Episodes
Thursday May 07, 2020
New Batteries, the Marlboro Man, and the Messiah Complex
Thursday May 07, 2020
Thursday May 07, 2020
What are the fantasies we'd like to maintain so our worldview doesn't have to change? Plus, change your batteries! Thanks for listening. Stay safe, stay smart, be courageous.
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
We've Lost the Plot 2: Vortex, Twitter and Creation
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
Thursday Feb 07, 2019
To my own surprise, I keep returning to the Bible, a book that allures and repulses, inspires and confronts. The archetypes, stories, symbols and metaphors are like a bridge between the transcendent and nameless, and the ordinary and mundane. This week, the polar vortex, Trump tweets, and the Creation story make an appearance in the ways we've lost the plot. Enjoy!
Thursday Jan 24, 2019
We've Lost the Plot: Recovering the Great Stories
Thursday Jan 24, 2019
Thursday Jan 24, 2019
To my own surprise, I keep returning to the Bible, a book that allures and repulses, inspires and confronts. The archetypes, stories, symbols and metaphors are like a bridge between the transcendent and nameless, and the ordinary and mundane. I don't think the Biblical narrative has runs its course when it comes to meaning. In fact, the way we misunderstood, dismissed, derided and ignored the great stories has contributed to more narcissism and nihilism and loss of meaning. We've lost the plot. In this series, I hope to recover some of the ancient wisdom that runs like a mysterious thread of meaning from antiquity to the present.
Wednesday Jan 31, 2018
The Sign of Jonah
Wednesday Jan 31, 2018
Wednesday Jan 31, 2018
In this episode I take a closer look at the different levels of consciousness hidden in the story of Jonah. This might have something to do with Jesus’ cryptic line about no sign being given, “except the sign of Jonah.” In any case, the invitation at the heart of this mytho-poetic story is more urgent than ever. Enjoy.
Monday Jan 22, 2018
Monday Jan 22, 2018
Back by popular demand, Paul and Kent sit down for an unscripted chat. We discuss our age of Narcissism and Nihilism, how we played a role in electing our president, and the deep need to tune into other frequencies if there is any way out of this mess.
Wednesday Nov 29, 2017
What is Soul? Three - New Language, New (Recovered) Voice
Wednesday Nov 29, 2017
Wednesday Nov 29, 2017
This final episode on the soul feels more like a starting place than a definitive ending. I attempt a definition of soul using poetry and image, and I also turn to an old favorite, Mary Oliver, for some help. In the end, I hope something of your own inner voice, or depth, or truer self, or soul comes a bit more out of hiding.
Tuesday Nov 07, 2017
What is Soul? Two - Ego, Spiritual Bypassing, A Rooted Tree and a Promise
Tuesday Nov 07, 2017
Tuesday Nov 07, 2017
In this episode I explore the question of soul again by taking a brief look at the words ego, soul and spirit, referencing the work of Bill Plotkin. I discuss the needed task of ego growth (growing more whole) as well as the invitation of transcendence and “inscendence,” the upward pull of spirit and downward descent of soul. Because these things are difficult to discuss and are best approached symbolically, I end with a David Whyte poem.
Tuesday Oct 24, 2017
What is Soul? Part One - Wilderness
Tuesday Oct 24, 2017
Tuesday Oct 24, 2017
I'm starting a three part series on the soul, what is it and why it matters. In this episode I discuss certain life patterns that deepen the question and pursuit of soul. I also take a look at the origins of the word itself. And most importantly I look at the archetypal temptations of Jesus as a necessary wilderness in his own soul initiation and how that relates to our unique predicament. I end with Dante and his opening line, which is a line about the descent to soul.
Monday Oct 16, 2017
Jacob's Ladder of Perception - Mythic Imagination Part 2
Monday Oct 16, 2017
Monday Oct 16, 2017
In this episode, I discuss why moving to the mytho-poetic is important and how it relates to awakening to the conversation that only we can have with world. I also discuss the tricky notion of stages or levels of consciousness we bring to our reading of sacred texts and to our spiritual lives. I wonder what movement or growth looks like in this respect. I look at the story of Jacob's ladder as a symbol of moving up and down the ladder of perception, a glimpse that our identity is not fixed in the way we think it is, and that our view of reality is limited but fluid. And finally I mention a few lines from Adrienne Rich's poem Diving into the Wreck, as an image of diving into our own wreckage, the great myths and stories in hand, only to find our names are not written in these myths but can lead us to find our own true names in the world.
Wednesday Oct 04, 2017
Second Coming (not what you think), Grief and Big Dreams
Wednesday Oct 04, 2017
Wednesday Oct 04, 2017
In this episode I struggle with making any sense of the rising tide of bad news coming from just about every source. In some ways, we are living in apocalyptic times, meaning a time of both destruction and renewal, Noah-like times. There is so much to grieve and there is so much that makes me wonder what "slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?" It seems like we need the poets, the storytellers and the dreamers to tell us the truth, like Yeats does in this dark poem. We need the truth beneath the truth. We need the deeper truth in a rising sea of facts, some of which are glaringly un-factual to begin with. In the end, I wonder what waits in each of you, what dream wants to be born, in the middle of this apocalyptic mess.