Latter-day Faith

There is no question that we are living during a time in the world that is unlike any other. Brought on by the dawning of the information age, and especially the rise of the Internet and ever-increasing access to it and all the social media and other technologies it has hatched, it is no wonder that societies, cultures, religions, and we ourselves have been thrust into major growing pains--some of which are here ahead of our collective and individual maturity to manage easily as all of it has disrupted our previous comfort levels. Luckily, we have the records of previous major societal upheavals that we can gather lessons from them, with one of them being the good news of major shifts in consciousness that follow in the decades after. In this episode, Caleb Jones, an information engineer, joins LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to talk about many aspects of this time of flux. Caleb keys in on the "Second Great Awakening" that brought forth so much societal change, including the birthing of many religions such a Mormonism. He draws parallels from it and other "Awakenings" to help elucidate the present, especially regarding trends in Mormonism and individual Latter-day Saint lives. In all of this, he and Dan raise questions (and propose tentative thoughts) that can be important guides for our own soul work. May it serve you well in this way as you listen in!

1 Corinthians 13 is one of the best known and most powerful chapters in the Bible. At the end of the chapter before it, Paul says he is going to talk to the people of Corinth about a "more excellent way," and he then launches into his famous discourse on love (translated as "charity" by the King James authors) and its transcendence above all other gifts and qualities. The chapter also contains a gorgeous section about spiritual growth and where it can lead. In this episode, Mark Crego takes us through the many things Paul is saying by highlighting our attention on the Greek words and phrasings in the original text and that expand our understanding of so many new things that English translations simply miss. Things we assumed we already grasped in the chapter are opened to view. The qualities of love Paul describes take on a new vitality, his litany of things that Love does not do opens to subtleties that show the apostle's awareness of the temptations that we too often yield to while showing our love to others. Mark's unpacking of this chapter reveals a Paul at his best, and our appreciation for what he'd come to know through his experiences with God and people grows exponentially.  It is difficult to describe her just how interesting and empowering this episode is. Be ready to take notes! And please share this with others!  

Sean McKee is a wonderful member of the Latter-day Faith community, and is someone with a wonderfully diverse spiritual background. In this episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon draws Sean out on his life and religious journey. In his telling, we learn a lot about other traditions he's been part of, gain insights on the development of religion more generally, and come to understand what elements of Mormonism ultimately drew him to throw in with the Latter-day Saints.  Sean's Mormonism also involves spiritual supplementing with several other groups, personal contemplative practices, and he also "makes things happen" within his ward and stake. Throughout we experience a strong sense of his goodness, his energy and quest to understand and to grow, as well as his brilliant mind. Listen in! Get to know, as the LDF episode introduction says, a true "fellow traveler."

There are aspects of Mormon culture and emphases among Latter-day Saint teachings that make it very difficult to for many to understand, let alone, experience true Grace. Katie Langston was one of these people, constantly worrying if she was "doing enough," if she was "worthy" in the eyes of God, if she were innately evil. Ultimately, she was diagnosed with "scrupulosity," a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder that zeros in on such thoughts. As she reached the end of her rope, she began to experience hints of Grace in the form of people in her lives, and then, ultimately, through a powerful, direct experience of God's love. God let her know, in no uncertain terms, that she was loved unconditionally, and has always been and always will be. There is nothing that she could ever do to cause God to cease loving her. She continued to journey within Mormonism for many years before ultimately receiving a "call" to ministry, one that she has chosen to live out within the Lutheran tradition. She has written a memoir about her many experiences along the way, Sealed: An Unexpected Journey into the Heart of Grace, which was just recently published. A long-time friend and collaborator with LDF host Dan Wotherspoon, this episodes celebrates Katie's book and the powerful and powerfully written story of her life up until now which has brought her to the cusp of ordination. It is honest, wise, gut-wrenching, humorous at times, and provides a wonderful introduction to a Grace-filled world. Don't miss out!

This past week, the wonderful Mormon mental, spiritual, and sex therapist Natasha Helfer Parker was scheduled to defend herself in a membership council called by the stake presidency in her former stake in Kansas (even though she had moved to Salt Lake City sixteen months earlier). Six friends, including Jana Spangler and Jody England Hansen, two of the women in this podcast episode, were also scheduled to testify on her behalf, and many more were holding a support vigil in a pavilion on the stake center's property, including our other panelist, Shandra Harris. Many things went haywire that evening--as well as in the weeks leading up to that scheduled council--and this podcast shares those stories here. Ultimately, neither Natasha, Jana, Jody, nor four others who had been approved to give testimony before the stake presidency were allowed to participate as promised. It was an emotionally and spiritually painful evening for all there as well as for many others who witnessed it vicariously. The toll from this devastatingly wrong-headed and massively mis-executed council is yet to be measured. In addition to going through the events herein, we have chosen to focus on the vital spiritual role of witnessing, even when it's witnessing the abuse of others.  Being witnessed is a big part of what allows someone to stay strong and, perhaps, eventually find comfort and peace. Witnessing involves, as Jody shares in this episode, the ability to stay in the present moment even in times of great suffering. Witnessing also extends past the event(s) as continued care for others' well being, especially as they experience the inevitable ups and downs that come with continued processing of their grief and anger.  No one wishes that any of the events that occurred around Natasha's council ever happened. It was unfair and abusive from the very beginning. But we all also know that for our own physical, mental, and spiritual well-being that we must ultimatelyfind our way to healing, for it is in these processes that we discover our own true strength, along with a new, larger, more magnificent God than our old paradigms had ever allowed us to imagine. May this discussion be a stepping stone on the healing journeys for all who choose to listen.

This past week, the wonderful Mormon mental, spiritual, and sex therapist Natasha Helfer Parker was scheduled to defend herself in a membership council called by the stake presidency in her former stake in Kansas (even though she had moved to Salt Lake City sixteen months earlier). Six friends, including Jana Spangler and Jody England Hansen, two of the women in this podcast episode, were also scheduled to testify on her behalf, and many more were holding a support vigil in a pavilion on the stake center's property, including our other panelist, Shandra Harris. Many things went haywire that evening--as well as in the weeks leading up to that scheduled council--and this podcast shares those stories here. Ultimately, neither Natasha, Jana, Jody, nor four others who had been approved to give testimony before the stake presidency were allowed to participate as promised. It was an emotionally and spiritually painful evening for all there as well as for many others who witnessed it vicariously. The toll from this devastatingly wrong-headed and massively mis-executed council is yet to be measured. In addition to going through the events herein, we have chosen to focus on the vital spiritual role of witnessing, even when it's witnessing the abuse of others.  Being witnessed is a big part of what allows someone to stay strong and, perhaps, eventually find comfort and peace. Witnessing involves, as Jody shares in this episode, the ability to stay in the present moment even in times of great suffering. Witnessing also extends past the event(s) as continued care for others' well being, especially as they experience the inevitable ups and downs that come with continued processing of their grief and anger.  No one wishes that any of the events that occurred around Natasha's council ever happened. It was unfair and abusive from the very beginning. But we all also know that for our own physical, mental, and spiritual well-being that we must ultimatelyfind our way to healing, for it is in these processes that we discover our own true strength, along with a new, larger, more magnificent God than our old paradigms had ever allowed us to imagine. May this discussion be a stepping stone on the healing journeys for all who choose to listen.

Matt Jones has been a faithful Latter-day Saint his entire life, recently serving as a bishop. Yet in the years leading up and into his calling, he struggled with his beliefs regarding Jesus. What he had previously thought about Jesus as son of God and all that follows from that stance, he could no longer affirm. Ultimately, he relaxed and simply let his worries and doubts fall from the front of his eyes and soul--and served. And, guess what? He found Jesus again. A much better, richer, more experiential understanding of Jesus as Christ, one that brings peace to his soul. Please listen in as Matt tells his story in conversation with LDF host Dan Wotherspoon. There's a good spirit in their exchanges, plus a bit of teasing between two old friends. 

In this brief but powerful discussion, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by the wonderful Kajsa Berlin-Kaufusi for a discussion of Easter, as especially the idea of how we can lean more deeply and intently into the cycle of dying and rebirthing that this holiday features. There are many wonderful teachings around Easter, and the participants honor those and the focuses that are typically presented in church settings. This episode focuses more on the big picture, which (not coincidentally) also takes us inward and toward intimacy with Christ. How can we have more life before death? Can each day, each moment, be a resurrection? 

I'm excited to offer as an encore one of the earliest LDF podcast episodes. It is one that really highlights the mission of Latter-day Faith, which is to encourage listeners in taking their faith journeys into new spiritual terrain. The offerings in this episode are great reminders that we can't think our way to genuine peace and compassion, patience and hope, nor can we rely on our own willpower to shed the natural man and be transformed into the kind of beings Jesus is calling us towards. I know you will enjoy visiting (or revisiting) this episode!  As my good friend Jana Spangler and I talk in this episode about the quality of “spiritual maturity,” we note the difficulty involved in a subject like this because such maturity is more of a thing that we might notice in other people and, perhaps, ourselves, yet it is hard to explain in words (and definitely not something someone should claim about themselves). But we pushed on anyway! Our approach was to discuss three qualities or hallmarks that we believe are universal across all spiritual traditions and communities. Jana leads us through discussions of transformational vs transactional relationships with God and others. We move next to someone’s ability to examine what ego needs are playing out with others and ourselves, leading us in our relationships and soul work to over-identify with these needs and trying to protect others and us from seeing them rather than coming to center in our highest selves. Our final topic is differentiation. How comfortable are we with expressions of genuine difference, whether they be in others’ experiences vs ours or even another’s critique? Are we able to validate the positions of and see those who differ from us as fellow travelers rather than enemies who are standing in the way of our vision becoming normative? Do we lead out always with love and compassion first? Are we comfortable enough with ourselves to be okay even in settings in which we might feel a bit like an outsider? This episode contains many terrific insights. Jana knocks everything out of the ballpark here. Prepare for a good and potentially important transformative listen! Cheers! Dan

This is a fascinating podcast episode that talks about religion and Mormonism in an unfamiliar yet insightful way. Our guide is Latter-day Faith podcast favorite Stephen Carter who draws parallels between the physical technologies we use all the time, including to this listen to this podcast, and “social technologies” that, like the other, are set up to bring about certain results. He and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon spend a good amount of time helping listeners come to a comfort level with talking about things such as democracy, monogamy, and religion as “technologies.” From there, Stephen takes us through a model he has constructed outlining one part of the Mormon technology. (See Diagram below) As he demonstrates, the LDS church has a clear idea of what it hopes its members will become and designs a strategy for community, for focused direction, and promises that if we follow the plan the goal it outlined for us will be realized. It is a terrific way to then explore how, like all technologies, this one breaks down at times and common challenges that arrive for various members as they experience things that challenge the model. It’s a great section of the episode, especially for those in the middle of their wrestle. There were similar technologies at play within the Judaism at Jesus’s time, along with others arriving with the Roman occupation and strategies for overthrowing it. Yet even as Jesus was surrounded by these technologies, he recognized how every social technology if left to do its own thing will surely leave many individuals behind, or even crushed by its momentum. It is at this point that Stephen unfolds what he sees as Jesus’s work as a tech "saboteur" and his strategies for mitigating these negative effects. What Stephen comes up with are each very evident in the Gospels but don’t receive the reflection they deserve—especially for those seeking to follow him and do the same work, love others in the same way. There is nothing easy in this sort of journey, but it ultimately is the only one through which we can truly assist others and become what we know we can be (and that just so happens to match what Mormon technology set forth as its ultimate goal).