a contemplative meditation on Psalm 116 in three movements. For prayer, rest, and letting go

a guided meditation on Psalm 18

(for lying down)

for receiving the grace of rescue,

the promise of protection,

and the encouragement of God's delight

Contemplation, breathing prayer, and receiving God's Spirit.

Meditating on rowing through the night, against a headwind,

and the hardness of our hearts.

A Recording of a Healing Service.

45 minutes of mantra prayer together, after a meditation on the settling necessary to live the "Hallelujah":)

John dumps dirt and debris into a glass of water and swirls it around, lid-on tight, light many of us feel when the world, our experiences, and our mistakes are shaking around inside of our beings while we just try to keep it together.

Hallelu-YAH means "to shine with YAHWEH" and how often do we feel opaque, messy, contaminated, or inscrutable?

We need to settle.

Let the waters within us calm, and all the debris settle, so the light of God can shine through and be magnified.

We use these simple prayers to settle.

Ramona repeats them as we breathe:

I am Your child

Take hold of me

Mark 5:41

HOSANNA [Save Us!]

By Your Love [HESED].

Psalm 109

Rescue my Being [NEPHESH]

Heal me with Your Love [HESED]

Psalm 6

After a time a silence, we close with the prayer Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6

John sits down again with Paul Loring and Celeste Miller to hear about grief after the Holidays, as we get into the rhythms and hopes of the New Year while cleaning up all the decorative images of hope and connection. John also asks them about "meaning-making" this great task of curiosity at the center of healthy grief.

John sits down with Celeste and Paula, two grief counselors, to talk about the confusing nature of grief, the wall we have to walk through, and tangible ways to integrate our losses into our changing identity.

We're recording in the Advent season, balancing expectation and joy with the tug of fear, sadness, and mourning.

The Spiritual Dark Night, when we are so desperate for God's presence but we experience only thirst. It may not be a common topic, but vital and predictable. Every follower of Jesus will experience this Desert time, and probably multiple times in our lives. John and Heather talk with therapists and counselors Paula Loring and Celeste Miller about how to endure this horrific time of deep longing.

Heather Creamer returns to discuss the voices and temptations that interfere with our calling, and the posture that leads the the best sacred listening.

We believe a lot of lies about ourselves...

We’ve hear a lot of confusing messagesd

We’re lied to, and we lie to ourselves.

We mistakenly but easily conflate our worth is what we do.

One of our most important beliefs is what we believe about ourselves.

We need to believe that we are Called.

Heather Creamer and John Garland explore this experience of Calling, this "vocalization of God over us," which we refer to as "vocation."

We listen to Gilbert Hernandez talk about his experiences receiving healing and transformation, his prayer life, and spiritual lessons from his pet turtle! Gilbert introduces us to the difference between wounds and scars, and the power of directing our own healed hearts into the healing experience of others.

Thanks so much to our Episode Sponsors:

Psalm 139 and Lettuce