The Pocket Contemplative

Have the great Christian saints, over millennia, been in agreement about some central points and practices if we hope to continue our growth? One scholar says they have been indeed. Dave Schmelzer runs down some key points of interest, not least the happy surprise that, if we keep at this, our reward will be an overflowing playfulness in our lives. 

Mentioned on this podcast:

Jason M. Baxter's book An Introduction to Christian Mysticism; Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life

Pete Holmes on not knowing

Some mystics who come up: Hildegard of Bingen, Gregory of Nyssa, Meister Eckhart, Thomas Merton, Evagrius, Nicholas of Cusa, Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, Francis of Assisi, John Ruusbroec, Evelyn Underhill, C.S. Lewis

As we age, we face more and more life circumstances that can seem lose/lose. Take care of our aging parent and lose any margin in our lives. Start a needed side hustle that has a substantial chance of failing. The Bible encourages us to trust God enough to ask for all the things we want, but it then pivots to a different, contemplative approach that might grow our faith through these tough challenges. Dave Schmelzer looks at the ins and outs of that important flexibility while bringing in a vivid picture of what that might look like from another great world tradition.


Mentioned on this podcast:

Proverbs 16:9; Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 46:10 

The Mahabharata

Stephen Cope's The Great Work of Your Life

A quote from Thomas Merton to a young activist: “Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself.”

Thoughtful happiness tips can be opportunities for mindfulness, for noticing ways to live that we'd previously been blind to or reactive against. Dave Schmelzer talks a bit about that and then details two dozen such tips from the mega-popular book The Happiness Experiment.

Mentioned on this podcast:

Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

Anything we want to do that's important to us will face (sometimes severe) resistance. One Bible perspective calls resistance its own "god of this world"--and St. Paul himself makes the point profoundly: "The thing I most want to do I don't do." Dave Schmelzer does a dive into the insights of the most-read recent thinker on the subject, Steven Pressfiled in his seminal The War of Art. Learn from contemplatives and life coaches as well as Pressfield and see if you find help with your own resistance.


Mentioned on this podcast:

Steven Pressfield's The War of Art

Blog help by way of:

Bodhipaksa at wildmind.org

Leo Babauta at zenhabits.net

Michelle Rees at wholelifechallenge.com

Dave Schmelzer loves life hacks, but has found that they often have a shorter shelf life than he'd hoped. Contemplatives have a surprising answer for why that might be. Life hacks, they tell us, come from a world view saturated in original sin: your problems come from your fundamental laziness that has to be overcome. But maybe we don't need to overcome anything. Maybe we already have a deep happiness that we can access as we quiet down a bit. Rami Shapiro and Anthony DeMello and Tara Brach help us here.

Mentioned on this podcast:

Rami Shapiro's book Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent

Anthony DeMello's book Stop Fixing Yourself: Wake Up, All is Well

Tara Brach's book Radical Acceptance

Christians spiritually address anxiety in two ways: spiritual warfare and contemplation. Dave Schmelzer looks at some of the pros and cons of each of these approaches and then takes an extended look at perhaps the most famous warfare prayer in the last two thousand years, The Breastplate of St. Patrick, a prayer Dave loves and often prays. 

Mentioned on this podcast:

The Breastplate of St. Patrick

I bind to myself today/ The fullness of the Trinity: 
I believe the Father, Son and Spirit/ The Creator of the Universe. 
I bind to myself today/ Christ coming to earth:
His baptism, crucifixion and burial,/ His resurrection and ascension, 
His coming on the Judgment Day. 
I bind to myself today/ The love of archangels
The obedience of angels/ The prayers of Patriarchs, 
The vision of Prophets,/ The speech of Apostles, 
The faith of martyrs,/ The purity of Mary, 
The boldness of saints. 
I bind to myself today/ Heaven’s power-- 
Light like the sun,/ Brightness like the moon, 
Splendor like fire,/ Flashing like lightning, 
Speed like wind,/ Depth like sea, 
Stability like earth,/ Solidity like rocks. 
I bind to myself today/ God's Power to guide me, 
God's Might to strengthen me,/ God's Wisdom to teach me, 
God's Eye to watch over me,/ God's Ear to hear me, 
God's Word to speak through me,/ God's Hand to guide me, 
God's Way to lie before me,/ God's Shield to protect me, 
God's Army to empower me,/ Against the snares of demons, 
Against the seductions of vices,/ Against anyone who considers injuring me, 
Whether they’re far or near,/ Few or many. 
I invoke today all these virtues/ Against every hostile, merciless power 
Which may assail my body and soul--/ Against the lies of false prophets, 
Against the darkness of unbelief,/ Against the distractions of heresy, 
Against the temptations of idolatry,/ Against the spells of sorcerers-- 
Against everything that would bind my soul. 
Christ, protect me and mine today/ Against poison and burning, 
Against drowning and injury and death,/ That we might live full lives for you.
Christ with me, Christ before me,/ Christ behind me, Christ within me, 
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,/ Christ at my right, Christ at my left, 
Christ in the home,/ Christ in the street, 
Christ in the store,/ Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, 
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me, 
Christ in every eye that sees me,/ Christ in every ear that hears me. I bind to myself today/ The fullness of the Trinity: 
I believe the Father, Son and Spirit/ The Creator of the Universe. 

Lots of people--from popular bloggers to academics to contemplatives--are pitching that our drive for greatness might not be giving us what it promises. Might "good-enough" living offer us a kind of joy along with giving us a place in a whole world that's happier? Dave Schmelzer mentions four recent discussion of this before focusing on two, including the mega-popular self-help book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.

Mentioned on this podcast:

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, by Mark Manson

The Good-Enough Life, by Avram Alpert

Mentioned in passing:

The Extraordinary Gift of Being Ordinary, by Ronald Siegel

Donald Winnicott's thinking about "The Good-Enough Mother"

Feeling overwhelmed is basic to being human. Few great teachers have had more helpful things to say about this than Julian of Norwich, the contemplative who wrote during the bubonic plague years. Despite her own suffering, her legacy is of being colossally encouraging to the point that CS Lewis and Richard Rohr say she's their favorite mystic. Dave Schmelzer offers some introductory thoughts on how you can tap into her encouragement the next time you're overwhelmed.

Mentioned on this podcast:

All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian Norwich, by Ellyn Sanna 

"A Pastor Ripped Apart by Our Divided Country," a "First Person" New York Times podcast from July 21, 2022

Even in good times, life can feel burdensome. We do our tasks, wind down over TV (maybe with a glass of wine), and then do it all again tomorrow. We feel judged and, let's face it, we judge others. A self-help bestseller, The Four Agreements, tries to offer a way into enjoying life that has parallels to the New Testament book of James and the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. Dave Schmelzer walks you through its encouragement to, right now, start enjoying your life.


Mentioned on this podcast

The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz

James 3:5-9; Ecclesiastes 2:24

Research tells us that rejection and judgment will always batter our self-esteem. But classic mindfulness--along with Jesuit practices like the Examen and persistent advice from the Bible itself--offers a powerful antidote.

Mentioned on this podcast:

A Great Courses course called "Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior" by Duke psychology professor Mark Leary.

(A price hack for The Great Courses. Many of their courses are pricey.  Dave's work-around?
He buys them as audiobooks on Audible for the price of one credit, about $15 with a subscription, a bit more without one.)