What makes mystics, mystics?

Often it's their deep connection to God through prayer and ecstatic experiences. Daniel London knows a lot about that, he's taught a course on English Mystics for years, and in this course he unpacks the subject with four audio presentations entitled:

What Is a Mystic

This episode is perfect for those who are looking to expand their understanding and practice of prayer.

Few questions have drawn people closer to God and pushed people farther away than this one: Why Suffering?

The Christian faith offers many responses, but the Dean of Virginia Theological Seminary, Ian Markham, really helps frame these responses in a thoughtful and reasoned way. His four audio presentations are entitled:

Origins

This episode offers hope and encouragement for those who are struggling over this perennial mystery.

One in every three Americans has a diagnosable addiction.

Wow.

This puts the majority of us in the position of caring for loved ones who find themselves suffering under the debilitating grip of addiction. Therapist and author Jonathan Benz knows all about this. He regularly works with individuals and groups combating addiction. In this episode Jonathan offers four audio presentations:

What Is Addiction?

What is Christian Mission and how do we do it?

As Ian Douglas explains, the focus has now changed - from the Church's mission to God's mission. In this course, Douglas unpacks this idea in four presentations:

The breathtaking awe, grandeur, and inspiration of cathedrals offer wells of insight into spiritual matters.

And when that cathedral, which was sanctioned by an act of Congress and sits in the shadow of America's federal government, is opened up to us to explore, a myriad of possibility unfolds.

In this episode Dean Randy Hollerith takes us on a personal tour of the 'cathedral of presidents' - the Washington National Cathedral and explains why it is rightly billed as a house of prayer for the nation. His audio segments are entitled:

Our culture has tended, up until recently, to think of serious sexual harassment as characterizing a bygone era. Scenes from the television show Mad Men, for example, set in 1960s advertising firms, startle us with the blatant sexism that female characters face.

A 2016 report by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on workplace harassment included the results of a random sample survey that found that 25% of female employees reported having been sexually harassed in the workplace. When the term "sexual harassment" was not used in the question, but unwanted sexual advances by employers were described, 40% of female employees reported having experienced these behaviors. When the question described people's being treated with hostility in relation to their gender (as opposed to experiencing unwanted sexual advances or sexual touching), that percentage went up to 60. This survey demonstrates, first, that sexual harassment in the American workplace is anything but dead, and second, that many women notice sexually inappropriate and gender-biased behavior in their workplaces but don't define these behaviors to themselves as sexual harassment. The harassment is happening, but victims don't always recognize it as such.

The problem of sexual harassment is remarkably widespread across the culture. The same EEOC report indicates that sex-based harassment is reported equally in federal workplaces, state and local government workplaces, and private workplaces, so the problem is not relegated to certain types of employer. The #MeToo movement has shown that sexual harassment doesn't fall into neat ideological lines either. Starting with Gretchen Carlson, multiple women accused Roger Ailes, CEO of Fox News of sexual harassment before he resigned in 2016, but women have accused left-leaning politicians such as Al Franken and journalists such as NPR's Michael Orestes of harassment as well. Sexual harassment is not limited to an ideology, a type of person, a type of job, or even to a single gender. 17% of the sex-based harassment charges examined in the EEOC report were brought by men, and a 2017 study by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission indicated that 90% of transgender individuals -- male and female -- experience workplace harassment.

Nor does harassment stop in the workplace. The sexual assault charges brought against numerous clergy members in recent years indicate that churches are no more immune to predatory sexual behavior than anywhere else. It is impossible to deny that sexual harassment remains a serious problem across the board in American culture.

A seldom-discussed but essential element in combating the racial turmoil of our age is rooting our efforts towards building racial justice in spirituality.

So says Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and keynote speaker at the Trinity Institute's 2016 conference, Listen for a Change: Sacred Conversations for Racial Justice. In this episode, Bishop Curry offers four talks addressing different aspects of racial injustice. They include:

Conversation

Every 7-8 years, one million Americans are killed or injured by firearms in a country that has nearly more guns than people. There were 14 mass shootings during the Obama presidency alone and while 90% of Americans are in favor of gun control measures, state legislatures continue to make guns easier to acquire and carry.

These facts are of grave concern to most Christians, including Episcopal Bishops Eugene Sutton and Ian Douglas who believe Christians can do more. They are founding members of Bishops United Against Gun Violence.and have spoken and written extensively on this subject.

In this episode, hear these gifted speakers address these topics:

The Unholy Trinity with Eugene Sutton

We live in increasingly divisive times. From politics to sports, the gift of human difference can quickly become a chasm of serious discord and division. What does it mean for good Christians to disagree? How do we do so faithfully? Should Christians protest? How should they do so?

In this episode we get answers from two prominent and in many ways, opposing camps. Social activist Ed Bacon believes Christians should be at the cutting edge of social protest. Ethicist Stanley Hauerwas believes Christians best shine their light by living faithful lives, as people distinct from the world. Their views come to light in these four sessions:

Finding Christ in Conflict

As we know, we are in the midst of what may be the most polarizing and contentious elections in recent U.S. history. Many observers note that the political rancor and rhetoric has reached all time highs, injecting unprecedented fear, division, and unease into our culture.

How do we make sense of this? How do people of faith respond? How do we remain calm and centered amidst our difference and tension, taking our roles as peacemakers and even prophets, seriously?

Renowned writer and theologian Parker Palmer believes our current political climate provides a rare opportunity to think more deeply about who we are as people and a nation. In this course, Palmer offers four Audio presentations:

Parker J. Palmer is an author, teacher, and activist. He is also the founder of the Center for Courage and Renewal.