The church in a post-modern world is a loaded topic. Today we are dipping our toes into ideas around change. Change is scary. Change is hard. And there’s so much fear around unpacking old beliefs. Especially beliefs about things as important as God + the self.  Why change now? Because it happens anyways and for most of us, it's happening now. If you are deconstructing your theology, taking space from church, or are standing on the sidelines wondering: "Is it possible to integrate and hold onto my spiritual experiences when I’ve grown out of certain beliefs?” This episode is for you! 

Books mentioned in the episode: The Dark Night Of The Soul—St. John Of The Cross New Seeds of Contemplation—Thomas Merton Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth—Richard Foster Immortal Diamond: The Search For Our True Self—Richard Rohr The Genesee Diary: Report from a Trappist Monastery—Henri Nouwen Altogether You: Experiencing Personal And Spiritual Transformation With Internal Family Systems Therapy— Jenna Riemersma No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model— Dr. Richard Schwartz *Although mentions of therapy are included throughout this podcast, these are not legitimate substitutes to seeing a registered therapist.*

Intuition. Gut instinct. Creativity. Where does it all come from, and how do we channel it best? This question guides our playful conversation with creative coach and former spiritual director Maria Bowler. Maria's approach is one of helping others follow non-conventional wisdom and curious paths to come alive as people and artists. If you're looking to engage the meaningful work of your life (in poem, painting, novel or something else) don't miss this episode.  

Resources shared in this episode: 

“Big Magic”—Elizabeth Gilbert 

“If You Want To Write”—Brenda Ueland 

“The Artist’s Way”—Julia Cameron 

“Centering”—M.C. Richards 

"Love's Work"—Gillian Rose

Risk. Survival. Adaptation. Beauty. What does life in a war zone have to teach us, and how can we tangibly help those affected? These are questions Lauren and her sister Marie explored on a humanitarian trip to Romania in April. On this episode, they recount the stories of refugees they met at the border and explore how proximity to the pain of the world gives us the urgency to act.

Nonprofits mentioned in the episode:

Vital Solutions: https://www.vitalsol.org/ 

Fight for Freedom: https://www.fightforfreedom.ro/

501 Collective: https://www.501collective.org/

World Central Kitchen: https://wck.org/

Many of us go from the stability of "living the life we have always wanted" to experiencing a seismic event like death that splits our realities into a distinct before and after. In our conversation with licensed professional counselor Sarah Zollner Case, we explore how to honor our grief. Through the inconsolable ache left by loss, we learn how grief fortifies us with deeper experiences of awe and wonder for the life we live now. This episode teaches us through Sarah's own story of loss how to be more resilient, empathetic, and attuned to the meaning that is made in the presence of our experiences of suffering.

Lauren and Rachel go deeper into this quest for meaning in life and career pursuits led by thoughts from the mystic Parker Palmer and David Brooks' "The Second Mountain." What is a vocation? Is it a calling we are born with or stumble upon through trial-and-error? Who gets to define it and how does it shape our response to challenges and setbacks? 

Facing, feeling, and noticing. Those are all themes the mystics bring to our awareness. They affect our ability to listen, to engage in mystery, and to sink into a sense of belovedness as we also recognize there is space for the other. These themes present a continual invitation to look within at a time where society seems to be fracturing externally on every level. In the trailer to our first season, Rachel and Lauren cover their collective expressions of evangelical Christianity, and how as time has gone by, they've learned to value opening their lives to questions and paradox rather than quick-fix answers.