The Pocket Contemplative

Generations of people exploring contemplative spirituality, both in the Christian tradition (Thomas Merton) and outside of it (Thich Nhat Hanh) have gone back again and again to one brilliant and confounding teacher, the German academic and mystic Meister Eckhart. He's the mystic other mystics look to. Dave Schmelzer will take just a bit more time than normal to unpack why this might be so and to give you a window into his own enthusiasm for Eckhart.Mentioned on this podcast:You can sign up to receive Dave's weekly "Thursday notes" here. Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation through the Centuries, edited by Kim Nataraja

We talk about happiness every now and again, but how can we find it if we realize the things we'd been pinning our happiness on, our biggest dreams, just aren't going to happen? Or even if the bottom really seems to fall out, if we get a terrible diagnosis or someone we love does? What then? Dave Schmelzer discusses research from Sonja Lyubomirsky that suggests potent ways forward. Mentioned on this podcast:Sonja Lyubomirsky's book The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but DoesTo receive Dave's Thursday notes, sign up here. Dave's guesting on the "Shit My Pastor Said" podcast

The connection between contemplative practice and psychotherapy is often noted, but how that came to be is a fascinating story. Dave Schmelzer offers a look at fourth century monk Evagrius of Pontus as a key example of what came out of desert spirituality and, in particular, as the (possible) originator of things you might know and love like the Enneagram, the seven deadly sins and, yes, what Freud and Jung spun into modern psychiatry. Dave closes with a brief look at Evagrius's student and champion and a major player in his own right, John Cassian.Mentioned on this podcast:Kim Nataraja's lecture on Evagrius of Pontus (and another on John Cassian) from Journey to the HeartYou can learn more about the Faith Part 2 course or register interest for it here.You can sign up for Dave's "Thursday notes" essays here. 

Cutting to the chase, getting what we want won't make us happy because of what the researchers call "hedonic adaptation." The good news is that these same researchers tell us these desires for our lives absolutely can be central in helping us create a happy life. So what gives? How can our dreams for our lives work for us and not against us? Dave Schmelzer will explore this key question by way of famed happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky's research and insights. But before getting there, he'll look at this question a bit more broadly by considering Carl Jung's "Five Pillars of a Happy Life" along with some commentary by Arthur C. Brooks.Mentioned on this podcastYou can sign up to receive Dave's weekly "Thursday notes" here. Sonja Lyubomirsky's book The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but DoesArthur C. Brooks's book The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life

In another episode of Dave's "history corner," he looks at the cataclysm that happened when the emperor made Christianity the state's religion in 325. Where Christians had been poor, persecuted and few in number, it now messed with the heads of the old guard to suddenly be favored and joined by millions of far less devout "fellow Christians" who loved the perks of their connection to power. The response of a few bold people to head to the wilderness changed what Christian faith--and its contemplative variant--was to become. It's quite a story. Mentioned on this podcast:Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation Through the Centuries, edited by Kim NatarajaYou can sign up for Dave's "Thursday Notes" hereYou can learn more about the free, online Faith Part 2 course here. You can register your interest here. 

Contemplative practice has a remarkable connection to our physical health, among its many benefits. Dave Schmelzer will review how it connects with lengthening our telomeres, the caps on our chromosomes which determine whether we age with vigor or disease. He'll touch on advice for stress management and exercise and diet and sleep, all in a context of a mindful world. Mentioned on this podcastThe Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer, by Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa EpelYou can sign up to receive Dave's "Thursday notes" hereYou can learn more about the free, online Faith Part 2 course here. You can register your interest here. 

"I dunno, that seems kind of out there to me" is a sentiment that has shadowed Christian conversations from the start. Dave Schmelzer takes us on a journey to the second century when early attempts to define orthodoxy made consequential choices about how much our experience might inform our understanding of who God is. He introduces us to key figures like Irenaeus and to a consequential debate that perhaps we haven't heard about: whether the fourth gospel would be John's or Thomas's.Mentioned on this episode:Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation Through the Centuries, edited by Kim NatarajaYou can sign up for Dave's "Thursday Notes" hereSome resources about The Gospel of Thomas you might enjoy:The Gospel of Thomas: Annotated & Explained, by Stevan DaviesBeyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, by Elaine Pagels

After relaying some brief advice from Dick Van Dyke about turning 100, Dave Schmelzer chats about some wisdom from the Buddhist therapist Lewis Richmond about what he's learned by working with aging clients. Dave touches on fascinating ideas from Richmond about horizontal versus vertical time and the isolation of a sudden setback and experiencing aging as a fresh start along with much more.Mentioned on this podcast:Lewis Richmond's book Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and WiserHere's how to learn more about and register interest in the Faith Part 2 courseIf you are not receiving Dave's emailed "Thursday Notes" and would like to (or if you have friends who would like to receive them), you can sign up for them here. 

Mark Charbonneau and his friends at The Vine church in Austin, Texas are charting a unique way forward in our cultural and religious divisions. Dave Schmelzer talks with him about what their “third way” looks like and how it might help all of us in the middle of such unprecedented divisions. Does it only apply to a small number of people of good will? Does it offer broader hope? They close with a few words about the life of a pastor at all, much less one in the middle of these sorts of cultural divides. Mentioned on this podcast:The Vine church in Austin, TexasJoin the list to receive weekly "Thursday notes" about how the themes we discuss on The Pocket Contemplative might apply to your larger world.

Some great thinkers like GK Chesterton and Meister Eckhart pitch that right at the heart of God's reality is play and that the more we can tap into this bone-deep playfulness, even in the middle of realities that look quite unpromising and overwhelming, the better we'll thrive.Mentioned on this podcastThe God Who Plays: A Playful Approach to Theology and Spirituality, by Brian Edgar Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, by Stuart Brown M.D.Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, by Matthew FoxThe Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron

One of the charms of Christian faith is that so many scriptures encourage us to ask God for things we want. But as we age we realize it must be more complicated than that--and the great contemplatives add complexities as they focus on things like union with God as the main thing or with cautions about things like "disordered attachments". But we still do in fact want things! Dave Schmelzer offers us some things to ponder in these conundrums.

One unexpected outcome of the Christian contemplative life is that, per the Benedictines, we'll discover that the stuff we need to do everyday has the possibility of moving from "that stuff we have to get done" to "co-creating a better world with God." And not just that, but it also then might make our days feel rich and purposeful when they'd been feeling less than that. Christa Connelly helped facilitate a fascinating conversation on the ins and outs of this and she and Dave Schmelzer talk about what it's meant for her and might mean for you. Mentioned on this podcast:Joan Chittister's book The Monastic Heart: 50 Simple Practices for a Contemplative and Fulfilling Life

Dave Schmelzer used to lead a church in which looking to experience power that we're told comes from the Holy Spirit was a big deal. Does that view of the spiritual life translate to a contemplative world? It turns out the answer is not just "yes," but even "oh, you have no idea."Mentioned on this podcast:Check out the next session of Faith Part 2 in October. It's a free 8-week online look at some crucial but lesser-taught riches of Christian faith that might help us when our initial faith experience falters a bit. 

Dave Schmelzer and Curtis Gruenler (an English professor and medievalist) have been friends since college and they talk about the ins and outs of how friendships themselves can empower the kind of growth in God that we talk about on The Pocket Contemplative.Mentioned on this podcast:If you'd like to register interest in October's (free, eight-week) Faith Part 2 course, let us know here.Curtis is launching a Substack on friendship (from a medievalist's perspective)Curtis and Dave allude in passing to:Spiritual Friendship by the medieval monk Aelred of RievaulxRene Girard and his Shakespeare book Theater of Envy

In this continuation of a look (from Notre Dame sociologist Chrisitan Smith) at the religious world that Millennials in particular are living in, Dave Schmelzer will continue to look at some large, cultural forces at play before turning to some self-inflicted wounds from religion.  Mentioned on this podcastRegister your interest here for this fall's Faith Part 2 course, a free, online look at how the Christian tradition (sometimes partnering with other contemplative traditions and modern neuroscience) encourages us into an unexpected second chapter of faith after, perhaps, our initial experience of faith has faltered. Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America, by Christian Smith

Evangelical parents are taught that a key part of their parental responsibility is to raise their kids to be Christians. But that's becoming, in an understatement, far more challenging  says notable Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith. In this revealing first of a two part podcast, Dave Schmelzer will walk you through some of the large-scale cultural forces that, Smith reports, are driving religion to a kind of cultural obsolescence. Mentioned on this podcastRegister your interest here for this fall's Faith Part 2 course, a free, online look at how the Christian tradition (sometimes partnering with other contemplative traditions and modern neuroscience) encourages us into an unexpected second chapter of faith after, perhaps, our initial experience of faith has faltered. Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America, by Christian Smith

Many earnest evangelicals and charismatics, Dave Schmelzer among them, have found comfort and connection in learning to hear God's voice in the spirit taught by the great 17th-century contemplative Brother Lawrence. But an insurmountable problem usually comes up: as delightful as the conversation itself is, lots and lots of things that are important to us don't actually work out in ways we'd felt like God was telling us they would. And, eventually, we wise up and quit this dialogue. But that is not the advice of some great contemplatives, who tell us that we've been making one key mistake all along. If we just clear that up, we're told we'll get a sea of benefits that will give us "solid ground" to stand on in the chaos that is life on earth. Mentioned on this podcast:Register your interest here for the 8-week Faith Part 2 course coming this fall. The book touched on here: The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence

Many of the most prominent social activists in the last half century or so have also been contemplatives: Howard Thurman, the Dalai Lama, and Thomas Merton among others. Does the sort of spirituality we talk about here have things to offer in a world like ours where people feel daily outrages flowing through their media feeds? Might our practices actually be negative--in that moving past constant reactivity might make us too passive? But surely constant outrage mostly leads to hopelessness (and unpleasant days). Dave Schmelzer is joined by Grace Schmelzer and Steve Joh (a former pastor who currently leads a network of small, spacious, spiritual, Christian communities in the Bay Area) for a lively conversation about all of this, including a look at the most commonly discussed spiritual approach to addressing such times.Mentioned on this podcast:Register your interest in the next Faith Part 2 course here.Arbor communities in the Bay AreaThe Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World, by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu

The end goal of spiritual development for most great Christian contemplatives is some sort of union with God. But many people find that to feel pretty distant--maybe it's something we can only hope for in heaven. But a recent, major Christian contemplative named Bernadette Roberts offers a more direct pathway not only to union with God (and maybe beyond), but also to direct lifestyle benefits along the lines of what psychologists call "flow." She talks about it using the Eastern terminology of no-self. Dave Schmelzer has found it to be the most helpful spiritual thing he's learned in some time. He'll give a brief introduction to it here and he'll also mention a new, free, 8-week online course about these things that will be starting in February called "Faith Part 2."Mentioned on this podcast:"Faith Part 2," an upcoming, free online course about what good things might come next for people who perhaps have experienced the limits of their early faith instruction. You can get more information and register interest here.The Experience of No-Self, by Bernadette RobertsSpiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing, by Jed McKennaAn episode of the Ringer podcast Plain English with Derek Thompson called “Why the Voice Inside Your Head Can Sound Like a Jerk” (Sept. 20, 2022)

Some people, feeling unsettled by the election, have wondered what the wisdom talked about on The Pocket Contemplative might offer us. Dave Schmelzer looks to Julian of Norwich, who lived during her own unsettling time (the Bubonic Plague), for some thoughts. In his introduction, he also talks about "Faith Part 2," a new 8-week online course about the how-to's of a faith that, learning from the greats, might help to move us past faith challenges into a richer life with God than perhaps we've yet been exposed to. Mentioned on this podcast:To register interest in the 8-week online Faith Part 2 course, go to: thepocketcontemplative.com/faithpart2Two popular translations of Julian of Norwich's Revelation of Divine Love:Ellyn Sanna's All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich (Very readable, very faith-filled.)Mirabai Starr's Julian of Norwich: The Showings: Uncovering the Face of the Feminine in Revelations of Divine Love (Probably the most popular recent translation and discussion of Julian, from a more interreligious perspective.)

 Hartmut Rosa is a German sociologist whom many Christians have been looking to as a guide to how our lives seem to be accelerating. Do we somehow need to opt out of this acceleration if we want a happy life, much less a life with God? Rosa says no, opting out isn’t possible. But he does have a contemplative answer: “resonance,” a kind of paying attention that can sit alongside much of what we talk about here. Vince Brackett, a Chicago pastor, and Rosa devotee, walks us through this fascinating view of a rich life in a busy world.Mentioned on this podcast:Hartmut Rosa’s book Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the WorldBrown Line Church in Chicago

Dave Schmelzer is in touch with many people who are, to a greater or lesser degree, deconstructing their earlier faith experience, a common process for midlife people of faith. HIstoric Christian spirituality tells us there's a unique second-half-of-life flowering of faith. Dave lets us in on a series of conversations he's been having about how we might explore that in our era. Mentioned on this podcast:Short videos about The Critical Journey's stages of faithIntriguing blog posts about "post-progressive" faith

Howard Thurman was the great behind-the-scenes spiritual leader of America’s civil rights movement. Martin Luther King was said to carry a copy of Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited with him for inspiration on each march. But Thurman starts by being among the great nature mystics in the Christian tradition. Why do you (like everyone) love nature so much? For Thurman, that’s part of how we create that strong inner self that so influenced King and others.Mentioned on this podcast:What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman, by Lerita Coleman Brown

I want to be happy. You want to be happy. But maybe our best pathway there comes by focusing instead on "living well.". MIT philosopher Kieran Setiya's book Life Is Hard helps Dave Schmelzer navigate those choices, with a particular look at how it applies when we feel like a failure or when we're hunting for meaning.Mentioned on this podcast:Kieran Setiya's book Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way (which, at the moment, is a mere $4.99 on Kindle)

Here at The Pocket Contemplative, we do deep dives into some of the richest Christian wisdom one can find about getting close to God. But one revolutionary thinker suggested that, while that's all wonderful and we should learn all we can from such people, these great saints did live in a very different world with very different spiritual dynamics than we live in. Many were cloistered. The average person was born into the trade of their family, married someone from their village, and went to the local church like all their neighbors did. But by the 1850s that Soren Kierkegaard lived in, everyone was flooded with unprecedented choices about what to do for a living, who to marry and even what to believe--a flood that has only accelerated in our time. He argued that human psyches weren't set up to handle that kind of flood, which makes us all anxious. His road out strikes Dave Schmelzer as a drink of fresh water for a thirsty (modern) soul. Mentioned on this podcast:Existentialism and the Authentic Life, a Great Courses course by Skye C. Cleary

Christian Contemplative Spirituality--alternately called Christian Mysticism--has gone in and out of favor over the millennia, but has rich roots from the Hebrew Bible forward. With help from the work of Carl McColman, Dave Schmelzer will help orient you as you look to navigate this vital, essential stream.Mentioned on this podcast: Carl McColman's The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: An Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality

Is there a secret of life? Contemplatives of many stripes suggest it surround cultivating a kind of trust and openness that endures through the hardest of times. Dave Schmelzer dives into wisdom on this from the most optimistic of contemplatives, Julian of Norwich (C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton both said she was their go-to contemplative teacher). Julian lived through the bubonic plague and yet came out of it with a remarkable trust that others around her didn't have.Mentioned on this podcast:Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic and Beyond, by Matthew FoxZen and the Art of Happiness, by Chris Prentiss 

Christianity's most potent and lasting advice on aging well comes from one of its most remarkable contemplatives: Hildegard of Bingen from the 12th century. She was an explosion of creativity: she wrote the first known opera (by hundreds of years). She was an architect, a physician, a poet, a painter, a composer, a theologian and a leader of women. This podcast will look at her pitch that "greening" is the road to joy, fruitfulness and vitality as we age.Mentioned on this podcast:Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint for Our Times, by Matthew Fox

Maybe the most-influential Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart, had profound thoughts about how our spiritual practice is meant to--even must!--empower our creativity. Dave Schmelzer dives into Eckhart's deep, generative waters here.Mentioned on this podcast: Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, by Matthew Fox

Kieran Setiya--a philosopher at MIT who wrote the terrific book Midlife: A Philosophical Guide that Dave Schmelzer talked about on the last episode--joins Dave for a lively conversation about how philosophy can help with our deepest questions and about how it interacts with the spirituality we talk about here. Mentioned on this podcast:Midlife: A Philosophical Guide, by Kieran SetiyaLIfe is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way, by Kieran Setiya

Philosophers and theologians offer different answers to how we should feel about the losses we confront in midlife. Kieran Setiya, a philosopher teaching at MIT, wrote a terrific recent book on midlife crisis. Dave Schmelzer highlights some of Setiya's best stuff, including Setiya's takes on missed opportunities, why we can simultaneously regret and not regret where our lives have taken us, and whether there is help for those moments when we realize we're not as far from dying as we once were.Mentioned on this podcast: Kieran Setiya's book, Midlife: A Philosophical Guide

When Dave Schmelzer first started exploring contemplative spirituality, he had a hard time finding teachers who would get pragmatic in the "just do this, and then do this, and then do this, and here's what you should discover" sense. Mo Gawdat has written a bestselling guide along those lines called Solve for Happy. Dave walks us through Gawdat's pathway to get moving. Mentioned on this podcast:Mo Gawdat's book Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to JoyTo register your interest in a contemplative starter group: email [email protected] 

As Dave Schmelzer and Vince Brackett talked about in a recent episode, faith looks very different than it did a few hundred years back--and even than it did sixty years back. Professor Andrew Root--who was Vince's enthusiastic teacher on the subject--walks us into some of the ins and outs of what this looks and feels like.Faith Formation in a Secular Age: Responding to the Church's Obsession with Youthfulness, by Andrew Root, the first in a series of books about living in a secular age as seen through the eyes of Charles Taylor and Hartmut Rosa.A Secular Age, by Charles TaylorResonance: A Sociology of our Relationship to the World, by Hartmut Rosa

Dave Schmelzer's new favorite book on forgiveness (and maybe one of his favorite books period) is by Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mpho Tutu van Furth. Mpho joins Dave from Amsterdam to talk about what she's taken from the book in years since, her reflections on it being forged out of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and much more.Mentioned on this podcast:The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World, by Desmond and Mpho Tutu.

You'd think that apart from affirming that, of course, forgiving people who've hurt us is crucial to our happiness, there wouldn't be much more to say. But Desmond and Mpho Tutu wrote what seems like the final word on the subject in their wonderful The Book of Forgiving, which includes many stories from Desmond's leading of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was central to preventing bloody civil war after apartheid fell. Dave Schmelzer talks with Grace Schmelzer about how the Tutus's insights have impacted their experience of forgiving.Mentioned on this podcast:The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World, by Desmond and Mpho Tutu.

In Part 1, we looked at how churches seem to be in the midst of a transition to something new. Here, Vince Brackett and Dave Schmelzer will take a deep dive into the thoughts of the big kahuna on this subject, Charles Taylor, and of his brilliant student, Hartmut Rosa. What if our world is set up to tell us that if we only had more resources we could have the life we want? And that our lack of resources is our fault--leading us to push and push and burn out. Taylor and Rosa think that's massively relevant to each of our lives and that churches fall under the same pressures, which, if unaddressed, will push them away from relevance. Dave and Vince discuss the profound hope that's at the heart of this.Mentioned on this podcast:Charles Taylor and his book A Secular AgeHartmut Rosa, of whom a relevant book would be Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World

While churches are rapidly declining in numbers, new things are popping up. Dave Schmelzer will explore what's happening and the hope for what might be next with rich perspectives from thinkers like Phyllis Tickle, Charles Taylor, Hartmut Rosa and others... alongside some anecdotes from his friends that might ring a bell for you.Mentioned on this podcast:Charles Taylor's A Secular AgeHartmut Rosa's Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the WorldPhyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why

Christian contemplative spirituality got forgotten for about three hundred years, after Brother Lawrence's famous teachings in the 1600s. The person who brought it back and set the stage for a whole new era of Christian spirituality--and people like Richard Rohr and Thomas Merton--was an unlikely candidate, an upper-middle-class British woman named Evelyn Underhill. Dave Schmelzer starts with a brief overview of this remarkable woman and then interviews Underhill's most accomplished biographer, Dana Greene.Mentioned on this podcast:Evelyn Underhill: Artist of the Infinite Life, by Dana GreeneThe Spiritual Life, by Evelyn UnderhillDana Greene's website: danagreene.orgTo receive the Evelyn Underhill newsletter, go to evelynunderhill.org 

Last episode had Gary Neal Hansen telling Dave that among the ten ancient Christian prayer practices he teaches and write about, the two that have most popped for people are the Jesus Prayer (the subject of a recent podcast) and what's called Praying the Office (first popularized by St. Benedict), which is how a large swath of Christians have prayed for centuries. Dave hasn't been drawn to Praying the Office, but his wife Grace absolutely has. Dave gives an overview of Hansen's remarks about Praying the Office and then turns things over to Grace to hear more and to walk us through what exactly happens as we give it a try. Mentioned on this podcast:Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers, by Gary Neal HansenPrayers for Summertime: A Manual for Prayer (The Divine Hours), by Phyllis TickleThe Divine Hours (Volume Two): Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime: A Manual for Prayer, by Phyllis Tickle The Divine Hours (Volume Three): Prayers for Springtime: A Manual for Prayer, by Phyllis TickleThe Divine Hours, Pocket Edition, by Phyllis TickleIf you or someone you know is interested in exploring spiritual direction with Grace Schmelzer, please email her at [email protected]

Gary Neal Hansen has taught ten ways to pray from very different Christians traditions to lots of people. Gary (who wrote Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers) talks with Dave Schmelzer about what he's learned both from the practices themselves and from how people have found them helpful or not. He and Dave also spend some time on what prayer itself is actually supposed to do for us. Mentioned on this podcast:Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers, by Gary Neal HansenGary's website: garynealhansen.com A free, downloadable book from Gary: Love Your Bible: Finding Your Way to the Presence of God with a 12th Century Monk

Medieval monks and modern business school profs agree that our bone-deep addition to distracting ourselves is keeping us from happiness, meaning and productivity. Which perhaps will be no surprise to people listening to a podcast called The Pocket Contemplative! That said, Dave Schmelzer dives into the wisdom from those monks and professors and how it might both cheer you up and empower a fresh way forward.Mentioned on this podcast:The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction by Jamie KreinerHappier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most, by Cassie Holmes"The Time Jar" YouTube Video by Meir KayCharlie Kaufman on distraction, from Adaptation

A good chunk of any modern teaching on contemplation for Christians goes back to one mega-influential book called The Cloud of Unknowing from the dusty past of the 14th century. And yet generations of would-be contemplatives have found it is a fountain that doesn't run dry very quickly at least. Dave Schmelzer will give you a quick overview of why this book has been such a biggie, why--like many old books--it might initially feel off-putting in some ways, and why what it teaches has at the very least changed his life.Mentioned on this podcast:The Cloud of UnknowingKneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers by Gary Neal Hansen

The biggies in Christian history tell us a story of faith that's surprising to many of us, but which turns out to be exactly what we need to find ongoing joy. Dave Schmelzer chats about this with Jason M. Baxter, a scholar who wrote An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life, which Dave podcasted about recently. Jason walks us into how this look at the "wild" teachings of people like Augustine and Hildegard of Bingen and Meister Eckhart and many more can open our worlds like nothing else can.Mentioned on this podcastAn Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life, by Jason M. Baxter

Russian Orthodox friends suggest that a fast track to spiritual progress might come through a ten-word prayer that gets repeated. Ten words! Is it too good to be true? Dave Schmelzer, with help from Gary Neal Hansen's book Kneeling with Giants, does a deep dive into this pathway to God and reports on how it's been going for him.Mentioned in this podcastKneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers, by Gary Neal HansenJourney to the Heart: Christian Contemplation through the Centuries, edited by Kim NatarajaThe Way of a Pilgrim (The Pilgrim's Tale)

Have the great Christian saints, over millennia, been in agreement about some central points and practices if we hope to continue our growth? One scholar says they have been indeed. Dave Schmelzer runs down some key points of interest, not least the happy surprise that, if we keep at this, our reward will be an overflowing playfulness in our lives. Mentioned on this podcast:Jason M. Baxter's book An Introduction to Christian Mysticism; Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual LifePete Holmes on not knowingSome mystics who come up: Hildegard of Bingen, Gregory of Nyssa, Meister Eckhart, Thomas Merton, Evagrius, Nicholas of Cusa, Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, Francis of Assisi, John Ruusbroec, Evelyn Underhill, C.S. Lewis

As we age, we face more and more life circumstances that can seem lose/lose. Take care of our aging parent and lose any margin in our lives. Start a needed side hustle that has a substantial chance of failing. The Bible encourages us to trust God enough to ask for all the things we want, but it then pivots to a different, contemplative approach that might grow our faith through these tough challenges. Dave Schmelzer looks at the ins and outs of that important flexibility while bringing in a vivid picture of what that might look like from another great world tradition.Mentioned on this podcast:Proverbs 16:9; Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 46:10 The MahabharataStephen Cope's The Great Work of Your LifeA quote from Thomas Merton to a young activist: “Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself.”

Thoughtful happiness tips can be opportunities for mindfulness, for noticing ways to live that we'd previously been blind to or reactive against. Dave Schmelzer talks a bit about that and then details two dozen such tips from the mega-popular book The Happiness Experiment.Mentioned on this podcast:Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

Anything we want to do that's important to us will face (sometimes severe) resistance. One Bible perspective calls resistance its own "god of this world"--and St. Paul himself makes the point profoundly: "The thing I most want to do I don't do." Dave Schmelzer does a dive into the insights of the most-read recent thinker on the subject, Steven Pressfiled in his seminal The War of Art. Learn from contemplatives and life coaches as well as Pressfield and see if you find help with your own resistance.Mentioned on this podcast:Steven Pressfield's The War of ArtBlog help by way of:Bodhipaksa at wildmind.orgLeo Babauta at zenhabits.netMichelle Rees at wholelifechallenge.com

Dave Schmelzer loves life hacks, but has found that they often have a shorter shelf life than he'd hoped. Contemplatives have a surprising answer for why that might be. Life hacks, they tell us, come from a world view saturated in original sin: your problems come from your fundamental laziness that has to be overcome. But maybe we don't need to overcome anything. Maybe we already have a deep happiness that we can access as we quiet down a bit. Rami Shapiro and Anthony DeMello and Tara Brach help us here.Mentioned on this podcast:Rami Shapiro's book Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually IndependentAnthony DeMello's book Stop Fixing Yourself: Wake Up, All is WellTara Brach's book Radical Acceptance

Christians spiritually address anxiety in two ways: spiritual warfare and contemplation. Dave Schmelzer looks at some of the pros and cons of each of these approaches and then takes an extended look at perhaps the most famous warfare prayer in the last two thousand years, The Breastplate of St. Patrick, a prayer Dave loves and often prays. Mentioned on this podcast:The Breastplate of St. PatrickI bind to myself today/ The fullness of the Trinity: I believe the Father, Son and Spirit/ The Creator of the Universe. I bind to myself today/ Christ coming to earth:His baptism, crucifixion and burial,/ His resurrection and ascension, His coming on the Judgment Day. I bind to myself today/ The love of archangelsThe obedience of angels/ The prayers of Patriarchs, The vision of Prophets,/ The speech of Apostles, The faith of martyrs,/ The purity of Mary, The boldness of saints. I bind to myself today/ Heaven’s power-- Light like the sun,/ Brightness like the moon, Splendor like fire,/ Flashing like lightning, Speed like wind,/ Depth like sea, Stability like earth,/ Solidity like rocks. I bind to myself today/ God's Power to guide me, God's Might to strengthen me,/ God's Wisdom to teach me, God's Eye to watch over me,/ God's Ear to hear me, God's Word to speak through me,/ God's Hand to guide me, God's Way to lie before me,/ God's Shield to protect me, God's Army to empower me,/ Against the snares of demons, Against the seductions of vices,/ Against anyone who considers injuring me, Whether they’re far or near,/ Few or many. I invoke today all these virtues/ Against every hostile, merciless power Which may assail my body and soul--/ Against the lies of false prophets, Against the darkness of unbelief,/ Against the distractions of heresy, Against the temptations of idolatry,/ Against the spells of sorcerers-- Against everything that would bind my soul. Christ, protect me and mine today/ Against poison and burning, Against drowning and injury and death,/ That we might live full lives for you.Christ with me, Christ before me,/ Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,/ Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ in the home,/ Christ in the street, Christ in the store,/ Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me, Christ in every eye that sees me,/ Christ in every ear that hears me. I bind to myself today/ The fullness of the Trinity: I believe the Father, Son and Spirit/ The Creator of the Universe.