SoulStream, Living from the Heart Podcast

In this conversation, we sit down with professor, researcher, and Telecare Executive Director Bill Strom for a deeply meaningful exploration of what it truly means to listen. With stories from his life and insights from his research, Bill invites us into the heart of supportive listening as a practice that forms us, heals us, and draws us closer to each other and to God.

We talk about the kind of presence it takes to become a good listener, how listening shapes our relationships, and why becoming “small” might be the secret to hearing others well. Bill shares the impact of his work with Telecare Crisis and Caring Line, his studies on active listening, and how his journey of learning to listen has changed his life.

Topics we explore:

* Common listening habits (and how to move beyond them)

* Why face-to-face connection matters more than ever

* What Bill’s research reveals about the traits of a good listener

* How listening can be a way of healing

* The surprising ways listening transforms the listener

Resources mentioned:

* Telecare Crisis and Caring Line

* Free online workshop: Become a Better Listener

* Listen Up! half-day in-person workshop (offered each fall)

* Bill Strom’s new children’s book on communication, Professor Kipper Kidd Meets Meaning Mayhem

SoulStream Links:

Living from the Heart

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

Do you long to come home?

You’re not alone. Many of us experience a restlessness, a desire to come home to ourselves and to God. We grapple with the masks we wear and at times feel disconnected from our authentic selves in Christ. It’s a journey we all navigate, and together—during the Living from the Heart course—you will be invited to explore and experience a deeper sense of belonging and purpose.

An Invitation, Not a Program

Living from the Heart is not a program to complete or a set of ideas to master. It is an invitation to slow down, to listen, and to notice the movement of God’s Spirit within and around us. Through guided practice, shared silence, honest reflection, and community, we begin to release the need to perform or protect. We return to the simple and profound truth that we are loved.

The Transforming Power of Love

In time, we discover that this love changes everything. It gently reshapes how we see ourselves, how we relate to others, and how we engage the world. Not through pressure or urgency, but with increasing freedom, curiosity, and grace.

A Stirring Within

If something in you is stirring—a desire for deeper connection, a longing for spaciousness, or a quiet sense that there is more—you are not alone. Many who have walked through Living from the Heart began with that same wondering. And they emerged more grounded, more open, and more whole.

The Invitation is Now

Registration for the in-person intensive closes July 18, 2025.*

Learn more: https://soulstream.org/living-from-the-heart-course/

If you have questions or would like to talk more about what the course involves, feel free to email us at [email protected] and we will connect you with one of the facilitators.

*The in-person intensive is held at Carmel Hill in Deroche, BC, and Rivendell Retreat Centre on Bowen Island, BC. The application deadline for the online course is August 30, 2025.

In this episode, we sit down with Bradley Jersak, author, theologian, and university principal, for a rich and moving conversation about the life and writings of Simone Weil.

Bradley shares how Simone's fierce honesty and mystical vision changed his life during a season of deep unravelling. We explore her understanding of affliction, attention, desire for God, and the mystery of divine love in a suffering world.

We talk about what it means to pray without striving, the power of contemplative attention, and how Simone's refusal to look away from pain opens a path to compassion and solidarity. We reflect on her decision not to join institutional religion, her deep care for the marginalized, and how her voice helped spark change in the Catholic Church after her death at just 34.

This is a conversation for anyone who longs to hold the tensions of love and suffering, silence and action, mysticism and justice, and to live from the heart in the midst of it all.

Links

Awaiting God: A new translation of Attente de Dieu and Lettre a un Religieux by Simone Weil, translated by Bradley Jersak

Bradley’s website

More books by Bradley

SoulStream Links

Living from the Heart Deadline for in-person cohort: July 18, 2025. Learn more today.

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Peter Traben Haas, author, pastor, and contemplative guide, for a rich conversation about silence, beauty, and the invitation to deeper spiritual union.

From his home in the majestic San Juan Mountains of Telluride, Peter shares how landscape becomes liturgy and how the presence of God can be found in quiet walks, sacred words, and the inner stillness of centering prayer.

Peter opens up about the joy and challenge of pastoring in a place of overwhelming beauty, the soul’s journey through silence and suffering, and his recent Parkinson’s diagnosis.

Together, Rod and Peter explore the long arc of spiritual formation, from early mystical moments in childhood to discovering contemplative community and reintegrating the depth of Christian tradition.

Links

Centering Prayers: A One-Year Daily Companion for Going Deeper into the Love of God by Peter Traben Haas

Christ Presbyterian Church, Telluride

SoulStream Links

Living from the Heart (Deadline for in-person cohort: July 18, 2025. Learn more today.)

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

Felicia Murrell joins us to explore the life-changing influence of love in a world increasingly shaped by either/or thinking. Felicia is a spiritual director and companion, author, speaker, and master life coach. A former ordained pastor, she brings decades of lived experience in faith communities—and a profound attentiveness to the presence of love.

We speak of her southern upbringing and the spiritual tapestry of her youth, woven from diverse church traditions and a deep intimacy with God. We talk about centering prayer, the language of love, and Felicia’s invitation into a life shaped not by certitude, but by presence, openness, and awe.

Along the way, we touch on the influence of mystics like Brother Lawrence, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Father Thomas Keating, and we reflect on nature, community, contemplative practice, and what it means to live with a heart wide open in troubling times.

Felicia's book And: The Restorative Power of Love in an Either/Or World, a poetic and courageous offering for our time, anchors this conversation. She reminds us that love is not a concept to be grasped but a presence to be received.

Links

Felica’s website

Felicia’s book: And: The Restorative Power of Love in an Either/Or World

SoulStream Links

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

Living from the Heart

In this episode of the SoulStream Living from the Heart Podcast, we welcome poet, writer, and visual artist David Gate. David joins us from his homestead in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where he and his partner raise animals and grow food with intention and care.

David speaks honestly about his journey, from his roots in the UK and the charismatic church to his evolving spirituality, creative life, and the deep desire to show up with love. We discuss the beauty and messiness of community, the courage required to share your art, and the call to care for one another.

He reads from his upcoming book, A Rebellion of Care and shares what it means to live with open eyes and an open heart.

Links

David’s website

David’s Substack (See his latest post discussed during the podcast, Show the Hand of God or Punch A Nazi?)

SoulStream Links

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

Living from the Heart

What does it mean to truly come home to yourself? In this episode of the SoulStream Living from the Heart Podcast, I have the privilege of speaking with Tracy Cochran, author of Presence: The Art of Being at Home in Yourself. Tracy is a gifted meditation teacher whose journey has been one of discovering presence not only in peaceful moments but in life’s most challenging circumstances.

Join us as we explore how mindfulness can be a refuge, how mystery is an invitation to wisdom, and how Metta—loving-kindness meditation—can transform the way we relate to ourselves and others. Tracy shares stories of resilience, including her experience of embracing a voice tremor that became a profound teacher. She offers insights that bridge the wisdom of Christian contemplation with the gentle compassion of Buddhist practice.

This is a conversation about letting go of perfection, embracing the unknown, and finding kindness for yourself along the way. Whether you’re new to mindfulness or a seasoned practitioner, Tracy’s words will resonate with your heart.

Links

Tracy’s website

Tracy’s Book: Presence: The Art of Being at Home in Yourself

SoulStream Links

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

Living from the Heart

During this podcast conversation, we have the privilege of visiting with Helen Barry—a SoulStream partner, spiritual director, and Irish truth-teller with a love for poetry, the ocean, and humanity in all its glorious complexity.

Helen shares her pilgrimage from Ireland to Canada, from the rigid confines of institutional thinking to the wide-open spaces of contemplative living and loving community.

Born a little person, Helen speaks honestly about wrestling with anger toward God, walking through grief, and discovering what she beautifully calls “the gift of going deeper.” She reflects on decades spent living and working alongside people with disabilities in the L’Arche community and on her current calling to offer spiritual direction to those who have lived on the streets.

Thanks for listening, and please join the conversation! Add your comments below.

SoulStream Links

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

Living from the Heart

This week on SoulStream: Living from the Heart, we’re joined by writer, coach, and spiritual leader Kerry Connelly for a wide-ranging and deeply human conversation.

During our conversation we cover the themes of contemplation, justice, and healing.

We discuss Pause, her first book—a devotional for busy souls longing to stay grounded in the sacred amid the chaos. We explore how silence can become a spiritual practice of resistance and how reimagining the language we use for God opens up more space for love.

During the majority of the podcast, Kerry reflects on her anti-racism work, including her books Good White Racist and Wait—Is This Racist?, and the discomfort—and necessity—of naming systems we’ve been shaped by but often struggle to see and talk about. She speaks with honesty and care about grief, privilege, white identity, and the courageous inner work that leads to authentic action.

Links

Kerry’s Website

Photo: Kerry’s Instagram

SoulStream

SoulStream

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

Living from the Heart

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

Katherine Murray didn’t set out to be an advocate for peace. She simply kept showing up to the silence, leaning into contemplative practice, and listening for the still, small voice. One day, that listening led her onto a train bound for Ottawa—and later, to the United Nations.

In this timely conversation, Rod and Katherine explore discernment, courage, and the radical idea that peace begins within. Together, they sit with the sacred, everyday question: “What’s mine to do?”