Poema Podcast

In today's episode I welcome my friend and podcaster Andy Mort back to the show. We live in difficult, dark and dangerous times. The political climate in the West, in particular the US and the UK, is divided, heated and bleak, and we have a climate change emergency. Right now, it's difficult to find hope. Today Andy and I explore the the real issues behind what's happening in our world, and how looking at history can help us understand the present - and discover that in fact, there might be many reasons to hope and discover some joy, even in the midst of how things are now.  I finished this conversation feeling so much more hopeful, about our world and my own life, I hope you do too. 

My beloved friend Alexander J. Shaia returns to the podcast today. In this episode, we discuss the process of awakening, transformation and change in our personal and spiritual journeys.  Alexander shares how we need to be awakened to our need for growth, go through a process of transformation, before we see genuine change - and how this is an ongoing process of growth for us, and we discuss what this looks like in practice.  There's so much in this episode I can't explain it all in a short summary - but Alexander is one of the wisest, deepest thinkers I know, and he has a deep well of knowledge to share. This is such a great conversation, one of my favourites.  You can find out more about Alexanders' work & get more resources of his at www.quadratos.com  

Today I welcome author and therapist K.J. Ramsey to the show. K.J. tells us her story of how an experience of deep suffering through an illness which changed her day to day life dramatically. The God she had known or thought was God, was no longer sufficient. But in the process, she discovered a new depth to her spirituality and understanding of Jesus. K.J. explains how we can try and explain and justify our suffering, and the reality that we simply can't understand suffering, and it's OK that we don't. She explores how we can be fully present in our lives now and discover deeper depths to the divine mystery, and a greater knowledge of who we are.  Finally, K.J. explores how she discovered solidarity with Jesus in his own emotional, physical and mental suffering, and discovered how it's in the midst of suffering we can actually draw closer to him - and we explore how this is contrary to the Hollywood, prosperity 'God solves the problem and gets you to heaven' story which evangelical Christianity tries to se

My guest today is author and speaker Marlena Graves, an expert on spiritual formation. Marlena shares her personal story, of a traumatic childhood, struggling with mental illness - and how in the midst of this wilderness, she found a glimpse of the divine.  Marlena shares with us how the suffering and wilderness helped her discover the deeper truth of a loving God, who meets us in our brokenness, a God who isn't constrained by church, theology or religious certainty, but can still be found within spiritual community and the Christian faith. Marlena discovered how the desert experiences, the very real suffering we experience, when prayers aren't answered, can actually connect us to Jesus way more than the mountaintop experiences, and the divine can be found to be faithful even there. 

Today my friend Drew Brown joins me for the first time. Drew is a musician and advocate, and also a fellow fan of superheroes and comic book characters. He loves exploring the deeper meaning behind the on-screen journeys of many comic book characters and what meaning they and relevance they can have for our own journeys, including the journey of deconstruction. In this episode we explore the spirituality of comic book characters, and the identity, stories, and character arc of several major comic characters we see in movie, including villains. We talk about the stories and characters which resonate with us and our journeys, and indeed the cultural warnings and messages we can see regarding deconstruction and mental health, in the respective stories of Steve Rogers (Captain America), Bruce Wayne (Batman) and arguably the greatest comic book villain, the Joker. We also explore the links between the stories of Superman, Jesus and Moses. This is both one of the most fun episodes I've ever done, yet also one of

This week I welcome back one my beloved friends, Julida Alter, one half the musical duo JulyDa. We talk about the creative process and inspiration behind their new music, and explore how our art is always a reflection of our own journeys, both in life and faith. Julida also shares some new developments in her own life, and how these have been reflected in this new music, and reflects on how these developments might impact their creativity going forward. We then dive into two particular songs, 'You May Learn' and 'Aspiration', and the stories and creative process behind these songs, as well as their single 'Sea Of Glass'. Julida always has such insight into the creative process, and how it connects with our own personal, spiritual journeys, this is well worth a listen. 

Therapist and author Aundi Kolber joins me today. Aundi is also a trauma survivor, and in this episode she shares her personal story of growing up with an alcoholic parent, difficult relationships with a parent and how this has impacted her spirituality, her career and her own parenting.  Aundi explores in depth the concept of 'Trying Softer' and what it can mean for us. She shares some fascinating neurological insights into how our mind and body are not just connected, but one, and how they interact with our spirituality. Then she explains how all three of these areas can impact our mental health. Aundi also shares the common problems she encounters as a therapist and shares the key lessons she's learned, and we also discuss the unique mental health challenges of being a mother.  Aundi has so much wisdom and experience around mental health, recovering from trauma and how this impacts our personal and spiritual journeys, this is well worth a listen. Her book, 'Try Softer', is available for pre-order now.

Author, speaker, disability advocate and trauma survivor Stephanie Tait is my guest today. Stephanie has a challenging, discomforting and yet inspiring story. Stephanie is a trauma survivor in active treatment for C-PTSD, and also has lyme disease which remained undiagnosed through her childhood well into adulthood.  The response from much of the evangelical church, who wished to hide the suffering, not speak or accept the truth about the unanswered prayers and struggles Stephanie was enduring, had huge implications for her life and her spiritual journey. Stephanie shares this story, and explains what she believes is sorely lacking in our trending conversations around Christianity – to partner sound theology and practice with the unashamed acceptance of struggle in the present tense. This is a raw, honest and challenging conversation, from a voice all of us need to hear.  To read the story in more detail, you can also read Stephanie's book 'The View From Rock Bottom', available now.

**Trigger Warning: Sexual abuse, harassment, physical abuse** Mary DeMuth, author, speaker and advocate, is my guest today as we explore and discuss the very real issue of sexual abuse and harassment within the church, as she discusses in her new book 'Me Too'. Mary speaks with great candor and empathy about her own experiences with sexual abuse and the depth of this problem in the Christian church today. In our conversation, and in her new book 'We Too', she encourages the church she loves to rise up and face the very real evil of sexual abuse and harassment, and shares practical steps churches and pastoral teams can take to confront and deal with this effectively in their own communities and to end this evil going forward. We discuss the impact abuse can have on its victims and how to effectively deal with these consequences. We also explore what the Bible says to the sexually exploited, what harms and what empowers those who have been traumatized by abuse, and how Jesus provides us a relational framewor

Today author, podcaster and coach Kevin Garcia is my guest. In this episode we explore how tarot readings can help  us deepen our relationship and connections not just to Jesus and the divine, but also our truest selves.  Kevin unpacks some of the myths and misunderstandings around tarot and explains how he has used it to deepen his faith and his spirituality, to examine and build a deeper connection to himself. Kevin explores how our we need to engage with our imaginations more in order to grow both spiritually and personally, and we overlap into grief, encountering lost loved ones, transcendent experiences and much much more.  Kevin has so much wisdom and insight into the spiritual journey and discovering our truest selves. This conversation was hugely transformative for me personally, and I'd highly recommend both this episode and Kevin's work. 

My beloved friend Jessica Kantrowitz joins me on the podcast for the first time. Jessica is a prolific writer, and her first book 'The Long Night' just went to pre-order! Today we talk about her book and the creative process behind the it, and about depression and mental health, before moving into another topic Jessica - the enneagram. Jessica unpacks with great insight what the enneagram is, what it means, and how we can understand it better. We explore our own 'numbers' and see just how accurate the enneagram can be, what it can tell us about ourselves, and how it can help us in work and relationships.  This was such a fun podcast to record, and I know you're gonna really enjoy it. And if you want more insight to the enneagram, it's definitely worth a listen! (Pre-Order Jessica’s book now, right here)

Author Christine Sine joins me today, to talk about the divine nature of creativity. We discuss how to find joy in creativity, how the divine intended creativity to be fun, to be an adventure - and how we can explore this in all aspects of life, as well as our art.  Christine shares how her creativity has deepened her spiritual journey and helped her to see a side to the divine which has a sense of fun, mischief, adventure and pure joy - creating for its own sake, for the joy of creating. She also explores how the creative process can be therapeutic, and improve our mental and emotional health. Christine argues as we explore this side of the divine we find it more in ourselves, and this helps our own creativity and connection to the divine, ourselves, and the divine creation we are part of.  Christine has so much wisdom, on creativity, the divine journey and so much more. Her book 'The Gift of Wonder' is available now wherever books are sold.

I'm delighted to welcome back author Shawn Smucker to the podcast today. Shawn has written and published several books, and his latest novel 'Light from Distant Stars' has just been released.  Today we discuss the novel, the message of the book and the creative process of writing a novel. We also explore the challenges and the experience of writing a novel, as opposed to a non-fiction book, how our creativity and stories we tell there often reflect parts of our own journey, and how the process of writing and creating can change us.  Shawn always speaks with such incredible wisdom and experience on writing and the creative process, and there's lessons here for all of us involved in the act of creating art. 'Lights From Distant Stars' is available now wherever books are sold.

I'm delighted to welcome back my beloved friend Brandan Robertson this week. Brandan is a pastor, author and advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in culture and spiritual communities, and today we talk about his most recent book,  'The Gospel Of Inclusion'.  We discuss his examination and interpretation of Biblical passages often used to condemn homosexuality, and how these have been misunderstood and taken out of context - and what their original meaning probably was. We also explore how we can build more inclusive spiritual communities, what true inclusion really means, and why it's at the heart of the message of Jesus.  Brandan has so much wisdom and insight, and is doing such great work. His book, 'The Gospel Of Inclusion' is available now!

My friend Felicity Morse returns to the show today. She's an author, life coach and former journalist. Today she shares a bit of her own story, and how she found freedom and a healthier life more in tune with who she really was. She talks about some of the common issues she encounters in life coaching and how we can overcome them - issues of fear, shame, identity, relationships and vocation, and shares some experiences, practices and lessons she's learned about how we can engage with these issues in a healthy way, and have better mental and emotional health.  Felicity has great insight, wisdom and compassion, and is such fun to talk to, I know you're gonna love this episode. 

Today my friend Sarah Heath returns to the show, in an episode recorded live in her home. In this episode we talk about what it means to live a truly authentic life, and how that impacts our relationships with ourselves, with others, and with God. Sarah shares some lessons and challenges she's explored which have helped her connect better with her trueset self, and live a life more true to who she is. These included giving up social media for a full week (or more), looking at yourself in the mirror and loving who you are, practicing mindfulness and reminding yourself of those who love you, who you know you can trust and will be there when you need them. Sarah shares how these challenges impacted he and what he life looks like having explored these challenges. And finds she is living a more honest life, more herself than ever before. And she believes these challenges can do the same for all of us. ***** You can explore more of these in Sarah's latest book - 'The Authenticity Challenge: 21 Days To A More Co

Author Alia Joy joins me on the podcast today, to share her powerful story. It's a story of grief, loss, illness, mental health and weakness - but also a story of love, joy and transformation. It's a story of how things don't always work out how we want, they don't always end well, and life isn't always easy - but of how these experiences and stories don't take us away from the divine, but actually draw us closer.  Alia shares her story with great courage and honesty, and it's truly inspirational. It's a story of glorious weakness. 

Today I'm joined by Maria Francesca French, teacher of things Christian and post Christian and faith futurist. Maria is director of Hatchery LA and runs the No More Circles project.  In this episode we explore how what spiritual community looks like needs to change and evolve in the 21st century, the problems with the very concept of belief, as well as the issue of fundamentalism in both conservative and progressive Christianity. We discuss how we can find healthy spiritual community and how we need to not just change the how of belief, but ditch the idea of belief itself, and adopt what Maria calls a 'transcendent' approach.  Maria has so much wisdom, insight, knowledge and personal experience of these topics, and hers is a voice worth paying attention to. Take a listen!

Today I'm joined by author and pastor Marc Alan Schelske, to discuss the purpose and and power of our emotions.  We discuss how emotions are a God given gift, a source of wisdom and guidance - not something to be avoided. We explore examples of Jesus demonstrating emotions, both positive and negative, and what they can teach us about leaning into our emotions. We also explore what recent research into our how brains work tells us about our emotions, and their purpose and meaning. And finally we examine how we can pay more attention to our emotions, our behaviour and our bodies to understand what's really going in inside of us, and take practical action.   

Becky Castle Miller returns to the show today, and we discuss, in essence, the basic humanity of Jesus. We explore the journey of Jesus through the lens of his own emotional and mental health.  Becky and I explore several stories of Jesus where he experiences grief, loss, trauma, doubt and fear. The loss of Lazarus, the loss of his earthly father, the social stigma he likely faced growing up, even from members of his own family - and how this impacted Jesus. We look at the human side of familiar stories, and find that as we do, it completely switches them on their head and brings them alive. As Becky and I explore discuss the human Jesus, we find that it's his essential humanity which makes him divine.