"Lord, teach me to care and not to care."

It's been awhile since I needed to process with music. Found sounds here just outside my studio on a windy day. Here's our original release: https://ordinaryneighbors.bandcamp.com/album/the-necessary-dark

In this episode six members of the School of Contemplative Listening respond to our conviction that spiritual direction can solve (almost) all the world's problems. This is an episode in our onrunning Forum on Spiritual Direction series.

As we propose contemplative listening at the vital intersection of contemplation and justice, we are getting into the deeper terrain of existence. There are many reasons to fall into despair today. But if quiet ourselves and listen, we find that help and healing are not too far away. This is a movement from being victims to becoming witnesses.

This conversation has previously been between Josh Banner and Cami Beecroft Mann. We excited for you to receive the witness from others who have been studying and practicing spiritual direction!

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To learn about the School of Contemplative Listening:

theinvitationcenter.org/socl

To learn about the Invitation School of Prayer:

theinvitationcenter.org/school-of-prayer

Opening song - "Wrestle" by Kristi Hepp from the album, In Between the Gardens available at kristihepp.bandcamp.com/album/in-betw…n-the-gardens

All other music is by Josh Banner

We all need help. We can all offer each other help. Cami has taught me so much about these things!

This episode is a conversation Josh had with SOCL co-director, Cami Beecroft Mann in 2021. We consider this episode a prequel to the Forum on Spiritual Direction where Josh and Cami discuss the conviction that spiritual direction can solve (almost) all the world’s problems.

Download our free prayer guide, 40 Ways to Spend Five Minutes with God: https://theinvitationcenter.org/40-ways

Subscribe to the Invitation podcast:theinvitationcenter.org/subscribe

To learn about the Invitation School of Prayer:theinvitationcenter.org/school-of-prayer

To learn about the School of Contemplative Listening:theinvitationcenter.org/socl

Josh talks with painter, author, arts advocate Makoto Fujimura about the connections between creativity and prayer. To introduce Makoto Josh offers a reflection on Makoto as a 'worldly mystic,' how he offers for us in his paintings and writings ways to rediscover our own sacred yet earthly existence.

The video referenced "Mako Fujimura's Golden Sea": https://youtu.be/2B7_8w_FzPw

https://makotofujimura.com

Subscribe to the Invitation podcast:

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To learn about the Invitation School of Prayer:

theinvitationcenter.org/school-of-prayer

To learn about the School of Contemplative Listening:

theinvitationcenter.org/socl

Josh talks with Kristi Hepp about her new record "In Between the Gardens." This is the third episode that maps Josh's history with Oklahoma City where Kristi originally hails from. The focus question of this episode is the focus question of Kristi's record, what is a human being fully alive? In this episode, we discuss whether we could make a record that Kristi would want to listen to. Can she belong to herself? Can she even enjoy the sound of her own voice singing her own songs? We discuss the necessary fear and pain that the Holy Spirit invites us to name, and how loving ourselves requires us to receive God's love. And how this means getting honest with God about our deepest questions, doubts, and even anger.

Please support and share Kristi's music: https://kristihepp.bandcamp.com/album/in-between-the-gardens

Subscribe to the Invitation podcast:

theinvitationcenter.org/subscribe

To learn about the Invitation School of Prayer:

theinvitationcenter.org/school-of-prayer

To learn about the School of Contemplative Listening:

theinvitationcenter.org/socl

What do we do with suffering? Why would we want to cooperate with the pain? How can suffering be helpful?

There are many reasons to be concerned with the way organized religion handles these very vulnerable questions. In this episode, I talk with worship leader Charlie Hall, an old friend about these things. That we can engage such vulnerabilities after so much time--this bears witness to the mystical body of Christ that exists beyond time and space.

The prayer for this episode: that we might recover a deeper trust in God and other people, to be honest about our suffering, and not alone.

I visited Oklahoma City in December of 2017 to gain support during the launch of the Invitation as a not-for-profit. OKC had been a spiritual home for much of my early adulthood. This conversation with worship leader, Charlie Hall is the second of two conversations I recorded during that trip. As I review the previous conversation with Brock Bingaman (episode #94) and this one with Charlie, my heart is full of gratitude for the spiritual reality of the church.

Subscribe to the Invitation podcast:

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To learn about the Invitation School of Prayer:

theinvitationcenter.org/school-of-prayer

To learn about the School of Contemplative Listening:

theinvitationcenter.org/socl

This is a conversation I had with Brock Bingaman, pastor of All Saints Community Church in Oklahoma City, on the Jesus Prayer and a book he co-edited on the Philokalia. Brock is an old friend I was glad to reconnect with for this conversation. Maybe breath prayer could be especially helpful for your Lenten journey this year?

Books recommended in this episode: The Philokalia: A Classic Text of Orthodox Spirituality ed. Brock Bingaman and Bradley Nassif; The Orthodox Way, Kalistos Ware; Desert Fathers and Mothers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings—Annotated & Explained, Christine Valters Paintner

Subscribe to the Invitation podcast:

theinvitationcenter.org/subscribe

To learn about the Invitation School of Prayer:

theinvitationcenter.org/school-of-prayer

To learn about the School of Contemplative Listening:

theinvitationcenter.org/socl

This episode is a meditation on screwing with our dependencies in Lent.

In the language of the Twelve Steps of addiction recovery: we are powerless over our drug of choice, and our lives as we know them are unmanageable. The purpose of Lent is to subvert our addictions that we might become more dependent upon the love of God. But we cannot do this easily. We cannot force our way toward healing and holiness. When we over-function and strive toward God, we set ourselves up for regression.

In this episode we turn to the wisdom of Thomas a’Kempis, that we “uproot just one vice per year.” This is to say we must make a plan for Lent that is gracefully approachable.I encourage you to use the 40 Ways to Spend Five Minutes with God prayer guide for your Lenten practice.

The Invitation is a spirituality center that creates time and space for God at the vital intersection of contemplation and justice.

Subscribe to the Invitation podcast:

theinvitationcenter.org/subscribe

To learn about the Invitation School of Prayer:

theinvitationcenter.org/school-of-prayer

To learn about the School of Contemplative Listening:

theinvitationcenter.org/socl

This is the conclusion of a six-part series of Advent meditations using the Invitation prayer guide, 40 Ways to Spend 5 Minutes with God. In this episode, Josh reads from the end of the prayer guide a reflection on how before God we are always beginners.

This prayer guide, first written in 2015 has been substantially re-written with new prayer practices and Biblical rationale.

Download a digital copy of the prayer guide: theinvitationcenter.org/downloads

The Invitation is a spirituality center that creates time and space for God at the vital intersection of contemplation and justice.

Subscribe to the Invitation podcast:

theinvitationcenter.org/subscribe

To learn about the Invitation School of Prayer:

theinvitationcenter.org/school-of-prayer

To learn about the School of Contemplative Listening:

theinvitationcenter.org/socl

Let's return to prayer, to longing and expectation with our strength during Advent.

In this meditation, Josh offers a short meditation of praying with the soul. We attended to our bodies in the previous episode. We are bodies. We are also souls. This is the fifth of a six-part series of Advent meditations using the Invitation prayer guide, 40 Ways to Spend 5 Minutes with God.

This prayer guide, first written in 2015 has been substantially re-written with new prayer practices and Biblical rationale.

Download a digital copy of the prayer guide: theinvitationcenter.org/downloads

The Invitation is a spirituality center that creates time and space for God at the vital intersection of contemplation and justice.

Subscribe to the Invitation podcast:

theinvitationcenter.org/subscribe

To learn about the Invitation School of Prayer:

theinvitationcenter.org/school-of-prayer

To learn about the School of Contemplative Listening:

theinvitationcenter.org/socl