The Slow Way

In the midst of her joy, perhaps Mary also knew a certain kind of darkness. Maybe she knew that the particular love she shared with her baby in those nine months would always be different from that time on. And that was all mixed in with the utter relief of holding him, of being on the other side of the suffering.

I wonder about Mary’s fragility. How weak and uncertain and terrified she must have felt. 

And I wonder about you. How weak and uncertain and terrified you feel. I wonder what joy and sadness these weeks leading up to Christmas bring to the surface. Or if there’s a dread you carry with you. If there’s an uncertainty, or a fragility you don’t know how to name.

Today, can you sit in the silence and name it? 

• Find Micha's poem "Darkness" as well a transcript of the episode here. Note: Micha's poem is available for us with attribution to any group or person who wants to use it. 
• Find Micha's website and sign up for her weekly newsletter here
• Find Micha on Instagram
• Find Micha on Twitter
• Micha's other podcast, The Lucky Few, is all about Down syndrome advocacy. She cohosts it with Heather Avis and Mercedes Lara.
• Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer is available everywhere books are sold   

Elizabeth and Mary held each other up, carried each other through their seasons of pregnancy, and their faithfulness to this turbulent moment in one another’s lives set the foundation for the work of their little boys: John the Baptist who would go wild in the woods, eating locusts, preaching repentance, making baptism the sacred marker it is, and clearing a path for the ministry of his cousin, Jesus. John would die a gruesome death, and Jesus would grieve, and teach us how to grieve. John and Jesus loved and served each other well because their mothers set a path for them to do so.

Today, let's consider the foundation you’re laying with your life. This may not be a season of giving birth (either literally or metaphorically), but the truth is that we’re always prepping the land for something. And the foundation you lay now will be felt by the ones who come after you.

• Find Micha's poem "The Lord Is With Thee" as well a transcript of the episode here. Note: Micha's poem is available for us with attribution to any group or person who wants to use it. 
• Find Micha's website and sign up for her weekly newsletter here
• Find Micha on Instagram
• Find Micha on Twitter
• Micha's other podcast, The Lucky Few, is all about Down syndrome advocacy. She cohosts it with Heather Avis and Mercedes Lara.
• Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer is available everywhere books are sold

What is glory? Often folks in the Church throw that word "glory"  around. It's over-used and under-sold. But what if glory is what Richard Rohr calls "The Really Real"? Or what Stephanie Spellers calls, "the dream of God coming true"? What if the manger scene is only a glimpse of the cosmic power of the coming of Christ, not only into the world, but into a Mystery we simply can't fathom?

Today we consider the glory beneath the flesh and dirt of the nativity story. We imagine the universe shook to its core by the power of Love.

• Find Micha's poem "How He Entered" as well a transcript of the episode here. Note: Micha's poem is available with attribution to any group or person who wants to use it. 
• Find Micha's website and sign up for her weekly newsletter here
• Find Micha on Instagram at @michaboyett
• Find Micha on Twitter @michaboyett
• Micha's other podcast, The Lucky Few, is all about Down syndrome advocacy. She cohosts it with Heather Avis and Mercedes Lara.
• Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer is available everywhere books are sold.

Today we consider the reality underneath the surface of things in the story of the mother of Christ. What it might mean to be a girl given care of all the power in the universe? Did she grasp what she was signing onto? Was she capable of holding the deep truth of her calling?

Today we imagine that she was aware, that she envisioned the depth of her own calling. And we spend a little time considering how we might live into our own stories, even when the story is not one we were expecting.  

• Find Micha's poem "Star" as well a transcript of the episode here. Note: Micha's poem is available for us with attribution to any group or person who wants to use it. 
• Here's a link to Lucy Shaw's poem "Mary's Song," which is an epigraph in the beginning of Micha's poem.
• Find Micha's website and sign up for her weekly newsletter here
• Find Micha on Instagram
• Find Micha on Twitter
• Micha's other podcast, The Lucky Few, is all about Down syndrome advocacy. She cohosts it with Heather Avis and Mercedes Lara.
• Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer is available everywhere books are sold    

Since we're starting out The Slow Way Podcast with a six-part Advent series, we thought it might be nice for any listeners new to the practice of Advent to have a little primer on the subject.

Though Advent's been around since the 5th century, it hasn't often been practiced in many non-liturgical, protestant churches. So if you haven't heard of it--other than in reference to candy calendars or wreaths--do not fear! 

Listen up for Micha's quick overview of Advent's history and why many folks in non-liturgical churches are coming back around to the idea. 

Welcome to The Slow Way Podcast, a space for all of us serial doers and weary achievers. This podcast is a sacred space, where you can rest, quiet your breath, and remember who you are. 

I believe that in order to learn slowness in our lives, we must first begin by learning slowness in our spirits. Many of us come to prayer or meditation as another task to accomplish, instead of a transformational process. Some of us need to let go of all the to-dos we carry with us when we come to spiritual practices, and simply learn to sit and breathe. To recognize that there is nothing to do in this moment of divine connection except to receive from a God who loves us. 

Each episode will be short, just 10-15 minutes long. Something you can pop in while you walk the dog, or run your errands. Or something you can listen to in the quiet with your cup of coffee in the morning. 

Here’s what you can expect. 8-10 minutes of reflection. I’ll guide you through a thought, a scripture passage, or just an idea I’m processing. Then 5 minutes of guided contemplative prayer in response. That’s it. 

We’ll begin with six episodes specifically designed to guide us through the Advent season. Then in the new year, The Slow Way will be a weekly podcast. 

The first episode drops Tuesday, December 7th. I really hope I meet you there.

Links

• Find Micha's website and sign up for her weekly newsletter here
• Find Micha on Instagram
• Find Micha on Twitter
• Micha's other podcast, The Lucky Few, is all about Down syndrome advocacy. She cohosts it with Heather Avis and Mercedes Lara.
• Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer is available everywhere books are sold