The Cosmic Citizen

Roger Wayne Wolsey is a free spirit who thinks a lot about and feels a lot for God and Jesus. He’s a progressive Christian who identifies with people who consider themselves “spiritual, but not religious.” A trumpeter, Roger grew up during the “Minneapolis Sound” era of the 1980s and ‘90s. These experiences contribute to a musical approach to ...his theology. Roger studied philosophy and political science, graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, and earned a Master of Divinity degree at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO. Roger is an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church. He has taught Introduction to Religion classes as an adjunct instructor at Graceland University in Lamoni, IA. He has served as a pastor for churches in Minnesota, Iowa and Colorado. He currently serves as the Director of the Wesley Foundation campus ministry at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. Roger has a delightful 11-year-old son. He loves music, yoga, dancing, rock-climbing, motorcycling, trail running and hosting house concerts. Roger is also president of the board of directors of the Boulder International Fringe Festival and blogs for Patheos and the Huffington Post as well as for the Elephant Journal, a magazine for the Buddhist and yoga communities. For more on Roger: http://manlytheology.com/5-questions-roger-wolsey/

Our interview with Roger Wolsey has been postponed so that we can do a tribute to one of our heroes, Dr. Meredith J. Sprunger. Dr. Meredith Justin Sprunger left this world on April 17th, he was 97 years old. Meredith had a remarkable career as a college president, professor, and executive administrator, a licensed psychologist and therapist, and an ordained minister. He  served congregations in the Midwest and taught at Elmherst College and the Indiana Institute of Technology, functioning as the head of the Department of Psychology, Chairman of the Division of Liberal Arts, and as President. He was the last living colleague of Dr. William Sadler (1875-1969). Dr. Sprunger, a devoted scholar of the Urantia Book, served in numerous capacities including President of Urantia Brotherhood. He authored many secondary works to the Urantia Book, including A History of The Urantia Papers (which he co-authored with Larry Mullins), Spiritual Psychology and most recently The Abridged Urantia Papers. Dr. Sprunger was also founder of The Spiritual Fellowship organization. This segment will be of special interest to Urantia Book readers who knew Meredith and those who didn't. Please join us in tribute to this remarkable man. We invite you to call in and share your fond thoughts and memories of Meredith. Leave a written tribute: http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Meredith-Sprunger&lc=4119&pid=157104874&mid=5072839&locale=en-US

This week, in an effort to highlight many of the great shows in our archive, we are featuring a repeat of one of our favorite shows. Author Jennifer Skiff talks with Andre and Paula about her religious experiences and her book God Stories. Jennifer Skiff (link to bio), has collected a wide variety of testimonies from various faith-traditions; real stories of how God's grace has touched people's lives. She has also collaborated with Oprah Winfrey, as well as a team of Hollywood writers and directors on a dramatic television series based on the book. Jennifer Skiff’s award-winning career as an international television journalist includes more than a decade as an investigative correspondent for CNN. Her specialty is the environment and among other industry honors, she has received the prestigious Environmental Media Award. Passionate about animals and their welfare, she works with charities throughout the world to bring relief to abused and abandoned animals. A cancer scare in her early thirties convinced her that a divine presence was active in her life. Her journalistic instincts took over and she began a quest to find out if others had similar experiences. The result is her first book, God Stories, a collection of inspiring first-person accounts of miracle-like encounters with God.  You can read many of the stories Jennifer has collected at http://www.godstories.com/.

The emerging integral perspective provides an enlarged understanding of the evolution of consciousness and culture, leading to realistic and pragmatic solutions to our growing global problems, both environmental and political. Integral philosophy affirms the values and goals of progressive spiritual culture, but also seeks to “transcend and include” the postmodern worldview of the “cultural creatives” through an evolutionary perspective that reveals new insights about the evolution of consciousness.  Steve McIntosh is the author of Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution. An honors graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and the University of Southern California Business School, today Steve is founder and president of Now & Zen, Inc., an international manufacturing company marketing “natural lifestyle products” which he has invented.  Steve is an original member of the Integral Institute think tank, where he served in both the Integral Art and Integral Business branches. Over time, Steve has become a highly regarded independent advocate of the integral worldview, working as a consultant and giving lectures to large audiences.  Steve will also be the featured speaker at the Urantia Book Fellowship's Summer Seminar this August, Progressive Planetary Evolution.  Learn more at SteveMcIntosh.com

This week we continue our series on the importance of exposing ourselves to various faith traditions. While your religion is a matter of personal experience, it is most important that you should be exposed to the knowledge of a vast number of other religious experiences (the diverse interpretations of other and diverse mortals) to the end that you may prevent your religious life from becoming egocentric — circumscribed, selfish, and unsocial.  The Urantia Book 103:1.3  Andre Radatus is our co-host this week as Paula returns next week from vacation.  He is a lifelong student of the Urantia Book which he discovered when in high school. Andre has been a private school teacher for many years and is now on the Board of Directors of Urantia University. We plan to share quotes from the Urantia Book on the many truths found the different religions of the world.  We invite you to call in and share your personal religious experiences based on your spiritual path and faith tradition for the first hour. The show airs at 10 AM, MDT.  The call-in number is 646.716.8158 (Please call between 10:00 and 10:30 -  only the first half hour) Mountain Time US.  We look forward to hearing from you.  The Cosmic Citizen is a show for progressive religionists and spiritual people who are ready to find a spirituality worthy of an age of science and enlightenment. Please join us!

This week we continue our series on the importance of exposing ourselves to various faith traditions. While your religion is a matter of personal experience, it is most important that you should be exposed to the knowledge of a vast number of other religious experiences (the diverse interpretations of other and diverse mortals) to the end that you may prevent your religious life from becoming egocentric — circumscribed, selfish, and unsocial.  The Urantia Book 103:1.3  We have a guest co-host this week (and next) as Paula is on vacation with her family. Our dear friend, the lively and effervescent, Andrea Barnes joins us tomorrow.  She is a passionate student of religion, who found the Urantia Book at a young age and has been a devoted student of it for many years. She currently works as the ‘Volunteer Coordinator’ for the Urantia Book Fellowship.   We plan to share quotes from the Urantia Book on the many truths found the different religions of the world.  We invite you to call in and share your personal religious experiences based on your spiritual path and faith tradition. The show airs at 10 AM, MDT.  The call-in number is 646.716.8158 (Please call between 10:30 and noon Mountain Time US).  We look forward to hearing from you.  The Cosmic Citizen is a show for progressive religionists and spiritual people who are ready to find a spirituality worthy of an age of science and enlightenment. Please join us!

Felicidad,  Confianza y Traicion. Durante este programa explicaremos como al tener expectativas no realisticas, podemos estar creando problemas en nuestras relaciones. Este es un interactivo programa  en español. Su propósito es inspirar  y  educar para elevar la conciencia  del planeta.   Se discutirán temas  relacionados con la familia, la crianza de los niños; las relaciones extraordinarias, y la espiritualidad practica. Tambien exploraremos tópicos para inspirar la mente (ángeles, vida en otros planetas, energías superiores, etc.)  Finalmente  tendremos una sección de consejos y sugerencias para una vida mejor.

March 21 Trust, Betrayal and Happiness in Relationships Spiritual Engineering offers an entirely new approach to happiness and relationships.  It applies the scientific procedure to separate symptoms from problems, identify the root problem, evaluate the most effective solution, and then test and verify the results.

The Imam Kazarooni  has agreed to do the first half of our  show this week.  The Imam runs the Abrahamic Initiative in Denver, Colorado, at the Episcopal Cathedral and is just now in the process of moving to Dearborn MI.  Imam Ibrahim Kazerooni, 45, was born in Al-Najaf, Iraq, into a religious family and began his theological studies in that city when he was very young. As a Shiite Islamic priest, or imam, he emerged as an Iraqi dissident and was imprisoned repeatedly under Saddam Hussein. Fleeing the country in 1974, he says friends and relatives left behind were killed. He spent the next few years going around the Middle East trying to find a home, and early in 1977 ended up in London, where he went to university. He has traveled to many countries on lecture tours and currently resides in Denver, where he lives within walking distance of the Islamic Center and where he functions as Imam for the Muslim community. His library and study in his home are full of books, wall to wall, floor to ceiling, most in Arabic. He is a board member for several local municipal agencies, but it was his appointment as a Muslim cleric to the staff of St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Denver that attracted the attention of Homiletics. He serves at the cathedral as the Director of the Abrahamic Initiative. We will open phones afterwards and hope you can tune in.

En este programa continuamos presentando los cuatro niveles de felicidad correlacionados con las relaciones. Este es un interactivo programa en español. Su propósito es inspirar y educar para elevar la conciencia del planeta. Tendrá entrevistas con artistas, filántropos, personas de empresas e individuos que deseen compartir sus talentos hacia el servicio desinteresado a la humanidad. Finalmente  tendremos una sección de consejos y sugerencias para una vida mejor. This is an interactive show in Spanish, which purpose is to inspire and uplift the consciousness of the planet. It will feature interviews with artists, philanthropists; business people and anyone which desires to share their personal talents through   loving service. We will discuss topics about the family; children upbringing; extraordinary relationships; and practical spirituality. Also, we’ll explore topics such angels, UFO’s and other mind-provoking subjects.