Spiritual Geography Podcast

We spend a lot of time asking who's right, but far less time asking what our beliefs are actually producing. There are an infinite number of expressions of spirituality. Not all of them will resonate with us; some we might find uncomfortable … or think the belief or practice is silly. I won’t judge someone’s spirituality by whether it’s right or wrong, since that knowledge is far beyond my human c...

Our belief systems are based on many assumptions that we rarely investigate. What you assume matters, because the rest of your beliefs sit on top of that foundation. Even if I were able to uncover and list all of my assumptions, I still wouldn’t be able to prove my spiritual beliefs. Although I can’t offer a proof as to the accuracy of my beliefs, I don’t need to fully see or understand all the my...

Music is very personal. We each have songs we like, musical styles we appreciate. Our spirituality has the same sort of individuality. Some of us like to interact with the Transcendent through nature … others through ritual … others through deep prayer or meditation. Preferring one method over the other doesn’t make someone wrong or less spiritual or in any way inferior. Merely different. Spiritua...

You can’t know someone’s spiritual journey merely by the room you find them in. Most of our judgments about someone else’s spirituality are based on assumptions that are probably not true. I have to continually remind myself to look at someone’s beliefs and see how these beliefs can be life-giving for them. I try to look at other’s beliefs with my two questions: (1) How does this belief help them?...

“God” is just a word. Why do I need to call the Divine “God”? We each have our own definition for words like God or religion or spirituality. These concepts are often impossible to put into words and yet we each have some intuitive understanding of what WE mean when we use the word. But we talk to others as if they share our unspoken definition, when - odds are - the person to whom you are speakin...

Do those in spirit form manipulate matter so we can find feathers or pennies? Or do they somehow lead us to see certain birds or rainbows? I don’t know. What I DO know is that seeing feathers as signs from loved ones helped me process my grief, letting me feel a continuing connection to those who have passed on. Some of the places and ways I found feathers were quite unusual … and do make me belie...

Our spiritual beliefs often become an anchor in our lives, keeping us steady in turbulent times. This second episode of the Spiritual Geography podcast continues my story of new spiritual experiences and understanding following a sudden death in my family. What happens when sharing our experiences leads to people pushing back on our interpretations? Joni Miller is a writer, researcher, coach, and...

What is our connection to the Divine? This first episode of the Spiritual Geography podcast discusses our connection to that which is Transcendent. I’ll tell you a little bit about my winding, wandering road, including the day that changed my connection to the Divine completely. This helped me to find a spirituality that fits me uniquely. Through my stories, research, and other people’s stories, I...