The Pocket Contemplative podcast

#Religion #dgschmelzer@gmail.com (Dave Schmelzer #Culture #Spiritual Beings

32:17

Jay is more than just the host of All About Change podcast. He is a lawyer and international activist, who has focused his life’s work on seeking social justice by advocating for the rights of people with disabilities worldwide. On the special episode of All About Change, Mijon Zulu, the managing producer of the "All About Change" podcast, is taking over hosting duties to interview Jay Ruderman about his new book, his activist journey, and why activism is even more important today. Episode Chapters (0:00) intro (02:38) How does one choose a cause to go after? (03:33) Jay’s path to activism (07:50) Practical steps a new activist can take (09:24) Confrontation vs trolling (17:36) Learning from activists operating in different sectors (19:20) Resilience in activism (22:24) Reflections on Find Your Fight and goodbye For video episodes, watch on www.youtube.com/@therudermanfamilyfoundation Stay in touch: X: @JayRuderman | @RudermanFdn LinkedIn: Jay Ruderman | Ruderman Family Foundation Instagram: All About Change Podcast | Ruderman Family Foundation To learn more about the podcast, visit https://allaboutchangepodcast.com/ Looking for more insights into the world of activism? Be sure to check out Jay’s brand new book, Find Your Fight , in which Jay teaches the next generation of activists and advocates how to step up and bring about lasting change. You can find Find Your Fight wherever you buy your books, and you can learn more about it at www.jayruderman.com .…

The Pocket Contemplative

Μοίρασέ το

Αρχική οθόνη σειράς•Feed

A vibrant, story-filled look at contemporary spirituality that's fun, contemplative, practical and cultural.

105 επεισόδια

The Pocket Contemplative

updated πριν περίπου ένα χρόνο

Μοίρασέ το

Αρχική οθόνη σειράς•Feed

A vibrant, story-filled look at contemporary spirituality that's fun, contemplative, practical and cultural.

105 επεισόδια

#Religion #dgschmelzer@gmail.com (Dave Schmelzer #Culture #Spiritual Beings

Όλα τα επεισόδια

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Union with God (and Maybe Beyond) 28:47

πριν 14 weeks28:47

28:47

The end goal of spiritual development for most great Christian contemplatives is some sort of union with God. But many people find that to feel pretty distant--maybe it's something we can only hope for in heaven. But a recent, major Christian contemplative named Bernadette Roberts offers a more direct pathway not only to union with God (and maybe beyond), but also to direct lifestyle benefits along the lines of what psychologists call "flow." She talks about it using the Eastern terminology of no-self. Dave Schmelzer has found it to be the most helpful spiritual thing he's learned in some time. He'll give a brief introduction to it here and he'll also mention a new, free, 8-week online course about these things that will be starting in February called "Faith Part 2." Mentioned on this podcast: " Faith Part 2 ," an upcoming, free online course about what good things might come next for people who perhaps have experienced the limits of their early faith instruction. You can get more information and register interest here . The Experience of No-Self, by Bernadette Roberts Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing , by Jed McKenna An episode of the Ringer podcast Plain English with Derek Thompson called “Why the Voice Inside Your Head Can Sound Like a Jerk” (Sept. 20, 2022)…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Post-Election Thoughts from Julian of Norwich 39:46

πριν 18 weeks39:46

39:46

Some people, feeling unsettled by the election, have wondered what the wisdom talked about on The Pocket Contemplative might offer us. Dave Schmelzer looks to Julian of Norwich, who lived during her own unsettling time (the Bubonic Plague), for some thoughts. In his introduction, he also talks about "Faith Part 2," a new 8-week online course about the how-to's of a faith that, learning from the greats, might help to move us past faith challenges into a richer life with God than perhaps we've yet been exposed to. Mentioned on this podcast: To register interest in the 8-week online Faith Part 2 course, go to: thepocketcontemplative.com/faithpart2 Two popular translations of Julian of Norwich's Revelation of Divine Love: Ellyn Sanna's All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich (Very readable, very faith-filled.) Mirabai Starr's Julian of Norwich: The Showings: Uncovering the Face of the Feminine in Revelations of Divine Love (Probably the most popular recent translation and discussion of Julian, from a more interreligious perspective.)…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Your Life is Speeding Up! Try “Resonance.” 33:44

πριν 22 weeks33:44

33:44

Hartmut Rosa is a German sociologist whom many Christians have been looking to as a guide to how our lives seem to be accelerating. Do we somehow need to opt out of this acceleration if we want a happy life, much less a life with God? Rosa says no, opting out isn’t possible. But he does have a contemplative answer: “resonance,” a kind of paying attention that can sit alongside much of what we talk about here. Vince Brackett, a Chicago pastor, and Rosa devotee, walks us through this fascinating view of a rich life in a busy world. Mentioned on this podcast: Hartmut Rosa’s book Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World Brown Line Church in Chicago…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
On Second-Half-of-Life Spiritual Growth 27:50

πριν 25 weeks27:50

27:50

Dave Schmelzer is in touch with many people who are, to a greater or lesser degree, deconstructing their earlier faith experience, a common process for midlife people of faith. HIstoric Christian spirituality tells us there's a unique second-half-of-life flowering of faith. Dave lets us in on a series of conversations he's been having about how we might explore that in our era. Mentioned on this podcast: Short videos about The Critical Journey's stages of faith Intriguing blog posts about "post-progressive" faith…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Why You Love Nature (with Howard Thurman) 37:02

πριν 29 weeks37:02

37:02

Howard Thurman was the great behind-the-scenes spiritual leader of America’s civil rights movement. Martin Luther King was said to carry a copy of Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited with him for inspiration on each march. But Thurman starts by being among the great nature mystics in the Christian tradition. Why do you (like everyone) love nature so much? For Thurman, that’s part of how we create that strong inner self that so influenced King and others. Mentioned on this podcast: What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman , by Lerita Coleman Brown…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Be Happy?" Or "Live Well? 21:32

πριν 41 weeks21:32

21:32

I want to be happy. You want to be happy. But maybe our best pathway there comes by focusing instead on "living well.". MIT philosopher Kieran Setiya's book Life Is Hard helps Dave Schmelzer navigate those choices, with a particular look at how it applies when we feel like a failure or when we're hunting for meaning. Mentioned on this podcast: Kieran Setiya's book Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way (which, at the moment, is a mere $4.99 on Kindle)…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Context Matters 28:16

πριν 44 weeks28:16

28:16

Here at The Pocket Contemplative, we do deep dives into some of the richest Christian wisdom one can find about getting close to God. But one revolutionary thinker suggested that, while that's all wonderful and we should learn all we can from such people, these great saints did live in a very different world with very different spiritual dynamics than we live in. Many were cloistered. The average person was born into the trade of their family, married someone from their village, and went to the local church like all their neighbors did. But by the 1850s that Soren Kierkegaard lived in, everyone was flooded with unprecedented choices about what to do for a living, who to marry and even what to believe--a flood that has only accelerated in our time. He argued that human psyches weren't set up to handle that kind of flood, which makes us all anxious. His road out strikes Dave Schmelzer as a drink of fresh water for a thirsty (modern) soul. Mentioned on this podcast: Existentialism and the Authentic Life, a Great Courses course by Skye C. Cleary…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Christian Mysticism's Deep Roots 46:07

πριν 50 weeks46:07

46:07

Christian Contemplative Spirituality--alternately called Christian Mysticism--has gone in and out of favor over the millennia, but has rich roots from the Hebrew Bible forward. With help from the work of Carl McColman, Dave Schmelzer will help orient you as you look to navigate this vital, essential stream. Mentioned on this podcast: Carl McColman's The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: An Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Start with Curiosity (wisdom on joy and trust from Julian of Norwich) 37:38

πριν 1 year37:38

37:38

Is there a secret of life? Contemplatives of many stripes suggest it surround cultivating a kind of trust and openness that endures through the hardest of times. Dave Schmelzer dives into wisdom on this from the most optimistic of contemplatives, Julian of Norwich (C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton both said she was their go-to contemplative teacher). Julian lived through the bubonic plague and yet came out of it with a remarkable trust that others around her didn't have. Mentioned on this podcast: Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic and Beyond , by Matthew Fox Zen and the Art of Happiness , by Chris Prentiss…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Stay "Green" as You Age (via Hildegard of Bingen) 31:58

πριν 1 year31:58

31:58

Christianity's most potent and lasting advice on aging well comes from one of its most remarkable contemplatives: Hildegard of Bingen from the 12th century. She was an explosion of creativity: she wrote the first known opera (by hundreds of years). She was an architect, a physician, a poet, a painter, a composer, a theologian and a leader of women. This podcast will look at her pitch that "greening" is the road to joy, fruitfulness and vitality as we age. Mentioned on this podcast: Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint for Our Times , by Matthew Fox…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
On Creativity (via Meister Eckhart) 44:19

πριν 1 year44:19

44:19

Maybe the most-influential Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart, had profound thoughts about how our spiritual practice is meant to--even must!--empower our creativity. Dave Schmelzer dives into Eckhart's deep, generative waters here. Mentioned on this podcast: Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times , by Matthew Fox…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
How Philosophy Helps (with Kieran Setiya) 46:32

πριν 1 year46:32

46:32

Kieran Setiya--a philosopher at MIT who wrote the terrific book Midlife: A Philosophical Guide that Dave Schmelzer talked about on the last episode--joins Dave for a lively conversation about how philosophy can help with our deepest questions and about how it interacts with the spirituality we talk about here. Mentioned on this podcast: Midlife: A Philosophical Guide , by Kieran Setiya LIfe is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way , by Kieran Setiya…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
On Midlife Crisis 38:40

πριν 1 year38:40

38:40

Philosophers and theologians offer different answers to how we should feel about the losses we confront in midlife. Kieran Setiya, a philosopher teaching at MIT, wrote a terrific recent book on midlife crisis. Dave Schmelzer highlights some of Setiya's best stuff, including Setiya's takes on missed opportunities, why we can simultaneously regret and not regret where our lives have taken us, and whether there is help for those moments when we realize we're not as far from dying as we once were. Mentioned on this podcast: Kieran Setiya's book, Midlife: A Philosophical Guide…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Let's Get Pragmatic 37:14

πριν 1 year37:14

37:14

When Dave Schmelzer first started exploring contemplative spirituality, he had a hard time finding teachers who would get pragmatic in the "just do this, and then do this, and then do this, and here's what you should discover" sense. Mo Gawdat has written a bestselling guide along those lines called Solve for Happy. Dave walks us through Gawdat's pathway to get moving. Mentioned on this podcast: Mo Gawdat's book Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy To register your interest in a contemplative starter group: email connect@journey-on.net…

The Pocket Contemplative

1
Finding Faith in a Secular Age (with Andrew Root) 36:14

πριν 1 year36:14