🔥 Follow Me to the M-R-O-P!

What happens when a touring worship leader from Dodge City leaves his intellectual scaffolding in the woods and realizes that "dead men don't swat flies"? In this twenty-eighth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Jared Adams for a fascinating conversation about his 2012 initiation at Pilgrim Park, Illinois. Jared, a freelance creative and touring singer-songwri...

What happens when a filmmaker and recovering alcoholic heads to a river to grieve his father, only to find an audiobook calling him to the wilderness? In this twenty-seventh episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Mark Titus for a deeply moving conversation about his May 2024 initiation in Deroche, British Columbia. Mark, an advocate for wild salmon and indigenous...

What happens when an 8th-grade math teacher, who often felt more comfortable in the presence of women than talking sports with men, enters the deep woods of Minnesota and reconnects with his own sense of masculinity? In this twenty-sixth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Ken Beck for an incredibly honest and refreshing conversation about his 2013 initiation a...

What happens when an academic who built his entire identity around achievement suffers a major heart attack, only to be found sitting in his hospital bed still frantically emailing his co-workers? In this twenty-fifth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Dave Kraybill for a profound conversation about his 2024 initiation at Aravaipa Canyon, Arizona. Dave, a reti...

What happens when a retired engineer sitting in the Arizona desert suddenly starts singing Doris Day, only to realize he's being called to help heal the brokenness of other men? In this twenty-fourth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Al Selder for an inspiring conversation about his 2005 initiation at a YMCA camp in Oracle, Arizona. Al shares how trusting the...

What happens when an arrogant, 60-year-old youth minister who thinks he has his spiritual life completely "figured out" arrives at the rites terrified and is forced to tear down his carefully constructed walls? In this twenty-third episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Mike Whitman for a deeply reflective conversation about his 2008 initiation at Pilgrim Park, Il...

What happens when a "top-heavy" intellectual, whose marriage and worldview are crumbling, lies face down in a dry creek bed and finally lets his body do the weeping? In this twenty-second episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Matthew Lyda for a deeply moving conversation about his 2018 initiation at Pilgrim Park, Illinois. Matthew, a spiritual director from Spart...

What happens when an ex-SWAT officer and first-responder chaplain arrives at the rites, only to find that the hardest part is holding space for other men trying to "fix" him? In this twenty-first episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Matt Domyancic for an incredibly raw and unique conversation about his initiation in Big Bear, California. Matt shares his perspect...

What happens when a man searching for a "mystical" vision in the desert instead discovers a hidden, intergenerational wound—and decides to end his family's lineage of pain with a single pound of his fist? In this twentieth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Bill McElroy for a powerful conversation about his 2004 initiation at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. Bill refl...

What happens when a stressed-out doctoral student, given just three weeks to save his academic career, finds himself completely unplugged in the desert and invited to dismantle his ego? In this nineteenth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Doug Shirley for a profound conversation about his 2016 initiation at Aravaipa Canyon. Doug, an academic, therapist, and c...

What happens when a man is told by Father Richard Rohr that he isn't "old enough" to have a profound spiritual experience, only to realize exactly what he meant thirty years later? In this eighteenth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Tom Melancon for a fascinating look at his lifelong spiritual journey. Tom, a recently retired federal mediator from Seattle, f...

What happens when a spiritually exhausted first responder, hoping for a magical message from God, discovers that true initiation is actually an invitation into human wholeness? In this seventeenth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Brody Fulk for an insightful conversation about his 2024 initiation at Deroche in British Columbia, Canada. Brody arrived at the r...

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Donovan Vicha. What happens when a man who spent 45 years carrying the pain of his father's rejection finally shatters the past to discover he is the "possibility of love, joy, and wonder"? In this sixteenth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Rich Horton for a deeply moving conversation about his 2014 initiation at Pi...

What happens when a man in formation to become clergy realizes his chosen spiritual path is lacking something essential because it isn't speaking to him as a man? In this fifteenth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Rich Gierak for an engaging conversation about his 2006 initiation at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. Rich shares how he embarked on a three-day motorcyc...

What happens when an Enneagram 7 psychotherapist who has spent his life running from grief finds himself howling in the desert, realizing he needs to trade his "rock-hard" exterior for a fleshy, fertile heart? In this fourteenth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Jeffrey Batstone for a profound conversation about his 2016 initiation at Aravaipa Canyon. Jeffrey...

What happens when an intellectual Enneagram 5 complains to Father Richard Rohr about sleeping on a one-inch mattress, only to be told, "That's exactly the point"? In this thirteenth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Gary Meagher for a deeply reflective conversation about his 2008 initiation at Pilgrim Park, Illinois . Gary shares how he arrived at the rites a...

What happens when a man realizes he’s been bumping through life like a blind cave fish, only to find that the "inner peace" he’s been praying for requires him to sit perfectly still in a 6x6 square of desert solitude? In this twelfth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with John Groleau for a candid conversation about his 2012 initiation in the Texas wilderness. Joh...

What happens when a man facing a midlife crisis and clinical depression discovers that his position of comfort is actually a "position of contracture" keeping him stuck? In this eleventh episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Steve Conroy for a powerful account of his 2006 initiation at Frost Valley, New York. Steve shares how arriving at the rites in a raw, vulne...

What happens when a man in long-term recovery realizes that the language of his sobriety is beginning to feel "rote," and he discovers that his anger is actually just a mask for deep disappointment? In this tenth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Ramiro de la Garza for a visceral account of his 2022 initiation at Pilgrim Park. Ramiro, a member of the AA commu...

What happens when a man who has spent 75 years "creeping south" realizes his greatest journey is the inward descent from anger into the well of grief? In this ninth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Bill Prindle for a deeply honest conversation about his 2024 initiation at Shrine Mont. Bill, a poet and hospice volunteer, shares how a simple "GPS snafu" reveal...

What happens when a busy consultant and father of three trades his constant connectivity for a quiet spot by a river to listen to what his soul is actually saying? In this eighth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Elias Kruger for an honest look at his 2022 initiation at John Knox Ranch in Texas. Elias reflects on his transition from a devout religious backgro...

What happens when a man reaches the "corporate mountaintop," only to realize the air is thin and he can’t quite catch his breath ? In this seventh episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Bill Weber for an insightful look at his 2011 initiation in the Catskills of New York. Bill, an Enneagram 3 who spent decades in a high-powered corporate career, shares how he spen...

What happens when a man realizes that the thing he is shrinking back from is exactly what he needs to lean into? In this ninth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Mark Eggenschwiller for a powerful conversation about his 2024 initiation at Aravaipa Canyon in Arizona. Mark shares how his journey began with a mystical omen—a hawk carrying a snake across the sky—a...

What happens when the "good son"—the man who prides himself on being the reliable family "fixer"—realizes that his identity is built on a foundation of ego and false affirmations? In this fifth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Mick Owens for a vulnerable conversation about his 2008 initiation at Pilgrim Park in Illinois. Mick, a retired teacher with over fiv...

What happens when a "messianic" doer—a man who prides himself on being "too proud to fail"—finally encounters the "restless emptiness" of his own soul? In this fourth episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P! , host Brian Mueller sits down with Bob Colaresi for a deeply moving conversation about his 2005 initiation in the woods of Minnesota. Bob, a Carmelite priest for nearly 60 years, shares a vulnera...