Episode 71 Lisa Colón Delay– The Wild Land Within: Cultivating Wholenes Through Spiritual Practice

In this episode, Lisa Colón Delay discusses her outstanding book The Wild Land Within: Cultivating Wholeness Through Spiritual Practice (Broadleaf Books, 2021). We do a deep dive into spiritual formation including common blocks/obstacles. Lisa also discusses some tools and habits that will allow you to grow even deeper in grace. Buy Lisa's Book: The Wild Land Within https://amzn.to/3meOnXI Lisa's Bio: Lisa Colón Delay is a teacher, spiritual director, and host of Spark My Muse, a top-rated religion and spirituality podcast. Originally from Puerto Rico, DeLay has an MA in spiritual formation and has taught in many settings, from graduate schools to workshops. Her work has appeared in several anthologies and in dozens of places in print and online, and she offers spiritual companioning and retreats. DeLay lives with her family outside Philadelphia. Connect with Lisa: www.lisadelay.com www.patreon.com/sparkmymuse Twitter: https://twitter.com/LisaDelay Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisacolondelay/?hl=en Books recommended by Lisa: Henri Nouwen Inner Voice of Love https://amzn.to/3k5ttaM Thomas Merton New Seeds of Contemplation https://amzn.to/3sxT0xm James Cone The Cross and the Lynching Tree https://amzn.to/3sCJNnz Howard Thurman With Head and Heart https://amzn.to/3iRKd68 Connect with Brian Russell: Information about Brian’s Fall 2021 book Centering Prayer: How Sitting Quietly in God’s Presence Can Change Your Life www.centeringprayerbook.com or preorder: https://amzn.to/3pDpN2E Twitter: @briandrussell Instagram: @yourprofessorforlife Coaching for Pastors: www.deepdivespirituality.com Business and Life Coaching: www.drbrianrussellcoaching.com Brian Russell’s Book on the Missional Interpretation of Scripture: (Re)Aligning with God: Reading Scripture for Church and World https://amzn.to/3qln258 Links to Amazon are affiliate links. Dr. Russell receives a small payment if you order resources through these links. There is no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting the podcast through your purchases. Please tell your friends about the Deep Dive Spirituality Videocast. It's also available on Spotify, Podbean, and iTunes as a podcast.

Episode 22 Alastair Sterne: Rhythms for Life Spiritual Practices for Who God Created You To Be

Alastair Sterne (lead pastor of St. Peter’s Fireside in Vancouver, British Columbia) discusses his new InterVarsity Press book Rhythms for Life: Spiritual Practices for Who God Created You to Be. We cover the key challenges of spiritual growth, transparency in ministry, creating healthy and integrative rhythms for living, and helping others to integrate Christian identity, spiritual gifts, values and mission.

Buy a copy of Rhythms for Life: Spiritual Practices for Who God Created You to Be (https://www.ivpress.com/rhythms-for-life) or https://amzn.to/3hvWOZG .

Books Recommended by Alastair

Brennan Manning Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging https://amzn.to/2YAweqU 

Ruth Haley Barton Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry https://amzn.to/32sPEPw 

Michael Gorman, Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Paul's Narrative Soteriology https://amzn.to/3aXRBXU 

Other Resources Mentioned by Alastair Sterne

David Brenner The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery https://amzn.to/2QoEcPk 

Dane Ortlund Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers https://amzn.to/31tVa50 

Zach Eswine Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for Those Who Suffer Depression https://amzn.to/2QrW1wL 

Brene Brown, Dare to Lead https://amzn.to/34y1eeV 

James K.A. Smith You are What you Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit https://amzn.to/2Qv4ZcN  and Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation https://amzn.to/32IrgcX 

Connect with Alastair:

Website: https://www.stpetersfireside.org/  and http://alastairsterne.com/ 

Instagram: @alastairsterne 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asterne

Links to Amazon are affiliate links. Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations gets a small fee if you purchase products through the links. This does not affect the price you pay. Thank you for supporting my podcast by ordering some of the suggested resources.

Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations–Episode 8: Psychology, Holistic Spirituality, and Our Rule of Life with Dr. Steve Stratton

This week’s episode features a rich conversation with Dr. Steve Stratton. Dr. Stratton (for bio see below) helps us think about spiritual formation through the lens of psychology. We talk about the importance of a holistic spirituality that honors us as embodied persons. You’ll also gain insights into developing a rule or way of life that honors you as a unique person created by God and helps you grow deeper into God’s grace. 

Dr. Stratton recommends these books as essential reading for spiritual formation:

Aelred of Rievaulx: Spiritual Friendship https://amzn.to/2Xb0GHL

Karen Horney Neurosis and Human Growth: The Struggle toward Self-Realization https://amzn.to/2ZLajys

Gerald May Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions https://amzn.to/2TNBl4l 

N.T. Wright The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’s Crucifixion https://amzn.to/2BcmgTI

Stephen P. Stratton, Ph.D., is Professor of Counseling and Pastoral Care and a licensed psychologist (KY) and counselor educator.  Previous to his full-time appointment at Asbury Theological Seminary in 2006, he served as an adjunct professor at Asbury University, where he was the Director of the Center for Counseling for 18 years.  He is a Health Service Provider/Supervisor for the Kentucky Board of Psychology.  

Dr. Stratton holds membership and leadership positions in both counseling and psychology professional guilds, and he regularly presents at the state, national and international conferences of these organizations.  He is currently Vice President for the Kentucky chapter of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values In Counseling (KY-ASERVIC).  He also serves as an At-large member of the Board for the Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS). He is a trainer and seminar director for the Prepare-Enrich Inventory (Life Innovations, Inc.) since 2010, and he is a trained facilitator of Immunity to Change workshops (Minds at Work, Inc.) since 2013.  

Dr. Stratton has provided psychological services to adolescents and adults in hospitals, community mental health agencies, pastoral settings, and college and university centers since 1983.  Dr. Stratton has special interest and training in the areas of human relational attachments, sexual/gender identity, contemplative prayer, and the integration of counseling and orthodox Christianity.  

He is part of a research team investigating the experience of sexual minorities at faith-based colleges and universities.  The book based on this research, Listening to Sexual Minorities: A Study of Faith and Sexual Identity on Christian College Campuses was published in 2018.  He is a research affiliate with the Sexual and Gender Identity Institute, where he currently helps to facilitate a longitudinal study investigating the experience of students at Christian colleges and universities across the United States who are navigating faith and gender identity.  He also serves on the Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) LGBTQ Task Force at the American Psychological Association.

In 2017, he received the "Distinguished Member Award" for his teaching, research, and pastoral leadership for CAPS.  In 2012 and 2020, Dr. Stratton was presented the “Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award” by Asbury Theological Seminary for “consistent excellence in the classroom.”  In 2010, he was named “Psychologist of the Year” by the Kentucky Psychological Association for “his innovative teaching and outstanding scientist-practitioner model[ing]” in the state.

He is married to Carol (Lehikoinen) Stratton, and they enjoy connections with their adult daughter, son and daughter-in-law.  The Strattons are active in relational training, experiential worship, and contemplative prayer ministries.  They are congregational leaders in worship and laity training at Nicholasville United Methodist Church.

Questions that Transform Us (Walking and Talking Spirituality #19)

Have you ever been asked a spiritually transformative question?

What were key questions that have shaped your journey of life?

Here are some of mine:

Rev Paul George asked my 17 or 18 year old self (1986 or 1987):

Have you ever considered the ministry?

Alex McManus challenged me when I was a young professor in
2005:

What business do you have teaching in a seminary if you’ve
never planted a church?

A few years ago, my daughter asked me:

Dad, why do you work so much?

The questions we ask ourselves play a determining factor
in our growth.

Are you open or closed to “hard” questions? 

Start your morning with some empowering questions:

For what am I grateful?

What is really bothering me?

What would make today great?

End your day with: What went really well today?

Be mindful of the questions that empower you and
questions that disempower you.

What’s on your mind today? What are some of the
best questions you’ve been asked or that you ask yourself?

#spirituality #questionsthattransform #questions #growth
#change #transformation #spiritualformation #spiritualgrowth 

50 Days of Formation and "KASHflow" (Walking and Talking Spirituality #16)

During this 50 day season of Eastertide in anticipation of Pentecost, what if we work on our spiritual formation so that we will be ready to be unleashed back into the world.

Embrace soul enhancing practices and mute your stress-relieving practices.

Borrowing an acronym from Dan Sullivan, let’s focus on  

on KASHflow:

Knowledge

Attitudes

Skills

Habits

Knowledge: How will you grow in self-knowledge? How are you presently consciously or unconsciously blocking the work of God in your life? What have you learned about God’s grace?

Attitudes: What attitudes do you need to cultivate in order to grow in love of God, neighbor, and self?

Skills: What new skills have I learned that I can continue to hone that will serve me in the long run?

Habits: What soul enhancing do I need to restart, launch, or double-down on so that I’ll be ready?

The world will reopen friends. A new dawn will appear. Spring will come again. Will we be ready?

Courage, Fear, and God's Future (Walking and Talking Spirituality #13)

Feeling anxious and fearful? Are you worried about what the future holds?
Courage is the key that unlocks the door to the future of God’s dreams for you.
Aristotle wrote, “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others."
Mark Twain added, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear–not absence of fear.”
God encouraged Joshua three times in Josh 1:1–9 “Be strong and courageous.”
Remember the courage won’t “feel good” in the moment. But it is the key to opening the door to the future of God’s dreams for us. It is the antidote to the constricting power of fear.
Commit to God’s future. Imagine a bigger and brighter future.
Cultivate habits, skills, and practices in anticipation of God’s future. Who do you need to become? What do you need to learn?
Practice consistency. Take action daily toward God’s future.
Create. Craft new ideas, content, models, and visions for your bigger and brighter future.
Connect. Joshua led God’s people to the promised land. Who are you leading? Who is looking to you for leadership in this moment? Find ways to connect with them and bolster their faith. Share your courage with them.
Courage is the key that opens the door to the future of God’s dreams!
What does courage look like for you today?

A Deep Dive Spirituality for Seasons of Winter (Walking and Talking Spir...

Do you have a spirituality that will sustain you during the seasons of winter in life?

What would it look like for you to go back to the basics and double-down on your spiritual
practices and means of grace? 

Open yourself up to new levels of God’s grace by experimenting with journaling and 
contemplative practices such as centering prayer.

What are you doing to sustain yourself spirituality so that you can serve as a voice of 
hope to others during these difficult days?

Remember that Spring is coming. Be a witness today.

The Power of Silence and Solitude Practices (Walking and Talking Spirituality #10)

Arthur Schopenhauer observed, “Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.”

Schopenhauer’s words are powerful because they remind us of our high capacity for self-deception and for misunderstanding the world around us…

We all limit ourselves (often unconsciously) through beliefs, patterns, and values that if someone else voiced them we’d immediately recoil. Some of these block the work of God’s grace in our lives and leave us stuck and frustrated.

How can we gain the self-awareness to open ourselves up fully to the work that God desires in our lives? How do we open ourselves up to the expansive and abundant life that God promises?...

I’ve found that intentional practices of silence and solitude are critical…

There are two practice in particular that serve as the foundation for my rule of life: centering prayer and journaling.

Virtually every morning, I practice the prayer of silence (Centering Prayer) for at least 20 minutes. I’ve been doing centering prayer for 4-5 years in shorter blocks of time but have committed to a full 20 minutes for over a year now. It’s been transformative.

If you aren’t familiar with centering prayer, here is a link to my YouTube Playlist on Centering Prayer: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzah82ipRosZFW9XZGN2Cb9ZBUOW8zYTP

I also advocate a intentional journaling practice.

Mine include three elements:

1. In the morning, I write down five things for which I’m grateful. I’m specific and try to “feel” emotion as I write down my gratitude list. 
2. I then listen carefully to my body. Do I feel any discomfort or anxiety? I try to write about whatever it is that I think is bothering me. This gets my thoughts and feelings down on paper. This process has slowly unearthed much junk and poor thinking. 
3. At night, I write down at least three “wins” that I experienced during the day. There is always some takeaway or accomplishment if you look carefully. This is true even on the “bad” days. 

What practices help you to live expansively as God’s ambassadors of abundance?

Lessons from a Stoic and Jesus about Living in the Present

This is Episode #9 of Walking and Talking Spirituality with Dr. Brian Russell
Seneca (in Letter #5) from Letters from a Stoic talks about the problem of being lost either in the past or in the future rather than being present. He writes, “A number of our blessing do us harm, for memory brings back the agony of fear while foresight brings it on prematurely. No one confines his unhappiness to the present.”
I like Seneca because he helps me to think clearly about my interior life. Many Christians through the ages have found the Stoic writers (in particular Seneca and Epictetus) to be helpful.
Seneca hits a key theme that can hinder us in our spiritual growth. It is not only a Roman Stoic who can be trapped in the past or in the future. So can we.
Jesus taught us to realign continually in light of the good news of the kingdom of God (see Matt 4:17). What does it mean to realign or repent? It means to recenter ourselves on the ethics and mission of the kingdom of God. In essence it means to follow Jesus moment-by-moment. When we find ourselves focused on a past pattern, we realign with Jesus. When we feel anxious about the future, we realign with Jesus.
Try a prayer like this:
“My past is forgiven in Christ; my future is secure in Christ; so I can live and breathe and move moment-by-moment in the abundance of this new day.”
What do you do to stay centered in the present so that you can serve the world that is right in front of you rather than one that you remember from the past or one that you hope to encounter some day?

What kind of person do I need to become? (Episode 8: Walking and Talking...

Dr. Brian Russell explores this question: What kind of person do I need to become to live out my calling within a missional community?
Growth into the person God created us is vital for our long term spiritual and physical health. Does the way that we live our lives model the actual mission that we believe we are serving?.
Here are some deep dive questions that can help us to grow in our love for God, others, and self:
Who am I apart from the roles that I play and the experiences that I’ve had?
What am I trying really hard not to feel? What do I do to avoid these feelings?
How am I complicit in the reality that I claim I don’t desire for my life?
Interested in a deep dive conversation? Email Dr. Brian Russell: deepdivespirituality@gmail.com

Does Scripture Read Me? (Walking and Talking Spirituality #5)

Dr. Brian Russell reflects on reading Scripture for transformation. 


Do I read Scripture, or does Scripture read me? What is the difference? 


Learn to ask questions that allow the text to transform our head, heart, and hands: insight, attitude and action. 


Ask:
What kind of person does this text assume that I am? What kind of person do I need to become to allow this passage to manifest in me for others? 


Head: How does this text challenge my thinking? What are the key insights? 


Heart: What does this text call me to care about? 


Hands: What precisely do I need to do now to live out this text?

Centering Prayer, Deep Surrender, and the Way of Jesus

The process of surrender in centering prayer is critical to the taming of our need for control. When we pray, we commit to sitting in solitude with God. This is a form of self-denial. Recall Jesus’ summary of the essence of discipleship: “If any want to come after me, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and continually follow me” (Matt 16:24 cf. Mark 8:34 Luke 9:27). The focus of discipleship is on consciously following Jesus. Jesus’ words in Matt 16:24 serve ably as a model for centering prayer. 

Intending the Things of God

In Matt 16:21, Jesus had laid out the necessity of his journey to Jerusalem. There Jesus would experience suffering, death, but also resurrection. In response to this revelation (16:22), Peter attempted to rebuke Jesus by saying, “May this never happen, Lord!” Jesus responded to Peter with “Get behind me Satan. For you have not set your mind on the things of God but on the things of humanity.” In other words, Peter struggled because he assumed that his plans, desires, and will should govern the actions of Jesus his Lord.

This is not to say that our goals and ideas have no value. As we live in the world, we will continually take decisions and actions. But the process of growth in grace involves removing the idolatry and injustice out of our decisions. The challenge of the spiritual life is that, when we learn about the mind of Christ, we discover that our truest humanity resides in living fully as the person whom God created us to be. The irony is that we are often the greatest impediment to our growth. Our false self attempts to block access to discovering who we are at the deepest level. 

To set our mind on the things of humanity means that it is our will and talents that remain in control of our destiny. It is the full flourishing of our flesh apart from reliance on the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 8:1–17). 

To set our minds on the things of God involves realigning continually with the will of God. Our guide is Jesus. Centering prayer allows us to practice this ongoing surrender of the will.

Invitation to Surrender

16:24 begins with an invitation: “If anyone wishes to come after me….” Jesus calls would be followers to set an intention. Decide and commit to go in the way of Jesus. Jesus calls us to a person–the Son of God. When we take the decision to sit in solitude, we are answering the call of Jesus. 

What does this intention or decision involve? It involves surrender to a new mode of being. In centering prayer we do not set the agenda. In fact there is no agenda. The moment we seek one we have gone the way of Peter and set our mind on the ways of humanity.

Centering Prayer and the Meaning of Surrender 

What does surrender look like? Jesus uses three phrases in 16:24: deny self, take up cross, and continually follow me.

Deny self. This is not merely a call to a disciplined life involving deprivation. It is more radical. To deny self means to orient fully to the way of Jesus so that the cross shapes our goals, desires, rights, and privileges. In centering prayer, this means a steadfast recognition that my stray thoughts, emotional baggage, and even brilliant insights must give way to being present with God.

Take up the cross. In the ancient world, the cross was a terrifying symbol. Crucifixion was gruesome, humiliating, and meant certain death. To take up one’s cross meant literally lifting the wood upon which one would soon die and walking under its weight to the place of your death. A person taking up the cross was a dead man or woman walking. In solitude, we come to God empty handed in the surrendered posture of one whose life is over. This frees us from both past and future in order to be with God in the moment.

Continually follow me. If the first two phrases involve a letting go of one’s rights, privileges, past, and future, Jesus’ final phrase points to the pathway for the present. Disciples follow Jesus moment by moment. This was true during Jesus’ earthly ministry. It remained true for the Christians to whom Matthew was writing in the first century. Jesus’ words are still vital for us in the 21^st century. Discipleship involves a deep ongoing relationship with Jesus. This is why Jesus came to earth. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is Immanuel “God with us” (1:23). In Matt 18:20, Jesus promises, “For where there are two or three gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” In Matthew 28:20b, the risen Jesus declares, “Behold, I myself am with you all the days until the end of the age.”

Centering Prayer and the Practice of Surrender

In prayer, denying self and taking up the cross serve as the means of purging our rights to ourselves. Whatever thoughts, feelings, desires, dreams, goals, visions, triumphant memories, or nightmarish recollections arise in solitude, we surrender them and continually follow Jesus. This means using our prayer word to realign ourselves with our Lord. 

Imagine yourself taking a walk with Jesus. He leads you down a path. You hear birds singing so you look up for a moment. You then turn your gaze back to Jesus. Then you get an idea for a project at work followed by a worry that you don’t have enough time to accomplish your goals for the day. You catch yourself and again return to the master. A few moments later you reach a point in the path that triggers a painful memory of great loss. Yet again you turn to Jesus. Martin Luther’s dictum comes to mind in this process: “You can’t prevent a bird from landing in your tree but you don’t have to allow it to build a nest.” 

Recognize that the process of centering prayer is to continually return to the Lord. Period. Thoughts are thoughts. Feelings are feelings. Memories are memories. The call to discipleship challenges us to turn away from self and follow Jesus. This is the way of prayer too. The question is trust: Do I trust God enough to release my attachments to whatever the hamster wheel inside my head offers up?

Merton writes on the need for continual surrender, “to have a will that is always ready to fold back within itself and draw all the powers of the soul down from its deepest center to rest in silent expectancy for the coming of God, poised in tranquil and effortless concentration upon the point of my dependence on him;…” 

There is a dynamic tension between surrender and our role in the surrender. Merton’s words capture it well. It is not that our will disappears. Our will remains. Its intentions have become aligned with the divine will. The Lord’s prayer becomes reality in our inner world, “on earth [in me] as it is in heaven.”

In fact, the process of recentering is the critical discipline that opens us up to God’s presence and grace. There is no contemplative moments apart from the our conscious return to God every time that we find ourselves lost in a stream of thoughts. This is how souls are made. It is a moment by moment journey. 

© 2019 Brian D. Russell

Interested in learning more about centering prayer. Check out

Brian's YouTube Channel for a series of videos on centering 

prayer: