Shows
Latter-day Faith227: A Reason of the Hope That Is in YouUsing as launching pad the Western Christian liturgical calendar celebration of Epiphany (the day recognizing Jesus's first revelation to Gentiles--in this case, the Magi) this episode is a discussion between LDF host and co-host Dan Wotherspoon and Mark Crego about the importance of being ready at all times and within any group to share our witness with others. As it says in 1 Peter 3:15: "and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear," Dan and Mark share how we might be able to...
2026-02-101h 39
Latter-day Faith225: Hope Now!"Hope" is a term often associated with Christmas. "A thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices..." "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." But what is "hope"? And how is it tied to Jesus's birth and life? Is hope an expectation of a particular outcome, or is it something deeper--perhaps a quality manifest in the character of God as displayed by Jesus. So often in Christian culture, hope is tied to the hope for salvation and life with God after we've died. But that makes hope mostly a "then" thing rather...
2025-12-121h 04
Latter-day Faith224: Valuing MythIn this episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon follows up on Episode 223 that focused on obstacles that we face when we encounter surprising or disturbing things about scripture by focusing on its mythic elements. What is myth? What it its purpose? How can we appreciate it for its insights into life's biggest questions and themes, as well as the archetypal truths illustrated in such stories, along with their insights into human nature. Dan spends time talking about myth within scripture but then goes to mythic stories we all likely know, suggesting reasons we should value those as well.
2025-11-1434 min
Latter-day Faith218: What's Ahead for Latter-day FaithAs we refresh our energies after a long summer, Mark Crego and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon take stock a bit about Latter-day Faith, its mission, and what its plans are going forward, including new kinds of offerings ahead. This is an unusual episode in that it contains a conversation that the two were having that Mark suddenly started recording. In addition to reaffirming what they think the podcast and community is about, including why they think "Latter-day" is still an appropriate title, their discussion of faith took them into a detour about Jesus and in what ways...
2025-09-0523 minLatter-day Faith218: What's Ahead for Latter-day FaithAs we refresh our energies after a long summer, Mark Crego and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon take stock a bit about Latter-day Faith, its mission, and what its plans are going forward, including new kinds of offerings ahead. This is an unusual episode in that it contains a conversation that the two were having that Mark suddenly started recording. In addition to reaffirming what they think the podcast and community is about, including why they think "Latter-day" is still an appropriate title, their discussion of faith took them into a detour about Jesus and in what ways...
2025-09-0523 min
Latter-day Faith205: What is Mysticism? Can Mormons Be Mystics?In this terrific episode, Terri Petersen interviews Jana Spangler and usual LDF host Dan Wotherspoon about "mysticism." The ultimate goal of their conversation was to take this word and topic and drop it down from the clouds (how many people imagine it) and into our lives here and now. Through great questions from Terri and sharing their personal experiences, Jana and Dan emphasize that mysticism basically means getting in touch with the Divine/God/the Universe directly. Instead of staying in the realm of talking about God with words that can't capture the depth and wideness of of...
2025-03-071h 14
Latter-day Faith203: Navigating the Doctrine and Covenants in Sunday SchoolIn this episode, Mark Crego, Dan Wotherspoon, and Terri Petersen explore how to approach the Doctrine and Covenants in this year's Come Follow Me curriculum. Acknowledging both the inspiring and troubling aspects of these revelations and church history, they discuss how to navigate our faith journey while engaging in the complex and difficult texts. Sometimes verses in the D&C can be triggering. What does it mean when we speak of "the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth?" When we read "by mine own voice or the voice of my servants...
2025-02-1152 min
Latter-day Faith196: Becoming Change Agents through Constructive Community InvolvementWhen we are feeling down and helpless in the face of frightening trends, events, and horrors, one of the possible causes is that we have become passive, possibly just throwing up our hands and retreating into our own cocoon to ride things out. Or perhaps, instead, we vent our frustrations to others, pointing out who is at fault, and calling for action that we rarely get involved with ourselves.This second way may not feel like depression but it can be just internally harmful as ineffective as hiding, fretting, and imagining things can't change. But what if they can...
2024-11-2845 min
Latter-day Faith194: Election Thoughts and How We Can Care for Ourselves in its WakeIn this short episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon offers a few of his reactions to the recent presidential election. Without trying to demonize anyone who may have voted differently than he did, Dan speaks to the situation of just how evident it is (and has been for years, but perhaps never so completely clear) that instead of people choosing their politics based on their religious beliefs or core principles, so many of us now let politics alter our religious thinking and behavior. Through Bible passages and a reminder from the Book of Mormon, he offers a few thoughts about...
2024-11-0727 min
Latter-day FaithCan AI Play a Supporting Role in Our Spiritual Journeys?AI (Artificial Intelligence) is increasingly becoming part of our everyday lives as it is now enhancing the way businesses and health care providers work, as well as assisting in financial fraud detection, cybersecurity, and much more. Its contributions in those areas are mostly invisible to us. But now with the rise of informational/conversational programs like ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and others, more and more of us are including AI-based chatbots more directly in our daily lives--including our spiritual lives. In this episode, Mark Crego and Jeff Pratt join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon in a conversation about...
2024-10-291h 02
Latter-day Faith190: Discerning Our Life PathSo many of us stumble through life without a genuine sense of who we are and what we should do. One of things that brings us the greatest joy and peace is when we finally connect with what our soul seems to be calling us toward. What are our gifts? What are the through-lines that seem to be showing up again and again in most things we do? Are there practices we can undertake that might help us drill down and name exactly what that those are? This episode is about discernment, especially in relation to our...
2024-10-0458 min
Latter-day Faith175b: What is Latter-day Faith Podcast? What Do Dan and Mark Really Think? Part 2Latter-day Faith Podcast has just passed its 4th anniversary, and one of its early listeners who is now a great friend, Terri Petersen, suggested we need an interview show in which she'd ask questions of LDF host Dan Wotherspoon and his great friend and partner for the whole Latter-day Faith enterprise, Mark Crego. Terri reached out to many other listeners and asks her own as well as many of their questions. In the interview's first episode, the focus was on slightly broader themes about the show and its audience and Mark's and Dan's hopes for what Latter-day Fai...
2024-05-241h 27
Latter-day Faith175: What is Latter-day Faith Podcast? What Do Dan and Mark Really Think?Latter-day Faith Podcast has just passed its 4th anniversary, and one of its early listeners who is now a great friend, Terri Petersen, suggested we should do an interview show in which she'd ask questions of LDF host Dan Wotherspoon and his great friend and partner for the whole Latter-day Faith enterprise, Mark Crego. Terri reached out to many other listeners and asks her own as well as many of their questions. In this interview first episode, the focus was on slightly broader themes about the show and its audience and Mark's and Dan's hopes for what...
2024-05-101h 12Latter-day Faith175: Word ShakersLDS general conferences are often difficult for Latter-day Saints who are experience shifts in their faith, but at the same time wonderful boons to others. Certain talks can be painful reminders of ideas and ways of approaching God and life that we who are in the midst of faith journeys have come to find unhealthy; just as many are exhilarating to others and and fill them with hope. The key determiner in how certain messages will strike our hearts is "us." We come to conference in all sorts of states of mind, and we are often only primed to...
2024-04-2039 min
Latter-day FaithLatterDayFaith-174At the Relief Society's Anniversary Conference held March 17, 2024, Sister J. Anette Dennis made a statement that ignited a firestorm online, including on the LDS Church's own Instagram page. Here is the statement in question: "There is no other religious organization in the world, that I know of, that has so broadly given power and authority to women. There are religions that ordain some women to positions such as priests and pastors, but very few relative to the number of women in their congregations receive that authority that their church gives them. "By contrast, al...
2024-03-2755 min
Latter-day Faith167: Thomas McConkie: At-One-Ment--Embodying the Fullness of Human-DivinityThis episode celebrates Thomas McConkie's incredible new book, At-One-Ment--Embodying the Fullness of Human-Divinity, and dives into several of its topic areas that LDF Host Dan Wotherspoon chose as potentially helpful to this listening audience. In both a personal and descriptive tone they discuss the importance of training our minds to "concentrate," for it is the primary key that can unlock our ability to live in a state of endless energy, depth, beauty, love, and connection. Tom also talks about "transfiguration." In another important section of the conversation, Tom describes for us certain "energy centers" in our bodies (s...
2023-11-221h 15
Latter-day Faith164: God is Loving; You are BeautifulThis has been a tough week in Mormonism, with new rehearsals of old ideas entering the LDS universe that seem to portray God and we humans as less that loving and beautiful. In this environment, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon shares his convictions, based on his own experiences, in an effort to encourage and celebrate everyone and the Love that is the animating force of the universe. God is Loving. We are all beautiful One portion of Dan's words speak to the sense he has that what we are seeing in terms of the intensity and increasing...
2023-10-0527 min
Latter-day Faith162: Practical and Spiritual Life Lessons from Elder James E. TalmageThis episode features a wide ranging conversation between LDF host Dan Wotherspoon and his good friend and historian James Harris about the life and ministry of Elder James E. Talmage. Just before and then in the first few decades of the twentieth century (1862-1933), Elder Talmage served the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in myriad ways. He is among the earliest academics/scholars to come into the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (1911), but even before his time in the quorum he was kept busy leading what is now known as the University of Utah, head of its...
2023-09-191h 40
Latter-day Faith160: WorshipIn this episode, Jana Riess and Kathryn Knight Sonntag join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon in talking about "worship." What is worship, or what does it mean to be in worship mode, and how do these differ from reverence, prayer, or gratitude? Do Latter-day Saint worship practices differ from those of other faith traditions? If so, in what ways? Have LDS forms of worship changed over the past 200 years? Why and how? How does worship affect the worshipper individually? The wider world? Join Jana, Kathryn, and Dan for this dynamic and, at times, personal discussion of their experiences i...
2023-08-181h 10
Latter-day Faith159: Seeing with More of OurselvesWe often use shortcuts in our daily interactions with people, events, and actions, simplifying what is actually far more complex. We decide this or that ahead of time, and we let that guide what we will focus on. We often label people in a certain way based upon some previous experiences with them (or descriptions given by others) and never really give them a chance to emerge in front of us as whole, experiencing, wrestling (like us) others. We see them as caricatures more than individuals, and, of course, we know many others see us the same way. How...
2023-07-191h 06
Latter-day Faith158: Abiding, Not PresidingThe spiritual concept of "abiding" (in God and God in us) is quite rich. It means to "be here with," and its Greek origins and scriptural usage also suggest other meanings such as "remain," "continue," "endure," "be present with," and more. But even as much as we can understand the concept of through word study and through mental faculties, to really get what "abiding" means requires experience. We can talk about abiding in God and vice versa but we can only truly grasp it through direct participation. In this episode, Faith Journey Foundation board chair and theologian...
2023-07-041h 17
Latter-day Faith151: Discerning our Spiritual Path"What do I want to be (or do) when I grow up?" Early on, our answers to such queries are the ones we pick up from our parents, wider family, friends, religious traditions, and important authority figures in our lives. If we are to have a truly fulfilling life, however, we must begin to find our way to what it is we are actually being "called to" by our life. Can we discern for ourselves what our particular life experiences seem to be pointing us towards--a quest that when engaged with our whole heart and mind will bless the...
2023-03-021h 26
Latter-day Faith149: Therapeutic and Spiritual Uses of PsilocybinIn this episode, therapist Julie Keanaaina speaks with LDF host Dan Wotherspoon about psilocybin, which has recently been legalized in Oregon for therapeutic uses, with many other states considering something similar. There have been many stories from studies of its use in television news magazines, newspapers, and other media formats, each affirming the positive effects it has had on patients who are suffering from the effects of trauma, as well as those with depression, including situational depression due to difficult health diagnoses. What is psilocybin? Where does it come from? How has it been used culturally in...
2023-02-101h 19
Latter-day Faith148: Michael Hicks--Musician, Artist, Teacher, Jesus Freak, MormonIn this wonderful, wide-ranging interview, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon speaks with Michael Hicks, a recently retired professor of Music at BYU, about his life, and especially his growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 60s and 70s. During this period, Michael became very active in the Jesus movement of the time, which has often been referred to as the time of the "Jesus Freaks." After several wonderful and exhausting years that included his playing the guitar and singing songs of Jesus at every school break, being part of a band made up of young Christians, joining...
2023-01-231h 52
Latter-day Faith140: The Hero's Return, Part 2This episode is a follow up to Latter-day Faith 137, "The Hero's Return," which was released this past August. That episode featured a discussion between Stephen Carter and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon about an aspect of the Hero's Return model that is one of its lesser studied elements: the decision by the hero/heroine to return to their society of origin, bringing with them the insights and power they have gained from their journey. In this follow-up, Dan Wotherspoon adds a few additional insights about that pivotal decision that weren't explored in the first podcast. In order to...
2022-10-0745 min
Latter-day Faith139: What is "Holiness"We often hear the terms "holy" and "holiness," and we have a general sense of what they mean. But it is always good to look at familiar terms and concepts through different lenses, different eyes, and this is what we have done in this episode. In it, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by Mark Crego and Kajsa Berlin-Kaufusi, both of whom are scriptural scholars as well as partners with Dan in the Faith Journey Foundation, to examine "holiness" from many angles. Does something "holy" necessarily entail that it is accessible only by those who qualify themselves first through...
2022-09-231h 38
Latter-day Faith132: Continuing Our Discussion about What it Means to be "True"Following up on last week's episode about different ways that ideas or things can be "true," in this show LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by his Faith Journey Foundation partner and longtime friend Mark Crego to discuss other aspects of what "true" can mean. Here the focus moves primarily to "true" when it comes to people, families, members of our congregations, and others. Dan and Mark also spend some time on the issue of "exclusivity" when it comes to propositional truth claims as well as individuals. What shall we do when some entity or person is described as...
2022-06-1548 min
Latter-day Faith131: What Does It Mean That Something is "True"?Within the contexts of Latter-day Saint testimony meetings and the congressional hearings now starting regarding the events and planning leading up to and following the January 6th, 2021 demonstrations/insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, it is good to talk about the nature of "truth" and all the factors involved in believing or speaking of something as "true." In this episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon goes solo, sharing a few framings that can help us see claims of truth in greater context, as well as through more graceful eyes, when we are forced to confront the reality that not everyone...
2022-06-1050 min
Latter-day Faith130: HopeIn the wake of the shootings that are happening around the country, and in particular in Texas and Oklahoma most recently, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, depressed, and helpless in the face of all the conditions that have led the shooters to the point they reached in which mass slaughter feels like a way for them to express their pain and go out of this world. At times like these, we need reasons to hope--hope that things can and will change and that love and goodness will ultimately triumph. But even more needed than these "outcome" oriented sorts...
2022-06-0357 min
Latter-day Faith125: Spirituality and Neuroscience, Part 2 In this fascinating episode, Dr. Michael Ferguson joins LDF host Dan Wotherspoon for a journey into the field of neuroscience and how its insights relate to spirituality and spiritual journeys. Michael is pioneering the new field of "neurospirituality", and now teaches courses on it at Harvard Divinity School and Harvard College, along with an appointment in neurophysiology at Harvard Medical School, where he is conducting several research projects. As you will learn from listening in on this conversation, he is eminently qualified to unpack for us what he is learning and hoping to continue to learn from this fascinating...
2022-04-151h 09
Latter-day Faith124: Spirituality and Neuroscience, Part 1124: Spirituality and Neuroscience, Part 1 In this fascinating episode, Dr. Michael Ferguson joins LDF host Dan Wotherspoon for a journey into the field of neuroscience and how its insights relate to spirituality and spiritual journeys. Michael is pioneering the new field of "neurospirituality", and now teaches courses on it at Harvard Divinity School and Harvard College, along with an appointment in neurophysiology at Harvard Medical School, where he is conducting several research projects. As you will learn from listening in on this conversation, he is eminently qualified to unpack for us what he is learning and h...
2022-04-1543 min
Latter-day Faith123: (Encore) Resurrection NowIn this encore presentation of an episode recorded one year ago, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by the wonderful Kajsa Berlin-Kaufusi for a discussion of Easter, especially how we might lean more deeply and intently into the cycle of dying and rebirthing that is at the spiritual center of this holiday. There are many wonderful teachings around Easter, and Kajsa and Dan honor those and the focuses that are typically presented in church settings. But this episode focuses more on the big picture, which (not coincidentally) also takes us inward and seeking greater intimacy with Christ. How can we...
2022-04-081h 04
Latter-day Faith122: Creating Spaces for Women's Voices and Spiritual Flourishing in the ChurchThis week's episode features Susan Hinckley and Cynthia Winward, the hosts of the incredible At Last She Said It podcast. In conversation with LDF host Dan Wotherspoon, they share many things about their experiences with it over the two years since its launch. How is it being received? Who is listening? What are the primary themes that come up again and again? In the course of the dialogue, they discuss how women too often feel unseen and unheard within the church. How they are restless. About their concerns for their daughters coming into an environment that doesn't feel safe...
2022-03-311h 13
Latter-day Faith120: Leaving Church as Well as GodReported percentages vary, but many Latter-day Saints who disaffiliate to some degree from Mormonism also lose their faith in God or even a spiritual path. There are quite a few reasons why many step away from a Latter-day Saint life, but why is it so hard for so many to even want to hold on to belief in some higher power, let alone continue to have a desire to connect with this Source? These are the questions that Phil McLemore and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon take on in this episode. They also discuss the general lack of passion for...
2022-03-101h 36
Latter-day Faith118: Dan's Approach to Seeking Truth and GoodnessIn this episode, LDF host, Dan Wotherspoon, speaks about three approaches to life's questions that he has found to work well for him in his spiritual journey. He first introduces key elements of William James's Pragmatism and how following it ultimately yields a greater sense of empowerment. He then reflects on the superiority of "Questions" over "Answers." Finally, he moves into a discussion of how actively using our imagination helps yield the most important important kinds of knowledge. Listen in to get to know Dan a bit better, especially with regard to his approach to matters of...
2022-02-2554 min
Latter-day Faith116: LDS Anti-Racism 101This wonderful and timely episode features James Jones, a black Latter-day Saint currently studying at Union Theological Seminary in New York, talking about his just-released video course: "LDS Anti-Racism 101: Abandoning Attitudes and Actions of Prejudice." This hour-long course features James sharing from scripture and prophetic calls of other forms to confront racism in its overt as well as subtle forms. Structuring it in the "head, heart, and hands" formula, he teaches how to raise our Awareness, be more thoughtful and open in our Associations, and put our particular gifts into Action. This conversation between James and LDF...
2022-01-201h 18
Latter-day Faith114: (Encore) Christmas Conversation: Birthing the Christ WithinThis encore presentation of a show first released in December 2019 continues a conversation between Phil McLemore, a yogi in the lineage of Paramahansa Yogananda and also a Latter-day Saint, and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon. This time, its focus is on Christmas and its various symbols and the opportunities the season provides for better understanding Jesus and, more widely, Christ, the divine consciousness of God in every part of creation. Phil and Dan first discuss the importance of understanding things related to our divine development through myth and symbology rather than worrying if this or that story or account of...
2021-12-161h 19
Latter-day Faith110: Finding Our HomeIn this episode, the wonderful mentor, coach, and educator, Melanee Evans, joins host Dan Wotherspoon for a deep dive into our spiritual core (our "home"), the creative nature of thought, "living from inside-out," and other profound concepts and their connections to our real, lived-lives, and especially how they offer us a way to true joy and peace. The conversation begins with Melanee sharing about her unique upbringing and life since that ultimately led her to find and study the ideas she shares here. All along, Dan shares his excitement for these concepts and the many new ways to expound...
2021-10-292h 00
Latter-day Faith106: Gender Equality through Partnership FamiliesDr. Julie de Azevedo Hanks is the guest for this podcast discussion that focuses on moving our homes and families, and in doing so wider communities, toward genuine gender equality. In it, she introduces us to a model she created as part of her doctoral dissertation, which she calls the "Partnership Model of Family Organization." She shares fascinating ideas about families and linking with others that match LDS ideas of Zion and even the life of gods, as well as acknowledging how the organization structure and the gendered roles it perpetuates work against full actualization of the church's members.
2021-09-171h 08
Latter-day Faith105: Developing Ou ResilienceThis episode releases two weeks after LDS Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland addressed BYU faculty, administrators, and staff, during which he reiterated the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' position on marriage as being only between a man and a woman. He also addressed the activism on the BYU campus supportive of LGBTQ+ students, especially the participation of those who work for the church-supported institution, directing them to refrain from taking part in them. For many students, faculty, and others in the wider Latter-day Saint community who are welcoming and fully accepting of those who identify as queer, these...
2021-09-071h 20
Latter-day Faith104: Curt Bench--Mentor and FriendIn this episode, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon reflects on the life of his wonderful friend, mentor, sounding board, and wise soul Curt Bench who passed away recently. In sharing about Curt and the pivotal role he played in Dan's life, his hope is that we each will take time to consider the people who have made a genuine difference in our lives, especially those who found joy in who we are and have helped us come to understand ourselves more deeply and perhaps point us toward our genuine spiritual gifts. Dan also reflects on the importance of finding...
2021-08-2851 min
Latter-day Faith102: Mormonism's Rascal—Levi PetersonLevi Peterson is one of Mormondom's most celebrated authors and writing teachers who, in this episode chats with LDF host Dan Wotherspoon shortly after the release of his latest collection of short stories, Losing a Bit of Eden. His most famous novel is The Backslider, and he has written, among many other things, a celebrated biography of LDS historian Juanita Brooks (who was the first to document in a scholarly way the events of the Mountain Meadow Massacre) and a wonderful autobiography, A Rascal By Nature; A Christian by Yearning. In their conversation, Levi shares a bit...
2021-07-301h 10
Latter-day Faith101: Sunstone and It's Upcoming SymposiumIn this departure from our usual type of show, this episode takes a short look at the evolution of from the founding of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought to the beginnings of Sunstone and its symposiums. Featuring Sunstone's director of publishing, Stephen Carter, he and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon (a former editor and executive director of Sunstone) then talk about the 2021 Salt Lake Sunstone Symposium that runs from July 28th to the 31st. Listen in to see if attending it this year, in person or virtually, is something you are interested in. Plus learn of the m...
2021-07-2337 min
Latter-day Faith099: The Sacrament: A Communion of LoveFor many, the way the sacrament is practiced within Mormonism can feel stale and perfunctory rather than spiritually fulfilling. The LDS practice is very simple, beginning with a hymn, followed by the reading of set prayers (but very rarely feeling like prayer and supplication, an attempt to unite us in common purpose), then being followed by boys and men (only) passing the emblems--plain bread and tap water--to the congregation. It concludes with thanks from the pulpit for those who administered the ordinance, and then the regular flow of sacrament begins again. (Of course, during the pandemic, the sacrament has...
2021-07-091h 47
Latter-day Faith098: Queer Mormon TheologyMormonism's theology is "queer" in the sense of peculiar, different, and unique in its connections between ideas and the particularity of spirit and matter, along with various practices. Blaire Ostler, in her new book Queer Mormon Theology: An Introduction (By Common Consent Press, 2021) plays on that meaning, while also laying out how in many ways that queer theology has a lot of room for "queer" people: those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual, pansexual, or in other ways than simply cis-gendered and heterosexual. She takes a very expansive view of scriptural and other teachings about God...
2021-06-251h 26
Latter-day Faith097: Meet My Dad, Jim WotherspoonIn this special Father's Day episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon interviews his dad, Jim. James Richard Wotherspoon has lived a remarkable life. Born blind (as was his brother, Robert), Jim has achieved quite a lot in his 87-plus years. He became one of the first (if not the first) blind person to earn the rank of Eagle scout. He and his brother both mainstreamed at Berkeley High School, where he excelled in his courses, as well as music and chess. He then attended the University of California at Berkeley where he earned his doctorate in history (as well as m...
2021-06-211h 04
Latter-day Faith096: Where the Soul HungersSamuel Brown lives the life of a physician-scientist whose life journey has brought him step by step and new experience by new experience from rebellion, rationalism, and atheism to a place where, as he says, "[that] we might make sense of our thinking within a world charged by the presence of God." He is not naturally social or comfortable with others but through the decades has come to appreciate the importance of community bonded through commitment to a shared path, open-hearted sharing, and service, as well as the people themselves. But it is a forty-year story that brings him...
2021-06-091h 04
Latter-day Faith095: Disruptive Change and Inner WorkThere is no question that we are living during a time in the world that is unlike any other. Brought on by the dawning of the information age, and especially the rise of the Internet and ever-increasing access to it and all the social media and other technologies it has hatched, it is no wonder that societies, cultures, religions, and we ourselves have been thrust into major growing pains--some of which are here ahead of our collective and individual maturity to manage easily as all of it has disrupted our previous comfort levels. Luckily, we have the records of...
2021-05-281h 38
Latter-day Faith093: A Spiritual Traveler Finds a Home in MormonismSean McKee is a wonderful member of the Latter-day Faith community, and is someone with a wonderfully diverse spiritual background. In this episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon draws Sean out on his life and religious journey. In his telling, we learn a lot about other traditions he's been part of, gain insights on the development of religion more generally, and come to understand what elements of Mormonism ultimately drew him to throw in with the Latter-day Saints. Sean's Mormonism also involves spiritual supplementing with several other groups, personal contemplative practices, and he also "makes things happen" within h...
2021-05-071h 08
Latter-day Faith092: A Journey into GraceThere are aspects of Mormon culture and emphases among Latter-day Saint teachings that make it very difficult to for many to understand, let alone, experience true Grace. Katie Langston was one of these people, constantly worrying if she was "doing enough," if she was "worthy" in the eyes of God, if she were innately evil. Ultimately, she was diagnosed with "scrupulosity," a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder that zeros in on such thoughts. As she reached the end of her rope, she began to experience hints of Grace in the form of people in her lives, and then, ultimately, through...
2021-04-301h 36
Latter-day Faith089: Jesus Lost and FoundMatt Jones has been a faithful Latter-day Saint his entire life, recently serving as a bishop. Yet in the years leading up and into his calling, he struggled with his beliefs regarding Jesus. What he had previously thought about Jesus as son of God and all that follows from that stance, he could no longer affirm. Ultimately, he relaxed and simply let his worries and doubts fall from the front of his eyes and soul--and served. And, guess what? He found Jesus again. A much better, richer, more experiential understanding of Jesus as Christ, one that brings peace to...
2021-04-161h 04
Latter-day Faith088: Resurrection NowIn this brief but powerful discussion, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by the wonderful Kajsa Berlin-Kaufusi for a discussion of Easter, as especially the idea of how we can lean more deeply and intently into the cycle of dying and rebirthing that this holiday features. There are many wonderful teachings around Easter, and the participants honor those and the focuses that are typically presented in church settings. This episode focuses more on the big picture, which (not coincidentally) also takes us inward and toward intimacy with Christ. How can we have more life before death? Can each day...
2021-04-021h 01
Latter-day Faith086: Religion is a Technology: And Jesus Was a SaboteurThis is a fascinating podcast episode that talks about religion and Mormonism in an unfamiliar yet insightful way. Our guide is Latter-day Faith podcast favorite Stephen Carter who draws parallels between the physical technologies we use all the time, including to this listen to this podcast, and "social technologies" that, like the other, are set up to bring about certain results. He and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon spend a good amount of time helping listeners come to a comfort level with talking about things such as democracy, monogamy, and religion as "technologies." From there, Stephen takes us...
2021-03-121h 41
Latter-day Faith085: Healing the World as Only Mother CanThis episode celebrates Carol Lynn Pearson's recent book, Finding Mother God: Poems to Heal the World, but does so much more. Carol Lynn and Kathryn Sonntag join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to talk about the deep ache that not only we, but also our societies and the world, have to fully reclaim the presence and energies of the Mother (Divine Feminine, Mother Creator, Nature, Wisdom, Mother in Heaven, etc.). Yet, too often, we fail to recognize this pain, as well as all the ways things are out of balance because of her having been sidelined. The podcast...
2021-03-051h 41
Latter-day Faith084: Gifts of the Spirit, Part 2The notion of "gifts of the spirit" is very familiar within Christianity, and perhaps even more in Mormonism as its books of scripture include two additional enumerations of the list first found in I Corinthians 12. Yet, how well do we understand the notion of gifts, especially the ones in Paul's (and other) lists? Additionally, even given our familiarity with the idea of these gifts, do we stop short of genuine exploration? In this second of two parts of this Latter-day Faith episode, Mark Crego and host Dan Wotherspoon dive into such things, and much more. One focus thro...
2021-01-281h 05
Latter-day Faith083: Gifts of the Spirit, Part 1The notion of "gifts of the spirit" is very familiar within Christianity, and perhaps even more in Mormonism as its books of scripture include two additional enumerations of the list first found in I Corinthians 12. Yet, how well do we understand the notion of gifts, especially the ones in Paul's (and other) lists? Additionally, even given our familiarity with the idea of these gifts, do we stop short of genuine exploration? In this Latter-day Faith episode, Mark Crego and host Dan Wotherspoon dive into such things, and much more. One focus throughout is a concern that through p...
2021-01-2756 min
Latter-day Faith082: The Spirituality of AccountabilityIt's is so easy for us to sit in the proverbial catbird seat and scream for others to be accountable for their words, actions, lifestyles, etc. But what about our accountability for these same things? And to what and about what are we accountable? In what ways does the notion of accountability keep us from recognizing God's hand in our lives, and, even more so, the call and yearning of our deepest, eternal selves? This episode features a conversation between the brilliant therapist and teacher Julie de Azevedo Hanks and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon that digs deeper...
2021-01-151h 10
Latter-day Faith081:Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything In Between, Part 2The thoughtful and brilliant Fiona and Terryl Givens have just launched a new book titled "All Things New: Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything in Between." And it's terrific. In this episode, they and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon talk about the ideas in the book and how these feed into a beautiful whole, a reality we can trust and that leads us to a clearer vision of God and ourselves. When we begin from the firm foundation of God's love, and especially so if we have experienced it in direct ways not mediated though "doctrines" and well-worn lenses, we come...
2021-01-0645 min
Latter-day Faith080: Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything In Between, Part 1The thoughtful and brilliant Fiona and Terryl Givens have just launched a new book titled "All Things New: Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything in Between." And it's terrific. In this episode, they and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon talk about the ideas in the book and how these feed into a beautiful whole, a reality we can trust and that leads us to a clearer vision of God and ourselves. When we begin from the firm foundation of God's love, and especially so if we have experienced it in direct ways not mediated though "doctrines" and well-worn lenses, we come...
2021-01-061h 09
Latter-day Faith079: Making Jesus More Real, More Present—Part 2We constantly hear phrases such as "Come unto Christ" or "We mush gain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." But when we think about these words as they are hurriedly dashed off, they really don't mean much if we've never given place for them within our own inner lives, never experienced the gifts and grounding that they are pointing toward. In an effort to add deep perspective to Jesus and our relationship with him as Christ during this Christmas season, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon invited Phil McLemore, one of his longtime teachers and good friends, to offer insights f...
2020-12-091h 08
Latter-day Faith078: Making Jesus More Real, More Present—Part 1We constantly hear phrases such as "Come unto Christ" or "We mush gain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." But when we think about these words as they are hurriedly dashed off, they really don't mean much if we've never given place for them within our own inner lives, never experienced the gifts and grounding that they are pointing toward. In an effort to add deep perspective to Jesus and our relationship with him as Christ during this Christmas season, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon invited Phil McLemore, one of his longtime teachers and good friends, to offer insights f...
2020-12-0958 min
Latter-day Faith077: Complicated GriefTW: Suicide is discussed at length in this episode. If you feel it wouldn't be healthy for you to listen in, please don't. Should you feel that no one in your life can be trusted with all that you are going through, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, 800-273-8255, or hurry to schedule an appointment with a recommended therapist. _____ Grieving a dead loved one is always difficult, but sometimes the grief process is complicated by factors that aren't typically in play when an elderly relative passes naturally and peacefully. Suicide often...
2020-12-021h 36
Latter-day Faith076: President Nelson's "Let God Prevail" Conference TalkLDS general conference ended just four days ago, and we thought it important to highlight different talks and messages from it that have applicability to the Latter-day Faith emphasis on inner work/inner transformation. One such talk this conference was President Nelson's Sunday morning address, "Let God Prevail." In this episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by a terrific panel of Lyndsay Pulsipher, Mark Crego, and Terri Petersen to discuss the talk's messages, which can be understood many different ways, and at different levels, and especially the concepts that have deep spiritual resonance. The host and...
2020-10-091h 43
Latter-day Faith075: (Encore) Covenant BelongingPlease enjoy this Encore release of a fascinating podcast from November 2019. In the October 2019 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as the year before at a BYU Women's Conference, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve introduced the phrase, "covenant belonging." In doing so, he offered us a term that suggests much deeper meaning is embedded in the now-common phrase, "covenant path." His messages about what covenant belonging might mean are absolutely beautiful and empowering. Sensing this richness, Faith Journey Foundation board member and frequent g...
2020-09-171h 23
Latter-day Faith074: (Encore) Let's Talk about "Blessings"We hear people throughout the religious world use the language of "blessings" when something difficult in their lives is resolved in a wonderful and, what seems to them somewhat mysterious, way. For some who are attuned to trying to experience the heartbeat of the cosmos, we will hear about all of life as a blessing, the very large and very small, all the good and all the bad, light and dark, life and death, things unexpected, desired, dreaded, or confusing. For others who think of God in quite personal terms, as a being that somehow pays really close attention...
2020-09-041h 30
Latter-day Faith073: Faith Deconstruction/Reconstruction Processes, Part 2We're excited to present Part 2 of the discussion about deconstructing and reconstructing faith between Caleb Jones and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon. The conversation in this one turns to some of the trends that are showing up in the religious world that definitely need attention if Mormonism is to have a better chance of keeping its young adults, especially, and also a wide variety of Latter-day Saints who come across difficult questions and/or are no longer moved by LDS worship styles and an "answers" approach to religious questions. Caleb then turns to a way of approaching the plan of...
2020-08-2656 min
Latter-day Faith072: Faith Deconstruction/Reconstruction Processes, Part 1Ultimately this is an episode about faith journeys, but one that focuses on opening ourselves to change--including the type of elements that lead us into deconstruction of previously held and cherished ideas. It features a discussion with Caleb Jones, whose temperament and interests led him to take a very thoughtful and thorough approach to faith reconstruction. As is teased in the beginning of this episode, Caleb identifies as both a nerd and a geek. His mind is very systematic, and in his sharing about his journey laid out so well we can notice and lift up certain universal elements...
2020-08-2053 min
Latter-day Faith070: The Power, Meaning, and Relevance Today of the SpiritualsAt this time of energetic protesting of police brutality and renewed pushes toward justice, fairness, and the reform of systems and mindsets that work against black Americans, it is important those of us who are working toward these goals understand as much as we can about the black community, including the history and lives of the individuals who were subjected to slavery and its many horrors. One window into this world is the collection of and scholarship about the negro spirituals, the songs and chants, many including dance, that arose during the chattel slave experience in America. For some...
2020-08-051h 49
Latter-day Faith069: Redeeming Mormon RacismThe most urgent call in today's time of pandemic and highly energized demonstrations against racial injustice is for each of us to take stock of ourselves and approach with humility and a repentant heart not only the tragedy and outrage permeating the safety of our internal worlds, but also the beautiful visions for paths to ahead that are being offered. If we are to rise to this moment, we must not stick our heads in the sand or retreat via shallow excuses into a false type of peace, but instead we must lean in. We must read, study, listen...
2020-07-221h 34
Latter-day Faith068: Religion, Politics, PolarizationAt one and the same time, in today's U.S. culture, as well as around the world, the majority of people are coming together in this time of pandemic and efforts to reform racial injustice, while also, when it comes to politics, most observers report a level of hostile polarization that we have rarely seen. Animosity toward those we disagree with is high. And then there's religion, which at its core is generally unifying, centered on beautiful principles that call us to see each other as fellow human beings under God or, if not theistic, in the universe of...
2020-07-151h 42
Latter-day Faith067: Rituals, Ordinances, and CovenantsLatter-day Saints who are experiencing shifts in their faith and spiritual understandings often begin to ask questions about religious practices, including ordinances that we are taught as being essential to our salvation. Here is an important group of D&C verses that seems to suggest just that: And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of...
2020-07-081h 29
Latter-day Faith066: Evil, Part 4This episode and the previous one features the third and fourth discussions on the topic of Evil by a panel comprised of Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon and the wonderful and brilliant Kathryn Sonntag and Danny Kofoed. Part 3: The focus in this section is turning back to the scriptures, Jesus's time, the language he spoke, and the agrarian society he taught to open ourselves up to new definitions of good and evil. Rather than evil as sinister and fed by hurtful designs, Jesus' teaching considered it in agricultural terms of being ripe or unripe, fruitful or unfruitful--incapable...
2020-06-171h 04
Latter-day Faith065: Evil, Part 3 This episode and the next one features the third and fourth discussions on the topic of Evil by a panel that features Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon and the wonderful and brilliant Kathryn Sonntag and Danny Kofoed. Part 3: The focus in this section is turning back to the scriptures, Jesus's time, the language he spoke, and the agrarian society he taught to open ourselves up to new definitions of good and evil. Rather than evil as sinister and fed by hurtful designs, Jesus' teaching considered it in agricultural terms of being ripe or unripe, fruitful or unfruitful--incapable...
2020-06-1753 min
Latter-day Faith064: Evil, Part 2This episode features the second of a four-part discussion on the topic of Evil. In it, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by the wonderful Kathryn Sontag and Danny Kofoed to talk about several topic areas in regard to evil. The first two parts are being released the week of June 7th, with Parts 3 and 4 the following week. Part 1: The focus is the nature of evil itself. Is it something that exists eternally, outside of creation and independent of it, or is it a relational concept, relying on the existence of things in relation to each...
2020-06-101h 04
Latter-day Faith063: Evil, Part 1This episode features the first of a four-part discussion on the topic of Evil. In it, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by the wonderful Kathryn Sontag and Danny Kofoed to talk about several topic areas in regard to evil. The first two parts are being released the week of June 7th, with Parts 3 and 4 the following week. Part 1: The focus is the nature of evil itself. Is it something that exists eternally, outside of creation and independent of it, or is it a relational concept, relying on the existence of things in relation to each...
2020-06-1053 min
Latter-day Faith061: Living Deliberately and Deeply—Lyndsay PulsipherThis episode features a discussion between LDF host Dan Wotherspoon and the wise and engaging Lyndsay Pulsipher. In it, they talk about Lyndsay's upbringing and fascinating background that features life in different locales with experiences and insights gained from each, a blending of two sets of children into one family, along with Lyndsay's career and general sense of the world. They then focus most intently on her faith journey within Mormonism that she always felt welcomed to blend with spiritual practices discovered in her wide reading and in other traditions. Lyndsay speaks about her experiences with centering prayer (with...
2020-05-281h 23
Latter-day Faith060: Carol Lynn Pearson—Walking with All of UsThis episode features the magnificent poet, playwright, author and "wise woman elder" of Mormonism, Carol Lynn Pearson! It's always a pleasure to be exposed to her writing and thinking and hard-won insights about life, God, core values, and so much more. Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon took the opportunity provided by the recent release of her new children's book (that has incredible messages for adults, too), I'll Walk with You. in the first half of the discussion, Carol Lynn takes us through various stages of her life as a writer and public voice on women's issues, LGBT+ educating and s...
2020-05-211h 04
Latter-day Faith059: God Is Much Bigger Than You Think! -- Grace, Mercy, Belonging in the Book of Mormon, Part 2Four years ago, Danny Kofoed made discoveries in the Book of Mormon that have radically changed his views about it. As he re-read the book from cover to cover in preparation for lessons he would teach in Gospel Doctrine class, he found in there much greater richness, especially with regard to what it says about God and the type of relationship God is calling us to, than he had ever imagined. In the many years between the previous times he'd studied the book, really difficult circumstances that were far beyond Danny's control led to his being able to see...
2020-05-1453 min
Latter-day Faith058: God Is Much Bigger Than You Think! -- Grace, Mercy, Belonging in the Book of Mormon, Part 1Four years ago, Danny Kofoed made discoveries in the Book of Mormon that have radically changed his views about it. As he re-read the book from cover to cover in preparation for lessons he would teach in Gospel Doctrine class, he found in there much greater richness, especially with regard to what it says about God and the type of relationship God is calling us to, than he had ever imagined. In the many years between the previous times he'd studied the book, really difficult circumstances that were far beyond Danny's control led to his being able to see...
2020-05-141h 02
Latter-day Faith057: At Last They are Saying It!—Women's Voices in the ChurchThe title of this episode plays of the name of a new and wonderful podcast, At Last She Said It, co-hosted by Susan Hinckley and Cynthia Winward and produced with help from their wonderful friend Jeralee Renshaw. In it, Susan and Cynthia join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to talk about women's experiences in the church and how they are often so very different from those of men. It is a terrific discussion, often fun and loaded with "aha's," but also moments that note great sadness and difficulties many Latter-day Saint women encounter as they seek to find and use...
2020-05-061h 40
Latter-day Faith056: Living AtonementBy titling this episode, "Living Atonement," LDF host Dan Wotherspoon signals that the discussion herein focuses on the Atonement as a process rather than an event, and how "at-one-ment" is a life stance for transformation rather than a name for something Jesus performed/did/completed that we somehow "take advantage of" should we "qualify" for its benefits. The very thoughtful Bob Sonntag joins Dan for this conversation and frames atonement in really thought-provoking ways, with language and a heart that cannot help but inspire and draw us in. His views about what atonement means draws us into d...
2020-04-291h 01
Latter-day Faith055: Developing Your Own Spiritual Path This episode focuses on one person's journey though Mormonism that formed for him a wonderful foundation from which he learned to explore more deeply not only into its teachings but also those of eastern spirituality, especially through Hinduism and Kriya Yoga. It is designed to invite listeners into it as a way to discover touchstones and spiritual shifts that likely resonate with their own journeys. Certainly, no two non-linear spiritual paths can be fully alike, but it is so helpful to know particulars of another's movement into deeper and more expansive experiences. The...
2020-04-231h 16
Latter-day Faith054: Increasing Our Sense of 'Belonging'It is easy to say we "belong" to a group, even a church or a religious tradition, but what does that really mean? How many times have we said or thought to ourselves, "Sure, I belong," but yet we've still kept one foot pointing toward the door in case this belonging thing starts getting really difficult? In this Latter-day Faith podcast episode, host Dan Wotherspoon welcomes his longtime friend Jana Riess whose wonderful writing and voice of reason has led her to become an insightful and impactful Mormon author, editor, and blogger, to talk with him about what it...
2020-04-151h 00
Latter-day Faith053: Expanding the Way We Pray, Part 2In this second part of the discussion of prayer and additional types of prayer practices, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon along with JoDee Baird, Julie Keanaaina, and Marianne Pond. Featured in this episode is introducing the practice of "centering prayer" and discussing its various elements. The panel introduces other wonderful stances that are especially helpful in spiritual lives, especially in the area of what we can do with all those pesky thoughts that still press in on us while we are meditating or engaged in a wordless prayer practice. The final section introduces a possible...
2020-04-101h 09
Latter-day Faith052: Expanding the Way We Pray, Part 1The practice of prayer is fundamental in most of the world's faith traditions. And yet within most of these faiths, one finds that there are many forms this practice can take. Mormonism, still less than 200 years old, hasn't yet developed names and clear ways of referencing types of prayers and stances before God that are contained in its scriptures and other texts that have emerged from it. We believe that is yet to come. What has happened instead is that many Latter-day Saints who are answering the call of their deepest longings to connect with the Divine--God but also...
2020-04-091h 00
Latter-day Faith051: Preparing for General ConferenceIt's LDS General Conference week, and in this episode Ian Thomson and Stephanie Dix join Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon in discussing the ways each of them prepare for it. As God- and Church-wrestlers, these semi-annual gatherings (and this time virtually only!) sometimes are greeted with less-than-enthusiastic attitudes, perhaps fear of the possibility of hurtful or tone-deaf messages, perhaps confusion as we recognize internal shifts that cast conference and the speakers and messages differently than the way we held them before. Each and every member approaches conference weekends with anticipations unique to them. Ian, Stephanie, and Dan's...
2020-04-021h 19
Latter-day Faith050: Fresh Views of the First VisionIn this episode, Latter-day Saint historian Ron Barney joins LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to talk about the actual historical records related to Joseph Smith's "First Vision." And the documents show that how we generally talk about this event now is far from how it was seen and spoken and written about in the early days of the church, and by Smith himself. Today's assumptions about a clean history of magnificent visitation by God the Father and Jesus Christ are the result of a long line of decisions that chose to canonize in today's Pearl of Great Price the 1838 version.
2020-04-011h 30
Latter-day Faith049: Behavioral Science Insights for MormonsIn this really insightful episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon turns loose his wonderful guest, Jordan Harmon, a Latter-day Saint therapist who brings a wide variety of insights to his work with clients and who has developed specialties in therapeutic practices based on behavioral science. What's especially interesting is Jordan's journey that began with a very low opinion of behavioral therapies for several reasons, but primarily because they have often been abused, such as in LGBT+ conversion therapies and in our criminal justice system. Over the course of his work with clients, he slowly began to gain respect for behavioral...
2020-03-251h 33
Latter-day Faith048: Living, Loving, Learning in the Age of CoronavirusLatter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by his two Faith Journey Foundation partners, Mark Crego and Susan Hinckley, for this episode reflecting on the times we are now facing vis a vis covid-19/coronavirus. We are all very likely undergoing big shifts in our daily routines, as well as being hindered in various plans for travel, certain kinds of recreation, and dealing with shut down schools and universities, and more. Dan, Mark, and Susan reflect on this moment in time, sharing about their current lives and what's being impacted, but ultimately they focus on the kind of spiritual...
2020-03-181h 19
Latter-day Faith047: The Spirituality of ActivismThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has recently released policies (and made policy reversals) regarding LGBTQ+ persons that have brought on protests, with activists staging events on the Brigham Young University campus, near the Church Office Building in downtown Salt Lake City, as well as across from the LDS temple in New York City. And there are no signs that these gatherings and expressions of grief and disagreement will die down anytime soon. In the midst of these troubled times, we at Latter-day Faith have decided to add to the mix some thoughts on activism, its role...
2020-03-101h 27
Latter-day Faith046: Jungian Insights for Psychological and Spiritual HealthIn this terrific episode, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon brings on his good friend and a Jungian analyst, Christine Chao, to talk about the psychological insights of Carl Jung and, especially, how they relate to good mental, social, and spiritual health. In their conversation, Christine introduces us to Jungian terms and ideas, many of which we likely already heard of yet don't really understand all that well. If you've heard of concepts such as the collective unconscious, archetypes, complexes, dream analysis, individuation, Shadow, and others, Christine wonderfully elucidates these, illustrating them from her own life experiences as well as...
2020-03-041h 15
Latter-day Faith045: Psychology and SpiritualityIn this terrific episode, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by Dr. Lisa Tensmeyer Hansen, a psycho-therapist and longtime friend, to talk about the nuts and bolts of our brains, our conscious and subconscious minds, our theological notions about God and the meaning of our lives, and the overlay of spirituality upon it all (or is it the underpinning of it?). Lisa takes us into the brain and how it processes experiences and stores memories, how our subconscious minds carry both incredible wisdom and traumatic memories, and how we can access these and heal (and how the areas...
2020-02-251h 10
Latter-day Faith042: When Stories CollideIn this episode, the brilliant Stephen Carter joins with LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to talk about two types of stories that don't easily play well with each other, yet are both very much needed. How might we learn to hold these in a healthy tension? Stephen's doctorate is in narrative studies and he is always on the look out to notice the types of stories that capture imaginations and direct lives. And often with specific attention on the ones that influence Latter-day Saints. The two he brings up today he names "Circle" and "Line" stories, and he and Dan...
2020-02-061h 23
Latter-day Faith038: RenewalHere at the beginning of both a new year and new decade, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon reflects on the spiritual concept of "renewal" and ways we might keep that notion and its power active in our lives. He reflects on the opportunities that our calendar (primarily the Christian calendar in this case) provides for us to renew, to gather energy afresh, and to release what is worn down, not working, and that does not represent our highest ideals. The rituals that precede these special days/seasons even allow us to mimic this deterioration in fun but symbolically potent...
2020-01-0825 min
Latter-day Faith031: What is "Doctrine"?In two October 2019 General Conference talks, President Dallin H. Oaks shared thoughts about what constitutes church "doctrine," limiting it to what is taught by the entire First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. He also shared that we too often think we know more about things, such as the afterlife, than we actually do. This episode was prompted by his talks, and it features a conversation between Charles R. Harrell (Charley), author of the wonderful book "This is My Doctrine": The Development of Mormon Theology, and Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon. The two of them speak of...
2019-11-191h 08
Latter-day Faith027: Characteristics of Religious Experience and Profound but Low-Key Ways of Talking about What We Hold Most DearWith quite a bit of help from the early twentieth century intellectual giant William James, in this episode host Dan Wotherspoon introduces two framings that assisted him greatly when his faith first began to shift. One is a model that contains four characteristics of religious/mystical/direct experience and helps differentiate such events from emotional experiences or other day-to-day moments when we feel close to God, feel God or the Spirit is "with" us, comforting us, etc. The second is the down-to-earth way that James, a skeptic by nature (but one who chooses to go where ever the evidence...
2019-10-2449 min
Latter-day Faith022: A Paradigm Shift in Today's MormonismLatter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon goes solo this week to talk about some of the dynamics he sees at play in today's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Specifically, he utilizes the language of paradigm shifts to try to make sense of this current period, arguing that what we see fits the pattern often found when an all-encompassing vision of "the way things are" (a very strong, well-articulated paradigm that a majority of people think, react, and think out of) begins to show its limits when it can't any longer reach and satisfy the curiosity and priorities and...
2019-09-041h 07
Latter-day Faith020: Engaging Scripture the Ignacian WayFor so many of us whose religious world views have begun to shift, and previous ways of viewing various elements of what we had been taking for granted start to become less stable, scripture is one of the components for which we can easily lose affection and appreciation. But rather than abandon our reading and study practices altogether, there are approaches to it that match well with what our journeys have prepared us be able to engage. One such method is the focus of this episode, an Ignacian spiritual practice/approach to scripture. (We'd already introduced another practice, lectio...
2019-08-201h 03
Latter-day Faith013: Rhetoric and Ideas about the Term "Latter-day"This episode focuses on the term "latter-day" and how it is understood by Christians, including Latter-day Saints, in many different ways, each leading to quite varied theologies. Mark Crego and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon distinguish between "last days" and the idea of an impending apocalypse, "latter" vs "former" days of both early Christianity and early Mormonism, and, third, as referring to now, this present moment in time. They review each, discussing scripture and precedent in Christian discussions, as well as evaluating the practical and social impact of the various camps. Do some lead to apathy and waiting for the...
2019-07-021h 40
Latter-day Faith006: Clearing the Way for Joy and Forgiveness: A Spiritual PracticeIn this unusual episode, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon undergoes the processes that are part of a terrific technique for learning to evaluate current tensions in our lives—with situations, people, and even institutions—and coming to see clearly how we are very likely trading our potential for joy because of certain benefits we (think we) gain from remaining in conflict. The process is an important spiritual practice that we all can learn and apply in many, many circumstances. As taught here by JoDee Baird, a wonderful and experienced facilitator and faith journey guide, the practice also helps us unde...
2019-05-1448 min