True Lenten Discipline
We begin the second week of Lent, forty days set aside in the Christian church for reflection, self-examination, and sometimes fasting. I recently came across a very different challenge in...
Be A Heretic Like MLK
Americans remember the social change agent, Dr. Martin Luther King who became a leader of the civil rights movement in the U.S., peacefully working to influence attitudes and policy to...
Lessons From a Coconut Tree
What can I learn from a coconut tree? That is a question I asked as I gazed upon a giant tree during my morning sit time on a recent trip...
076: Change & Growth (Embracing Uncertainty)
Most of us tend to prefer predictability in life. But when we let go of our addiction to certainty, we discover new ways of viewing ourselves and the world in...
075: Intentional Choices
We are the most overstimulated people in human history, bombarded with thousands of media messages every day. Everyone is fighting for our attention, from social media to news outlets. We...
Capacity
Human capacity is a topic I have been thinking a lot about lately. After my second Covid vaccine, I suffered mild symptoms of aches and chills for a day. I...
074: Friendships
This special episode begins with Dr. Deb reviewing what social science tells us about relationship characteristics during various life stages. Addressing a college class, she then encourages the students to...
Spiritual Adjustment
Self-reflection and penitence are long-standing traditions in many faiths and cultures. There seems to be a common understanding that human beings often drive, lose perspective and need periodic adjustments to...
073: Good Enough
“Go for good enough. Worrying is often triggered by wanting to make the perfect choice or by trying to maximize everything.” – Alex Korb, The Upward Spiral Jeannette Slater and...
She Was A Runner
She was a runner. That’s why she showed up at a particular house in the piney woods of East Texas. I don’t know what she was running from, where she...
Detoured Intentional Journey
What do you do when your intentional journey is detoured by powers bigger than you? So asked Marcie Mayer as she wrote this guest article. A car accident, a torn...
072: Second-Order Change
How are you responding to world events (the pandemic, economics, civil unrest, etc.)? Are you waiting for when things get back to “normal?” Things will likely never be the same,...
071: Perceptions & Confirmation Bias
Dr. Deb delivers a talk to a group about how we form and maintain our perspectives. She explores the difference between observation & interpretation and how we seek out information...
You Are Contagious
Did you know you are contagious? In the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, we’re all thinking a lot about how we can potentially infect each other (or not!). In fact,...
Who Was St. Patrick?
Who was Saint Patrick, the patron saint of the Irish whose name represents all things green? Because of the holiday—St. Patrick’s Day celebrated every March 17th—you might think this historical...
New BEginnings
With the new year come expectations for improvement and pressure to come up with goals. Many websites and publications are full of articles on making resolutions. Gym parking lots are full...
What Is Advent?
Holiday music is playing in the stores. Newspapers land on doorsteps swollen to twice their normal size because of ads. Boxes are pulled from attics and garages with adornments for...
070: Stephany Wants to go to Washington
An honest & respectful discussion about the state of the political climate and culture of the U.S.—reasons Dr. Stephany Rose Spaulding is running for the U.S. Senate. We talk about...
069: Rethinking Faith
Jeannette Slater returns for another episode as we contrast what we think and believe about our faith then vs. now. This may be of particular interest to you if you’re...
All That Jazz
April 30th is International Jazz Day! The U.S. National Museum–called The Smithsonian–calls jazz both a historic and living American art form. It may have been born in the U.S., but...
