Potter's Inn Soul Care Conversations
This cool breeze by the river bank. A great blue heron feeding in the shallows. The pilated woodpecker serenading the forest with its haunting song. I think I need one hundred days like this! Slowly, ever so slowly. Here. Now. This! Bit by bit and little by little, I feel a twinge of what may be life. A steady erosion has happened in me. It’s taken time to do this damage. It will take more time to regain what’s been lost. The locust have ravaged much I feel now. Sad stories, and far too many of them, have layered my heart with deep grief. I think I need one hundred...
info_outline Blessing for the BrokenheartedPotter's Inn Soul Care Conversations
info_outline Allison's StoryPotter's Inn Soul Care Conversations
info_outline The River of no AgendaPotter's Inn Soul Care Conversations
info_outline Discernment: Finding Our Way, Part 2Potter'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 ...
info_outline Ep 146: Discernment: Finding our Way, Part 1Potter's Inn Soul Care Conversations
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...
info_outline Ep 145: Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic ImaginationPotter's Inn Soul Care Conversations
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....
info_outline 'Kindavangelical' With Guest Pete BriscoePotter's Inn Soul Care Conversations
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...
info_outline Scripture & the Spiritual JourneyPotter's Inn Soul Care Conversations
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...
info_outline Steve's List For Summer 2023: Ep 12 - Cultivating Daily Shalom: Using The Daily ExamenPotter's Inn Soul Care Conversations
Note From Steve: We are living in a day and age of distractions. We are bombarded with choices, options and desires. This podcast lays out the way to to cultivate peace and contentment. It's about practicing the daily Examen. This is an ancient practice developed by Ignatius of Loyola. He said this ONE spiritual practice would change your life for the good. It's true. My life has thoroughly changed by learning to incorporate this one spiritual practice. It's my final recommendation for the summer. SHOW NOTES The art of reflecting on our day is almost a lost art in our busy and...
info_outlineUsed in Potter's Inn Soul Care Conversations Episode 27 - Simple Prayer
This way of simple prayer, when we are faithful to it and practice it at regular times, slowly leads us to an experience of rest and opens us to God’s active presence. Moreover, we can take this prayer with us into a very busy day. When, for instance, we have spent twenty minutes in the early morning sitting in the presence of God with the words “The Lord is my Shepherd” they may slowly build a little nest for themselves in our heart and stay there for the rest of our busy day. Even while we are talking, studying, gardening, or building, the prayer can continue in our heart and keep us aware of God’s ever-present guidance. The discipline is not directed toward coming to a deeper insight into what it means that God is called our Shepherd, but toward coming to the inner experience of God’s shepherding action in whatever we think, say or do.
Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart, pp 82-83.