Latter-day Faith

The thoughtful and brilliant Fiona and Terryl Givens have just launched a new book titled "All Things New: Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything in Between." And it's terrific. In this episode, they and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon talk about the ideas in the book and how these feed into a beautiful whole, a reality we can trust and that leads us to a clearer vision of God and ourselves. When we begin from the firm foundation of God's love, and especially so if we have experienced it in direct ways not mediated though "doctrines" and well-worn lenses, we come to understand what the gospel of Jesus says about topics such as justice, repentance, worthiness, church, and so many more.  They also discuss how, interestingly, their approach in this book, grounded through close reading of scripture and great literature along with deep dives into the history of Christian formation and transmission, led them to the same sense of the Divine that mystics describe, simply coming to them through different methodologies.  It's a wonderful conversation in two parts. Don't miss it!

The thoughtful and brilliant Fiona and Terryl Givens have just launched a new book titled "All Things New: Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything in Between." And it's terrific. In this episode, they and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon talk about the ideas in the book and how these feed into a beautiful whole, a reality we can trust and that leads us to a clearer vision of God and ourselves. When we begin from the firm foundation of God's love, and especially so if we have experienced it in direct ways not mediated though "doctrines" and well-worn lenses, we come to understand what the gospel of Jesus says about topics such as justice, repentance, worthiness, church, and so many more.  They also discuss how, interestingly, their approach in this book, grounded through close reading of scripture and great literature along with deep dives into the history of Christian formation and transmission, led them to the same sense of the Divine that mystics describe, simply coming to them through different methodologies.  It's a wonderful conversation in two parts. Don't miss it!

We constantly hear phrases such as "Come unto Christ" or "We mush gain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." But when we think about these words as they are hurriedly dashed off, they really don't mean much if we've never given place for them within our own inner lives, never experienced the gifts and grounding that they are pointing toward. In an effort to add deep perspective to Jesus and our relationship with him as Christ during this Christmas season, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon invited Phil McLemore, one of his longtime teachers and good friends, to offer insights from his own contemplative experiences with Jesus and how it is possible to come to know and see the world through his/Christ consciousness. It's a wonderful discussion that offers far far more than we can easily comprehend while still conveying a sense of the truth and beauty and boons in finding our way to these experiences.

We constantly hear phrases such as "Come unto Christ" or "We mush gain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." But when we think about these words as they are hurriedly dashed off, they really don't mean much if we've never given place for them within our own inner lives, never experienced the gifts and grounding that they are pointing toward. In an effort to add deep perspective to Jesus and our relationship with him as Christ during this Christmas season, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon invited Phil McLemore, one of his longtime teachers and good friends, to offer insights from his own contemplative experiences with Jesus and how it is possible to come to know and see the world through his/Christ consciousness. It's a wonderful discussion that offers far far more than we can easily comprehend while still conveying a sense of the truth and beauty and boons in finding our way to these experiences.

TW: Suicide is discussed at length in this episode. If you feel it wouldn't be healthy for you to listen in, please don't. Should you feel that no one in your life can be trusted with all that you are going through, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, 800-273-8255, or hurry to schedule an appointment with a recommended therapist. _____ Grieving a dead loved one is always difficult, but sometimes the grief process is complicated by factors that aren't typically in play when an elderly relative passes naturally and peacefully. Suicide often invokes in friends and family member feelings of guilt about "what might I have done differently" or shame because of the loved one's having chosen to end their life and how that might reflect on us. Other complicating factors can be intense feelings of anger and abandonment, shock, loneliness because of difficulty sharing what we are experiencing with others (coupled with, too often, their reticence in discussing this person's life that ended that way), and wrestling with emotions about this person's (or now our) incomplete life. Grief will often be tougher when it a death was sudden, contaminated by crime, or by our sometimes feeling relief that this person is now gone. We can easily get tangled up. This episode features three panelists, Lisa Hansen (a wonderful therapist), Jana Riess (someone who has in several instances suffered losses that are very complicated), and Latter-day Faith host, Dan Wotherspoon (who is currently struggling with four deaths in his family or close circle that have occurred in the past three and a half months, two by suicide). Our hope in presenting this discussion is that you will come away with not only great advice and perspectives but also a sense of not being alone in your own grieving or feelings that you aren't grieving the right way, that you should be past the emotions that still play out in your mind and heart, that your failing as a human being, and more.  It is a powerful episode. Please listen and share with others.

LDS general conference ended just four days ago, and we thought it important to highlight different talks and messages from it that have applicability to the Latter-day Faith emphasis on inner work/inner transformation. One such talk this conference was President Nelson's Sunday morning address, "Let God Prevail." In this episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by a terrific panel of Lyndsay Pulsipher, Mark Crego, and Terri Petersen to discuss the talk's messages, which can be understood many different ways, and at different levels, and especially the concepts that have deep spiritual resonance. The host and panelists selected to talk about three different but related subjects addressed in President Nelson's talk: the concept of allowing God to prevail in our lives (and the world and its history?), his very strong remarks against racist thinking and action, and the theme that he carried throughout of "gathering." It's a wonderful discussion that takes these subjects into really profound areas, and that suggests that even through there is a really obvious surface reading of his remarks in these areas, the concepts are rich and deep and empowering should we ponder them and seek to find the treasures for our own faith and personal development. You should definitely listen in!

Please enjoy this Encore release of a fascinating podcast from November 2019. In the October 2019 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as the year before at a BYU Women’s Conference, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve introduced the phrase, “covenant belonging.” In doing so, he offered us a term that suggests much deeper meaning is embedded in the now-common phrase, “covenant path.” His messages about what covenant belonging might mean are absolutely beautiful and empowering. Sensing this richness, Faith Journey Foundation board member and frequent guest on Latter-day Faith (and Mormon Matters previously) Mark Crego and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon came together for the discussion that is featured in this episode. In it, Mark takes us through the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) in order to discern the nature of the Covenant that God made with Israel. Moving from Adam to Noah to Abraham and Moses, he demonstrates that although each figure’s covenant with God had different specifics, each still falls under the larger framework of Covenant (singular). This one Covenant is essentially that God will be our God, and we will always be His/Her/Their people. It’s a fundamental fact for every person on earth, and it is not a covenant of “works” but of “grace.” The Covenant undermines the typical quid pro quo understanding of most Latter-day Saints that suggests IF we keep our covenants (plural) THEN we will receive God’s blessing/approval/reward. The Covenant, instead, is not a transactional agreement. Through dynamic and excellent scriptural exegesis, Mark unpacks for us how the idea of God always considering Israel (and we are all Israel: all who wrestle with the Divine) as God’s own has been present all throughout the Biblical narrative, ultimately repeated in the teachings of, and made manifest in the flesh by, Jesus Christ. God longs for us to come closer and be more intimate with Divine life, magnifying our joys all along the way. This episode’s discussion is an example of how scriptural and pastoral theology can serve to enrich and clarify our own sense of who we are, drawing into the notion of the Covenant all persons regardless of their religion or no-religion, and shows that is it not contingent upon where a person might be along his/her/their faith path. The episode will likely be one that you will want to listen to more than once. What it unfolds is a thrilling vision, and affirms to us the inspiration that Elder Gong received (through his study and wrestles) as absolutely worth hearing and considering.

We hear people throughout the religious world use the language of “blessings” when something difficult in their lives is resolved in a wonderful and, what seems to them somewhat mysterious, way. For some who are attuned to trying to experience the heartbeat of the cosmos, we will hear about all of life as a blessing, the very large and very small, all the good and all the bad, light and dark, life and death, things unexpected, desired, dreaded, or confusing. For others who think of God in quite personal terms, as a being that somehow pays really close attention to us and all other individuals on the planet, they sense that blessings are a result of actions they have taken, thinking of them being doled out by this personal God according to some formula that they don’t fully understand but are sure is in play. A common refrain from some is that it was God, following their prayer of desperation, who helped them “find their keys,” healed their loved one, or perhaps led them safely home through a terrible storm. They will testify to this in a spirit of gratitude, certain that God was definitely the primary actor in such things. However, for many who hear their testimony of God’s particular care, such expressions that seem to move beyond “this happened” to why they were particularly gifted with this result bring up many questions: Why didn’t my loved one recover from their illness, be warned of an impending accident so they might not have been so badly injured, or worse, from what happened on the highway? Some become fraught with questions and frustration: So God cared about their keys being found just in time to make it to the important meeting—or the temple session they wanted to attend—yet doesn’t care enough to rescue others who are imprisoned in sexual slavery, who are murdered or raped or abused, who lose their livelihood from circumstances far beyond their own control? It all can make some stop believing in a God at all and, sometimes, at least for a while, imagining life is meaningless and everything that comes up in life is purely random. In this encore episode originally presented in July 2019, Susan Hinckley, along with host Dan Wotherspoon, explore the idea of blessings and the various ways people think and speak about them. In an effort to “seed” reflection, they explore notions and orientations to blessings like those things mentioned above, as well as reveal their own struggles with the evolution of their ideas about blessings in their own journeys. Are they something that are sort of “earned” by righteousness, or is there a more mysterious sort of calculus in play, such as that suggested by Elder Dale G. Renlund in a recent General Conference address when he proposed: “[Y]ou do not earn a blessing—that notion is false—but you do have to qualify for it.”? Or is a better way of approaching life’s various movements in terms of “grace,” a term for that which is given freely to all things and persons simply through the energies that create and infuse all life? Is that best approach found in the idea of “original blessing,” a concept that allows for both God and creation’s own mysterious work drawn from the story of Creation in Genesis 1 in which God creates and at each step of separation and differentiation declares it “good,” and, ultimately, after the creation of humans, pronounces the result “very good.” Please enjoy this discussion! May it stimulate wonderful reflection on this “close to home” topic!

We're excited to present Part 2 of the discussion about deconstructing and reconstructing faith between Caleb Jones and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon. The conversation in this one turns to some of the trends that are showing up in the religious world that definitely need attention if Mormonism is to have a better chance of keeping its young adults, especially, and also a wide variety of Latter-day Saints who come across difficult questions and/or are no longer moved by LDS worship styles and an "answers" approach to religious questions. Caleb then turns to a way of approaching the plan of salvation that he believes holds more promise for this generation that is exposed to so much information, including a strong dose of science. The discussion also includes Caleb's stunning framing for "revelation" that argues that people, in particular those who are marginalized in some way, ARE revelation. You do not want to miss out on this concluding section of Dan's interview with Caleb! 

Ultimately this is an episode about faith journeys, but one that focuses on opening ourselves to change--including the type of elements that lead us into deconstruction of previously held and cherished ideas. It features a discussion with Caleb Jones, whose temperament and interests led him to take a very thoughtful and thorough approach to faith reconstruction. As is teased in the beginning of this episode, Caleb identifies as both a nerd and a geek. His mind is very systematic, and in his sharing about his journey laid out so well we can notice and lift up certain universal elements of faith journeying in a way that many others, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon included, don't usually pause to examine nearly as carefully. He's brilliant and very insightful, and I know you will love learning from him. Be sure to listen in! Episode 073 that will be released next week is Part 2 of this discussion.