Latter-day Faith

124: Spirituality and Neuroscience, Part 1   In this fascinating episode, Dr. Michael Ferguson joins LDF host Dan Wotherspoon for a journey into the field of neuroscience and how its insights relate to spirituality and spiritual journeys. Michael is pioneering the new field of "neurospirituality", and now teaches courses on it at Harvard Divinity School and Harvard College, along with an appointment in neurophysiology at Harvard Medical School, where he is conducting several research projects. As you will learn from listening in on this conversation, he is eminently qualified to unpack for us what he is learning and hoping to continue to learn from this fascinating intersection. In addition to getting to know Michael personally through his sharing about his own journey toward making these studies his primary focus, he also shares openly about his experiences within Mormonism as a gay man, including the effects of conversion therapy treatments. We also get a great glimpse of his own deep spirituality. In their wide-ranging discussion, Michael and Dan discuss the nature of spirituality and what the brain is doing while someone is experiencing a peak spiritual experience. Michael differentiates between spiritual "states" and spiritual "traits," which is a theme that plays out in several sections and that holds great promise for not only understanding more about the reasons some people seem to experience more intense spiritual states, but also about subtleties between different states and his hopes to study various practices associated with these differences and how they map in the brain so he and his colleagues might be able to use the maps associated with depression and other neuro- and psychological symptoms in an effort to find ones that seem to affect the same areas in hopes of tailoring certain practices to affect these places in a positive way. Michael also shares his interest in a particular spiritual trait that he calls "spiritual acceptance," which describes the levels of openness individuals have to allowing that there is perhaps more going on in the wider universe than what our brains, logic, and language can describe. Along the way, Michael introduces what the brain is revealing about how deeply wired spiritual pathways are, which brings to light the question of how spiritual experiences may have influenced brain development and vice versa. He and Dan also discuss mysticism and spiritual writings that describe various subtleties along a deep spiritual path that seem to match well with what neuroscience is discovering. For instance, part of their discussion focuses on the poem, “The Dark Night of the Soul,” by St. John of the Cross, which has suggested a metaphor for one stage along a spiritual journey, as well as descriptions of the inner life as one moves toward God from Teresa of Avila, an influential sixteenth-century nun with a gift for describing the subtleties of various spiritual states. There are parallels in what she writes to what neuroscience is starting to understand. This is a very inadequate introduction to this two-part episode. May is still serve to whet your appetite for a great listening and spiritual adventure. Don't miss out!

In this encore presentation of an episode recorded one year ago, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by the wonderful Kajsa Berlin-Kaufusi for a discussion of Easter, especially how we might lean more deeply and intently into the cycle of dying and rebirthing that is at the spiritual center of this holiday. There are many wonderful teachings around Easter, and Kajsa and Dan honor those and the focuses that are typically presented in church settings. But this episode focuses more on the big picture, which (not coincidentally) also takes us inward and seeking greater intimacy with Christ. How can we experience more life before death? Can each day, each moment, be a resurrection? 

This week's episode features Susan Hinckley and Cynthia Winward, the hosts of the incredible At Last She Said It podcast. In conversation with LDF host Dan Wotherspoon, they share many things about their experiences with it over the two years since its launch. How is it being received? Who is listening? What are the primary themes that come up again and again? In the course of the dialogue, they discuss how women too often feel unseen and unheard within the church. How they are restless. About their concerns for their daughters coming into an environment that doesn't feel safe or encouraging of their full expression as women. The guests and host also have a conversation about how women who are so used to being powerless at church often also feel powerless in their own spiritual lives. The conversation also turns to practical concerns, such as how they would react should any church leaders ask them to stop recording the podcast (and how quite a few listeners worry about that situation possibly arising for them). They also talk of the harms of patriarchy and how it will need commitment by both women and men if it is going to be lessened or dismantled entirely. Dan also turns the tables by asking them the question that they ask their podcasts guests: What do you know? (At least know today.)  Listen in! This is a rich discussion that we know you'll enjoy and gain much from! 

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!