The Daily Edify

Today’s episode is about the concept of the 200-year present. It’s an idea from Elise Boulding (that I learned about from Krista Tippett), the Quaker sociologist, poet and peace researcher, who was born in Norway in 1920 and moved to the US with her parents when she was 3 years old.  It was Germany’s attack on Norway in World War II that shook her and her family deeply: seeing her peaceful homelan...

Today's episode is about the spiritual practice of "transcend and include" - first developed by Ken Wilbur, though I learned about it from Richard Rohr and Brian McLaren. Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at thedailyedify@gmail.com. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today's episode reflects on one of my favorite parts of the gospels, Matthew 11:28-30. "Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." This is the only place in the teachings of Jesus where he directly associates himself with a personality characteristic, saying, he is "gentle and humble of heart." What if that was the first thing...

Today's episode reflects on the poem by Wendell Berry, "The Peace of Wild Things." I learned about this poem during my medical leave a year ago and it has stayed with me ever since. Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at thedailyedify@gmail.com. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today's episode is about "critical yeast," a concept articulated by the global peacebuilder, John Paul Lederach , in his book “ The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace .” When we think about social change, we often think of arriving at "critical mass," getting large numbers of people behind a particular movement. But Lederach says that getting a small set...

Today's episode is about my favorite tree in our backyard at home: a beautiful, soaring white oak that (according to my very amateurish efforts, based on this Purdue University report here ) is approximately 191 years old. Last year, the Village of Wilmette, where we live, celebrated its 150th anniversary. All sorts of events were held, including some by communities of faith, to mark the occa...

Today's episode is about viewing our sighs as prayers, drawing on a generative line from the apostle Paul: "We don't know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words" (Romans 8:26). I recently learned  that there’s a physiological reason for sighing. On average, we sigh 12 times an hour – roughly every 5 minutes or so. Sighing re-infl...

Today's episode is about the lifelong call to become the truest and deepest version of ourselves - the presence of light and life and love in the world. We mention a story told by Martin Buber from his book, "Tales of the Hasidim." Rabbi Zusya, before his death, said, ‘In the coming world, they will not ask me: ‘Why were you not Moses?’ They will ask me: ‘Why were you not Zusya?&apo...

Today’s episode is about a better way to talk about that deeply misleading and cumbersome idea of “work-life balance.” David Whyte’s 2009 book, The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship , gives us much more expansive language for integrating our multifaceted lives. The three marriages Whyte articulates are to (1) work, to (2) self and to (3) relationship. Whyte believes we are a...

Today’s episode is about the Internal Family Systems model, an integrative psychological approach for healing and restoring wholeness that I've found to be really helpful.  IFS, as it's known, was developed by Richard Schwartz in the late 1980s, and is used today by many practitioners (including my own therapist). It combines family systems theory with a recognition that our minds are ma...

Today’s episode is about the second half of an ancient commandment that many of us know by heart: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It comes from Leviticus 19:18, part of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, that Jesus cited one day when asked which commandment in the law was the greatest. At first, he answers as expected by citing the "Shema" of Deuteronomy 6, "Love the Lord your God wi...

Today’s episode features a beautiful poem by Hafiz,  “We Have not Come Here to Take Prisoners.” Hafiz was a Persian lyric poet who was born in Iran in the 14th century. Not much is known about his life, but his poetry is widely viewed as the pinnacle of Persian literature.  I discovered this poem a couple of years ago through a coach. Every time I read it, I’m re-centered and empowered to lead a l...

Today’s episode honors the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - the preacher, poet, civil rights activist, husband, father and theologian, who was only 39 when he was killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. He was there to support the city's striking sanitation workers and had just given the speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” the night befo...

Today's episode is about the meaningful tradition of handing out "Star Words" (not to be confused with Star Wars) each year on Epiphany. It was started by a church in Connecticut back in 2009 and has since spread to hundreds of congregations (including ours here in Wilmette).  A "star gift” or “star word” is a simple card with a single word on it, words like “marvel,” “play,” “...

Today's episode is about living the questions. The phrase is drawn from a famous quotation by Rainer Maria Rilke in letter four of his "Letters to a Young Poet," written in 1903. Rilke was exchanging letters with Franz Kappus, a young military cadet who was wrestling with what to do with his life - should he continue with a career in the military, or quit and become a poet instead?...

Today's episode is about "holy indifference," a posture for living articulated by Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) in his book, " The Spiritual Exercises. "  For Ignatius, "holy indifference" does not mean not caring. But it's about not being attached - to money, to status, to health - to maintain a stance of being engaged without being enmeshed, connected wit...

Today's episode is drawn from the introductory chapter to a recent book by Gareth Higgins , " How Not to Be Afraid: Seven Ways to Live When Everything Seems Terrifying. " Higgins is a storyteller and peace activist who was born in Belfast during “the Troubles” and now lives in Asheville, North Carolina. The book’s title makes it sound like a slick how-to manual, but it’s not. It’s a...

Today's pilot episode is about the practice of self-compassion. (Podcasts coming every weekday beginning on January 10, 2023!) Dr. Kristin Neff , currently associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, is the pioneer of  the self-compassion movement. See her TED talk here , her books here and the Center of Mindful Self-Compassion , which she founded with...