The Pocket Contemplative

In the last TPC, Dave Schmelzer talked about how a profound union with God is what 1,200 years of Christian spirituality teaches is what you and I most want--though you might not have been taught this after the Reformers went in a different direction. In this episode, Dave dives into the most lasting theory in the Christian tradition about how we might get this union, Teresa of Avila's seven-...

When you explore the history of Christian spirituality, you run across a big surprise. For 1,200 years, the biggie Christian teachers told us that we've been created to profoundly want one and only one thing--union with God along the lines of what Teresa of Avila calls "mystical marriage." Maybe you weren't taught that! If not, you might want to blame John Calvin, who wrote at...

In this longer episode, Dave Schmelzer reviews fascinating research about how prayer--and faith--can work so powerfully. He reviews a new book by Nir Eyal which explores the crucial role of injecting hope into our lives and how, that done, our bodies can thrive and we can develop what Eyal calls the "high agency" that can empower us to take meaningful action when life throws obstacles ou...

Generations of people exploring contemplative spirituality, both in the Christian tradition (Thomas Merton) and outside of it (Thich Nhat Hanh) have gone back again and again to one brilliant and confounding teacher, the German academic and mystic Meister Eckhart. He's the mystic other mystics look to. Dave Schmelzer will take just a bit more time than normal to unpack why this might be so an...

We talk about happiness every now and again, but how can we find it if we realize the things we'd been pinning our happiness on, our biggest dreams, just aren't going to happen? Or even if the bottom really seems to fall out, if we get a terrible diagnosis or someone we love does? What then? Dave Schmelzer discusses research from Sonja Lyubomirsky that suggests potent ways forward.  Ment...

The connection between contemplative practice and psychotherapy is often noted, but how that came to be is a fascinating story. Dave Schmelzer offers a look at fourth century monk Evagrius of Pontus as a key example of what came out of desert spirituality and, in particular, as the (possible) originator of things you might know and love like the Enneagram, the seven deadly sins and, yes, what Freu...

Cutting to the chase, getting what we want won't make us happy because of what the researchers call "hedonic adaptation." The good news is that these same researchers tell us these desires for our lives absolutely can be central in helping us create a happy life. So what gives? How can our dreams for our lives work for us and not against us? Dave Schmelzer will explore this key ques...

In another episode of Dave's "history corner," he looks at the cataclysm that happened when the emperor made Christianity the state's religion in 325. Where Christians had been poor, persecuted and few in number, it now messed with the heads of the old guard to suddenly be favored and joined by millions of far less devout "fellow Christians" who loved the perks of the...

Contemplative practice has a remarkable connection to our physical health, among its many benefits. Dave Schmelzer will review how it connects with lengthening our telomeres, the caps on our chromosomes which determine whether we age with vigor or disease. He'll touch on advice for stress management and exercise and diet and sleep, all in a context of a mindful world.  Mentioned on this podca...

"I dunno, that seems kind of out there to me" is a sentiment that has shadowed Christian conversations from the start. Dave Schmelzer takes us on a journey to the second century when early attempts to define orthodoxy made consequential choices about how much our experience might inform our understanding of who God is. He introduces us to key figures like Irenaeus and to a consequential...

After relaying some brief advice from Dick Van Dyke about turning 100, Dave Schmelzer chats about some wisdom from the Buddhist therapist Lewis Richmond about what he's learned by working with aging clients. Dave touches on fascinating ideas from Richmond about horizontal versus vertical time and the isolation of a sudden setback and experiencing aging as a fresh start along with much more. M...

Mark Charbonneau and his friends at The Vine church in Austin, Texas are charting a unique way forward in our cultural and religious divisions. Dave Schmelzer talks with him about what their “third way” looks like and how it might help all of us in the middle of such unprecedented divisions. Does it only apply to a small number of people of good will? Does it offer broader hope? They close with a...

Some great thinkers like GK Chesterton and Meister Eckhart pitch that right at the heart of God's reality is play and that the more we can tap into this bone-deep playfulness, even in the middle of realities that look quite unpromising and overwhelming, the better we'll thrive. Mentioned on this podcast The God Who Plays: A Playful Approach to Theology and Spirituality , by Brian Edgar ...

One of the charms of Christian faith is that so many scriptures encourage us to ask God for things we want. But as we age we realize it must be more complicated than that--and the great contemplatives add complexities as they focus on things like union with God as the main thing or with cautions about things like "disordered attachments". But we still do in fact want things! Dave Schmelz...

One unexpected outcome of the Christian contemplative life is that, per the Benedictines, we'll discover that the stuff we need to do everyday has the possibility of moving from "that stuff we have to get done" to "co-creating a better world with God." And not just that, but it also then might make our days feel rich and purposeful when they'd been feeling less than t...

Dave Schmelzer used to lead a church in which looking to experience power that we're told comes from the Holy Spirit was a big deal. Does that view of the spiritual life translate to a contemplative world? It turns out the answer is not just "yes," but even "oh, you have no idea." Mentioned on this podcast: Check out the next session of Faith Part 2 in October. It's a...

Dave Schmelzer and Curtis Gruenler (an English professor and medievalist) have been friends since college and they talk about the ins and outs of how friendships themselves can empower the kind of growth in God that we talk about on The Pocket Contemplative. Mentioned on this podcast: If you'd like to register interest in October's (free, eight-week) Faith Part 2 course, let us know here...

In this continuation of a look (from Notre Dame sociologist Chrisitan Smith) at the religious world that Millennials in particular are living in, Dave Schmelzer will continue to look at some large, cultural forces at play before turning to some self-inflicted wounds from religion.   Mentioned on this podcast Register your interest here for this fall's Faith Part 2 course , a free, online look...

Evangelical parents are taught that a key part of their parental responsibility is to raise their kids to be Christians. But that's becoming, in an understatement, far more challenging  says notable Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith. In this revealing first of a two part podcast, Dave Schmelzer will walk you through some of the large-scale cultural forces that, Smith reports, are driving...

Many earnest evangelicals and charismatics, Dave Schmelzer among them, have found comfort and connection in learning to hear God's voice in the spirit taught by the great 17th-century contemplative Brother Lawrence. But an insurmountable problem usually comes up: as delightful as the conversation itself is, lots and lots of things that are important to us don't actually work out in ways...

Many of the most prominent social activists in the last half century or so have also been contemplatives: Howard Thurman, the Dalai Lama, and Thomas Merton among others. Does the sort of spirituality we talk about here have things to offer in a world like ours where people feel daily outrages flowing through their media feeds? Might our practices actually be negative--in that moving past constant...

The end goal of spiritual development for most great Christian contemplatives is some sort of union with God. But many people find that to feel pretty distant--maybe it's something we can only hope for in heaven. But a recent, major Christian contemplative named Bernadette Roberts offers a more direct pathway not only to union with God (and maybe beyond), but also to direct lifestyle benefits...

Some people, feeling unsettled by the election, have wondered what the wisdom talked about on The Pocket Contemplative might offer us. Dave Schmelzer looks to Julian of Norwich, who lived during her own unsettling time (the Bubonic Plague), for some thoughts. In his introduction, he also talks about "Faith Part 2," a new 8-week online course about the how-to's of a faith that, learn...

 Hartmut Rosa is a German sociologist whom many Christians have been looking to as a guide to how our lives seem to be accelerating. Do we somehow need to opt out of this acceleration if we want a happy life, much less a life with God? Rosa says no, opting out isn’t possible. But he does have a contemplative answer: “resonance,” a kind of paying attention that can sit alongside much of what we tal...

Dave Schmelzer is in touch with many people who are, to a greater or lesser degree, deconstructing their earlier faith experience, a common process for midlife people of faith. HIstoric Christian spirituality tells us there's a unique second-half-of-life flowering of faith. Dave lets us in on a series of conversations he's been having about how we might explore that in our era.  Mentione...