer and passionate Jewish educator.  She is a Jew of color and as such is part of an increasingly visible minority within a minority.  Additionally, she is an Orthodox Jew with deeply held beliefs and practice.  The daughter of educators, she has been steeped in Jewish education since childhood.

In this engaging and lively conversation, Yasminah talks about how Jewish beliefs and practice are integrated in her life. 

Yasminah has several projects worth exploring,  the first two created with her husband Ari:
Jewish Education Experience Podcast – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1257653
La-med Learning Center website – https://lamedlearningcenter.com
Flower of Hope blog  – www.flowerofhope.org

Méli's research that inspired this podcast can be found here:
Talking with God Project – https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org
 

Episode 3.
Yusef and I explore the deep integration of his practice as a Sufi Muslim in an interfaith life.  He also explains the importance of the relationship with his Master/Sheikh and the path of Islamic mysticism.

Highlights:
·       While Yusef identifies as a Sufi Muslim, part of the Sunni tradition, he has much respect for Shia Islam and sees himself as a universalist. 
·       Yusef is incredibly grateful that he found a teacher and that his father converted to Islam. 
·       The relationship of Disciple and Master/teacher is a central aspect of practicing Sufism. 
·       His Order – International Sufi School Khidmatul Khadim – is broadly geographically dispersed, but mostly in Senegal.
·       Prayer, service, work and God are all entwined for Yusef.  It’s very hard to disentangle these elements that are so integral to his life and sense of self. 
·       Familiarity with and respect for the partner’s religion, along with commitment to their own practice, has facilitated a successful interfaith family with his wife, a practicing Catholic. 
·      Co-author of Shalom, Peace. Salaam.

Quotes:
“I feel just tremendously lucky and blessed to be on this path. I feel like a drunk who stumbled into the wedding feast and was asked to stay and given some nice food, and some you know a nice shawl to put on his shoulders.”

“In my particular Sufi Order there is a tremendous emphasis on being of service in the time and the place that you find yourself in, with the people that you find yourself. You know, we have a saying ‘work is worship’.”

“I'm kind of struggling too with the question about faith, because it just seems like integrated, an integrated part of my life in the same way as like eating or drinking or or breathing I guess would be.”

“It feels like I wake up in the morning. And you know, along with the desire for caffeine, there's a desire for prayer. And in the desire to you know, do my best for my family. So it's all kind of kind of wound up together. And I think it's kind of integrated into the fabric of who I am.”

Social Media links for Yusef:
International Sufi School website:  http://internationalsufischool.org
Shalom, Peace, Salaam – co-authored with Rabbi David Werb and Rev. Francis Cloherty:
https://shalompeacesalaam.org


Social Media links for Méli:
Email – [email protected]
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Talking with God Project –  https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org

Transcript:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1851013/episodes/9831533-3-yusef-hayes-gratitude-for-the-sufi-path/edit

Follow the podcast!
The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise:  Is your way similar or different?  Is there an idea or practice that you want to explore?  Understanding how other people live opens your mind and heart to new people you meet.   
  

Comments? Questions? Email Meli at:
[email protected]

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project.