Salvation Oracles on Reading Isaiah 43:1-5 by Walter Brueggemann

There is a long list of threats around us:

     terror,

     cancer,

     falling markets,

     killing,

     others unlike us in all their variety,

     loneliness,

     shame,

     death--

     the list goes on and we know it well.

And in the midst of threat of every kind,

     you appear among us in your full power,

          in your deep fidelity,

          in your amazing compassion.

     You speak among us the one word that could matter:

               "Do not fear."

And we, in our several fearfulnesses, are jarred by your utterance.

     On a good day, we know that your sovereign word is true.

     So give us good days by your rule,

          free enough to rejoice,

          open enough to change,

          trusting enough to move out of new obedience,

          grace enough to be forgiven and then to forgive.

We live by your word.  Speak it to us through the night,

     that we may have many good days through your gift.

~Walter Brueggemann

     from Prayers for a Privileged People

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SHOW NOTES

The pandemic has changed many things for each of our lives, yet our “real life” is still happening - children are graduating from HS, weddings continue to take place, and so on. How do we balance “Real Life” with everything happening around us?

Jeremy talks to Joel Roberts about how the pandemic is affecting us and how to stay sane and centered. They discuss some practices to engage in and put in place to stay grounded or centered during these times.

Suggestions

Union & Harmony W/God 

• Meditate

• Pray- Healthcare Workers, Leaders, etc. Scripture

Union & Harmony with Others

• Attending to family

• Call or text single friends-2 or 3/day Meals together with your family if possible

• Do a Zoom dinner with friends

Union & harmony with Nature

• Barefoot in Grass, Touch a tree or Rock. Grounding in Nature and Beauty. Feel Rain, or Breeze or Sun. Look closely @something natural

• Short walks, Alone or with Someone in your immediate family. 

Naming → speaking truth

• Grief

• Fear

• Loneliness

• Despair

• Joy

• Closeness

• Reduced "Busyness" / Restoration of slowing Down.

A Contemplative Question: What practices are you engaging in during this time that help you find union and harmony with God? Others? Nature?

What are some things that you need to name concerning how you are feeling, good, bad or otherwise in the midst of this pandemic? Are there things that you have been unwilling to name? Why?

Joel is a counselor and life coach dedicated to inviting people to discover their truest self, cultivate their hopes and dreams, and enter into their deeper story.

He received a Master of Arts in Counseling from Denver Seminary and specializes in men's issues, couples, trauma, military life, spiritual abuse, and the complex intersection of faith and sexuality.

Learn more about Joel at Deeper Stories

Mentioned in the Podcast

• Moment to Breathe - Salvation Oracles on Reading Isaiah 43:1-5

  Audio

Text:

There is a long list of threats around us:

     terror,

     cancer,

     falling markets,

     killing,

     others unlike us in all their variety,

     loneliness,

     shame,

     death--

     the list goes on and we know it well.

And in the midst of threat of every kind,

     you appear among us in your full power,

          in your deep fidelity,

          in your amazing compassion.

     You speak among us the one word that could matter:

               "Do not fear."

And we, in our several fearfulnesses, are jarred by your utterance.

     On a good day, we know that your sovereign word is true.

     So give us good days by your rule,

          free enough to rejoice,

          open enough to change,

          trusting enough to move out of new obedience,

          grace enough to be forgiven and then to forgive.

We live by your word.  Speak it to us through the night,

     that we may have many good days through your gift.

~Walter Brueggemann

     from Prayers for a Privileged People

JOIN US! Join the podcast discussion with others! If you are on Facebook - Join our Soul Care Conversations Podcast Facebook Group for more discussion and community.

SHOW NOTES

In this podcast, author and licensed professional counselor Michael Cusick talks about our souls need to be restored!  Cusick founded RESTORING THE SOUL, a ministry devoted to soul care. His work with men and women around the world has been life saving and profound. 

Steve and Gwen Smith met Michael in 2002 and did a week long intensive with Michael which helped them in life, marriage, and the work of Potter’s Inn.

In this podcast, Michael explores the Four “S’s” of the Soul—as they all start with an S—making them easy to remember.

1. To be Seen

2. To be Soothed

3. To be Safe

4. To be Secure

Michael is a Licensed Professional Counselor, spiritual director, speaker, and author of two books including Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle, a major work on helping men and women transform from pornography addiction; and Somebody's Daughter: An Experiential Guide. Having experienced the restoring touch of God in a deeply broken life and marriage, Michael’s passion is to connect life’s broken realities with the reality of the gospel.

In addition to leading Restoring the Soul, Michael holds an MA in Biblical Counseling from Colorado Christian University and an MA from the College of Education at the University of Denver.

Mentioned in the Podcast

• Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle by Michael John Cusick

• Try Softer by Aundi Kolber 

• The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Calhoun

• Restoring the Soul Ministry

• Moment to Breathe - Prayer of Relaxation with Gwen Smith

  • Audio

Lord Have Mercy

Nathan Grieser

Psalm 86

These prayers ring with urgency

Lord, turn your ear

We can’t say just what we need

Our words are scarce

You are our God

You lift us up

Lord have mercy, here we are

Have mercy on us all

Lord have mercy, in these storms

Let peace make landfall

When we’ve reached the end of what we know

When we’ve reached the end of our control

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy

You are our God

You are our strength

You lift us up

To glimpse a new day

Listen to more of Nathan's music at nathangrieser.bandcamp.com

© 2017 Nathan Grieser

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

JOIN US! Join the podcast discussion with others! If you are on Facebook - Join our Soul Care Conversations Podcast Facebook Group for more discussion and community.

SHOW NOTES

Kaylene chats with Nathan and Kate Grieser about the loss of Nathan’s sister Hannah in a tragic car accident. They share their emotional and timely story and grief journey – a journey they are still on.

Hannah and her husband Caleb

This conversation was recorded a few weeks before the Pandemic broke out. We didn’t know what was coming then, yet somehow it seems fitting to share this now at a time when many are dealing with the loss of loved ones while being isolated and in quarantine.

We hope this is a meaningful and encouraging conversation for you today.

Nathan and Kate Grieser live in Lancaster, PA with their daughters Ivy and Juniper, where they love to garden in their small backyard. Nathan is the director of The Shalom Project,  which empowers young people to pursue God’s wholeness and peace for themselves and the Lancaster community. He is passionate about living simply and sustainably, connecting with people on the margins, and creatively participating in God’s work of peace and restoration.

Kate works with Eastern Mennonite Missions, where she supports the Development director in cultivating relationships with donors, planning events, and dreaming about the future of EMM.

They both enjoy playing and singing music. Kate includes crocheting, cooking, and sharing time with friends and neighbors as what she enjoys most, while Nathan enjoys bicycle commuting and woodworking.

RESOURCES

• Moment to Breathe - Lord have Mercy, written by Nathan Grieser, sung by Nathan and Kate Grieser

  • Audio

  • Lyrics

  • Check out more of Nathan's Music  -  nathangrieser.bandcamp.com

Become a patron and receive special benefits at www. patreon.com/pottersinn.com.

Find more resources on Soul Care and our podcast on Potter’s Inn Social Media channels

• Facebook

• Instagram

• Twitter

Creating Space for our Souls in a Critical Time - Steve shares with us how he copes with being quarantined by reading poetry.

JOIN US! Join the podcast discussion with others!  If you are on Facebook -  Join our Soul Care Conversations Podcast Facebook Group for more discussion and community.  

SHOW NOTES

NOTE: We are returning to our previous schedule of one podcast a week, every Tuesday. However, our topics will continue to address the challenges we are currently facing. 

In today’s world of accusations of “fake news” and the erosion of “who can you trust?”—this podcast is important. Steve sits down with author, counselor, and teacher Sharon Hersh in a truthful and personal conversation about what is like to be diagnosed, live with, and recover from Covid-19. Sharon's voice and work is important in the world of soul care and her books have impacted us at Potter’s Inn because of her honest, Scriptural, and insightful way she talks about addiction, recovery, our true identity, and being the Beloved. 

In this world of pandemic fears, this conversation is one that we’d ask you to SHARE to your social networks and people in your sphere of influence.  Why are we asking this of you?  Because SHARING is the best way to get the word out about the podcast and its resources!  Please, listen first!  Then think of four or five friends you can pass this along to this week.  It’s important and you’ll see why once you listen!

ABOUT SHARON HERSH

Sharon A. Hersh M.A., LPC is a licensed professional counselor, speaker, and author. She has written several books, including the popular Bravehearts: Unlocking the Courage to Love with Abandon,  four books in the Hand-in-Hand Parenting Series, and The Last Addiction: Why Self-Help is Not Enough. Her latest book Belonging: Finding the way back to One Another will be released in Fall 2020. She is an adjunct professor in graduate counseling courses, including Sex and Sexuality and Addiction at Colorado Christian University, Mars Hill Graduate School, and Reformed Theological Seminary. She is a sought-after speaker at conferences and retreats. Hersh lives in Lone Tree, Colorado.

RESOURCES

• Sharon’s Website
• Belonging: Finding the Way Back to One Another - new book from Sharon, available August 2020

• Creating Space for our Souls in a Critical Time - Steve shares with us how he copes with being quarantined by reading poetry.

  • Audio

I never suspected
Resurrection
and to be so painful
to leave me weeping

With Joy
to have met you, alive and smiling, outside an empty tomb

With Regret
not because I’ve lost you
but because I’ve lost you in how I had you –
in understandable, touchable, kissable, clingable flesh
not as fully Lord, but as graspably human.

I want to cling, despite your protest
cling to your body
cling to your, and my, clingable humanity
cling to what we had, our past.

But I know that … if I cling
You cannot ascend and
I will be left clinging to your former self
… unable to receive your present spirit.

Mary Magdala’s Easter Prayer by Ron Rolheiser in Holy Longing

Picture Above: The Supper at Emmaus by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1601 Oil and tempera on canvas - National Gallery, London, United Kingdom.

JOIN US! Join the podcast discussion with others! If you are on Facebook - Join our Soul Care Conversations Podcast Facebook Group for more discussion and community.

SHOW NOTES

Easter feels different this year, doesn’t it? The loss of a tangible place to come together in community feels like a loss. Is this how the disciples felt when Jesus died on the cross? Did they feel alone, scared, and helpless?

Join us as we discuss Easter and the struggles we all face during this time of isolation. This is a beautiful, vulnerable, and honest conversation with all our hosts. They share what Easter means to each of them in 2020 and how Easter can offer us a sense of hope, as God is saying “I am here, trust me.”

Please join us in the conversation.

RESOURCES

• Meet the Hosts

• Moment to Breathe - Mary Magdala’s Easter Prayer by Ron Rolheiser

  • Audio

  • Text

Such Silence by Mary Oliver

As deep as I ever went into the forest
I came upon an old stone bench, very, very old,
and around it a clearing, and beyond that
trees taller and older than I had ever seen.

Such silence.
It really wasn’t so far from a town, but it seemed
all the clocks in the world had stopped counting.
So it was hard to suppose the usual rules applied.

Sometimes there’s only a hint, a possibility.
What’s magical, sometimes, has deeper roots
than reason.
I hope everyone knows that.

I sat on the bench, waiting for something.
An angel, perhaps.
Or dancers with the legs of goats.

No, I didn’t see either. But only, I think, because
I didn’t stay long enough.

– Mary Oliver, “Such Silence,” from Blue Horses