Six Ways From Sunday

There couldn't be a more fitting time than right now to be speaking with Kevin Gangel - non-profit and corporate leadership professional, change management consultant and keynote speaker, and co-founder of Unstoppable Conversations. Kevin is a fellow Albertan, and like Ben, narrowly escaped a career in aerospace engineering, enjoys craft beer, and cares deeply about the future of our planet and our species. As always, this conversation dives deep into difficult and important, existential questions, from "why do I exist?" to "what could happen if I became 100% responsible for my life?". At a time when all of us are grappling with what works and doesn't work in our relationships, careers and communities, Kevin provides some ridiculously valuable insights and thoughts on the nature of transformation and the "being" of living life as an unstoppable "human being". Thanks for joining us!

This week Robin and Ben talk about "ascension day", the 40th day after Easter when Christ's ascension is celebrated in the Christian Church. When Jesus leaves his disciples (again) they are found standing around staring at the sky, likely feeling a bit lost and uncertain about what would come next. Perhaps even feeling a longing to go back to the way things were, for things to just be "normal" again and to have Jesus there with them in person for a little longer. We are in many ways in a similar place right now as a society, struggling with feeling like we're alone, longing to be back together again, wishing things could return to normal. Spiritually, many of us are feeling disconnected, displaced, maybe even homeless or lost. The good news is, there isn't a way back, but there's a way forward. Thanks for joining us this week.

(DISCLAIMER: We had a microphone malfunction toward the end of the episode this week, so there's a few minutes that had to be edited out and a short segment where Robin's audio isn't great.)

Kelly Henry (she/they) recently became an official member of the Bashaw United Church congregation, even though she lived in a city roughly an hour away. Finding a church family/home where you can feel safe, welcome, connected and comfortable is not always easy, and for those in the LGBTQ2S+ community it's also not something you might expect to find in rural Alberta, in a town of 860 people. Still, Kelly stumbled upon our little community of faith in Bashaw (and online), and is now part of our family. We talk about how we stay connected as a church family throughout COVID times, how the pandemic uniquely impacts the queer community, and also how churches can be public, intentional and explicit about being safe and affirming spaces where all are welcome and loved. Thanks for joining us!

How we celebrate Mother's Day, and other important, big, life events in the midst of a pandemic, says a lot about the ways we connect and come to know one another. It could also be an opportunity to rethink how we know God, who is after all, alive in all of us and transcends any physical separation, time or distance.

The last time Javan came on the podcast we talked about his film, "Facing Fire". Well today we're talking about facing "fear". In the midst of a global pandemic that has all of us wondering about the future and feeling more uncertainty, anxiety and fear than we normally grapple with, it's important to take a look under the hood and examine our relationship with fear itself. One of my favourite statements that Javan shares in this conversation is that "fear based living doesn't support life." We talked about the way fear plays a critical role in how we operate, but if left unexamined fear can also act like an infectious disease that is very disabling and damaging. We discussed some powerful tools for how to increase our "emotional sovereignty" and developing a practice of allowing fear to move through us without paralyzing or controlling our behaviours.

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If you'd like to learn more about "voice dialogue" or any of the other practical life-design tools Javan shares in this episode, get in touch with him through his website at https://allpointsdesign.ca/life-design/intro/

Meet Tammy. She's a registered psychologist in Ponoka, finding new ways to deliver mental health support services to her existing clients as well as new clients who are feeling the effects of home isolation, anxiety, fear and other struggles during this COVID-19 crisis. Tammy has a great story and incredible passion for her work, and she also shares some really valuable tips and suggestions for how we can all practice some critical self-care.

After a month of lock-down and pivoting to live streaming and zoom calls for everything from book club meetings to pastoral care and Sunday morning church services, how are we as "the Church" meeting the spiritual health needs of our communities? Rev. Stephen Harper from Symons Valley United Church in Calgary joins Rev. Robin King and Ben Wilson for a conversation about the role of church as front line spiritual health care providers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We've been through a rollercoaster of emotions this week, not only in following along with the journey of Holy Week and leading into Easter, but also in following the news of a global pandemic that has both isolated and united all of humanity like nothing we've seen in our lifetime. It's been a transformative experience already, and we're not through it yet. So was Easter. And as much as we'd like things to just "go back to normal", how is that even possible after this? How is it possible after Easter and what Easter really means for each of us?

If you're starting to lose track of what day of the week it is, today is Thursday and Palm Sunday is only a few days away. We're all in COVID-19 self-isolation mode, so how do we celebrate this important religious tradition? It's hard to be festive when you can't have all the festivities. But it's also an opportunity to look at Holy Week a bit differently, to walk through each of the days of this coming week in a new way and reflect on the Easter story with this current crisis in mind. How did the people of Jerusalem receive Jesus on Palm Sunday? Waving palm branches, parades and shouts of "Hosanna" have traditionally been the trademarks of a joyous celebration of the arrival of Jesus. The word "Hosanna" has more than one meaning, though, and this week Robin and I spent some time diving into not only what it means literally, but also what Palm Sunday and Holy Week will mean for us this year in the midst of a global pandemic. Thanks for listening.

In the two weeks since our last podcast, the COVID-19 outbreak has gone from "totally under control" in Trump's words, to a fully global pandemic with many millions of people on full lock-down or voluntary self-isolation, and NYC as the new epicentre of the crisis. Change sometimes happens a lot faster than we're ready for, and we've all had to adapt in so many ways, learning to use new technologies to stay connected, keep working, educating our kids and caring for the sick, vulnerable and elderly. Our society, our supply chains, our hospitals, governments and our faith institutions all carry on, and we're all figuring it out as we go. Through this wilderness journey, God is with us all. This week Robin and I chatted about how the pandemic is impacting Rising Spirit Ministry and what we've been doing to keep our community of faith connected. Thank you for being with us!