Potter's Inn Soul Care Conversations

Discernment is the process of gaining clarity on finding direction for the next step of our journey.   SHOW NOTES Today’s podcast is part two of a discussion between Steve and Spiritual Director Martie McMane. Martie is a retired minister, artist, and spiritual director who used a collage process with Steve & Gwen to help them make some crucial life decisions during a period of repositioning. They continue the conversation today about how the collage process can work in each of our own lives Thank you for joining us in today’s conversation!   ABOUT MARTIE MCMANE Rev. Martie McMane, MA, M.Div, is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and was the Senior Minister of First Congregational Church in Boulder from 2000-2016.  As a certified Enneagram teacher for 25 years, Martie has reached well over 1,000 people with her in-depth knowledge of the Enneagram and how its understanding can be transformative for our lives. In retirement, she enjoys creating pastels and mixed media, using it as a way to express the connection with the Divine as witnessed in nature and what it means to be human. Martie’s Website   Mentioned in the Podcast SoulCollage Evolving: An Intuitive Collage Process for Self-Discovery and Community by Seena B. Frost Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life by Henri Nouwen Merton’s Prayer: Finding God’s Will This is the Soul Collage that Steve did in the retreat with Marty.   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 23:13 - A Gaelic Blessing: Meditation by John Rutter Music Break at 39:50 - There will be Rest by Frank Ticheli - performed by Kantorei   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

Discernment is the process of gaining clarity on finding direction for the next step of our journey.   SHOW NOTES Last year Steve and Gwen went through a period of repositioning: changes were on the horizon but any clarity about what to do next was clouded by the realization that they were not on the same page. They reached out to a trusted Spiritual Director for help and the result was what they called a “Discernment Retreat.”  They needed clarity. They needed discernment. Today’s podcast is a discussion between Steve and the Spiritual Director they called on for help, Martie McMane. A retired minister, artist, and spiritual director, Martie used a collage process that helped Steve & Gwen in making those crucial, life decisions. Today they dive deep into the process. Thank you for joining us in today’s conversation!   ABOUT MARTIE MCMANE Rev. Martie McMane, MA, M.Div, is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and was the Senior Minister of First Congregational Church in Boulder from 2000-2016.  As a certified Enneagram teacher for 25 years, Martie has reached well over 1,000 people with her in-depth knowledge of the Enneagram and how its understanding can be transformative for our lives. In retirement, she enjoys creating pastels and mixed media, using it as a way to express the connection with the Divine as witnessed in nature and what it means to be human. Martie’s Website   Mentioned in the Podcast SoulCollage Evolving: An Intuitive Collage Process for Self-Discovery and Community by Seena B. Frost Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life by Henri Nouwen Merton’s Prayer: Finding God’s Will   This is the Soul Collage that Steve did in the retreat with Marty.     MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 33:22 & 36:32 - Waltz for the Broken Hearted Written and performed by Jeff Wahl.   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

I am simply humbled at this stage in my career, to have the privilege to tell Walter’s story and to help amplify his amazingly relevant voice. Getting to know Walter has been a healing and restorative experience for me as a former pastor and a professor deeply committed to social justice when so much of the church and society has forgotten what the biblical text says about God’s care for the marginalized. — Conrad L. Kanagy   SHOW NOTES Steve’s chats with Conrad Kanagy, the author of coming soon book Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography. (releases Oct 24, 2023) Steve and Conrad focus on the book and how it reveals the most complete portrait to date of this remarkable prophet, pastor, preacher, teacher, and friend. Thank you for joining us in today’s conversation!   ABOUT CONRAD L. KANAGY Conrad L. Kanagy is professor of sociology at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania. He holds an undergraduate degree from Wheaton College (Illinois) and a PhD from Penn State. He is the author of eight books and numerous scholarly articles. His primary area of expertise is American and global Christianity. He hosts the podcast A Church Dismantled--A Kingdom Restored. Books by Conrad   MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography (Releases Oct 24, 2023) Conrad’s Podcast A Church Dismantled--A Kingdom Restored.   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 33:00 - The Feast of St Augustine Music Break at 47:28 - Kyrie Eleison with Audrey Snyder   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

I came to the conclusion that I could not stay in that role and be healthy. So I chose to be a healthy person over a megachurch pastor, and it was an incredibly hard choice. — Pete Briscoe   SHOW NOTES In today’s conversation, Steve talks with Pete Briscoe about why Pete no longer calls himself an “evangelical.” You’ll hear Pete’s story, filled with pain and struggles, as he discovers more beautiful ways to live the Christian life. While you may not agree with his path, we think there’s something here to learn in his story. Thank you for joining us in today’s conversation!   ABOUT PETE BRISCOE After leading Bent Tree Bible Fellowship church for nearly three decades and preaching for Telling the Truth ministry for more than a decade, God led Pete to a new season of life. With his wife Libby, they sold their home, donated most of their stuff, and bought an RV. They drove west into the sunset, took a couple of months to catch their breath, and then started to work from the road. Pete now coaches pastors and business owners/leaders in communications and self-care. He is also the host of the podcast Kindavangelical, a podcast for folks who have spent time in the evangelical culture but it isn’t working for them anymore. Learn more about Pete on his website: www.petebriscoe.org   MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST Kindavangelical Podcast The Christian Journey   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 31:40 - Gratitude by Scott Lamlein. Music Break at 56:05 - Luminous Night of the Soul by Ola Gjeilo. Performed by Central Washington University Chamber Choir.   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

I have learned to prize holy ignorance more highly than religious certainty and to seek companions who have arrived at the same place. We are a motley crew, distinguished not only by our inability to explain ourselves to those who are more certain of their beliefs than we are but in many cases by our distance from the centers of our faith communities as well. Like campers who have bonded over cook fires far from home, we remain grateful for the provisions that we have brought with us from those cupboards, but we also find them more delicious when we share them with one another under the stars.   —Barbara Brown Taylor _____________________________________________________ “Bible-believing religious people often miss the gospel. Just because you believe in the Bible doesn't mean you understand it. Over and over the tax collectors, prostitutes, and the amoral come to Jesus, while the religious miss who he is.” These are the words of well known and lived Tim Keller. Steve and Brandon Cook explore how our view and opinions about the Bible ought to grow and deepen as we grow and deepen! About Brandon Cook Brandon is a husband and father and passionate about family and relationships. He is also a writer, trainer, and business/personal coach.  Originally from Alabama, he attended Wheaton College (IL) and studied in Jerusalem, Israel before graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University near Boston. He also received a Master’s degree in ancient Judaism from Oxford University in the UK. After graduate school, he moved to Long Beach, California and had an incredibly rich and transformative experience for over 14 years working as a pastor, coach, and trainer. Brandon and his wife Rebecca have three amazing children and now live in Brevard, North Carolina.  Brandon's Website   MUSIC Native Tongue by David Wilcox (from Into the Mystery, 2003) Lyrics Ancient Words by Michael W. Smith (from Worship Again, 2002) Lyrics   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

The trapeze artist free falls into the hands of trust and love. Jesus let go, while on the cross and surrendered his life into good hands of his Father. — Henri Nouwen SHOW NOTES It’s hard work to let go. Ask Moses, Peter, Paul, Mary the mother of Jesus, or really—any character in the Scriptures. Like it or not, letting go is one of the big scholastic courses you sign up for in being born. Today we explore Letting Go—it all comes together in our May Issue of our new resource, the Soul Care Ezine. Steve talks about how the whole process of Letting Go is such an important part of your own soul journey.  This episode is the final one for this season. We will be taking a break this summer, but will be back in the Fall with more podcasts!   MENTIONED IN PODCAST Read Issue 2 of the Soul Care Ezine on Letting Go Poem read by Steve - The Welcome Prayer by Father Thomas Keating Subscribe to the Soul Care Ezine Pay it Forward - Donate to the Soul Care Ezine   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 38:46 - Cathedral of the Pines by Tim Janis · from Flowers in October Music Break at 45:25 - I Won’t Break by Elyssa Smith   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

We carry these desires, our deepest longings, with us. It’s part of what it means to be human, and they are drivers in our lives whether or not we acknowledge them. — Jeff Crosby SHOW NOTES Today’s guest is Jeff Crosby, the author of the new book (releases May 23, 2023) Language of the Soul. For over fifteen years, Jeff has been searching for a language of the soul--a way to articulate our deepest longings. Through the years he gathered clues from within global music styles, from different cultures, from his own Christian tradition and its sacred texts--and from deep within himself. Jeff explores the ways in which God meets us in our deepest longings of the heart – our longing for home, friendship, forgiveness, spiritual transformation, and more – not by satisfying our every desire but by granting us what we genuinely need. SPECIAL GUEST JEFF CROSBY Jeff Crosby is the president and CEO of ECPA, the trade association of Christian publishing, and has spent nearly four decades working in the world of words as a bookseller, publisher, and author. His writing has appeared in numerous magazines and journals including CRUX, Conversations Journal, Books & Culture, Urban Faith, and Living Lutheran. He is the editor and compiler of "Days of Grace Through the Year" (a collection of writings by Lewis B. Smedes) and the author of The Language of the Soul, which is released May 23, 2023. Crosby earned an undergraduate degree in journalism and a master's degree in leadership development, where his area of special emphasis was creating mentoring cultures in organizations.  He has been married to Cindy Crosby, a writer, educator, and naturalist, for more than 40 years, and has two grown children and six grandchildren.  You can find more at JeffreyCrosby.net.   MENTIONED IN PODCAST The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of our Heart by Jeff Crosby Jeff’s Website   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 52:25 - Always With Me (Song for Anxiety) - IAMSON SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)     FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

Be responsible, serve, and protect. — Kyle Meyaard-Schaap SHOW NOTES Have you ever looked at the effects of climate change and the apathy of so many around you and wondered, "What are we missing here?" Today’s guest Kyle Meyaard-Schaap understands this feeling from personal experience. He is the author of the recently released book, Following Jesus in a Warming World, a field guide for Christian climate action. Steve and Kyle discuss the book and how climate change should not be grounded in a sense of guilt or drudgery, but in the joy of caring for creation. Thank you for joining us today! SPECIAL GUEST KYLE MEYAARD-SCHAAP   Kyle is vice-president of the Evangelical Environmental Network. Previously, he was the national organizer and spokesperson for Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, and he has been featured in news outlets such as CNN, PBS, NPR, NBC News, and U.S. News & World Report. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his wife and two children. Kyle’s Website (Order his new book, read more of his bio, and contact him directly) https://kylemeyaardschaap.com/   MENTIONED IN PODCAST Climate Vigil Songs from The Porter’s Gate Kyle’s Website Genesis 1 (MSG) Download Beauty and Nature Reader for $1   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 58:47 - My Father's World by Jadon Lavik · from Roots Run Deep SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)     FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

“There is no house like the house of belonging.”  — David Whyte SHOW NOTES Every soul needs to belong. We look for our sense of belonging in our families, tribes, nations, and friendships Today we explore the place of our home—that place where you actually live and the role and influences that this place has on our spiritual lives. ​It all comes together in our new resource, the Soul Care Ezine. Steve shares why we decided to create the Ezine, what will be included in each issue, and how it can be a part of your own soul journey.    MENTIONED IN PODCAST Read Issue 1 of the Soul Care Ezine The House of Belonging by David Whyte Subscribe to the Soul Care Ezine Pay it Forward - Donate to the Soul Care Ezine   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 26:33 - Resurrexi by Juliano Ravanello · from Music of Silence: Gregorian Chants  

We are continuing the conversation today with Steve and Roger Housden. It was Roger who opened the portal for Steve to get and understand poetry. Roger is a prolific writer, poet, speaker and teacher and speaks with a grace and appreciation of self-discovery and exploration . Thank you for joining us today! Our Special Guest - Roger Housden Roger Housden is an author and has been featured many times in The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. His first book was published in the U.K. in 1990, and as of 2018, he has published twenty six books, including four travel books, a novella, Chasing Love and Revelation, and the best-selling Ten Poems series, which began in 2001 with Ten Poems to Change Your Life and ended with the publication in 2018 of Ten Poems  for Difficult Times. A native of England, he lives in Marin County, California, and teaches around the world. Roger’s Website Roger’s Books   Mentioned in Podcast Come Before Winter Retreat A Brief for the Defense by Jack Gilbert Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies are not starving someplace, they are starving somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils. But we enjoy our lives because that’s what God wants. Otherwise the mornings before summer dawn would not be made so fine. The Bengal tiger would not be fashioned so miraculously well. The poor women at the fountain are laughing together between the suffering they have known and the awfulness in their future, smiling and laughing while somebody in the village is very sick. There is laughter every day in the terrible streets of Calcutta, and the women laugh in the cages of Bombay. If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction, we lessen the importance of their deprivation. We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil. If the locomotive of the Lord runs us down, we should give thanks that the end had magnitude. We must admit there will be music despite everything. We stand at the prow again of a small ship anchored late at night in the tiny port looking over to the sleeping island: the waterfront is three shuttered cafés and one naked light burning. To hear the faint sound of oars in the silence as a rowboat comes slowly out and then goes back is truly worth all the years of sorrow that are to come. ————- From Collected Poems by Jack Gilbert. Copyright © 2012.   Unholy Sonnet 11 by Mark Jarman Half asleep in prayer I said the right thing And felt a sudden pleasure come into The room or my own body. In the dark, Charged with a change of atmosphere, at first I couldn’t tell my body from the room. And I was wide awake, full of this feeling, Alert as though I’d heard a doorknob twist, A drawer pulled, and instead of terror knew The intrusion of an overwhelming joy. I had said thanks and this was the response. But how I said it or what I said it for I still cannot recall and I have tried All sorts of ways all hours of the night. Once was enough to be dissatisfied. —————— From Questions for Ecclesiastes by Mark Jarman. Copyright © 1997.   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 47:35 - Armenian Tradition: Surb (Holy, Holy, Holy) - Performed by Harpa Dei.   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

Todays podcast has very special meaning for Steve as he had the opportunity to speak with Roger Housden. It was Roger who opened the portal for Steve to get and understand poetry. He’s a prolific writer and poet and the podcast became a soul enriching experience. We pray you are enriched as well!   OUR SPECIAL GUEST - ROGER HOUSDEN Roger Housden is an author and has been featured many times in The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. His first book was published in the U.K. in 1990, and as of 2018, he has published twenty six books, including four travel books, a novella, Chasing Love and Revelation, and the best-selling Ten Poems series, which began in 2001 with Ten Poems to Change Your Life and ended with the publication in 2018 of Ten Poems  for Difficult Times. A native of England, he lives in Marin County, California, and teaches around the world. Roger’s Website Roger’s Books   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 38:13 - Minha Alma tem Sede de Deus (My soul thirsts for God) - with Juliano Ravanello. LYRICS (in English) My soul thirsts for God And longs for the living God Pilgrim and happy walking To the house of God Amid shouts, praise and joy Of the jubilant multitude Send your light your truth They will be my guide Lead me to your holy mountain To your dwelling place Then I will go to the altars of the Lord God of my joy I will sing Your praise with the sound of the harp My Lord and my God When I shall have the joy of seeing The face of God.   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

We are continuing the conversation with Steve in Part 2 of 12 Foundations to Care for your Soul. STEVE: These days, I find myself bothered by multiple voices all trying to be heard. I’m realizing that the only voices I want to, need to and trust these days are the ones who have credibility. They must have lived life; revealed a brokenness in their souls and walk with a limp to have credibility. I need to just pass on the many social influencers and newbies yelling through their posts to be heard. I find myself growing deaf to such clamor. How about you? Thank you for joining us today!   Resources Mentioned in Podcast The Jesus Life by Stephen W. Smith Soul Custody by Stephen W. Smith Inside Job by Stephen W. Smith Podcasts on Dignity Ep. 10: Exploring Dignity of the Soul Ep. 59: Dignity Matters!   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 21:48 - Guardai-me ó Deus - with Juliano Ravanello. LYRICS (in English) Keep me, O God, because in you I take refuge! Keep me, O God, because in you I take refuge!   O Lord, you are my inheritance and my cup My destiny is safe in your hands I always have the Lord before my eyes Because if I have you by my side, I do not hesitate   This is why my heart is in celebration My soul rejoices with joy And even my body at rest is calm For you will not leave me delivered to death Nor will your friend know corruption   You teach me your way to life Eternal delight and joy at your side Together with you unlimited happiness Eternal delight and joy at your side Bless the Lord, O my soul SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

Today’s podcast is with Steve, in a message that he felt could contribute to a deeper understanding of soul care. These days, I find myself bothered by multiple voices all trying to be heard. I’m realizing that the only voices I want to, need to and trust these days are the ones who have credibility. They must have lived life; revealed a brokenness in their souls and walk with a limp to have credibility. I need to just pass on the many social influencers and newbies yelling through their posts to be heard. I find myself growing deaf to such clamor. How about you? Thank you for joining us today!   RESOURCES MENTIONED IN PODCAST The Jesus Life by Stephen W. Smith Inside Job by Stephen W. Smith Podcast on Body/Health: The Body-Soul Connection, Part 1 & Part 2 Podcasts on Dignity Ep. 10: Exploring Dignity of the Soul Ep. 59: Dignity Matters!   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 40:21 - Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo from String Quartet No. 16 in F Major Op. 135 - Written by Ludwig Van Beethoven · Performed by Danubius Quartet SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

Many of us seemed hard wired to do, do, and do more. Changing this requires a long, slow rewiring of our minds at the cellular level. It is not acquired by reading quotes, attending conferences or transferring an addiction of accomplishing more and more to the spiritual life. Steve talks with author Alan Fadling about his beautiful book, A Year of Slowing Down: Daily Devotions for Unhurried Living A year of slowing. I like it and you will also! TODAY’S GUEST - ALAN FADLING Alan is a founding partner of Unhurried Living, Inc, a non-profit that trains people to rest deeper, live fuller and lead better. Alan is a trained spiritual director and leadership consultant, and the author of the award-winning books An Unhurried Life and An Unhurried Leader, which was honored with a Christianity Today Award of Merit in spirituality. He is also coauthor (with Gem Fadling) of What Does Your Soul Love? Learn more about Alan & his books, podcast, coaching, and Unhurried Living on his website - www.unhurriedliving.com   RESOURCES MENTIONED IN PODCAST A Year of Slowing Down: Daily Devotions for Unhurried Living by Alan Fadling Unhurried Living, Inc.   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 33:23: Sanctus (De Angelis) - Juliano Ravanello Music Break at 50:21: Heavenly Violin - Beautiful Relaxing Violin Music SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

Today we are continuing the conversation with special guest Wesley Vander Lugt and Steve, as they continue to discuss beauty as oxygen and Kinshop Plot, a mission that is all about the deep belonging, resonant relationships, and entangled identities that bring us fully alive. Thanks for joining us in today’s conversation! TODAY’S GUEST - WESLEY VANDER LUGT Wes is a pastor, theologian, writer, educator, nonprofit leader, and arts advocate with a passion for beauty, slowness, cultivation, kinship, and theodramatics. ​Wes currently works as the Acting Director of the Leighton Ford Center for Theology, the Arts, and Gospel Witness and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte. He is also the Co-Founder of Kinship Plot, a community of learning and practice who imagine and embody resonant relationships of every kind. Wes holds a PhD in Theology, Imagination, and the Arts from the University of St Andrews. His publications include Living Theodrama: Reimagining Theological Ethics, and he is currently working on a book called Beauty is Oxygen: How Buffered, Battered, and Bored Souls Can Breathe Again. Learn more about Wes on his website - www.WesleyVanderLugt.com   RESOURCES MENTIONED IN PODCAST Kinship Plot - founded by Wes and his wife Stephanie   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 16:05: Serse (Xerxes), HWV 40: Larghetto - from the Album Klassiska Favoriter Music Break at 33:43: Create In Me- written by Terry Talbot. SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram

Oxygen is essential to our survival. Did you ever think that Beauty might also be essential to our survival? Special guest Wesley Vander Lugt and Steve dig deep into how Beauty is not just about decoration in our lives or as an illustration of truth, but something deep in us that longs to not only enjoy beauty, but to be drawn into it and participate in it. Thanks for joining us in today’s conversation. TODAY’S GUEST - WESLEY VANDER LUGT Wes is a pastor, theologian, writer, educator, nonprofit leader, and arts advocate with a passion for beauty, slowness, cultivation, kinship, and theodramatics. ​Wes currently works as the Acting Director of the Leighton Ford Center for Theology, the Arts, and Gospel Witness and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte. He is also the Co-Founder of Kinship Plot, a community of learning and practice who imagine and embody resonant relationships of every kind. Wes holds a PhD in Theology, Imagination, and the Arts from the University of St Andrews. His publications include Living Theodrama: Reimagining Theological Ethics, and he is currently working on a book called Beauty is Oxygen: How Buffered, Battered, and Bored Souls Can Breathe Again. Learn more about Wes on his website - www.WesleyVanderLugt.com RESOURCES MENTIONED IN PODCAST Kinship Plot - founded by Wes and his wife Stephanie   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 20:35: Peace - Unknown Music Break at 47:32: Miserere mei - composed by Gregorio Allegri. Performed by New College Choir, Oxford. SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram

We are approaching a new season. The days will get longer now. The darkness will be more and more dispelled. The days of Lent are near. Easter is coming, but not yet. Lent is a time for self-examination and reflection - it is the 40 days leading up to Easter. In these 40 days, we are invited to look deeper and to look within. It's a time of humbling ourselves and recognizing what is most dead in us -- and with that, what needs to come alive in us! And that is why Potter’s Inn and Steve has created a resource that will guide you in those 40 days of self-examination and reflection, called 40 Days, 40 Miles, 40 Questions: A Lenten Journey. On today’s podcast episode, Steve explains this new resource in depth and why 40 Questions in 40 Miles for 40 Days: A Lenten Journey is a spiritual practice that engages the body, heart, mind, and soul. Thanks for joining us today! RESOURCES MENTIONED IN PODCAST 40 Days, 40 Miles, 40 Questions: A Lenten Journey by Stephen W. Smith MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 25:50: Agnus Dei from Missa Papae Marcelli from the album Classical Music for Contemplation.   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

Aspen trees are a beautiful sight in the Western US. But did you know you will never find an aspen tree growing alone in a natural setting? Aspen trees grow in community. Their roots are intertwined under the ground, making a grove of trees into one big tree. The story of Lazarus echoes the spiritual lesson of the aspen grove: we cannot grow alone. We were never meant to remain alone as we emerge from the tomb. As we learn from Lazarus, we see that our roots intertwine with others. Jesus calls us to embrace a “grove” of people and allow a community of friends to help us change. Join us in this conversation on the importance of community in each of our lives. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN PODCAST The Lazarus Life: Spiritual Transformation for Ordinary People by Stephen W. Smith John 1:14 Luke 10:34-35 MSG Romans 15:7 John 11:43 Philippians 2:1-4 MSG I Kings 6:24-33 MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 42:45: Bring Us, O Lord God by William Harris - performed by VOCES8.   SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com

How do we live with difficult people and how do we live when we’ve been hurt in a relationship? Today Joe Chambers is reading from Steve’s book “The Jesus Life” and it unpacks those very subjects. It’s Steve at his most raw, honest, and vulnerable. Thank you for joining us for this challenging discussion! RESOURCES MENTIONED IN PODCAST The Jesus Life: Eight Ways to Recover Authentic Christianity by Stephen W. Smith John 2:24 NIV Mark 3:13 NIV Ps. 8:3-4 MSG Eph. 1:4 MSG John 15:15 MSG Mark 3:14 NIV Gen 2:18 NIV Luke 24:32 MSG Acts 17:27 MSG Luke 18:15-17 MSG Matt. 15:19-20 NIV John 2:23-25 NIV Psm. 133:1 NIV Romans 15:7 NIV   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 44:51: What A Friend We Have In Jesus - Hymns Of Comfort from the Classic Worship Series. Performed by Eric Wyse & Paul Nelson SUPPORT THE PODCAST Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you: Use our Donation Page on our Website Donate using our new App Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Soul Care Conversations Group Page on FB Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram   CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

Today Joe Chambers joins us in reading from Steve’s Book “Soul Custody.” It’s a discussion about Soul Companions and how the four quadrants of the human heart offer us a picture of the four levels to friendship. Being made in the image of God--the Trinity--we are most fully ourselves when we live life together. Thank you for joining us in today's discussion!   RESOURCES MENTIONED IN PODCAST Soul Custody: Choosing to Care for the One and Only You by Stephen W. Smith Proverbs 27:19 TLB Ruth 1:16-17 MSG 2 Samuel 1:26 MSG Luke 24:32 Exodus 3:3 KJV 1 Peter 1:22 Mark 7:14-23 MSG 1 Cor. 13:4-7 MSG   MUSIC USED IN PODCAST Music Break at 52:05: Entreat Me Not To Leave You, performed by Atlanta Master Chorale   FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM Facebook Soul Care Conversations Group Page Potter’s Inn Main FB Page Instagram   CONTACT US podcast@pottersinn.com INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES? Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats.