Latter-day Faith

Latest Episodes:

041: Wrestling with the Book of Mormon, Part 2 Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

After listening to last week's podcast on the Book of Mormon, longtime Latter-day Faith collaborator Mark Crego suggested we record a follow up that deals more directly with how to engage with the book within our own hearts (including the things in the text that trigger us!) and communities. If it is the "word of God" and most folks take that concept to mean that practically everything in the book is pretty darn close to The Truth, how might we engage with them? To help us see things more clearly, Mark proposes four paradigm shifts we each to internalize and that also can be communicated well to others. The discussion then turns to examine in depth what it is that the scriptures themselves say about the writings and revelations contained in them, including the Book of Mormon. Again, these can be important ideas to hold and recall when and if we feel we need to speak up and help widen a discussion. Finally, our discussion focuses on what the real purpose of the Gospel is, which is to bring us the Good News of the "Revelation of Jesus Christ"; that God in Jesus Christ, is fully God and fully human; and that God is incarnated and present in all beings. This means that God is present in Christ, and in you and in me, and in Scripture (expanded to include the inspired texts we find everywhere. Check out 2 Nephi 29). No podcast or tip can ever help us skip the hard work of our internal wrestles with God, ourselves, and scripture. What they can do, however, is help us understand what we are going through and why it is required of us in order to become transformed into the likeness of Christ. This is an excellent episode serving those purposes. Listen in!

040: Wrestling with The Book of Mormon Jan 23, 2020

Show notes

The Book of Mormon occupies a key place in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and very much so in many persons' faith journeys. For some, encounters with the book completely changed their lives, offered meaning and a sense of a God who is alive and still speaking. But for many Latter-day Saints themselves, the book has become problematic. Some question its historicity, its origin stories, its teachings, as well as struggle with how it is seen within the tradition, and especially how it is talked about on Sundays and in other gatherings. For them, the Book of Mormon has become a stumbling block, and for many of these perhaps a reason they feel they can no longer associate with the church and LDS community. In this episode, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by his longtime friend, mentor, and discussion partner, Charles Randall Paul (Randy), to consider the Book of Mormon with different lenses, many of them personal. Their discussion begins with each of them sharing the story of their "love affair" (one that hasn't always felt easy) with this book. They then move on to discuss it on different levels and from different approaches that have helped them retain a positive relationship with it, regardless of its historicity or other problematic areas. Randy shares how he has been helped by considering the many genres one finds in the book (in the same way as one finds in the Bible and the sacred texts of other traditions). And then they both reflect upon the term "scripture" and what it means for something to be considered as such. What is going on within us as individuals when we grant something the status of scripture, and what roles do scriptural texts and what they contain function within a faith community? The discussion herein might be summarized as reflections on each of the participants' life-long wrestles with the Book of Mormon, including their gratitude for all it has brought to their lives, even despite the pain of frustrations and loss they've felt or certain transitions their encounters with the text and its context have forced upon them.

039-Nature, Evolution, Spirituality Jan 14, 2020

Show notes

Because many Latter-day Saints, as well as many people in general, have not been taught evolution very well, they will often dismiss it out of hand, especially when it it encroaches upon their understandings of the origins of human beings. Likewise, it is very unlikely that they have explored the evolutionary process, along with the environment, all of nature, and persons in a web of life, as wonderful gateways to spiritual exploration and transformative experiences. In this Latter-day Faith podcast episode, host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by evolutionary biology professor T. Heath Ogden in an effort to focus on the spiritual sensibilities that go hand in hand with evolution as the creative force that brings forth change, increased complexity, specialization, and the ever-widening diversity that is produced through its quiet but powerful work. They don't delve here into the nuts and bolts of the basic processes (so no real biology lessons here) as much as engage each other in an effort to convey how their understandings and acceptance of this process have enriched their spiritual understandings and vitality for life, including a greater appreciation for their fellow beings as also part of this pathway to growth, development, and flourishing.

There is a spirituality in the study of nature and in immersion in the natural world that, when experienced, changes us, grounds us, and brings forth in us greater compassion, gratitude, and also a greater appreciation for all life and its significance--including our own lives. Toward the end of the discussion, they also wrestle together about how the concept and reality of God might or might not enhance and inform, or perhaps distract and obscure, all the wondrous views of life and energy that are ours to experience, should we allow ourselves to do so. We hope you'll listen in!

038: Renewal Jan 07, 2020

Show notes

Here 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 ways. Dan also takes us into the heart of what renewal means and how it is best instantiated within our core selves through daily spiritual practice that allows us to tap into far deeper sources of energy and greater abilities than what our simple will-power alone can provide. (Insert your own instances when your "resolutions" didn't last much past the first few days of the year or season.)

037: Christmas Conversation: Birthing the Christ Within Dec 19, 2019

Show notes

This show continues the conversation with Phil McLemore, a yogi in the lineage of Paramahansa Yogananda and also a Latter-day Saint, this time focusing on Christmas and its various symbols and opportunities for better understanding Jesus and, more widely, Christ, the divine consciousness of God in every part of creation. Phil and Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon 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 something miraculous really happened historically. It's an important shift to make, allowing us to read scripture, situations, others, and all of life with new and fresh eyes, for in each of these is much we can draw on in our journeys. Mary, mother of Jesus, and the divine feminine then take front stage as Phil pulls wonderful wisdom from every aspect of what she represents as a virgin, as pregnant with Christ consciousness, as giving birth, and much more. What does the inn represent? What about the cave/stable? How can we look at the shepherds and the wise men/magi (and their gifts) more expansively? Elizabeth and Mary, each carrying in her womb a powerful, God-conscious child can be seen as much more than simply cousins communing together during their pregnancies. Plus more! Yogi Phil then takes us into greater depth, sharing some of the teachings and practices of Yogananda in relation to Christmas, and he then offers us a powerful meditative practice that will help take us deep in the meaning of this holy season and the patterns and archetypes playing themselves out in its stories and symbols, and even more importantly, within each of us as we journey toward divine consciousness and communion. Will we allow ourselves to be open to its many gifts?

036: The Real Gospel of Jesus, Part 2 Dec 17, 2019

Show notes

Following up on the recent "Wisdom Jesus" show, this two-part episode features the wonderful yogi Phil McLemore offering extended insights in some of the things talked about in that conversation but also taking us deeper into the heart of what Jesus was really teaching and what his life actually means in relation to the notion of Atonement and our lives. In conversation with Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon, Phil teaches us about the "perennial philosophy" that underlies all spiritual traditions and shows how Jesus's life and messaging align perfectly with each of its elements. He also takes us through his own spiritual development journey and how the insights he has have come through direct experiences with the Divine.

In the second of the two episodes, they move the conversation into what has often been referred to as the "dark night of the soul." What does this mean? Does everyone on a spiritual journey experience what is often characterized as the terror of losing one's identity? Are there more helpful ways of discussing the type of surrender of our "small" selves to the eternal, glorious identities that we are, and to a love that surpasses all understanding? You won't want to miss this conversation!

035: The Real Gospel of Jesus, Part 1 Dec 17, 2019

Show notes

In the second of the two episodes, they move the conversation into what has often been referred to as the "dark night of the soul." What does this mean? Does everyone on a spiritual journey experience terror about losing her or his identity? Are there more helpful ways of discussing the type of surrender of our "small" selves to the eternal, glorious identities that we are, and to a love that surpasses all understanding? You won't want to miss this episode!

034: Stages of Change/Stages of Faith Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, highly experienced family therapist, Julie Keanaaina introduces a model known as the Stages of Change that has been found to be very helpful in not only addiction therapy but applied more widely, and then she and Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon move to compare its categories/levels with those laid out by Stages of Faith author James Fowler as adult stages of faith and worldview development. It's an instructive and fascinating conversation about mental states and physical action that is part teaching, part conversation, part personal storytelling, and all terrific and insightful. The Stages of Change have (without calling each by the names discussed in the podcast) been adapted into a wonderful poem by Portia Nelson that is shared in the episode:

Autobiography in 5 Short Chapters

Chapter I

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost ... I am helpless.

It isn't my fault.

It takes me forever to find a way out.

Chapter II

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don't see it.

I fall in again.

I can't believe I am in the same place.

But it isn't my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter III

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in ... it's a habit.

My eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

Chapter IV

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

Chapter V

I walk down another street.

Listen in! You'll find a lot that will cause you to think with more focus about our lives, issues, changes, and our faith journeys.

033: Dream Like Jesus Dec 03, 2019

Show notes

Rebekah Simon-Peter is a Christian teacher from a Jewish background who specializes in helping clergy (and anyone who feels "called" by God to do something "kingdom oriented") to "dream like Jesus." We are excited to have her on Latter-day Faith where she and host Dan Wotherspoon explore together what a Jesus-like dream looks like. In likely the most inspirational LDF episode to date, they draw from and discuss elements of Rebekah's new book, Dream Like Jesus: Deepen Your Faith and Bright the Impossible to Life (Market Square Publishing, 2019), to ask us all if we are dreaming big enough, involving our communities, as well as trying to do our part, like Jesus, in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. Rebekah is so remarkably powerful that it is not hard to believe that we can, in partnership with God, do in this world far more than we have ever imagined! Listen in! You'll likely be returning to this episode often!

032: Wisdom Jesus Nov 26, 2019

Show notes

A common refrain we hear in Christianity today is someone claiming something like this: "There are those who think of Jesus is merely a great teacher of morals or wisdom. But we know he is actually the Son of God and Savior of the world!" It is a binary, either/or proposition intended to discourage people from exploring the deeper, wisdom teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Well, in this episode, Jana Spangler, Thomas McConkie, and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon turn their attention to those sayings and parables and types of consciousness that are, indeed, best read and understood through wisdom and contemplative lenses. Each panelist tells her or his own "Jesus story," and also talks about various scriptural passages and insights that only come truly alive when approaching Jesus in this way. It's a wonderful conversation, followed by beautiful centering exercise led by Thomas. Listen in! Be ready to re-embrace a powerful and even more compelling Jesus!

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