Hints and Guesses

The Christ Symbol: Part 5 - Transcendent Encounter

Here's the next episode in looking at Christ through a symbolic lens, a life transformed.  This episode is about Transcendent Encounter (stage 3), those moments we could not have predicted, manufactured, controlled, or made up.  Those moments when we know we are ushered into something larger.  Hope you hear a hint or guess for your own spiritual growth.  Enjoy!

The Christ Symbol: Part 4 - Calling

What's going on with our thumbs?  Plus, the next episode in this series looking at the life of Christ through a symbolic lens, a life transformed.  This episode is about calling, the first nudges of our sense of meaning and destiny.  Hope you hear a hint or guess for your own spiritual growth.  Enjoy!

Metagelical? A Conversation with Paul Vanderklay

This is a long-format, unscripted, very personal conversation, with Paul Vanderklay.  We talk a bit about our stories, what it's like to be a pastor, what's been happening in the changing landscape of Christianity, and what the future might hold.  Check out Paul's YouTube channel for more content.  Enjoy! 

The Christ Symbol: Part 3 - Birth

This episode is part of my series, Wandering through the Bible, where I look again at these ancient stories through a symbolic lens.  Beginning with a quote from Teilhard about the slow work of God, we then turn to the first stage of a life of Christ, a life transformed, the birth stories.  Special thanks to my Patrons.  Enjoy!

Wandering through the Bible: Christ Symbol Part 2

In this episode, I describe the changes faces of Jesus over the centuries, and what I mean by the Symbolic Christ.  I also explore in more detail what I call the three chords of listening to the Bible: story, context and symbol.  This is part of a series called Wandering through the Bible, where I return to some of the most important stories and images from the Christian tradition.  Hope you hear a hint or guess.  Enjoy!

Wandering through the Bible: Christ Symbol Part 1

I'm starting a new series on the Bible, particularly through the lens of symbol.  It feels like I've come back around again to the central stories and images of my tradition, but seeing and hearing new things.  To begin with, I'll be releasing parts of my audio book (A Grain of Wheat), which had only been free for my Patrons.  In this experimental audio book, I look at the stages of Christ's life, and the symbols that still feel potent.  Clearly Jesus lived a life transformed, and left a few hints and guesses.  No matter how you feel about the Bible, or what you might think, I hope you'll hear something meaningful and rich.  Enjoy!

Love: Romance, Self, Other, God

We use the word love for sports teams, friends, partners, food, and even God.  What are we talking about?  What is love?   And how might we grow into more loving people?  Here are a few hints and guesses about romance, love of self, love of the other, and the possibility of divine love.  Inspiration for this podcast come from John O'Donohue's book Anam Cara, Robert Johnson's books He and She, and St Paul's letter to the Corinthians.  Enjoy!

Deal with the Devil

There are many ancient stories about making a deal with the Devil.  What happens when we no longer take these seriously?  What is lost?  What are we missing?  I'd like to explore the consequences and opportunities in taking seriously what happens when we make a deal with the Devil through stories of the Handless Maiden, Faust, and the Temptation of Christ.  Enjoy!   

Green Flags (in a Red Flag World) with Quique Autrey

Here's a conversation with Quique Autrey, therapist, author and podcaster, about his new book Green Flags.  What does it look like to become a person who's a little more like a "green flag" than a red flag? Where does one even start with "depth psychology?"   Quique's highlights a number of accessible ways to turn the gaze inward, toward a healthier relationship with ourselves, which seems necessary in order to be a more generative presence in the world.  You can find out more about Quique, and buy the book, at https://www.quiqueautrey.com/ Hope you here a hint or guess for your own path.  

Age of Mistrust: A Sermon

The word sermon implies a threading together, and I'd like to thread together some lines from St Paul, T.S.Eliot, and Jung.  I hope you'll find some encouragement and challenge from these voices, who in their own way, point beyond themselves to the transcendent, to God.  I can't think of anything more important in our age of mistrust.