The Pocket Contemplative

As perplexing as our lives can feel at any given moment, big-name early Christians like Gregory of Nyssa encourage us that, right now, we have the stuff of unending spiritual growth and the joy and purpose that come with that. With his customary lively stories and cultural touchstones, Dave Schmelzer helps us poke our heads into Gregory's "darkness above the light" as we wade into a...

What are we hoping our spirituality will offer us as we age? The famed Harvard Grant Study looks at men and women over 75+ years to answer the question of what aging well--and dying well--looks like. What will lead to happiness, health and mental capacity in our eighties if we get that far. Among their intriguing findings: religiosity is surprisingly correlated with depression, but another version...

Our lives can feel like one big waiting-room where the stuff we're hoping will happen is taking a long time to actually, like, happen. But what if the deepest spiritual wisdom of all is embedded in plain sight in that observation? Join Dave Schmelzer as he looks, in this episode, at wisdom from the biblical Letter to the Hebrews about that unexpected contemplative insight--and from the way th...

Contemplatives tell us we all make a classic mistake: we desperately try to fix ourselves when, instead, we're offered a powerful road to change that both works and takes far less effort. Dave Schmelzer, with lots of stories, looks at biblical wisdom around waking up in this way and then incorporates powerful insights from teachers like, from within Christendom, Anthony De Mello and, from out...

In this occasional TPC series in which we consider what might be familiar Christian themes in fresh ways, Dave Schmelzer looks at the unrivaled power of crossing cultures on God's behalf. Why is that one action so often connected with experiencing spiritual power? Dave tells dramatic personal stories on these lines involving, like, Hezbollah, but then has a wealth of day-to-day looks at this,...

We all face disillusionment, but the contemplatives offer us the good news that we're then given a profound opportunity to be initiated into the mysteries that lead to freedom and growth--and maybe even enlightenment and eternal life. With plenty of stories, Dave Schmelzer will invite us into perspectives from, well, Jesus and also Father Richard Rohr and St. John of the Cross and Jack Kornfi...

A good deal of our misery comes from not feeling like our lives are turning out the way we'd planned. But Jesus--and mystics like Thomas Merton--strongly encourage us that we're on the wrong track when we look at our lives through that lens. Instead, they suggest an entirely different perspective on what we're up to that offers a new opportunity for enjoying our days, experiencing G...

We live amidst profound cultural and spiritual divisions but can feel adrift in terms of what to do about it apart from judging people across the divide from us. Historic spiritual wisdom does have some thoughts, some of which turn out to be quite practical. Dave Schmelzer walks us through a provocative case study with insights from Franciscans, Zen thinkers, and psychologists, along with his own...

Sometimes fervent, youthful faith can't make the journey into our adulthood, maybe because of life's suffering. But some of us then feel consequential loss, because feeling close to God, in good times and bad, felt great. Looking at the life of Harriet Tubman and focusing on Jesus's advice in his so-called "Farewell Discourse," Dave Schmelzer suggests that a lifetime of co...

The recent Atlanta shootings offer many storylines, not least highlighting racism directed towards Asian Americans. But one compelling storyline looks at the often destructive consequences of how conservative churches have taught about sexuality. Dave Schmelzer takes a candid look at this while then exploring the powerfully helpful contemplative reply that comes from major teachers like Francis of...

As we mature, we do whatever is required to make our lives work out. Still, the great spiritual traditions suggest that there remains a true you and me that will become forged over time, but will require attention and perhaps risk to experience. The more we discover and live this out, the more we find ourselves connected to the entire world. Join Dave Schmelzer for contemplative insights from Indi...

Inspired by the Oscar-nominated movie Sound of Metal , Dave Schmelzer looks at the latest research on how to find greater wellbeing. Starting, as Sound of Metal does, with contemplative practice, Dave looks at the research and advice behind practices like: writing rather than ruminating, spending discretionary money in a way that will lead to more happiness, learning how to savor life, and many mo...

We're told that God is powerful, but as we age, most of us are flummoxed or frustrated with how to think about that, because clearly that power quite often does not bring about things that are important to us. Dave Schmelzer--inviting us into a perspective from a new, occasional Journey On offering--details how Jesus (followed by Gandhi, among others) helps us experience what our very encoura...

Justice questions are an explosive dividing line. Natasha Huang, a leader in Journey On and a hospital chaplain, and Cecil Tengatenga, a health researcher at Yale, join Dave Schmelzer to pass on how insights from a transformative class experience they shared together about contemplative spirituality and racial justice have shaped their lives and the lives of their classmates ever since. Mentioned...

Most of us, in the end, experience two fundamental emotions. When the wind of life feels at our back, we feel great. When it feels in our face, we feel anxious and stressed. Both the Bible and the great spiritual teachers tell us that the way to experience the good one of these is mystical and comes by pursuing the kind of spiritual practice that empowers God to bring us everything we need--all on...

Persistent, heartfelt prayer has a long history of bringing good things into the world... but perhaps not in the direct way we'd hoped for. Dave Schmelzer looks at how many of his friends can no longer pray as they once did, because it doesn't "work." He talks about a provocative take on this from an unexpected contemplative point of view and about how many have found it unlock...

Modern mystics are quite user-friendly--but the early Christian saints encouraged us to sail into some deep waters. This week, Dave Schmelzer explores the kind of unity with God that early greats like Augustine and Athanasius encouraged us was the central goal of being alive--and was what offered the hope of immortality to come.  Mentioned on this podcast: Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor...

Constant change can feel uniquely hard. Do, say, beloved friends come and go? Or do we lose work or living situations that once were great? The mystics tell us that this is right at the core of reality--and that it's not all bad, particularly as we learn the key skill of living in the present moment as all that change swirls around us. Join Dave Schmelzer as he brings insight from the Old and...

Being lighthearted, while pleasant, can sound trivial. But it turns out to be a far bigger deal than we might think, in fact to be a central aspect of being loving and maybe even (if we believe a great Christian creed along with people like the Dalai Lama) of finding the meaning of life. Join Dave Schmelzer for a look at how spiritual masters (and happiness researchers) help us develop this crucia...

It's a paradox. Faith overtly offers us the chance to hear and live out promises from God. And then great saints (and, frankly, our friends whom we most trust) seem to suffer even more than normal people. Living in that paradox is at the heart of great spirituality. Join Dave Schmelzer as he tells vivid stories and learns from people like Catherine of Genoa and Father Richard Rohr and the so-...

Contemplative spirituality might suggest becoming more "inner"--being aware of all that's happening inside your consciousness. But it actually is meant to go just the other way--towards being so present to the moment at hand that nothing gets past you, that you notice people and a world that you otherwise certainly would have missed. Great souls like David Foster Wallace have though...

How "should" we feel in the craziness of the world around us? The answer might lie in Blue Mind, a joyful, contemplative state that neuroscientists tell us might affect how we age,  how we experience today, and even how we might productively engage with our ideological enemies. Mentioned on this podcast: Amishi Jha:  www.amishi.com Elissa Epel:  www.amecenter.ucsf.edu/elissa-epel Her boo...

Of course we all want to maximize pleasant times and minimize difficult ones, but the great spiritual teachers--in many cases taking perspective from the eccentric biblical book Ecclesiastes--tell us that learning to fully inhabit both the hard and the good times transforms everything as we're taken into a sort of God Zone. In this story-rich episode, Dave Schmelzer will explore wisdom not ju...

"What's new?" has become a difficult question for many of us to answer during the pandemic, and yet neuroscientists tell us that novelty is a key to happiness. Dave Schmelzer offers us insight from spiritual masters from Christianity, Judaism and Zen on this crucial question, with a particular look at often-misunderstood wisdom from St. Paul. As a throw-in, Paul explains why the hor...

Many earnest churchgoers have found great encouragement from lots of Bible reading. But, as life goes on, many of them not only burn out on Bible reading, but become disturbed by parts of the Bible that didn't bother them before. Dave Schmelzer takes a contemplative, journeying look at the good and bad elements of reading the Bible and, finally, at a hopeful way forward. Mentioned on this pod...