The Pocket Contemplative

Perhaps we're lucky enough to be initiated into life's mysteries by a wise person or by a community practice. Great myths have taught us that life itself can do this if we pay attention. This perspective--often called The Hero's Journey--provides interesting ways of thinking about descriptions of spiritual growth that we get from saints like Teresa of Avila. Using lots of stories and movie clips, Dave Schmelzer walks us into this opportunity to discover again who we actually are and what makes us come to life.

Mentioned on this podcast: 

Some resources on the Hero's Journey:

The book Dave first read, and still perhaps the easiest introduction, is a book that applies this to screenwriting called: The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, by Christopher Vogler. 

The seminal book on the Heroine's Journey is Maureen Murdock's The Heroine's Journey: Woman's Quest for Wholeness.

Kenny Loggins's memoir is called Still Alright. A terrific, gospel song of his that strikingly describes atonement coming from surviving the belly of the whale is "That's When I Find You" from his (regrettably) most-recent solo album, 2007's "How About Now."

A book on the Examen is Sleeping with Bread: Holding what Gives You Life, by Dennis, Sheila and Matthew Linn.

If you'd like to donate towards The Pocket Contemplative, you can do that at the "give" tab at journey-on.net. 

Great saints and modern psychologists agree that our lives work best when we pull off something that, technically, might be anti-human: hurting whenever we hurt, but not anticipating some future challenge or pain. As Jesus teaches, animals are good at that; people not so much. So how do we pull off this most-important thing? And what does it get us if we do?


Mentioned on this podcast:

Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior, The Great Courses course by Mark Leary, of Duke University

The Interior Castle, by Teresa of Avila

Matthew 6:25-26 and 10:16-20

The greatest spiritual teachers tell us that doing our best to improve however we can is crucial. But then they warn us that our quest for improvement will abruptly become less helpful--which is not a problem at all, but is an invitation to walk into the full life we've been wanting. This is the moment when transformation comes into play. Dave Schmelzer walks us into a deep dive into the great teacher of transformation, the sixteenth century biggie Teresa of Avila. Along with insights from the blockbuster movie Interstellar, he'll offer some concrete steps into Teresa's deep, powerful waters.


Mentioned on this podcast:

The Interior Castle, by Teresa of Avila

The Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar

Alongside Jesus, the mystics tell us we have a superpower when we've been hurt or when the larger world seems scary or hostile: lovingkindness prayer or meditation. The Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela show us its power. The new movie Everything Everywhere All at Once takes it as one of its themes. Join Dave Schmelzer as he lets you in on a lovingkindness hack and as he introduces you to the thinking of the great modern teacher on the subject.

Mentioned on this podcast:

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, by Sharon Salzburg

Moving into all the possibilities of our lives requires a fearlessness that can seem out of reach. Dave Schmelzer takes a look both at helpful tools along these lines from modern teachers and also at how some New Testament writers teach us that overcoming our fear of being afraid unlocks the rich benefits of faith itself.

Mentioned on this podcast:

Hebrews 11:13-16

The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, by Martha Beck

The early stages of our life of faith often require us to keep quiet about anything that might rock the boat with others around us. But a surprise is that subsequent stages do the reverse. Now we need to continually relearn what's true for us and then be fully seen for those truths. The transition can be a painful one! But then we discover rich rewards. Dave Schmelzer explores how The Examen (discussed in the last episode) can help us with this while also taking a deep dive into advice from the mystics (and from St. Mark) about the power of knowing and speaking our truth. 

Mentioned on this podcast:

The Critical Journey: Stages in the LIfe of Faith, by Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encourages us towards a kind of perfection--what the contemplatives see as a kind of inner, structural integrity--that God has. Dave Schmelzer looks at two different takes on how to pull this off: one from pop culture, and the other from among the most ancient and enduring Christian spiritual practices, the Jesuit practice of the Examen.

Mentioned on this podcast: 

Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life, by Dennis, Matthew and Sheila Linn

The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, by Martha Beck

We're told that a major benefit of deepening spiritual practice is discovering a profound kindness towards ourselves and others. Dave Schmelzer will fill you on insights from psychology and contemplative practice about finding this self-compassion and then Grace Schmelzer will tell an affecting story about how learning to hear God's voice powerfully broke through her own inner judgment. 


Mentioned on this podcast: 

Shauna Shapiro's book Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy

Modern contemplatives often tie spiritual practice to wellness in general. Dave Schmelzer looks at some inspiring stories about healthy aging even as he discusses modern brain science around things like telomeres and emotion contagion and positive stress. He closes with a look at the nine common habits among the parts of the world that are home to the people who live the longest.

Mentioned on this podcast

A Los Angeles Times column by Steve Lopez called "The secret to a long life? Curiosity, says Morrie, who has now survived two pandemics"

The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest, by Dan Buettner

One of the great promises of contemplative practices is that maybe we won't have to suffer as much as we do. Today, learning from psychology professor Shauna Shapiro, Dave Schmelzer will review how exactly that happens, along with a look at some basics about things like getting sleepy or feeling pain or being frustrated as our mind wanders, along with other things along those lines. 

Mentioned on this episode:

Shauna Shapiro's book Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy