A friend recently posed a great question to Dave Schmelzer: when people take big steps forward in their spiritual life, why are they tempted to retreat to the way people thought about God in earlier eras? But maybe a step forward by definition requires a kind of retrenching. What does it mean to move into new spiritual territory while staying present to modern life? And does technology help us or hurt us--or both--as we do that? Dave, Christina Roberts and Daniel Wilson (who also reports about spiritual lessons he's taken from relocating to Moldova) discuss. 

Fran Pratt has journeyed from conservative churches in which, as a woman, she wasn't invited to lead, to becoming a worship leader to discovering the power of scripted prayer in liturgies to finding meditation to writing and distributing her own litanies. Ryan Bauers, Christina Roberts and Dave Schmelzer talk with her about the power she's found in each new form of connecting to God. 

Mentioned in Today's Podcast

• Call and Response: Litanies for Congregational Prayer by Fran Pratt

For many people, justice is an increasingly central call and need. But it brings risks. Maybe we feel burdened or superior or lonely. Benedictine sister Lynne Smith lives right at the nexus between contemplative spirituality and justice and has discovered that that can be a sweet spot for her joyful life. 

Mentioned in Today's Podcast:

• The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

• Final Journeys: A Practical Guide for Bringing Care and Comfort at the End of Life

What I'm Into: 

• Farewell to Disneyland: My Decade of Young Widowhood

On a recent podcast, Ryan Bauers endorsed The Book of Joy, a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu about finding joy. Dave Schmelzer read the book, loved it, and he and Ryan have an enthusiastic conversation about the great things there.

Mentioned in Today's Podcast:

• The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

We’ll be back with new content next week but, in this encore episode, Dave Schmelzer and Tom Wassink look at the changing legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien and CS Lewis for Christians. 

David McKee is a counselor who is also an oblate at a Benedictine monastery (and a member of a Zen center). In a far reaching conversation with Christina Roberts, Ryan Bauers and Dave Schmelzer, he talks about how learning to be present to ourselves with compassion opens us up to healing--and God--but also to the kind of prophetic engagement with the world that he says is a particular gift that Christianity offers other traditions. 

Mentioned in Todays Podcast:

Amy Carlson talks to groups around the country about joyful, thriving eating and the power of eating around a table (or even just at a table, if we're alone) and how learning to notice our body's response to food is a game-changer. In a vibrant conversation with Ryan Bauers, Christina Roberts and Dave Schmelzer, she talks about how churches, sadly, often complicate our relationship with food--even as they provide the powerful community that offers us the good stuff she's so passionate about. 

Mentioned in Today's Podcast:

On last week's podcast, Dave Schmelzer offered a book report on a book called "Why Buddhism is True" to consider crossover between Buddhist and Christian Contemplative insights. Christina Roberts asks: How should Christians navigate spiritual exploration? Are there things they shouldn't explore because those things expose them to spiritual danger? If so, how might one figure out what's safe and what's not? Ryan Bauers joins Christina and Dave to consider this.