Latter-day Faith

As we release this episode, we are in the midst of the senate confirmation hearings (battles?) over the potential elevation of the Hon. Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. Many Latter-day Saints are also looking toward the upcoming April 2022 General Conference--most with excitement, but others with deep trepidation about possibly hearing messages that might lead them or loved ones to feel "othered," shamed, or in despair. At times like these, alongside all the other stresses in the world at large and/or our own lives in particular, we are not always at our best. We can easily become cynical, outraged, depressed, and the temptation is to want to hide from the cacophony that surrounds us. But is there hope for managing all this better? Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon thinks so. He goes solo in this episode that is designed to offer a sense of comfort, and perhaps even optimism in our lives even when they are difficult. His approach is to teach about and encourage each of us to seek an even deeper grounding in Spirit--or whatever term we prefer that describes the source of energies and courage that are beyond us and that can sustain us. He discusses why we might want to seek this deeper grounding and why they are especially important in today's world when there is so much division and outrage and dissembling that are all so easy to get caught up in. He discusses daily practices in general and why they are important, and the benefits of them that can come to us. He addresses the fruits of spiritual centering and how it yields far better results than when we seek to do better and then going about it primarily through our own willpower. Can we develop new attitudes toward everything that comes our way? He is in good company in suggesting the answer is a resounding "YES." Listen in! See what you think!

Reported percentages vary, but many Latter-day Saints who disaffiliate to some degree from Mormonism also lose their faith in God or even a spiritual path. There are quite a few reasons why many step away from a Latter-day Saint life, but why is it so hard for so many to even want to hold on to belief in some higher power, let alone continue to have a desire to connect with this Source? These are the questions that Phil McLemore and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon take on in this episode. They also discuss the general lack of passion for the gospel that seems to describe what we find in the church today, and also the lack of passion  even for spiritual pursuits of any kind. What is going on? Are there remedies? Listen in to what Phil and Dan come up with in this slightly-longer-than-usual but still very engaging episode!

This episode is primarily an exploration of the concept of "intention," especially as it relates to our spiritual journeys. But in the end, it is best summed up by the question, "What Do We Really Want"? Of course, if each of us drills down to discover what we value the most, and explore the reasons for these values and how they have been present in our life paths so far, no two of us will end up with the exact same answer. Not only that, we should hold somewhat loosely to our answer because if we are engaging intentionally with our lives and spiritual journeys, we will not be the same people we were when we last visited the question. In the episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by two wonderful and insightful friends and fellow retreat leaders, Mark Crego and Jana Spangler, for a discussion of "intentions." Do intentions differ from goals or motivations? And if so, how? In our faith lives, we generally inherit the institutional intentions for us, which are very often aligned with what our parents or other important figures in our lives have for us. But how well has/does a church prepare us for the hard spiritual work of discovering and uncovering what drives us most deeply? Do most institutional religions even point us toward this kind of work as a thing to expect to undertake as we continue maturing? This episode features some ideas for ways to become open to this kind of work, and then to allow us to fully embrace the challenges. The panelists discuss many things that will resonate with some listeners and not with others, but they assure us that this is okay and it shouldn't be another (dang) reason to judge ourselves harshly. Each discussant comes at the nexus of what "intention" means to them, and how it plays out in their own hearts and journeys--and you will be able to recognize their differences based on their temperament, training, study, personalities, and life stories. Please listen to this episode! It's a great one!

In this episode, LDF host, Dan Wotherspoon, speaks about three approaches to life's questions that he has found to work well for him in his spiritual journey. He first introduces key elements of William James's Pragmatism and how following it ultimately yields a greater sense of empowerment. He then reflects on the superiority of "Questions" over "Answers." Finally, he moves into a discussion of how actively using our imagination helps yield the most important important kinds of knowledge. Listen in to get to know Dan a bit better, especially with regard to his approach to matters of truth and goodness. Enjoy!

In this episode, the wonderful Margaret Toscano joins Latter-day Faith podcast host Dan Wotherspoon for a conversation about scripture in general, and the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in particular. They discuss reasons why we should worry far, far less than Latter-day Saints normally do about whether the characters in the Bible and the events described therein actually happened. Margaret shares about her deep love for scripture, some of the ways she studies it, and the importance of our imaginations in our approach to it.  Dive in with them! It will provide a boost as we continue to study the Biblical text this year in Sunday School!

This wonderful and timely episode features James Jones, a black Latter-day Saint currently studying at Union Theological Seminary in New York, talking about his just-released video course: "LDS Anti-Racism 101: Abandoning Attitudes and Actions of Prejudice." This hour-long course features James sharing from scripture and prophetic calls of other forms to confront racism in its overt as well as subtle forms. Structuring it in the "head, heart, and hands" formula, he teaches how to raise our Awareness, be more thoughtful and open in our Associations, and put our particular gifts into Action. This conversation between James and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon also features the story of the complicated background story to its production and publication, one that features Deseret Book withdrawing from the project due to concerns over James' online history of calling out racism and other forms of marginalizing in remarks from LDS general authorities, but ultimately modeling a very good way of confronting institutional mistakes and making restitution. James and Dan also discuss a few course particulars regarding racism in wider societal context, and talk through a form of micro-aggression that most of us would never even think about. Plus, they talk about a whole lot more! Listen in! Do it because you "should" but also for the wisdom and fresh-eyes you will receive and that will bring more love into your heart and spark ways for you to be more authentic and confident in speaking and acting prophetically in your own life.

This episode features a conversation between Mat Schmalz and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon about images, rituals, and meditations surrounding the Christmas season. Mat, who teaches religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts, is a cradle Catholic and has for the past twenty years or so also engaged with Latter-day Saints, and here shares openly, and in a very approachable way, about Catholic traditions centered on the Christmas story.  In the first section, Mat teaches us about three holy days in the Catholic calendar: the Annunciation, Advent, and Epiphany—the symbols at play in these, other traditions surrounding them, and more. Mat also shares about Christmas Mass, the time he met Mother Teresa, and some of the emphases Catholicism place with regard to the various individuals and animals present in the Nativity narrative. He also shares about the direction his own meditations have taken him. This is a great conversation between two friends that also includes questions from Mat about various LDS subjects. A shared spirit in their exchanges is how readily each shares their "holy envy" about things more emphasized in the others' tradition. Listen in to learn, and to perhaps find ideas that can help shape your experiences this Christmas season and in seasons to come. Merry Christmas!  

This encore presentation of a show first released in December 2019 continues a conversation between Phil McLemore, a yogi in the lineage of Paramahansa Yogananda and also a Latter-day Saint, and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon. This time, its focus is on Christmas and its various symbols and the opportunities the season provides for better understanding Jesus and, more widely, Christ, the divine consciousness of God in every part of creation. Phil and Dan 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 is much that we can draw on for strength and insight for our journeys. Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the divine feminine more widely, 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. The turn next to what the inn and innkeeper 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 also be seen as much more than simply cousins communing together during their pregnancies. And 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?

So often we read scripture through lenses that don’t allow them to affect us all that much. We read for the stories depicted, perhaps the history. We will notice teachings and perhaps other things about the writers. But none of these ways place the emphasis on us and our transformation, or on insights that these suggest when we approach them spiritually. In this episode, Mark Crego, and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon discuss scripture and a few ways to look at them that can aid our own self-discovery of certain depths, but even more so our own discovery of our selves and our hearts, pains, and shadows. This is the Christmas season, and Mark uses two scriptures that are traditionally seen as connected to the Nativity and the Messiah coming into the world and expands them in ways that open up different possibilities. Some of it is background, but even more so it can free us up to "enter into" scripture and allow our imaginations to fill in aspects of it (and to do this without apprehensions) or even serve as divination tools for our own spiritual work. This is a terrific and insightful discussion! Please listen. Your Christmas season can take on new colors and lead you to new depths!

Terri Peterson is a recovering perfectionist. She says she came to it naturally as the oldest child in her family, but it moved into full throttle following a family tragedy about which church teachings offered comfort but, at least the way she began to understand them, also stressed the importance of doing and being obedient, and causing her to choose the most extreme ways of demonstrating her desires to be righteous.  In this episode, she joins LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to tell her story and unpack the negative effects of this perfectionism in not only her spiritual life but also her family relationships. But hers is also a journey to peace, to a bigger understanding of God, a recovered sense of her own eternal nature, and learnng that she should pursue things that interest and fulfill her as a person, even if they are not fully church related. She is now a docent at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, as well as a certified yoga teacher. Terri has also learned the spiritual power in being vulnerable, uncertain, patient, and allowing things to unfold. She has also begun sharing about things that represent "the real her" in her ward and other church settings.  Terry's story will touch so many of you (and those you share this episode with) who have likewise struggled with trying to be perfect and occupied and always on the go. It will also be important to those who love someone who is entrapped by this ultimately futile striving for God's love through demonstrated obedience and outward presentation.  Do not miss this one! And DO share it with those you love!