Some years back, Dave Schmelzer and Blue Ocean Faith worked with a major evangelical PR person who loved everything about BOF with the strong exception of it's use of the word "mystical" as part of its understanding of spiritual growth. And yet the idea that there really is something going on out there is a big deal to Christina Roberts, Ryan Bauers and Dave. They discuss why as well as kicking around why mysticism can seem so controversial in some religious settings.

Mentioned in Today's Episode:

• Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics -  Dan Harris

Bonus Material

A constituting idea of Blue Ocean Faith has been that everyone is us, that there is no ultimate us/them. But we developed that idea when the "them" for religious people were secular people, a group that Blue Ocean Faith flows easily with. Years later, the "us" is the other side of a sharply partisan, often vicious political divide. Christina Roberts, Ryan Bauers and Dave Schmelzer discuss whether "everyone is us" holds true in this new world. 

Mentioned in Today's Podcast:

Helpful Websites

• Carl Medearis

Podcast Episodes

• Episode 109 - Good Without God's Greg Epstein on Life as an American Atheist/Humanist

What I'm Into

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Greg Epstein, Harvard and MIT's Humanist Chaplain, joins Blue Ocean Faith's Dave Schmelzer, Christina Roberts and Ryan Bauers for a dynamic conversation about life as a nonreligious person in a largely religious country, gathering atheists/agnostics at Harvard and MIT, finding common cause with Christians and other people of faith and much more. 

• Good Without God - Greg Epstein - https://amzn.to/2tO87FI

• Greg Epstein's Webpage - The Humanist Hub

Other Podcast Episodes Mentioned

• Episode 102 - On Men's Spiritual and Emotional Development

What I'm Into

• Goliath on Amazon TV

Almost 100 episodes ago, a Christian from the South challenged Blue Ocean Faith's Dave Schmelzer and his co-hosts, Val Snekvik and Tom Wassink, that, as Northern Christians, they showed little interest in understanding their Southern compatriots. On this July 4 week, we were eager to revisit this striking conversation about the fundamental divisions that remain between the South and much of the rest of the country and what it looks like to bridge those divides. 

Mentioned in Today's Podcast:

What I'm Into

• City of Gold Documentary - https://amzn.to/2IxJe5F

What does it look like to define faith and purpose not through being right about anything or knowing stuff, but through being connected to ourselves, others, God and the world? Christina Roberts, Ryan Bauers and Dave Schmelzer explore the implications of living this way.

Mentioned in Today's Podcast:

Books

• Let Your Life Speak - Parker J. Palmer : https://amzn.to/2yuEOwq

Websites

• Blue Ocean Faith Perspectives

What I'm Into

• Tour De France

Other Episodes Mentioned

• Episode 102 - On Men's Spiritual and Emotional Development

Blue Ocean Faith is known for many things. But its take on M. Scott Peck's theory of spiritual and emotional development is right up there. Is it helpful to think about spiritual/emotional growth through the lens of stages? Is it--as is sometimes charged--elitist? Dave Schmelzer, Christina Roberts and Ryan Bauers have a lively discussion about how this continues to have leverage in their lives and those of their friends.

If you would like to continue the conversation about the stages theory, email [email protected] and we will follow up with an online format to continue chatting.

Metioned in Today's Episode:

Books

• Faith Shift - Kathy Escober : https://amzn.to/2t944m1

Websites

• Pete Enns: https://peteenns.com/

Podcasts

• Kate Spade on How I Built This with Guy Raz 

Videos

• Dave Schmelzer - M Scott Peck's Stage Theory : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHyqDGAiEpA

What I'm Into

• Breathe 4 Change Yoga: https://www.breatheforchange.com

Previous Episodes Mentioned:

• Episode 103 - WM. Paul Young on The Shack, God and a New Reformation

In this revisiting of a favorite episode from 2016, Angie Thurston--a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and the Director of Formation at On Being Impact Lab--co-wrote 2 groundbreaking studies of how millennials are gathering together to find purpose and meaning and what that looks like in spiritual settings. She fills Dave Schmelzer, Val Snekvik, and Tom Wassink in on what the spiritual landscape looks like today.

Mentioned in Today's Episode:

Websites:

• How We Gather - https://www.howwegather.org/

What I'm Into:

• The Hero's Journey -  Joseph Campbell :https://amzn.to/2HGNpvl

• I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made For Whiteness - Austin Channing Brown :  https://amzn.to/2L39vKV

Other Episodes Mentioned

• Episode 100: Why Do Christians So Love Personality Profiles?

Podcast

• Seeing White Podcast

Links

• Bounded/Centered Set Photo Explanation

What I'm Into:

• Madison Farmers Market

Wm. Paul Young went from working three jobs to doing press conferences in Croatia and South Korea--and throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world. Suddenly he heard many different stories and perspectives about profound worldwide shifts in how people view God and meaning. Dave Schmelzer, Christina Roberts and Ryan Bauers have a lively conversation about these big ideas.

Mentioned in today's episode:

Books:

• Lies We Believe About God - WM. Paul Young

Artist:

• M.C. Escher

What I'm Into:

• I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made For Whiteness

Dan Littauer, who used to work with Blue Ocean Faith, now leads groups focusing on men's spiritual development in several places, from M.I.T. to prisons. How is the path to spiritual and emotional growth the same and different for men and women? Drawing from the wisdom of people like Father Richard Rohr and Carl Jung and many thoughtful teachers, Dan talks about this work with Dave Schmelzer, Christina Roberts and Ryan Bauers.

Mentioned in today's podcast:

• The Drama of the Gifted Child – Alice Miller

Websites

• The Mankind Project 

   Movies

• "The Work" trailer 

   TV Series 

• Timeless

• The Invitation - www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-invitation-by-oriah-mountain-dreamer