Latter-day Contemplation

Mack Stirling on René Girard’s mimetic theory

Christopher and Riley are always searching out new theories and hermeneutics through which to interpret ideas, scripture, literature, or human experience.  Recently, they embarked on a concerted study of René Girard’s mimetic theory and let’s just say it has been fruitful and paradigm shifting.  They would love for others to join them in a study of this brilliant, Christian anthropologist’s ideas....

We recorded this follow up episode a few weeks after recording Episode #82, Where to Begin, as a follow up to report on our experiences with some contemplative practices we wanted to continue or inaugurate.

In this shorter episode Christopher and Riley discuss the most frequent question we receive from those new to contemplative practice - Where do I begin?  We offer some basic ideas, which can be implemented incrementally or all at once to put yourself on the path to becoming a contemplative.  The core of contemplation is always stillness.  To sit in silence, and preferably, solitude will do more to...

In this episode Christopher and Riley discuss Joseph Campbell’s well-known model of mythology, The Hero’s Journey, and how it can be used as a model for personal transformation.  Joseph Campbell was a renowned author and professor whose groundbreaking work in The Hero With a Thousand Faces did more than describe a pattern in cosmological storytelling, but unlocked a way of looking at our lives tha...

“For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.”   D&C 89:17 Americans waste nearly 40% of all food, roughly 42 billion pounds per year, and even in this glut of supply we are undernourished nutritionally speaking, because of how our food is produced for appearance and taste.  The same c...

President Nelson has encouraged Latter-day Saints to take personal responsibility for their own learning, but not many members do, relying heavily upon borrowed testimonies and lessons at church.  In 2018, as Pres. Nelson introduced the new home centered, church supported gospel instruction plan, he said, “We are each responsible for our individual spiritual growth”.  In this episode Christopher a...

In this episode, Christopher and Riley talk about Heavenly Mother with Kathryn Knight Sonntag, author of a collection of poems on the Divine Feminine entitled, The Tree at the Center (Common Consent, 2019) and a second book on the Goddess, The Mother Tree: Discovering the Love and Wisdom of Our Divine Mother (Faith Matters, 2022).

In this episode Chris & Riley are joined by Dr. Sahar Qumsiyeh.  Dr. Qumsiyeh is a Palestinian American Christian who grew up in Bethlehem under Israeli occupation, attended BYU, joined the Church of Jesus Christ, studied in Turkey, and returned to Palestine, before taking a permanent position at BYU-Idaho as a math professor.  She recounts her vivid experiences living under a brutally segrega...

For this episode Christopher and Riley were pleased to welcome artist, architect, husband, father, and scripture junkie, Bob Sonntag, to discuss the power of ritual in family and community spiritual practice, language, art, space, and song.  Bob has spent considerable time studying ritual in sacred texts and his art reflects this focus on transformation through participatory remembrance.  He has a...

In this episode of Latter-day Contemplation, Christopher and Riley were joined by Jana Johnson Spangler to pay tribute to the life and legacy of Franciscan friar, Richard Rohr.  Father Rohr, as an ecumenical teacher, speaker, and author is largely responsible for the modern resurgence in popularity of contemplative practices.  He has successfully brought together teachers from many Christian denom...

In Episode 74, Christopher and Riley revisit a topic they’ve previously spoken about on the podcast, but from a different perspective.  Episode 5: On Peace deals with inner peace, while this one deals with interpersonal, relational, and world peace.  They explore the LDS doctrinal case for renouncing war in Sec. 98 as a springboard to a larger discussion about practical application of peace, as ex...

For this episode, Christopher and Riley are joined by LDPS member and contributor, Jeffrey Goddard, for a wide-ranging discussion on justice, sin & righteousness, good & evil, and atonement.  In the past year Jeff read or listened to 200 books, and wrote one of his own – The Physician Christ.  As a medical practitioner he tends to see the world through a scientific lens which adds critical...

In this episode of Latter-day Contemplation, Christopher and Riley are joined by a friend of the program and Carl Jung fan, Morgan Aldous, to discuss the concept of the Jungian Shadow.  Morgan is a life coach who has spent considerable time in the study of psychology, philosophy, and religion as the means to personal transformation.  This concept of The Shadow, which historically finds expression...

In this episode Christopher and Riley draw upon the teachings of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, Byron Katie upack the stoic concepts of Amor Fati (love of fate, consent to destiny) and Objectivity as a means of better understanding Christ and our duties as disciples.  The evidence surrounds us; life is filled with adversity, or as a Buddhist might say, “life is suffering”.  Thermodynamics fur...

In this episode, Christopher & Riley take up a discussion on emotions and emotional intelligence.  They start from the premise that humans are (contrary to popular opinion) primarily emotional, not rational, beings.  Taking this as a given, they search for meaning in the emotional journey, and recognizing our emotional drivers, suggest practices to help us respond appropriately to our emotiona...

For this episode of Latter-day Contemplation Riley welcomes back Phil McLemore to discuss the power habits and rituals.  Habits can be positive or negative and ultimately become the structural backbone of our lives.  As we learn to use them in productive ways we are led to lives of inner and outer transformation.  However, habits have the potential to become an unconscious, soul and agency destroy...

In this episode Christopher and Riley welcome artist Greg Olsen. Greg is particularly well-known in LDS circles as a painter of Jesus. Our hosts had the opportunity to mine his experiences becoming a professional painter of religious iconography and images that convey the relatable nature of the Savior. Of course, he is much more than his public works and this conversation takes them through his c...

In this episode Christopher and Riley welcome Phil McLemore and Ben Heaton, Bhagavad Gita enthusiasts and students of Vedic wisdom, to finish our discussion of the seminal Hindu scripture.  Our hosts dive into the usefulness of the book, approaches to understanding it, and a few favorite passages.

The Book of Exodus can be divided into three parts: First, we witness the power of the Lord as he extends his arm against Pharaoh, sending the ten plagues and finally parting the Sea of Reeds, which swallows up Pharoah and his army, letting Moses and the Israelites escape into the wilderness. In the second part, Moses will ascend Mount Sinai and receive the law (Torah). The final section of the bo...

In this episode, Christopher and Riley discuss one of their favorite religious texts, an excerpt from the Mahabharata, called the Bhagavad Gita. This seminal Hindu work introduces the various forms of Yoga as an allegorical discourse between the warrior prince, Arjuna, and the reincarnated God, Krishna. Contrary to the Western understanding of Yoga, this has less to do with stretching muscles and...

Christopher is joined by guest co-host Shiloh Logan to talk about the history of “Satan” from the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible through today. This is not a theological discussion but a historical discussion of how the idea of Satan has evolved. Shiloh and Christopher use scholar Ryan Stokes to show how the idea of “the Satan” was understood before the Jewish captivity in Babylon, how that changed...

In a church with global proselytizing reach, which must outgrow its geographic origins theologically and practically, the Great Apostasy, as historically understood in LDS theology, has become problematic.  For this episode we welcome back our friend, Sufi al-hajj Daud, a.k.a. Dr. David Peck ( www.ofsaintsandsufis.org ) to discuss his contribution to the book, Standing Apart, a scholarly collabora...

Among the world’s many religions are shadow traditions that express the esoteric or mystical experience of divine union.  In Christianity this is manifest in ecstatic, revelatory examples, such as within restorationist movements, in monastic cloisters, and through spontaneous re-emergence among individuals and small groups accessing truth through mystical experience.  Parallel to the ascendance of...

In the opening of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven belongs now to the "poor in spirit", which translates as "the very empty ones". What does that kind of poverty or emptiness imply? Surely Jesus wants us to have an abundance of His Spirit, but is our vessel empty? In this episode, Christopher and Riley break down identity recognition, formation, and cleansing. They...