EPISODE · Apr 29, 2026 · 1H 57M
Carrie Newcomer | Awe and Wonder: The Spirituality of Singing and Songwriting
from The Spiritual Context Podcast · host Bishal Karna
She sings about dishes being holy, shovels being prayer, and the astounding beauty of human beings in the humdrum of daily life. This week's guest, singer, songwriter, and poet Carrie Newcomer says that when we pay attention, we can find the divine — what she calls the Great Luminous — in everything. Songwriting has been one such practice of attention for her, alongside decades of Quaker silence.In this conversation, rich with live music and language that arrives like poetry, Carrie speaks about the risk of loving something deeply, meeting human darkness with wonder rather than judgment, and what hope actually looks like when it's gritty and daily rather than wishful. Pull up a chair. This one is worth sitting with.About: Carrie Newcomer is a Grammy and Emmy-winning singer, songwriter, and poet with 20 nationally released albums, three collections of poetry and essays, and a devoted following on Substack where she writes weekly on music, spirituality, and the life of attention. She is co-host of The Growing Edge podcast with Parker Palmer.Carrie’s website: https://www.carrienewcomer.com/Carrie’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CarrieNewcomer Carrie’s Newcomer Substack “The Gathering of Spirits” https://carrienewcomer.substack.com/ The Growing Edge Podcast: https://www.newcomerpalmer.com/podcastTimestamp 00:00 Holy As the Day is Spent03:02 Seeing the Sacred in the Ordinary07:25 Songwriting and Singing as Spiritual Practices11:07 Songs, Stories, and the Universal Human Experience 16:58 Carrie's Job Description: Giving Words to that Which is Beyond Words 20:02 Vocation: Risking What You Love the Most30:21 Vocation and Making a Living35:35 "When I am True, the Way has been True" 40:07 Unprogrammed Quaker Meeting: A Silent Gathering of Friends 44:56 Silence Underneath the Sound47:59 Blessing Everything: Acknowledging the Holy54:42 Gathering in the Inner Silence : "Welcome Back" 01:00:10 Finding the Quaker Community01:03:48 The Mystical Within and Beyond Traditions01:08:18 The Experience of the Great Luminous 01:11:46 A Shovel is a Prayer01:17:09 The Love of Humans: What about the Dark Side? 01:28:53 The Nitty Gritty of Hope01:32:30 How do I fit with my soul? What will the harvest of my life be?01:36:58 Gratitude Practice and Love Lessons from Dogs01:44:12 What is my deepest question today?01:46:54 Creativity as a Spiritual Practice01:51:54 Lean in Toward the Light #carrienewcomer #spirituality #sacred #spiritualmusic #quakers #silence
What this episode covers
She sings about dishes being holy, shovels being prayer, and the astounding beauty of human beings in the humdrum of daily life. This week's guest, singer, songwriter, and poet Carrie Newcomer says that when we pay attention, we can find the divine — what she calls the Great Luminous — in everything. Songwriting has been one such practice of attention for her, alongside decades of Quaker silence.In this conversation, rich with live music and language that arrives like poetry, Carrie speaks about the risk of loving something deeply, meeting human darkness with wonder rather than judgment, and what hope actually looks like when it's gritty and daily rather than wishful. Pull up a chair. This one is worth sitting with.About: Carrie Newcomer is a Grammy and Emmy-winning singer, songwriter, and poet with 20 nationally released albums, three collections of poetry and essays, and a devoted following on Substack where she writes weekly on music, spirituality, and the life of attention. She is co-host of The Growing Edge podcast with Parker Palmer.Carrie’s website: https://www.carrienewcomer.com/Carrie’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CarrieNewcomer Carrie’s Newcomer Substack “The Gathering of Spirits” https://carrienewcomer.substack.com/ The Growing Edge Podcast: https://www.newcomerpalmer.com/podcastTimestamp 00:00 Holy As the Day is Spent03:02 Seeing the Sacred in the Ordinary07:25 Songwriting and Singing as Spiritual Practices11:07 Songs, Stories, and the Universal Human Experience 16:58 Carrie's Job Description: Giving Words to that Which is Beyond Words 20:02 Vocation: Risking What You Love the Most30:21 Vocation and Making a Living35:35 "When I am True, the Way has been True" 40:07 Unprogrammed Quaker Meeting: A Silent Gathering of Friends 44:56 Silence Underneath the Sound47:59 Blessing Everything: Acknowledging the Holy54:42 Gathering in the Inner Silence : "Welcome Back" 01:00:10 Finding the Quaker Community01:03:48 The Mystical Within and Beyond Traditions01:08:18 The Experience of the Great Luminous 01:11:46 A Shovel is a Prayer01:17:09 The Love of Humans: What about the Dark Side? 01:28:53 The Nitty Gritty of Hope01:32:30 How do I fit with my soul? What will the harvest of my life be?01:36:58 Gratitude Practice and Love Lessons from Dogs01:44:12 What is my deepest question today?01:46:54 Creativity as a Spiritual Practice01:51:54 Lean in Toward the Light #carrienewcomer #spirituality #sacred #spiritualmusic #quakers #silence
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Carrie Newcomer | Awe and Wonder: The Spirituality of Singing and Songwriting
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