Latter-day Faith

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).

This episode celebrates Carol Lynn Pearson's recent book, Finding Mother God: Poems to Heal the World, but does so much more. Carol Lynn and Kathryn Sonntag join LDF host Dan Wotherspoon to talk about the deep ache that not only we, but also our societies and the world, have to fully reclaim the presence and energies of the Mother (Divine Feminine, Mother Creator, Nature, Wisdom, Mother in Heaven, etc.). Yet, too often, we fail to recognize this pain, as well as all the ways things are out of balance because of her having been sidelined. The podcast episode features Carol Lynn reading several of her poems, Kathryn reading an excerpt from her writings on Mother, the cycles of life and death, and the Tree of Life, as well as extended conversations about reclaiming partnership, healing, chaos and decay, and (just a bit near the end) today's political climate. Plus more! You do not want to miss this chance to listen to these powerful women about their experiences, motivations, and all the things that propel them forward in the creative work they do.

The notion of "gifts of the spirit" is very familiar within Christianity, and perhaps even more in Mormonism as its books of scripture include two additional enumerations of the list first found in I Corinthians 12. Yet, how well do we understand the notion of gifts, especially the ones in Paul's (and other) lists? Additionally, even given our familiarity with the idea of these gifts, do we stop short of genuine exploration?  In this second of two parts of this Latter-day Faith episode, Mark Crego and host Dan Wotherspoon dive into such things, and much more. One focus throughout is a concern that through poor understanding much of the messaging about gifts of the spirit has led many to feel that they have been left out, causing them pain and doubt and feelings of unworthiness. If nothing else is taken away from this conversation, our hope is that this idea can be put to rest. Listen in! The conversation gets nerdy here and there, and you get to listen in to two people who come at matters differently, but perhaps the interaction itself will also be interesting and instructive.

The notion of "gifts of the spirit" is very familiar within Christianity, and perhaps even more in Mormonism as its books of scripture include two additional enumerations of the list first found in I Corinthians 12. Yet, how well do we understand the notion of gifts, especially the ones in Paul's (and other) lists? Additionally, even given our familiarity with the idea of these gifts, do we stop short of genuine exploration?  In this Latter-day Faith episode, Mark Crego and host Dan Wotherspoon dive into such things, and much more. One focus throughout is a concern that through poor understanding much of the messaging about gifts of the spirit has led many to feel that they have been left out, causing them pain and doubt and feelings of unworthiness. If nothing else is taken away from this conversation, our hope is that this idea can be put to rest. Listen in! The conversation gets nerdy here and there, and you get to listen in to two people who come at matters differently, but perhaps the interaction itself will also be interesting and instructive.

It's is so easy for us to sit in the proverbial catbird seat and scream for others to be accountable for their words, actions, lifestyles, etc. But what about our accountability for these same things? And to what and about what are we accountable? In what ways does the notion of accountability keep us from recognizing God's hand in our lives, and, even more so, the call and yearning of our deepest, eternal selves? This episode features a conversation between the brilliant therapist and teacher Julie de Azevedo Hanks and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon that digs deeper into the notion of accountability. The two of them overview LDS notions of accountability starting with the designated age for baptism, 8 years old, and its being referenced as the "age of accountability" on to ultimately how it is used with regard to repentance. But mostly they work to bring out the vital role it has in spiritual development (which includes all aspects of human development). Hint: even though it seems more fun to imagine no accountability to anyone or anything--living out of this kind of freedom--it's a false freedom that cannot provide the ground for genuine soul rootedness. This discussion also includes tie-ins to recent and ongoing events and rhetoric in Washington, D.C., and around the United States. What might we learn to see and do regarding these things that would reflect a more fully realized sense of accountability? Don't miss out on this discussion!