It’s easy to express words of love. But, as we know, love is most powerfully expressed through action. When we love someone, we automatically act in the best interest of our beloved. We want to protect them, care for them, and do whatever we can to ensure that their life is as rich and full as possible.

If we claim to love the Earth, then that love too should be expressed in actions of care, protection, and enrichment. And one of the most basic ways we can love the world practically is through living more simply and consuming more mindfully. Simplicity and mindful consumerism ensure that we live lightly on the Earth. But these practices also free us from the clutter and materialism that so often rob us of peace and aliveness.

In this episode of the EvoFaith podcast, we explore what it means to love the world, and ourselves, by nurturing the spiritual practices of simplicity and mindful consumerism.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

To truly love something or someone we have to get to know them. The same is true for loving our world. Until we get to know the Earth and the life that fills it, we can never really love it. But our increasingly technology-driven lives often keep us from a deep, loving connection with the natural world that sustains us.

One of the pillars of authentic spirituality is a deep and ever-growing connection with the world. And if we are to connect with and love the world, then we need to get to know it as deeply as we can. That’s why I consider diving deep into nature to be an important and life-giving spiritual practice.

This episode of the EvoFaith Podcast explores why learning to know our world is so important. And it offers some simple suggestions for connecting more deeply with nature in all its moods.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

Authentic spirituality always leads us to be more deeply connected—with ourselves, others, the world, and God. In the last few weeks, we’ve talked about loving ourselves and others as an integral part of our spiritual practice. Now we focus on loving the world.

There is so much in our world that is magical, wonderful, and awe-inspiring. When we miss it, we don’t only lose our capacity to love the world. We lose our souls. This means that nurturing our capacity for awe is not just good for the Earth. It is good for us—for our bodies, hearts, minds, and spirits.

In this episode of the EvoFaith Podcast, we explore the power of awe, and some simple practices to increase our capacity for, and experience of, awe. All of which empowers us to connect with and love the world more deeply.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

One of the primary things that cause conflict and pain in relationships is when communication breaks down. But when communication is strong and clear, it brings healing, connection, and alignment to our relationships. This means that one of the most loving things we can do for others is to be mindful and intentional about how we communicate.

We love others when we do the work to be aware of how communication works and to be proactive in each stage of the process. We love others when we take the initiative to make our communication as clear and helpful as possible. And we love others when we recognise the differences in our communication languages and work to accommodate one another. 

In this episode of the EvoFaith podcast, we focus on the spiritual practice of intentional communication and how it can be a profound act of love for those around us.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

In our turbulent and busy world, we can easily fall into taking shortcuts in our relationships. We can get so busy, stressed, and rushed that we short-circuit our communications and end up connecting in shallow and cursory ways. And we leave each other feeling unheard, unimportant, and unloved.

It's essential that we learn to slow down and listen thoroughly to one another, bringing openness and curiosity into our interactions so that we can deepen our relationships. If we truly seek to love others, then listening is one of the greatest gifts we can give. And that's why learning to love listening and learning to listen as an act of loving are essential spiritual practices.

In this episode we continue exploring how we can be better at loving others. We look at how we can bring ourselves more thoroughly into our interactions and connections with others. And we will be focussing on the important role that listening—attentively and wholeheartedly—plays in our relationships. 

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

Sometimes the biggest challenge in loving others is when we don’t actually want to connect at all. Without a desire and a choice to connect, we can’t give or receive love in any real way. But how do we connect with others in ways that deepen our love? And how do we find a reason to connect with those we think of as destructive, unjust, or even enemies?

In this episode of the EvoFaith podcast, we explore what it means to connect with one another, how we can make the daily choice to connect, and what it means to connect with and seek to love our enemies.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

Too often our relationships - with family, friends, neighbours, strangers, and even opponents - break down because we close our hearts and minds to one another. It is impossible to truly love another person with a closed heart. Learning to stay open is an essential spiritual practice if we are to be lovers of others. But in a world where things change constantly and rapidly, and where there is so much from which to protect ourselves, staying open isn't easy. It takes intentional, courageous work.

This episode of the EvoFaith Podcast explores some of the primary barriers to love and how we can overcome them. And it offers some clear, practical guidelines for nurturing openness so that we can love others more deeply and find the full and abundant life that deep connection brings.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

When we face the struggle of a polarised world, a world at war, a world with huge gaps between rich and poor, we may think that Jesus was naive about putting so much emphasis on love. It can be tempting to believe that lovers get crushed under the violence of our world and that we have to be fighters if we are to survive. But I can’t let go of the conviction that our richest, best, most meaningful life can only be found in the realm of Love, with a capital ‘L’. Yes, you can survive without love, but you can’t live. Not fully. Not abundantly.

For the next few weeks, we’re going to explore what it means to love others. Not just family friends, and lovers. But neighbours, strangers, and even those we would think of as enemies. In this episode, we’re focussing on what we mean when we speak about loving others. And we’ll explore some foundations that can help us to become, in healthy and appropriate ways, more loving human beings. 

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

How well do you know your own mind? Do you have a good awareness of how your mind works and what helps it to function at its best? And how much do you love your mind as it is, with its thoughts, ideas, dreams, and imaginations? Or do you find yourself wishing that your mind was more like someone else's?

We’re often at war with our own minds. We speak of ‘not being in our right minds.’ We ask ourselves, ‘What were you thinking?’ We get ‘out of our minds’, our minds can ‘spin out’ and we can ‘overthink’ things. We all have times when we wish our minds would work ‘better’ but we seldom define for ourselves what ‘better’ means. 

But unless we love our minds we cannot function at our best and we cannot love ourselves.

In this episode, we’re exploring our minds—how to understand them and love them. And we’ll talk about how learning to embrace your mind’s unique way of processing, synthesising and interpreting data is an important and life-giving spiritual practice. 

The study in Science mentioned in this podcast is this one by Wilson, T. D. et al. Science 345, 75-77 (2014).

The Sam Harris quotes are from his book 'Waking Up: Searching for Spirituality without Religion'

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

How comfortable are you with emotions? Particularly your own emotions and especially those that we consider 'negative'? How much do you truly love your heart, your emotional self?

Most of us aren't really that great at loving our hearts. We resist, deny, hide, and repress the emotional responses that arise in our hearts. But how can we love ourselves if we can’t love our own hearts? And how can we fully and passionately love others if we’re constantly acting as a gatekeeper with our own hearts?

No emotion is more spiritual than any other, nor is any more healthy than any other. They can all be unhealthy when we can’t regulate or identify them and they can all be healthy when we give them the attention and care they need. The goal is to integrate our unique emotional range and repertoire into a life that embraces the whole of our human experience in positive, creative, and loving ways. And that means that learning to love our hearts is a spiritual task that requires intentional spiritual practice. 

In this episode, we’re exploring our hearts—our emotions and how to embrace them, express them in creative and healthy ways, and love them. And we’ll talk about how learning to regulate, label, and talk about our emotions is an important and life-giving spiritual practice.

The books I refer to in this podcast are:

1. Manopause by Lisa Friedman Bloch & Kathy Kirtland Silverman (affiliate link)

2. Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com