Any spirituality worth its salt has to help us steer a course through the choppy waters of the world. Our current times are frothy, turbulent and troubling. War, nuclear threats, climate change, social division, and political extremism all seem ominous.

How can we respond spiritually in the face of such change, disruption and possible destruction? Is it possible to stay engaged in the world as it is and also maintain our equilibrium?

Our conversations this week on the Stumbling Mystic Podcast explore these questions and more. My guests talked about the need to avoid the downward and unproductive cycles of fear that can grip us. They viewed our current troubles as signs of a coming transformation of global systems and perhaps the evolution of human consciousness itself.

They were frank in their assessment of our situation but expressed hope for the future and for our ability to grow our spiritual capacity to meet the challenges we face.