Shows
Fire and LightChristmas Joy and GladnessIn their final Fire and Light conversation, Tessa and Dave celebrate the Twelfth Day of Christmas, or Feast of the Epiphany. Take a break from commercialized Christmas, latch onto a star, and linger in Bethlehem as the violent empire goes back to business. Celebrate wise women and men who still follow stars.2024-12-1536 minFire and LightThe Seed and the Space That Changed YouWhat is the most important transitional moment in your life? Or are there several? Tessa and Dave look back on their early years in Sedona, Arizona. There they discovered an earthy mysticism of gardening, reading, and moonrises that kindled a flame of wonder and sowed the seeds of contemplation that transformed their lives. They encourage you to reflect on the moment and the place that set your life on a new course.2024-07-3132 minFire and LightThe Desert ExperienceWhat comes to mind when you think of the desert? Does it sound beautiful? Ominous? Both? Find out how "desert rats," from author Edward Abbey to artist Georgia O'Keeffe, express the wonder and solace they find in desert landscapes. Learn how indigenous desert dwellers describe their homelands. For some souls, the desert is the ideal place to listen for God. And what do we mean by an "inner desert"? We conclude this conversation with a meditation on the Sonoran Desert at dawn.2024-06-0131 minFire and LightJoy As ResistanceIs your life joyful? Do you think everyone has a right to joy? How do we keep joy alive in the midst of so much sorrow in the world? Can we practice it? And what do we mean by joy as resistance? Dave and Tessa grapple with these questions and more in our latest podcast.2024-05-0235 min
A Personal Journey with MartinTubridyRichard Rohr-Listening To Creation-Trees & DesertA Richard Rohr Daily Meditation. This concentrates on humans not fully taking for granted all of the beautiful experiences we can have by being attuned to nature. It consists of commentaries by Barbara Mahany(The Preaching of the Trees) and the impact that a singular monk, a Christian mystic Brother Lawrence, had on her in his descriptions of nature but also mundane items such as pots and pans. A follow up is by Tessa Bielecki and David Denny (Formed by the Desert) and their love for the desert-its spaciousness and spirituality. It is actually a very rich environment that i...2024-04-2608 minFire and LightReturn to the WildIs wilderness important in our lives? Tessa and Dave describe a recent trip to Death Valley and reflect on what struck them most in that vast, wild, empty landscape. They discuss the “practice of the wild” and the joy of encountering our liberating smallness in communion with ancient stone and starlit nights. (Good news: we are upgrading our recording equipment this month. Expect improved sound quality in our April podcast.)2024-03-0129 minFire and LightOrdinary Plenty: Celtic SpiritualityAccording to the Celtic calendar, February 1 marks the first day of spring and celebrates the increasing daylight. In our February Fire and Light podcast, “Ordinary Plenty: Celtic Spirituality,” Dave Denny and Tessa Bielecki share stories of living in Ireland. They highlight the wonder of burning peat fires, ancient megalithic ruins, and meeting Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney. Join them as they celebrate the “ordinaryplenty” in everyday life. Savor the Divine we experience through our five senses, in “each thing that I pursue in my life… and mine ever-living soul.”2024-02-0133 minFire and LightAnimal GuidesDo you love animals? How might a swallow, a salmon, a stag or a unicornspeak to our souls? We explore the world of symbols and the beauty ofanimal images, archetypes, and legends that speak to us of holiness. Wewelcome the season of Advent by presenting a new way of praying for thecoming of Love into our lives.2023-12-0133 min
SDI EncountersDesert Spirituality - Preview with Tessa Bielecki and Fr. Dave DennyTo preview their upcoming 4-part webinar for SDI on Desert Spirituality, we invite you to enjoy this quick session with Tessa Bielecki and Fr. David Denny. And, we hope you will consider joining us for a full four part series on Desert Spirituality beginning November 1st (all sessions recorded). https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/desert-wisdom-for-spiritual-directors-and-companions/
Attracted by beauty and responding to sorrow, Tessa Bielecki and Fr. David Denny offer insights about inner work and earth care, peacemaking and social justice, living and dying, and share the nourishing desert wisdom that blooms today. Learn more about their work...2023-10-3016 minFire and LightDay of the Dead and the Marigold PathExplore the Day of the Dead and the colors and customs surrounding death, especially joy and hope, beautifully expressed in the film Coco. Learn about building an altar of remembrance for your ancestors. Find out what dying people most regret. Hear about loved ones who have lived and died peacefully. Join us in meditating on what we may learn from our ancestors’ lives and deaths, and how they may inspire us to live.2023-10-3042 minFire and LightHumor and HalloweenHumor and HalloweenOctober brings longer nights and warm-toned leaves to the northern hemisphere. It also brings Halloween. Tessa and Dave reflect on the origins, playfulness and profundity of Halloween, from jack-o’-lanterns to the Resurrection. They introduce us to Philip Neri, a seriously silly 16th-century saint, and emphasize the importance of laughter, “holy folly” and good cheer.2023-09-3027 minFire and LightOpen Hearts, High HopesTessa and Dave share their vibrant experience of the Ninth Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago, which focused on freedom and the rights of women, indigenous peoples, and the earth itself. Dave reflects on Palestinian-Israeli relations and Tessa suggests two practices: celebrating differences and being vulnerable to conversion. Join their meditation on commitment to interfaith cooperation.2023-09-0133 minFire and LightBefore, After, and the Atomic BombTessa and Dave begin by remembering the “before” and “after” of their lives in Sedona, Arizona and relate this to “before” and “after” the dropping of the atomic bomb. They respond to “Oppenheimer", the latest film by Christopher Nolan, about the father of the bomb. Hear their reflections on how the arts help us face shattering memories that many would rather forget or whitewash. Consider the paradox of a cruel and wondrous world. Then celebrate Hope as radical openness for the unimaginable with a Ute poem about earth’s wisdom.2023-08-0137 minFire and LightA Taste of PlaceWhere do you place yourself? How does it taste? Tessa and Dave share a taste of the Sonoran Desert as they savor picking saguaro fruit with guidance from local Tohono O’odham neighbors. They relish the physical act of picking fruit with a traditional tool and preparing it to eat. And they ponder the spiritual meaning of the sticky red fruit for native communities. In gathering the fruit, Desert People bring down the clouds that release life-giving monsoons in July. How does your land nourish you?2023-07-0137 minFire and LightGoing Against the GrindWe welcome the month of June by remembering the summers of our youth: Dave in Indiana and Tessa in Connecticut. We explore how leisure, not work, is the basis of culture. Our conversation includes insights from Tricia Hersey, “the Nap Bishop.” Her book, Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto, encourages us to nap, dream again and escape the “grind culture,” as the Jewish people escaped Pharaoh a long time ago. We think you’ll find our monthly practice “assignment” very easy! Our meditation is guided by the poem “On June,” by James Russell Lowell. If you fall asleep listening to us, our mission is2023-06-0138 minFire and LightMy Story, Your StoryTessa and Dave introduce the Irish saying, “my story, your story.” They explore how the concrete details, joys and sorrows of our unique life stories have an uncanny power to communicate across time and cultures. Allow yourself to slow down and ponder the meaning of “destiny” and how your years unfold along themes that weave in and out of your life’s seasons. Tessa and Dave note major landmarks or thresholds in their own lives and lead you through a meditation to help you discover and celebrate your own destiny and the legacy you hope to leave for future generation2023-04-2937 minFire and LightBreathing Room for the SpritTessa and Dave explore ways to create breathing room for our spirits in a world of speed and utility. They describe a recent desert camping trip and Dave recites “Superbloom Toast,” a poem celebrating the spectacle of a desert bursting with flowers. Since April is National Poetry Month, they ponder the value of poetry and its relationship to contemplation. This month’s meditation creates breathing space for the spirit by helping us slow down, pay attention, and enjoy everyday wonders.2023-04-1434 minFire and LightAlchemy of Earth and SoulTessa rhapsodizes on the beauty of compost. She celebrates the season of Lent as alchemy: allowing the cast-off peelings, the inedible “garbage” of our lives to be transformed into fertile soil for future flowers. She recommends we get our hands dirty and grow something green in this month that Tohono O’Odham people call the Green Moon. Dave celebrates Women’s History Month by commenting on bell hooks, Naomi Shihab Nye, Valarie Kaur, and desert elder Lorraine Eiler.2023-03-0539 minFire and LightCandles and Good TroubleTessa and Dave explore the beauty of candlelight and the Feast of Candlemas. In honor of Black History Month they reflect on the spirituality of civil rights activist and congressman, the late John Lewis. Noting the universal appreciation of candlelight in spiritual ceremonies, they suggest a candle blessing practice and offer a meditation by Howard Thurman, author and mystic whose wisdom helped guide the American Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.2023-01-3132 minFire and LightLiving a Natural LifeIn this first episode Tessa and Dave say why the podcast is named Fire and Light and what are the life questions they will be addressing. They describe who they are and where thay have come from. Each episode offers a simple contemplative practice and ends with a brief meditation.2023-01-0437 minFire and LightFire and LightAn introduction to the upcoming podcast on living contemplatively in the world.2022-11-0202 min
ContemplifyVitality Out of Emptiness with Fr. David DennyFr. David Denny is a lifelong seeker whose commitment to the unfolding mystery of life has brought him to explore the deserts of place and soul. In 1975 Fr Dave entered the Spiritual Life Institute, a contemplative monastic community rooted in the Carmelite tradition. And in 2005, he left that community to co-found the Desert Foundation with Tessa Bielecki. A writer, a poet, retreat master and teacher, Fr. Dave now hangs his hat in Tucson, Arizona. In our conversation, Fr. Dave and I talk about the roundabouts, the striking insights, the totality of the journey of his life that lea...2022-10-211h 00
ContemplifyVitality Out of Emptiness with Fr. David Denny
The inner desertarises primarily from grief:the universal desert of lossthat grinds the soul to dustand bears within itthe threat of despairas well as hopefor transformationand compassion.– Fr. David Denny
Fr. David Denny is a lifelong seeker whose commitment to the unfolding mystery of life has brought him to explore the deserts of place and soul. In 1975 Fr Dave entered the Spiritual Life Institute, a contemplative monastic community rooted in the Carmelite tradition. And in 2005, he left that community to co-found the Dese...2022-10-211h 00
The New MonasticsLife, Life, Life: Carmelite New Monasticism, Tolkien, and Interreligious Dialogue with Tessa BieleckiIn this fourth episode (actually our first recorded episode), we interview Tessa Bielecki, former Mother Abbess of the Spiritual Life Institute and a Carmelite hermit in Tucson, Arizona. Tessa talks with us about her Polish Catholic background, founding a Carmelite reform movement, and four Carmelite wilderness monasteries. She also discusses her life today as a “urban hermit,” the impact of Fr. William McNamara, the relationship of “Holiness and Vitality,” life-affirming Christianity, the influence of J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings on the Spiritual Life Institute, contemplation as “personal passionate presence,” Teresa of Avila and Carmelite spirituality...2022-05-271h 22
Prayer and Spirituality Archives - Messy Jesus BusinessTessa Bielecki: The Mystery and the Mess"Let yourself be broken. Let yourself suffer. Cling to Christ through it."- Tessa Bielecki
Season 4, Episode 6 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
LISTEN HERE:
IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Tessa Bielecki about pain and the healing process: how they forge transformation, and how suffering can help us to know union with God.
Tessa explains this concept through the lens of a past trauma, and says she didn't lose her faith at that time, nor did she expect Jesus to come riding in on a horse...2021-09-3000 minCommunity Building Archives - Messy Jesus BusinessTessa Bielecki: The Mystery and the Mess"Let yourself be broken. Let yourself suffer. Cling to Christ through it."- Tessa Bielecki
Season 4, Episode 6 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
LISTEN HERE:
IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Tessa Bielecki about pain and the healing process: how they forge transformation, and how suffering can help us to know union with God.
Tessa explains this concept through the lens of a past trauma, and says she didn't lose her faith at that time, nor did she expect Jesus to come riding in on a horse...2021-09-3000 min
Messy Jesus Business » PodcastTessa Bielecki: The Mystery and the Mess"Let yourself be broken. Let yourself suffer. Cling to Christ through it."- Tessa Bielecki
Season 4, Episode 6 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
LISTEN HERE:
IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Tessa Bielecki about pain and the healing process: how they forge transformation, and how suffering can help us to know union with God.
Tessa explains this concept through the lens of a past trauma, and says she didn't lose her faith at that time, nor did she expect Jesus to come riding in on a horse...2021-09-3000 min
Messy Jesus BusinessTessa Bielecki: The Mystery and the Mess"Let yourself be broken. Let yourself suffer. Cling to Christ through it."- Tessa Bielecki
Season 4, Episode 6 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
LISTEN HERE:
IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Tessa Bielecki about pain and the healing process: how they forge transformation, and how suffering can help us to know union with God.
Tessa explains this concept through the lens of a past trauma, and says she didn't lose her faith at that time, nor did she expect Jesus to come riding in on a horse...2021-09-3000 minMessy Jesus BusinessTessa Bielecki: The Mystery and the Mess"Let yourself be broken. Let yourself suffer. Cling to Christ through it."- Tessa Bielecki
Season 4, Episode 6 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
LISTEN HERE:
IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Tessa Bielecki about pain and the healing process: how they forge transformation, and how suffering can help us to know union with God.
Tessa explains this concept through the lens of a past trauma, and says she didn't lose her faith at that time, nor did she expect Jesus to come riding in on a horse...2021-09-3000 min
ContemplifyContemplative Happy Hour | Tessa Bielecki “Tessa said something that completely change my path and my life. She said that 'falling in love with life was the first step on the a mystical path.'" - Adam Bucko I first met Tessa Bielecki as I was exiting a port-a-potty. Let me explain. A few years back, I was at an arts and spirituality festival. As I departed a port-a-potty, I made a crack about it being a cramped prayer cell (or some such nonsense) to the woman next in line, and she let out an infectious belly laugh while held the gr...2018-08-201h 02