The Village Elder

Bob & Stephen discuss some thoughts on facing change as individuals and organizations using a framework called the Transtheoretical Model or Stages of Change Model as a guide for their conversation.  Please share your thoughts and reflections with them at info@findmycenter.net!

After a year-long hiatus, Stephen & Bob are back at it!  Join them as they catch up with each other on the wisdom they have encountered and what they have learned from it this past year.  If you are interested in being a guest on the show, or you have topic ideas for Season 2, feel free to send a message to info at findmycenter dot net! 

Bob & Stephen continue their discussion on the sacredness of everything and move into the practical.  Join them as they talk about how this idea turns into choices and perspectives in our everyday lives.  And since this will probably be the final episode of the year, both Bob & Stephen wish you a wonderful holiday season!

Bob has had an idea rolling around for a bit that he wants to process with Stephen.  Join them as they discuss The Sacredness of Everything!

Bob & Stephen are back!  In this episode they talk about a concept Stephen has been working on for a while, but recently developed some more concrete ideas about it.  It's all about The Journey of Forgiveness and the freedom that can be a part of traveling this journey.To view the illustration of the Journey of Forgiveness and to read Stephen's blog about it, click here!

Join Bob and Stephen as they discuss the following quote from Brian McLaren:"God’s message of love is sent into the world in human envelopes. If you want to see a great spiritual migration begin, then let it start right in your body. Let your life be a foothold of liberation."This is from a section of Brian's book, The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion Is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian (Convergent: 2016), and was quoted in the August 19, 2020 Daily Meditation from the Center for Action and Contemplation, which can be found at this link:https://cac.org/a-disruption-of-the-spirit-2020-08-19/

In this episode, Bob and Stephen continue their journey of trying to understand racism, anti-racism, and white privilege through a conversation with Tom & Janelle Galbraith.  Stephen first became acquainted with their family several years ago when they moved to Redding and started attending the church he was pastoring.  As an interracial couple with three daughters, they share their unique perspective from their lives, as well as some great ideas for how we can all keep moving forward together as community.  Enjoy the chat! 

In this episode, Bob & Stephen talk through a pattern for understanding and framing the ongoing process of transformation in our lives.  Built on the simple idea of Order-Disorder-Reorder they first became familiar with through the writings of Fr. Richard Rohr, they guide you through the diagram they have developed for this pattern.  Unfortunately, the diagram couldn't be uploaded to the show notes here, but check it out on findmycenter.net, and don't forget to email your reflections and comments to scampbell@findmycenter.net.

In response to the ongoing global dialogue around race and equality, Bob & Stephen have both encountered pushback that has caused them to ask some deeper questions.  In this episode they discuss a possible framework based on the Wesleyan Quadrilateral that may help people think and respond to those questions in ways that help us all move forward in our lives.  

In this episode, Bob and Stephen seek out, sit with, and listen to the wisdom of Juliette Read - a 30 something mother and wife from Redding, CA.  Juliette had a moment several years ago that launched her on a journey of discovery around the issues of race and her own white privilege, and how she needed to become a voice in the midst of that world.During the episode, several resources are referenced:Juliette's Instagram for her journey @Rethinking_Ushttps://www.instagram.com/rethinking_us/Lisa Sharon Harper's Instagram account @lisasharperLisa Sharon Harper - Founder and President, @freedomroad.us and Host #freedomroadpodcast . Author of several books including #verygoodgospel and #forgiveusbook.  linktr.ee/lisasharperLatasha Morrison - Author of Be the Bridgehttps://latashamorrison.comhttps://bethebridge.comThe Podcast with Brene' Brown and Ibram X. Kendihttps://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-ibram-x-kendi-on-how-to-be-an-antiracist/https://www.ibramxkendi.com

Bob introduces Stephen to a phrase related to "truth" he first heard and wrestled with in graduate school.  Together they discuss how their encounters with wisdom related to Truth over the years has shaped their understanding of that idea.

In this episode, Bob & Stephen discuss the ways encountering wisdom has caused them to let go of certainty by embracing doubts and questions in their lives.  They talk about the natural form that journey takes from order, to disorder, to reorder, and how that can be life giving for us.

Welcome to The Village Elder Podcast!  We are so glad you're here.  In this opening episode, Bob & Stephen take time to introduce themselves, talk about the concept of "seeking out, sitting with, and learning from wisdom," and reflect on the uniqueness of the time we are all in right now.

In this solo episode, Stephen shares some of what will be coming in the next episode, as well as some resources and a personal Lament.Red Lining in cities and neighbors in during the New Deal under FDR.Brene' Brown's podcast, Unlocking Us, and the episode with Ibram X. Kendi8cantwait.orgA Lament for TodayBy Stephen CampbellJune 5, 2020 God, my heart is broken today.It’s broken over the collective pain I can feel in the air.It’s broken over my brothers and sisters of color,that they have had to endure lives of dehumanization, and that I have not only not understood that, but I have also contributed to it.It’s broken over the ways You and Your words and symbols are being used and manipulated for personal power and privilege.It’s broken over the scenes I’ve watched where people of power continue to lord that power over others to the point of physical harm and even death.It’s broken over the clear reality that our world is motivated more by fear, greed and protection, than it is by love, sacrifice and service.And it’s deeply broken over the fact that so much of this is being done and justifiedby those people who claim to know You and to follow You.But God what you have said through holy people down through the depths of timeis that you welcome and desire a broken and contrite heart.  So I can only imagine that somehow you want to use your love to partner with my brokenness to bring about change and transformation,not just in me, but through everyone who has a broken heart.Somehow you want to use our brokenness to bring about greater love and wholenessin our lives and our world, because that’s what you do - you take brokenness and bring restoration,you turn pain into healing, and you take death and create new life.So God, please continue to allow my heart, our hearts, to be broken so your healing and transforming love can flow more freely in us, and through us, and into our world.May your transforming love dismantle the strongholds of human power and greed;May it transform our fear into humility,And may it transform our defensive protection into sacrificial service.Oh God, please, take our brokenness and make us new.