Shows
The Pocket ContemplativeHow Friendships Can Drive Spiritual GrowthDave Schmelzer and Curtis Gruenler (an English professor and medievalist) have been friends since college and they talk about the ins and outs of how friendships themselves can empower the kind of growth in God that we talk about on The Pocket Contemplative.Mentioned on this podcast:If you'd like to register interest in October's (free, eight-week) Faith Part 2 course, let us know here.Curtis is launching a Substack on friendship (from a medievalist's perspective)Curtis and Dave allude in passing to:Spiritual...
2025-06-2848 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWhy Your Kids Don't Go to Church (Part 1)Evangelical parents are taught that a key part of their parental responsibility is to raise their kids to be Christians. But that's becoming, in an understatement, far more challenging says notable Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith. In this revealing first of a two part podcast, Dave Schmelzer will walk you through some of the large-scale cultural forces that, Smith reports, are driving religion to a kind of cultural obsolescence. Mentioned on this podcastRegister your interest here for this fall's Faith Part 2 course, a free, online look at how the Christian tradition (sometimes partnering with ot...
2025-05-1541 min
The Pocket ContemplativeDo's and Don'ts of Hearing God's VoiceMany earnest evangelicals and charismatics, Dave Schmelzer among them, have found comfort and connection in learning to hear God's voice in the spirit taught by the great 17th-century contemplative Brother Lawrence. But an insurmountable problem usually comes up: as delightful as the conversation itself is, lots and lots of things that are important to us don't actually work out in ways we'd felt like God was telling us they would. And, eventually, we wise up and quit this dialogue. But that is not the advice of some great contemplatives, who tell us that we've been making one key mistake...
2025-04-3028 min
The Pocket ContemplativeBeing Spiritual in an Unsafe WorldMany of the most prominent social activists in the last half century or so have also been contemplatives: Howard Thurman, the Dalai Lama, and Thomas Merton among others. Does the sort of spirituality we talk about here have things to offer in a world like ours where people feel daily outrages flowing through their media feeds? Might our practices actually be negative--in that moving past constant reactivity might make us too passive? But surely constant outrage mostly leads to hopelessness (and unpleasant days). Dave Schmelzer is joined by Grace Schmelzer and Steve Joh (a former pastor who currently leads...
2025-04-1958 min
The Pocket ContemplativeUnion with God (and Maybe Beyond)The end goal of spiritual development for most great Christian contemplatives is some sort of union with God. But many people find that to feel pretty distant--maybe it's something we can only hope for in heaven. But a recent, major Christian contemplative named Bernadette Roberts offers a more direct pathway not only to union with God (and maybe beyond), but also to direct lifestyle benefits along the lines of what psychologists call "flow." She talks about it using the Eastern terminology of no-self. Dave Schmelzer has found it to be the most helpful spiritual thing he's learned in some...
2025-01-0728 min
The Pocket ContemplativePost-Election Thoughts from Julian of NorwichSome people, feeling unsettled by the election, have wondered what the wisdom talked about on The Pocket Contemplative might offer us. Dave Schmelzer looks to Julian of Norwich, who lived during her own unsettling time (the Bubonic Plague), for some thoughts. In his introduction, he also talks about "Faith Part 2," a new 8-week online course about the how-to's of a faith that, learning from the greats, might help to move us past faith challenges into a richer life with God than perhaps we've yet been exposed to. Mentioned on this podcast:To register interest i...
2024-12-0639 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Second-Half-of-Life Spiritual GrowthDave Schmelzer is in touch with many people who are, to a greater or lesser degree, deconstructing their earlier faith experience, a common process for midlife people of faith. HIstoric Christian spirituality tells us there's a unique second-half-of-life flowering of faith. Dave lets us in on a series of conversations he's been having about how we might explore that in our era. Mentioned on this podcast:Short videos about The Critical Journey's stages of faithIntriguing blog posts about "post-progressive" faith
2024-10-2127 min
The Pocket ContemplativeBe Happy?" Or "Live Well?I want to be happy. You want to be happy. But maybe our best pathway there comes by focusing instead on "living well.". MIT philosopher Kieran Setiya's book Life Is Hard helps Dave Schmelzer navigate those choices, with a particular look at how it applies when we feel like a failure or when we're hunting for meaning.Mentioned on this podcast:Kieran Setiya's book Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way (which, at the moment, is a mere $4.99 on Kindle)
2024-06-2921 min
The Pocket ContemplativeContext MattersHere at The Pocket Contemplative, we do deep dives into some of the richest Christian wisdom one can find about getting close to God. But one revolutionary thinker suggested that, while that's all wonderful and we should learn all we can from such people, these great saints did live in a very different world with very different spiritual dynamics than we live in. Many were cloistered. The average person was born into the trade of their family, married someone from their village, and went to the local church like all their neighbors did. But by the 1850s that Soren...
2024-06-0628 min
The Pocket ContemplativeChristian Mysticism's Deep RootsChristian Contemplative Spirituality--alternately called Christian Mysticism--has gone in and out of favor over the millennia, but has rich roots from the Hebrew Bible forward. With help from the work of Carl McColman, Dave Schmelzer will help orient you as you look to navigate this vital, essential stream.Mentioned on this podcast: Carl McColman's The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: An Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality
2024-04-3046 min
The Pocket ContemplativeStart with Curiosity (wisdom on joy and trust from Julian of Norwich)Is there a secret of life? Contemplatives of many stripes suggest it surround cultivating a kind of trust and openness that endures through the hardest of times. Dave Schmelzer dives into wisdom on this from the most optimistic of contemplatives, Julian of Norwich (C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton both said she was their go-to contemplative teacher). Julian lived through the bubonic plague and yet came out of it with a remarkable trust that others around her didn't have.Mentioned on this podcast:Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic and Beyond...
2024-04-1337 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Creativity (via Meister Eckhart)Maybe the most-influential Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart, had profound thoughts about how our spiritual practice is meant to--even must!--empower our creativity. Dave Schmelzer dives into Eckhart's deep, generative waters here.Mentioned on this podcast: Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, by Matthew Fox
2024-03-0644 min
The Pocket ContemplativeHow Philosophy Helps (with Kieran Setiya)Kieran Setiya--a philosopher at MIT who wrote the terrific book Midlife: A Philosophical Guide that Dave Schmelzer talked about on the last episode--joins Dave for a lively conversation about how philosophy can help with our deepest questions and about how it interacts with the spirituality we talk about here. Mentioned on this podcast:Midlife: A Philosophical Guide, by Kieran SetiyaLIfe is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way, by Kieran Setiya
2024-02-1846 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Midlife CrisisPhilosophers and theologians offer different answers to how we should feel about the losses we confront in midlife. Kieran Setiya, a philosopher teaching at MIT, wrote a terrific recent book on midlife crisis. Dave Schmelzer highlights some of Setiya's best stuff, including Setiya's takes on missed opportunities, why we can simultaneously regret and not regret where our lives have taken us, and whether there is help for those moments when we realize we're not as far from dying as we once were.Mentioned on this podcast: Kieran Setiya's book, Midlife: A Philosophical Guide
2024-02-0138 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLet's Get PragmaticWhen Dave Schmelzer first started exploring contemplative spirituality, he had a hard time finding teachers who would get pragmatic in the "just do this, and then do this, and then do this, and here's what you should discover" sense. Mo Gawdat has written a bestselling guide along those lines called Solve for Happy. Dave walks us through Gawdat's pathway to get moving. Mentioned on this podcast:Mo Gawdat's book Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to JoyTo register your interest in a contemplative starter group: email connect@jo...
2024-01-0937 min
The Pocket ContemplativeFinding Faith in a Secular Age (with Andrew Root)As Dave Schmelzer and Vince Brackett talked about in a recent episode, faith looks very different than it did a few hundred years back--and even than it did sixty years back. Professor Andrew Root--who was Vince's enthusiastic teacher on the subject--walks us into some of the ins and outs of what this looks and feels like.Faith Formation in a Secular Age: Responding to the Church's Obsession with Youthfulness, by Andrew Root, the first in a series of books about living in a secular age as seen through the eyes of Charles Taylor and Hartmut Rosa.
2023-10-2436 min
The Pocket ContemplativeMpho Tutu van Furth on ForgivenessDave Schmelzer's new favorite book on forgiveness (and maybe one of his favorite books period) is by Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mpho Tutu van Furth. Mpho joins Dave from Amsterdam to talk about what she's taken from the book in years since, her reflections on it being forged out of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and much more.Mentioned on this podcast:The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World, by Desmond and Mpho Tutu.
2023-09-2534 min
The Pocket ContemplativeHow Forgiveness Supercharges HappinessYou'd think that apart from affirming that, of course, forgiving people who've hurt us is crucial to our happiness, there wouldn't be much more to say. But Desmond and Mpho Tutu wrote what seems like the final word on the subject in their wonderful The Book of Forgiving, which includes many stories from Desmond's leading of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was central to preventing bloody civil war after apartheid fell. Dave Schmelzer talks with Grace Schmelzer about how the Tutus's insights have impacted their experience of forgiving.Mentioned on this podcast:The...
2023-09-0946 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWhere Are Churches Headed? (Part 2, with Vince Brackett)In Part 1, we looked at how churches seem to be in the midst of a transition to something new. Here, Vince Brackett and Dave Schmelzer will take a deep dive into the thoughts of the big kahuna on this subject, Charles Taylor, and of his brilliant student, Hartmut Rosa. What if our world is set up to tell us that if we only had more resources we could have the life we want? And that our lack of resources is our fault--leading us to push and push and burn out. Taylor and Rosa think that's massively relevant to each...
2023-08-0446 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWhere Are Churches Headed? Part 1While churches are rapidly declining in numbers, new things are popping up. Dave Schmelzer will explore what's happening and the hope for what might be next with rich perspectives from thinkers like Phyllis Tickle, Charles Taylor, Hartmut Rosa and others... alongside some anecdotes from his friends that might ring a bell for you.Mentioned on this podcast:Charles Taylor's A Secular AgeHartmut Rosa's Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the WorldPhyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why
2023-07-2023 min
The Pocket ContemplativeShe created modern Christian mysticism (with Dana Greene)Christian contemplative spirituality got forgotten for about three hundred years, after Brother Lawrence's famous teachings in the 1600s. The person who brought it back and set the stage for a whole new era of Christian spirituality--and people like Richard Rohr and Thomas Merton--was an unlikely candidate, an upper-middle-class British woman named Evelyn Underhill. Dave Schmelzer starts with a brief overview of this remarkable woman and then interviews Underhill's most accomplished biographer, Dana Greene.Mentioned on this podcast:Evelyn Underhill: Artist of the Infinite Life, by Dana GreeneThe Spiritual Life...
2023-06-1938 min
The Pocket ContemplativeHere's how people have prayed for centuries (with Grace Schmelzer)Last episode had Gary Neal Hansen telling Dave that among the ten ancient Christian prayer practices he teaches and write about, the two that have most popped for people are the Jesus Prayer (the subject of a recent podcast) and what's called Praying the Office (first popularized by St. Benedict), which is how a large swath of Christians have prayed for centuries. Dave hasn't been drawn to Praying the Office, but his wife Grace absolutely has. Dave gives an overview of Hansen's remarks about Praying the Office and then turns things over to Grace to hear more and to...
2023-06-0332 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWhat Exactly Does Prayer Accomplish? (with Gary Neal Hansen)Gary Neal Hansen has taught ten ways to pray from very different Christians traditions to lots of people. Gary (who wrote Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers) talks with Dave Schmelzer about what he's learned both from the practices themselves and from how people have found them helpful or not. He and Dave also spend some time on what prayer itself is actually supposed to do for us. Mentioned on this podcast:Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers, by Gary Neal HansenG...
2023-05-1235 min
The Pocket ContemplativeYour Media Intake is Tanking Your HappinessMedieval monks and modern business school profs agree that our bone-deep addition to distracting ourselves is keeping us from happiness, meaning and productivity. Which perhaps will be no surprise to people listening to a podcast called The Pocket Contemplative! That said, Dave Schmelzer dives into the wisdom from those monks and professors and how it might both cheer you up and empower a fresh way forward.Mentioned on this podcast:The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction by Jamie KreinerHappier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time...
2023-04-2826 min
The Pocket ContemplativeThe OG Contemplative How-To BookA good chunk of any modern teaching on contemplation for Christians goes back to one mega-influential book called The Cloud of Unknowing from the dusty past of the 14th century. And yet generations of would-be contemplatives have found it is a fountain that doesn't run dry very quickly at least. Dave Schmelzer will give you a quick overview of why this book has been such a biggie, why--like many old books--it might initially feel off-putting in some ways, and why what it teaches has at the very least changed his life.Mentioned on this podcast:
2023-04-1128 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOpen Your World via the Great Saints (with Jason M. Baxter)The biggies in Christian history tell us a story of faith that's surprising to many of us, but which turns out to be exactly what we need to find ongoing joy. Dave Schmelzer chats about this with Jason M. Baxter, a scholar who wrote An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life, which Dave podcasted about recently. Jason walks us into how this look at the "wild" teachings of people like Augustine and Hildegard of Bingen and Meister Eckhart and many more can open our worlds like nothing else can.Mentioned on this podcast
2023-03-2038 min
The Pocket ContemplativeA Spiritual-Progress Formula? (On the Jesus Prayer)Russian Orthodox friends suggest that a fast track to spiritual progress might come through a ten-word prayer that gets repeated. Ten words! Is it too good to be true? Dave Schmelzer, with help from Gary Neal Hansen's book Kneeling with Giants, does a deep dive into this pathway to God and reports on how it's been going for him.Mentioned in this podcastKneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers, by Gary Neal HansenJourney to the Heart: Christian Contemplation through the Centuries, edited by Kim Nataraja
2023-03-1033 min
The Pocket ContemplativeHave Fun with Christian MysticismHave the great Christian saints, over millennia, been in agreement about some central points and practices if we hope to continue our growth? One scholar says they have been indeed. Dave Schmelzer runs down some key points of interest, not least the happy surprise that, if we keep at this, our reward will be an overflowing playfulness in our lives. Mentioned on this podcast:Jason M. Baxter's book An Introduction to Christian Mysticism; Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual LifePete Holmes on not knowingSome mystics who come up: H...
2023-02-2038 min
The Pocket ContemplativeA Contemplative Way to Trust GodAs we age, we face more and more life circumstances that can seem lose/lose. Take care of our aging parent and lose any margin in our lives. Start a needed side hustle that has a substantial chance of failing. The Bible encourages us to trust God enough to ask for all the things we want, but it then pivots to a different, contemplative approach that might grow our faith through these tough challenges. Dave Schmelzer looks at the ins and outs of that important flexibility while bringing in a vivid picture of what that might look like from...
2023-01-1024 min
The Pocket ContemplativeConsider Some Happiness TipsThoughtful happiness tips can be opportunities for mindfulness, for noticing ways to live that we'd previously been blind to or reactive against. Dave Schmelzer talks a bit about that and then details two dozen such tips from the mega-popular book The Happiness Experiment.Mentioned on this podcast:Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
2022-12-2131 min
The Pocket ContemplativeEmbrace ResistanceAnything we want to do that's important to us will face (sometimes severe) resistance. One Bible perspective calls resistance its own "god of this world"--and St. Paul himself makes the point profoundly: "The thing I most want to do I don't do." Dave Schmelzer does a dive into the insights of the most-read recent thinker on the subject, Steven Pressfiled in his seminal The War of Art. Learn from contemplatives and life coaches as well as Pressfield and see if you find help with your own resistance.Mentioned on this podcast:...
2022-11-3016 min
The Pocket ContemplativeDo Life Hacks Work?Dave Schmelzer loves life hacks, but has found that they often have a shorter shelf life than he'd hoped. Contemplatives have a surprising answer for why that might be. Life hacks, they tell us, come from a world view saturated in original sin: your problems come from your fundamental laziness that has to be overcome. But maybe we don't need to overcome anything. Maybe we already have a deep happiness that we can access as we quiet down a bit. Rami Shapiro and Anthony DeMello and Tara Brach help us here.Mentioned on this podcast:
2022-11-1716 min
The Pocket ContemplativeA Kick-Ass PrayerChristians spiritually address anxiety in two ways: spiritual warfare and contemplation. Dave Schmelzer looks at some of the pros and cons of each of these approaches and then takes an extended look at perhaps the most famous warfare prayer in the last two thousand years, The Breastplate of St. Patrick, a prayer Dave loves and often prays. Mentioned on this podcast:The Breastplate of St. PatrickI bind to myself today/ The fullness of the Trinity: I believe the Father, Son and Spirit/ The Creator of the Universe.
2022-10-2133 min
The Pocket ContemplativeTry "Good-Enough" LivingLots of people--from popular bloggers to academics to contemplatives--are pitching that our drive for greatness might not be giving us what it promises. Might "good-enough" living offer us a kind of joy along with giving us a place in a whole world that's happier? Dave Schmelzer mentions four recent discussion of this before focusing on two, including the mega-popular self-help book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.Mentioned on this podcast:The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, by Mark MansonThe Good-Enough Life, by Avram Alpert
2022-10-0120 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWill Things Work Out?Feeling overwhelmed is basic to being human. Few great teachers have had more helpful things to say about this than Julian of Norwich, the contemplative who wrote during the bubonic plague years. Despite her own suffering, her legacy is of being colossally encouraging to the point that CS Lewis and Richard Rohr say she's their favorite mystic. Dave Schmelzer offers some introductory thoughts on how you can tap into her encouragement the next time you're overwhelmed.Mentioned on this podcast:All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian Norwich...
2022-09-0722 min
The Pocket ContemplativeAgainst All Odds, Enjoy LifeEven in good times, life can feel burdensome. We do our tasks, wind down over TV (maybe with a glass of wine), and then do it all again tomorrow. We feel judged and, let's face it, we judge others. A self-help bestseller, The Four Agreements, tries to offer a way into enjoying life that has parallels to the New Testament book of James and the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. Dave Schmelzer walks you through its encouragement to, right now, start enjoying your life.Mentioned on this podcastThe Four Agreements, by Don Miguel...
2022-08-1929 min
The Pocket ContemplativeGet InitiatedPerhaps we're lucky enough to be initiated into life's mysteries by a wise person or by a community practice. Great myths have taught us that life itself can do this if we pay attention. This perspective--often called The Hero's Journey--provides interesting ways of thinking about descriptions of spiritual growth that we get from saints like Teresa of Avila. Using lots of stories and movie clips, Dave Schmelzer walks us into this opportunity to discover again who we actually are and what makes us come to life.Mentioned on this podcast: Some resources on t...
2022-07-1241 min
The Pocket ContemplativeDon't Just Improve. Transform.The greatest spiritual teachers tell us that doing our best to improve however we can is crucial. But then they warn us that our quest for improvement will abruptly become less helpful--which is not a problem at all, but is an invitation to walk into the full life we've been wanting. This is the moment when transformation comes into play. Dave Schmelzer walks us into a deep dive into the great teacher of transformation, the sixteenth century biggie Teresa of Avila. Along with insights from the blockbuster movie Interstellar, he'll offer some concrete steps into Teresa's deep, powerful waters.
2022-06-0140 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLovingkindness Right NowAlongside Jesus, the mystics tell us we have a superpower when we've been hurt or when the larger world seems scary or hostile: lovingkindness prayer or meditation. The Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela show us its power. The new movie Everything Everywhere All at Once takes it as one of its themes. Join Dave Schmelzer as he lets you in on a lovingkindness hack and as he introduces you to the thinking of the great modern teacher on the subject.Mentioned on this podcast:Everything Everywhere All at OnceLovingkindness: The Revolutionary...
2022-05-1324 min
The Pocket ContemplativeDon't Fear Your FearMoving into all the possibilities of our lives requires a fearlessness that can seem out of reach. Dave Schmelzer takes a look both at helpful tools along these lines from modern teachers and also at how some New Testament writers teach us that overcoming our fear of being afraid unlocks the rich benefits of faith itself.Mentioned on this podcast:Hebrews 11:13-16The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, by Martha Beck
2022-04-2421 min
The Pocket ContemplativeBe SeenThe early stages of our life of faith often require us to keep quiet about anything that might rock the boat with others around us. But a surprise is that subsequent stages do the reverse. Now we need to continually relearn what's true for us and then be fully seen for those truths. The transition can be a painful one! But then we discover rich rewards. Dave Schmelzer explores how The Examen (discussed in the last episode) can help us with this while also taking a deep dive into advice from the mystics (and from St. Mark) about the...
2022-04-0733 min
The Pocket ContemplativeThe Examen & Your Best LifeIn the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encourages us towards a kind of perfection--what the contemplatives see as a kind of inner, structural integrity--that God has. Dave Schmelzer looks at two different takes on how to pull this off: one from pop culture, and the other from among the most ancient and enduring Christian spiritual practices, the Jesuit practice of the Examen.Mentioned on this podcast: Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life, by Dennis, Matthew and Sheila LinnThe Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, by Martha B...
2022-03-2222 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Self-Compassion and Hearing God's VoiceWe're told that a major benefit of deepening spiritual practice is discovering a profound kindness towards ourselves and others. Dave Schmelzer will fill you on insights from psychology and contemplative practice about finding this self-compassion and then Grace Schmelzer will tell an affecting story about how learning to hear God's voice powerfully broke through her own inner judgment. Mentioned on this podcast: Shauna Shapiro's book Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy
2022-03-0441 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Wellness and Healthy AgingModern contemplatives often tie spiritual practice to wellness in general. Dave Schmelzer looks at some inspiring stories about healthy aging even as he discusses modern brain science around things like telomeres and emotion contagion and positive stress. He closes with a look at the nine common habits among the parts of the world that are home to the people who live the longest.Mentioned on this podcastA Los Angeles Times column by Steve Lopez called "The secret to a long life? Curiosity, says Morrie, who has now survived two pandemics"The...
2022-02-1123 min
The Pocket ContemplativeHow to Lessen Suffering (and Other Contemplative Basics)One of the great promises of contemplative practices is that maybe we won't have to suffer as much as we do. Today, learning from psychology professor Shauna Shapiro, Dave Schmelzer will review how exactly that happens, along with a look at some basics about things like getting sleepy or feeling pain or being frustrated as our mind wanders, along with other things along those lines. Mentioned on this episode:Shauna Shapiro's book Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy
2022-01-2829 min
The Pocket ContemplativeUnion with God (and Working the Fundamentals to Get There)Eighteen hundred years of Christian teaching tells us we should be focusing on something that we likely have never even heard of--union with God. Join Dave Schmelzer as he takes a brief tour of some of these great teachers as he explores whether such a thing is possible for normal, modern people and how, if it is, the way to start will be by reengaging some fundamentals. Mentioned on this podcast:Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies Throughout the Ages, by Ursula KingThe Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith, by J...
2022-01-1525 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Stages of FaithIt can feel threatening when our experience of faith changes--or when someone else's does. Dave Schmelzer looks at classic wisdom from spiritual direction about what different stages of faith look like and about how to figure out both where we are and what we might expect is to come. Mentioned on this podcast:The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith, by Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich
2021-12-2324 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Cultural Conflicts (and Getting Mad)Outrageous cultural happenings understandably provoke our outrage. On the downside, the recent FB whistleblower points out that FB's artificial intelligence relentlessly looks to inflame that righteous anger for its own nefarious purposes. A whole category of spiritual writings, called "apocalypses," helps us safely navigate this conundrum. Dave Schmelzer offers wisdom from a major scholar and from the great writer sometimes called "John the Revelator" to help us boldly stand up for important things while remaining happy and hope-filled. Mentioned on this podcastCraig R. Koester's magisterial Great Courses course: The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meaning in W...
2021-12-0626 min
The Pocket ContemplativeIrene Kraegel on Christian MindfulnessIrene Kraegel is a pioneer in exploring mindfulness from a Christian perspective. Dave Schmelzer explored some of her insights in the previous The Pocket Contemplative. She joins us in this episode to walk us through how she's arrived at her unique life mission and to offer wise counsel to those of us on a similar journey.Mentioned on this podcast:The Mindful Christian: Cultivating a Life of Intentionality, Openness, and Faith, by Irene Kraegel. Also, check out themindfulchristian.comTo learn more about or join in with an online group with Dave and...
2021-11-1538 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Christian MindfulnessPracticing mindfulness is popular and, for Dave Schmelzer, robustly helpful. But is it Christian? Dave looks at insights from The Mindful Christian, in which Irene Kraegel thoughtfully and thoroughly grounds it in the Bible and the Christian tradition. God, it turns out, is very much present and at work as we "get behind the waterfall" of our thoughts and emotions. Mentioned on this podcast:The Mindful Christian: Cultivating a Life of Intentionality, Openness and Faith, by Irene KraegelTo learn more about or join in with an online group with Dave a...
2021-11-0137 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Mystical ExperiencesMaybe like C.S. Lewis you've had spiritual experiences that have kicked off a kind of longing that's almost painful. Contemplatives like Meister Eckhart, calling in particular on the biblical book Song of Songs, tell us that such experiences--along with many others that are more subtle--are ways that God is inviting us into a renewed, vivid experience of being alive. Join Dave Schmelzer as he explores these experiences both with Eckhart and the Song of Songs and also with a modern brain researcher who gets excited about what such experiences can mean for your long-term thriving. Mentioned on...
2021-10-1134 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWhen the World Feels Like a DystopiaOur newsfeed can overwhelm us with terrible world news, but what are our options? We don't want to cover our ears and disconnect, but who wants to feel daily dread? Dave Schmelzer walks us through advice from contemplatives, from spiritual leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, from folk wisdom, and from a man who learned from his native India the power of embracing the chaos that's all around us.Mentioned on this podcastBob Miglani's book, Embrace the ChaosThe Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu's...
2021-09-2831 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWhat the Therapists KnowA therapeutic approach called ACT has a lot in common with contemplative spirituality with the added benefit of offering practical advice in unexpected language. Dave Schmelzer offers a deep dive into how to take fresh action about the things that can build your richest life--even as you allow your challenging thoughts and emotions to live in an expansive world.Mentioned on this podcast:The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living: A Guide to ACT, by Russ Harris
2021-09-1033 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Unending Spiritual GrowthAs perplexing as our lives can feel at any given moment, big-name early Christians like Gregory of Nyssa encourage us that, right now, we have the stuff of unending spiritual growth and the joy and purpose that come with that. With his customary lively stories and cultural touchstones, Dave Schmelzer helps us poke our heads into Gregory's "darkness above the light" as we wade into a spirituality of these early Christian heroes that's, strangely, gotten lost to most Westerners but has provided a path to union with God to countless fellow journeyers.Mentioned on this podcast:
2021-08-2337 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Aging (and Dying) WellWhat are we hoping our spirituality will offer us as we age? The famed Harvard Grant Study looks at men and women over 75+ years to answer the question of what aging well--and dying well--looks like. What will lead to happiness, health and mental capacity in our eighties if we get that far. Among their intriguing findings: religiosity is surprisingly correlated with depression, but another version of devout spirituality ages very well. Join Dave Schmelzer as he walks you through their insights with his usual lively stories and with insight from a pop culture phenomenon. Mentioned on t...
2021-08-1037 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWhen Life Feels Like One Long In-BetweenOur lives can feel like one big waiting-room where the stuff we're hoping will happen is taking a long time to actually, like, happen. But what if the deepest spiritual wisdom of all is embedded in plain sight in that observation? Join Dave Schmelzer as he looks, in this episode, at wisdom from the biblical Letter to the Hebrews about that unexpected contemplative insight--and from the way that wisdom is expanded in the latest Oscar winner, Nomadland.Mentioned on this podcast:The Letter to the HebrewsNomadland
2021-07-2823 min
The Pocket ContemplativeDon't Fix YourselfContemplatives tell us we all make a classic mistake: we desperately try to fix ourselves when, instead, we're offered a powerful road to change that both works and takes far less effort. Dave Schmelzer, with lots of stories, looks at biblical wisdom around waking up in this way and then incorporates powerful insights from teachers like, from within Christendom, Anthony De Mello and, from outside of it, Charlotte Joko Beck. Mentioned on this podcast:John 12:24; Isaiah 30:15-16Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen: Life and WorkAnthony De Mello, Awareness: The Perils a...
2021-07-1024 min
The Pocket ContemplativeThe Unique Opportunity in Crossing CulturesIn this occasional TPC series in which we consider what might be familiar Christian themes in fresh ways, Dave Schmelzer looks at the unrivaled power of crossing cultures on God's behalf. Why is that one action so often connected with experiencing spiritual power? Dave tells dramatic personal stories on these lines involving, like, Hezbollah, but then has a wealth of day-to-day looks at this, especially zeroing in on how this might play out as we cross profound cultural divisions that might exist between us and our family and friends. Mentioned on this podcast:The Palestinian-American c...
2021-06-2527 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLet Disillusionment (Wonderfully) Initiate YouWe all face disillusionment, but the contemplatives offer us the good news that we're then given a profound opportunity to be initiated into the mysteries that lead to freedom and growth--and maybe even enlightenment and eternal life. With plenty of stories, Dave Schmelzer will invite us into perspectives from, well, Jesus and also Father Richard Rohr and St. John of the Cross and Jack Kornfield. He'll detail a fascinating survey he conducted about why people get disillusioned with churches in particular and he'll look at what that might mean. And, most profoundly, he'll talk about how what can seem...
2021-06-0829 min
The Pocket ContemplativePractical Thoughts on Navigating DivisionsWe live amidst profound cultural and spiritual divisions but can feel adrift in terms of what to do about it apart from judging people across the divide from us. Historic spiritual wisdom does have some thoughts, some of which turn out to be quite practical. Dave Schmelzer walks us through a provocative case study with insights from Franciscans, Zen thinkers, and psychologists, along with his own experiences.Mentioned on this podcast:Not the Religious Type and Blue Ocean Faith, by Dave Schmelzer, and Further Along the Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck as books...
2021-05-1426 min
The Pocket ContemplativeDon't Jettison the Good Parts of FaithSometimes fervent, youthful faith can't make the journey into our adulthood, maybe because of life's suffering. But some of us then feel consequential loss, because feeling close to God, in good times and bad, felt great. Looking at the life of Harriet Tubman and focusing on Jesus's advice in his so-called "Farewell Discourse," Dave Schmelzer suggests that a lifetime of continual spiritual growth by no means needs to lose the best parts of our most heartfelt experience of God.Mentioned on this episode:The 2019 Oscar-nominated movie HarrietJohn 14-17Brother Lawrence's book...
2021-04-2921 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn SexThe recent Atlanta shootings offer many storylines, not least highlighting racism directed towards Asian Americans. But one compelling storyline looks at the often destructive consequences of how conservative churches have taught about sexuality. Dave Schmelzer takes a candid look at this while then exploring the powerfully helpful contemplative reply that comes from major teachers like Francis of Assisi and Therese of Lisieux. Mentioned on this podcast:"Atlanta Suspect’s Fixation on Sex Is Familiar Thorn for Evangelicals" by Ruth Graham in The New York Times, March 20, 2021Matthew 5:3; Matthew 5:27-29; Matthew 5:37; Matthew 7:20; I Corinthians 4;3-4; 2 Cor...
2021-04-1735 min
The Pocket ContemplativeThree Pathways into Your True SelfAs we mature, we do whatever is required to make our lives work out. Still, the great spiritual traditions suggest that there remains a true you and me that will become forged over time, but will require attention and perhaps risk to experience. The more we discover and live this out, the more we find ourselves connected to the entire world. Join Dave Schmelzer for contemplative insights from India that interact with the deepest wisdom of great Christians like Thomas Merton and others. Dave closes with a related contemplative practice suggested by a famous neuroscientist. Mentioned on t...
2021-04-0135 min
The Pocket ContemplativeThe Twelve Happiness PracticesInspired by the Oscar-nominated movie Sound of Metal, Dave Schmelzer looks at the latest research on how to find greater wellbeing. Starting, as Sound of Metal does, with contemplative practice, Dave looks at the research and advice behind practices like: writing rather than ruminating, spending discretionary money in a way that will lead to more happiness, learning how to savor life, and many more. But he gives particular focus to two practices: contemplatively learning to forgive and successfully nurturing interpersonal relationships. Mentioned on this podcast:Sound of Metal, a movie on Amazon Prime
2021-03-1850 min
The Pocket ContemplativeJesus on Transcending FrustrationWe're told that God is powerful, but as we age, most of us are flummoxed or frustrated with how to think about that, because clearly that power quite often does not bring about things that are important to us. Dave Schmelzer--inviting us into a perspective from a new, occasional Journey On offering--details how Jesus (followed by Gandhi, among others) helps us experience what our very encouraging, if unexpected power actually is. Mentioned on this podcast:Connect@journey-on.net to learn more about weekly, online Journey On groups and a new, occasional Sunday serviceS...
2021-03-0530 min
The Pocket ContemplativeJustice Becomes Win-Win with Contemplative SpiritualityJustice questions are an explosive dividing line. Natasha Huang, a leader in Journey On and a hospital chaplain, and Cecil Tengatenga, a health researcher at Yale, join Dave Schmelzer to pass on how insights from a transformative class experience they shared together about contemplative spirituality and racial justice have shaped their lives and the lives of their classmates ever since.Mentioned on this podcast:Jesus and the Disinherited, by Howard Thurman
2021-02-1540 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Living in a Friendly UniverseMost of us, in the end, experience two fundamental emotions. When the wind of life feels at our back, we feel great. When it feels in our face, we feel anxious and stressed. Both the Bible and the great spiritual teachers tell us that the way to experience the good one of these is mystical and comes by pursuing the kind of spiritual practice that empowers God to bring us everything we need--all on God's own initiative. Join Dave Schmelzer as he explores deep teaching along these lines from Jesus and St. Paul and famous preachers and pop spirituality...
2021-02-0236 min
The Pocket ContemplativeDoes Prayer Work?Persistent, heartfelt prayer has a long history of bringing good things into the world... but perhaps not in the direct way we'd hoped for. Dave Schmelzer looks at how many of his friends can no longer pray as they once did, because it doesn't "work." He talks about a provocative take on this from an unexpected contemplative point of view and about how many have found it unlocks a whole new world of good things from a praying life.Mentioned on this podcast:A quote from Thich Nhat Hanh: If you are a poet, y...
2021-01-1939 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWhat the Mystics KnowModern mystics are quite user-friendly--but the early Christian saints encouraged us to sail into some deep waters. This week, Dave Schmelzer explores the kind of unity with God that early greats like Augustine and Athanasius encouraged us was the central goal of being alive--and was what offered the hope of immortality to come. Mentioned on this podcast:Netflix's The Haunting of Bly ManorMystics quoted from Journey to the Heart, edited by Kim Nataraja and from The Roots of Christian Mysticism, edited by Olivier ClementRichard Rohr's book What the Mystics K...
2020-12-3122 min
The Pocket ContemplativeEverything Changes (and That's Largely Great)Constant change can feel uniquely hard. Do, say, beloved friends come and go? Or do we lose work or living situations that once were great? The mystics tell us that this is right at the core of reality--and that it's not all bad, particularly as we learn the key skill of living in the present moment as all that change swirls around us. Join Dave Schmelzer as he brings insight from the Old and New Testaments and great thinkers like Blaise Pascal and Thich Nhat Hanh (and, in a left field move, the actor Alan Arkin). So, yes, maybe...
2020-12-0731 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLightheartedness Is a SkillBeing lighthearted, while pleasant, can sound trivial. But it turns out to be a far bigger deal than we might think, in fact to be a central aspect of being loving and maybe even (if we believe a great Christian creed along with people like the Dalai Lama) of finding the meaning of life. Join Dave Schmelzer for a look at how spiritual masters (and happiness researchers) help us develop this crucial, delightful way of being. Media used in this podcast:Intro Music: RyanhoodThe movie: StripesThe end song: Lovely Day
2020-11-2128 min
The Pocket ContemplativeExperience Miracles! (While, Okay, Suffering a Bit)It's a paradox. Faith overtly offers us the chance to hear and live out promises from God. And then great saints (and, frankly, our friends whom we most trust) seem to suffer even more than normal people. Living in that paradox is at the heart of great spirituality. Join Dave Schmelzer as he tells vivid stories and learns from people like Catherine of Genoa and Father Richard Rohr and the so-called "father of three faiths," Abraham.Mentioned on this podcast:New Journey On Basics "starter groups" on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. See journey-on.net...
2020-11-0728 min
The Pocket ContemplativePoke Your Head into a Bigger UniverseContemplative spirituality might suggest becoming more "inner"--being aware of all that's happening inside your consciousness. But it actually is meant to go just the other way--towards being so present to the moment at hand that nothing gets past you, that you notice people and a world that you otherwise certainly would have missed. Great souls like David Foster Wallace have thought deeply about the opportunity that's here to find joy, even in stressful times, as we enter into a much bigger universe--by way of noticing other people--than we'd been aware of. Dave Schmelzer will tell some vivid stories...
2020-10-2632 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLet Hard Times Build Your Best LifeOf course we all want to maximize pleasant times and minimize difficult ones, but the great spiritual teachers--in many cases taking perspective from the eccentric biblical book Ecclesiastes--tell us that learning to fully inhabit both the hard and the good times transforms everything as we're taken into a sort of God Zone. In this story-rich episode, Dave Schmelzer will explore wisdom not just from Eccleciastes but from the contemplative Rami Shapiro and the early church father Clement of Alexandria. Mentioned on this podcast:Ecclesiastes 1:2-3,7; 9:2; 5:17-19, 7:14; 3:1-3,11; 4:8-9; 3:22; 9:7-8; 11:1Rami Shapiro's book Perennial W...
2020-09-2530 min
The Pocket ContemplativeSeizing the Day is Easier than It Looks"What's new?" has become a difficult question for many of us to answer during the pandemic, and yet neuroscientists tell us that novelty is a key to happiness. Dave Schmelzer offers us insight from spiritual masters from Christianity, Judaism and Zen on this crucial question, with a particular look at often-misunderstood wisdom from St. Paul. As a throw-in, Paul explains why the horrible tribalism we're experiencing today is inevitable...but how to leave it in favor of rich connection. Mentioned on this podcast:Acts 17:27-28; Romans 1:16-17, 3:3, 3:19-20, 5:17, 8:2,9, 8:15, 8:18, 8:31-33,35,37; Revelation 21:5, John 16:33
2020-09-0925 min
The Pocket ContemplativeHow the Bible Can Remain an Unexpected PleasureMany earnest churchgoers have found great encouragement from lots of Bible reading. But, as life goes on, many of them not only burn out on Bible reading, but become disturbed by parts of the Bible that didn't bother them before. Dave Schmelzer takes a contemplative, journeying look at the good and bad elements of reading the Bible and, finally, at a hopeful way forward. Mentioned on this podcast: The Seek Course Wesley's Quadrilateral Galatians 3:28; Mark 4:1-20; Psalm 1:1-3 A helpful rethinking of enjoying the Bible: What Do We Do With the Bible? by Richard Rohr
2020-08-2028 min
The Pocket ContemplativeHow Jesus Can Remain Delightful Even as Your Faith EvolvesAs life moves forward, faith changes for many people, which can feel unsettling. Where, some might ask, is Jesus in whatever this new phase is? Dave Schmelzer has processed this with lots and lots of people. Here's the best stuff he's learned.Mentioned on this podcast:The Seek CourseNot the Religious Type and Blue Ocean Faith, by Dave SchmelzerJourney to the Heart, edited by Kim Nataraja
2020-08-0628 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLet’s Talk about Your CallingMaybe finding our calling right now actually isn't so hard--that the trick is living it out. Join Dave Schmelzer as he looks at the wisdom of one contemplative who explores how calling changes over time, how we all face pressures to live out someone else's calling, how embracing our calling gives meaning and power to our suffering, and how a four-part pathway might propel us into all the benefits of our calling. Mentioned on this podcast:Psalm 32:8Stephen Cope's book, The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True CallingOnline groups on Wednesdays, Sundays a...
2020-07-2330 min
The Pocket ContemplativeA Starter's Guide to EnlightenmentOne very simple but hard to pull off move, we're told, is the building block of what Paul calls "renewing our minds" and Jesus calls "becoming pure of heart and so seeing God" and some Eastern sages might call Enlightenment. Dave Schmelzer will walk through that one move and then pull back the curtain to chat briefly about why this move is so central to our hopes of experiencing such cosmic things. Mentioned on this podcast Romans 12:2; John 5:19-20; John 17:20-23 The Wise Heart, by Jack Kornfield Paul Ricouer Further Along the Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck
2020-07-0932 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn Marks of Mature SpiritualityIf we listen enough to the great spiritual teachers, it will hit us that the spirituality they're describing, while absolutely appealing, is different and more chill than the spirituality we've been taught. Jumping off from a list from one modern contemplative, Dave Schmelzer details how this unexpected spirituality can really help in a world which so often feels like "riding on a bumpy road." Mentioned on this podcast: A Path with Heart, by Jack Kornfield Life Together, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer The Wisdom of the Desert, by Thomas Merton Weekly online Journey On groups. For more information, email mail@blueoceanfaith...
2020-06-2528 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLet’s Talk about the ProtestsIn this remarkable time of protesting injustice, do the great spiritual teachers we look at here have anything to contribute? Dave Schmelzer will take a look at what Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Dalai Lama--each of whom has led their people through oppression--want to tell us.Mentioned on this podcast: A six-week online "starter" group on the spirituality talked about on Journey On running Mondays at 2pm EST. Email mail@blueoceanfaith.org for information. The Book of Joy, by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu Thich Nhat Hanh: Essential Writings Psalm 58
2020-06-1118 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLet’s Talk about Self-ImageNeuroscientists and mystics tell us the same thing: our minds have been conditioned towards negativity, which all of us then do more or less well at fending off. But the great teachers tell us it doesn't have to be that way. Join Dave Schmelzer for a look at how bone-deep loving kindness can change us from the inside out. Mentioned on this podcast An online small group on these things on Wednesdays at 9pm Eastern time or on Sundays at 6:30pm Eastern time. For information, email mail@blueoceanfaith.org. Appaloosa The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz Hardwiring Happiness, b...
2020-05-2829 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWhen the Time Comes, You'll ImproviseWe're taught by the great mystics that fully experiencing God's work in our life today--even at risk of being unprepared for potential suffering just around the corner--is the source of the life we want, even in a pandemic. With wisdom from Thomas Merton, Jesus, St. Paul and some modern contemplatives, Dave Schmelzer looks at your superpower in this--your powerful ability to improvise when needed.Mentioned on this podcast: Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation Bob Miglani, Embrace the Chaos: How India Taught Me to Stop Overthinking and Start Living Mark Epstein, Going to Pieces (Without Falling Apart) Psalm 23:1, Matthew 6:34...
2020-05-1523 min
The Pocket ContemplativeResolve Conflicts the Contemplative WayAmong the encouragements of ongoing spiritual growth is that the great teachers--for instance, Thomas Merton in this episode--tell us that all that growth has every chance of making our relationships better than they've ever been. Dave Schmelzer will talk both about contemplative and folk wisdom about keeping your most important relationships strong and growing. Mentioned on this podcast: New Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton Romans 12:18 The Odd Couple Difficult Conversations, by Douglas Stone, Bruce Hatton and Sheila Heen
2020-04-3030 min
The Pocket ContemplativeThe Remarkable Link Between Suffering and EnthusiasmIn this time of Covid-19, great spiritual teachers remind us that, counterintuitively, a daily experience of enthusiasm, joy and love not only is our birthright, but is the thing that will give us the best chance of responding well to whatever circumstances come our way. But of course spiritual teachings like theirs run the risk of encouraging a false front or of being superficial--the thing that these teachers most definitely are not. They avoid these problems by tying their key teachings to Jesus's cross--to understanding the suffering of our life in an entirely new and powerful way. Dave Schmelzer...
2020-04-1623 min
The Pocket ContemplativeIt's a Great Time to Talk about GodOn the last Journey On, Dave Schmelzer talked about classic spiritual approaches that were discovered during pandemics and offer happiness even during such stressful times. Here he'll look at how understanding a few, particular things about God has also proven encouraging and useful even when things are most challenging. Mentioned on this podcast: The Unity of the Bible, by Daniel P. Fuller Weekly online Journey On groups. Email: mail@blueoceanfaith.org
2020-04-0233 min
The Pocket ContemplativeHappiness During the CoronavirusPerhaps the richest spirituality in the Christian tradition was forged during a pandemic, of all things. Dave Schmelzer will look at what Julian of Norwich and some modern spiritual masters have to tell us about thriving during such a time. And, who knew?, they start by urging us that happiness, even in such times, is the goal and is possible. Mentioned on this podcast: Julian of Norwich Acts 26:14; James 1:5-8; James 1:1-4 Bridge of Spies Sonya Lyubomirsky The Book of Joy, by Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama An online Journey On spiritual community. mail@blueoceanfaith.org
2020-03-1929 min
The Pocket ContemplativeOn the Dark Night of the SoulIt turns out that there's a powerful, unexpected bright spot to our suffering and disappointment. Join Dave Schmelzer for a look at how spiritual masters from around the world--including Mother Teresa and John of the Cross--tell us about how our dark nights might not be as bad as they appear. In his preface, Dave offers some contemplative reflections on the threat of the coronavirus. Mentioned on this podcast: Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, by Dan Harris and Jeff Warren Journey to the Heart, edited by Kim Nataraja Radical Acceptance, by Tara Brach Isaiah 43:18-19; Isaiah 50:10,11; Romans 8:14-17; John 12:24 Online groups...
2020-03-0536 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLet's Heal DivisionsOur world is so divided, politically, culturally, and religiously--even among people who claim the same religion as our own. Perhaps a certain sort of growing spirituality can help us not only personally thrive but also help lead the way through this moment to a better future. Join Dave Schmelzer as he looks at thoughts from great spiritual masters and philosophers and, of course, the Bible, about how to find unexpected joy, grace and compassion right when the world around us can seem the most bleak. Mentioned on this podcast: Ken Wilber's book A Brief History of Everything Jeremiah 29:7; Romans 12:14,18...
2020-01-3025 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWisdom about Success20th Century America was a golden era for optimistic teaching about how to succeed. While the advice was great from point to point, as a whole it often left people less happy than they were before learning it. But the great spiritual teachers have their own take on how to succeed that takes us to a very different place. With lots of storytelling and the occasional cultural allusion, Dave Schmelzer walks us through both takes, with some concrete suggestions about what might come next for us.
2020-01-2123 min
The Pocket ContemplativeSolve Your Hard ProblemsWe all hit problems in our lives that don't have easy answers and so, in the absence of obvious ways to solve them, we obsess over them. Many great spiritual teachers talk about what this is like and they have both a surprising way through these problems and a surprising upshot that will lead us to a solution we couldn't have seen coming. Join Dave Schmelzer for a look at this powerful advice with wisdom from theologians and Zen teachers and C.S. Lewis and the Bible and a classic movie or two.Mentioned in this podcast It's a...
2020-01-0324 min
The Pocket ContemplativeAn Easy Joy HackMany great spiritual teachers (looking to the Bible) agree that there's one straightforward spiritual thing you can do that is basically a joy guarantee...and yet it's, strangely, rarely done! Dave Schmelzer details the one-stop joy hack while offering inspiration from the Desert Fathers and Mothers, Pentecostals, and his own recent past.Mentioned on this podcast: The Wisdom of the Desert, by Thomas Merton Transformations, by the Sentinel Group Psalm 22:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 2 Chronicles 20, John 10:10 A weekly online group: mail@blueoceanfaith.org
2019-12-1223 min
The Pocket ContemplativeThe World Is Weird (And On Your Side)We've all heard about or experienced occasional unexplainable stories--was it an angel? a ghost? an alien? a praying friend? Of course they might have rational explanations in the end, but the spiritual masters nonetheless encourage us to lean into how those uncanny stories feel and what they might mean, telling us that those things are important clues to our happiness and fulfillment. Join Dave Schmelzer for thoughts from Mother Teresa, G.K. Chesterton, Stephen Spielberg and more about how the untamed universe is good news for you and those you love. Mentioned on this podcast: Close Encounters of the...
2019-11-1423 min
The Pocket ContemplativeSome Thoughts About WorryingWorrying more than anything else keeps us from living our best life. Of course it feels horrible, but it also keeps us from walking with God into the life we want. Join Dave Schmelzer as he reviews some of the richest lessons ever offered as we stop worrying and start living! Mentioned in this podcast: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, by Dale Carnegie 30 Lessons for Living, by Karl Pillemer Real Happiness, by Sharon Salzberg Matthew 6:22-23, Psalm 118:24, Proverbs 23:7, Psalm 90:12
2019-11-0734 min
The Pocket ContemplativeGet Your Dream! (Then Keep Your Dream.)How do we find and sustain the kind of meaningful work that's at the heart of our deepest dream? Dave Schmelzer looks at how great contemplative teachers suggest that common biblical wisdom about this question works just great--until it doesn't, and we realize we're being invited into a different experience of life than we'd anticipated. All with our dream right at the center. Mentioned on this podcast: "Follow That Dream" by Bruce Springsteen Matthew 14:22-33 and 2 Peter 1:4 30 Lessons for Living, by Karl Pillemer
2019-10-2429 min
The Pocket ContemplativeFind Wonder. Find Adventure.What are you hoping for from your spiritual life? Beyond rules for living and rich community and even spiritual power, many spiritual masters encourage us to keep our hearts eager for great adventure and wonder. Join Dave Schmelzer to explore guidance from Brother Lawrence, Tuesdays with Morrie, the Bible, and his own journey of giving this stuff a try. Mentioned on this podcast: The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown--Antarctica Tuesdays with Morrie Acts 2:17-19“‘God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your you...
2019-10-1035 min
The Pocket ContemplativeWhy Not (For Real) Cheer Up?Jesus and Paul join contemplatives, neuroscientists and pop spirituality teachers in agreeing on one thing: your life is quite a bit better than you think it is. But sadly you, like all people, have a built in bias towards negativity. Overcoming this is the road to what Jesus called "faith." Join Dave Schmelzer for an encouraging look at the good things about to come your way. Mentioned on this podcast: "Every Praise" by Hezekiah Walker "Love Theory" by Kirk Franklin Hardwiring Happiness, by Rick Hanson Matthew 6:28-30“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of th...
2019-10-0330 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLet's Talk about PoliticsDeep, spiritual thinkers like Francis of Assisi, Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama seem to think our growing spirituality can also help us find our way in our larger, political world--while not becoming miserable or outraged, but rather joyful, hopeful and useful. A miracle! Join Dave Schmelzer for a fascinating look at how you might bridge divides, find purpose, and be a part of something big that's only good news.Mentioned on this podcast: John Oliver's Last Week Tonight interview with the Dalai Lama A growing, multi-national online group on Wednesday evenings about these things, and a live Sunday...
2019-09-2032 min
The Pocket ContemplativeLet's Discover Who We Actually AreFinding out who we actually are--and perhaps fulfilling our potential--turns out to be a more surprising challenge than we could have guessed. But the rewards that the great spiritual teachers suggest will come to us are pretty great, as we realize that God has been doing things for us behind the scenes that we've previously missed. Jumping off with insights from diverse sources like The Harvard Grant Study and the 90s Matt Damon movie Rounders, Dave Schmelzer takes us on a deep dive into the benefits of discovering our identity. Mentioned in this episode: Rounders Explore a new online...
2019-09-1231 min
The Pocket ContemplativeHow Threats Become BenefitsIn this new, story-filled podcast focusing on an experience of Jesus that's fun, contemplative, practical and cultural, Dave Schmelzer of Blue Ocean Faith talks about how the new documentary The Biggest Little Farm makes a case for what spiritual masters have been saying for millennia. Namely, that learning to observe what looks like a threat to your happiness (rather than immediately fighting it) can offer a way into a new, connected life--in which, as a throw in, the problem at hand spins around to become a benefit. Mentioned in this podcast:The Biggest Little Farm Explore a new online s...
2019-08-3132 min