Way Collective Podcast

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 07/01/26 with Barbra Valentine, entitled Sacred Stories That Shape Us. In this episode, Barbra guided us in an evening of reflection on the stories that have shaped our spiritual lives, and invited us into a shared exploration of the experiences, relationships, questions, and moments of wonder that have awakened us to the sacred mys...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 06/24/26, entitled Seeing Through the Eyes of the Sacred. In this episode, we talk how to encounter the sacred in ourselves and others through learning to see ourselves as God sees us, and how, when we borrow God's eyes, we begin to see the beauty and dignity of everyone around us. Thanks for tuning in! 

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 06/17/26, entitled The Sacredness of Community. In this episode, we talk about how community life is one way we experience the sacred, and how, when there is room for deep trust and belonging, we find something rare in our fragmented time -- the possibility of contemplative friendships. Thanks for tuning in! 

This is a special episode in conversation with a member of our community, author and public theologian Damon Garcia on 06/16/26, entitled Why You Don't Need a Calling. In this episode, Damon and Tim chat about the scope of Damon's work, and what led him to write his forthcoming book: You Don't Need a Calling: An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto for a Life of Purpose. They also discuss the effects of late...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 06/10/26, entitled Turning to the Sacred. In this episode, we begin our Summer series of conversations by asking "what" the sacred means, and, through the metaphor of landscape, we look at the invitation to attune to the sacred as gaining a deeper sense of a Beauty that holds the full spectrum of human life and emotion. Thanks for t...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 05/20/26, entitled Mystery and the Path of Unknowing. In this episode, we wrap up our series on mystery by talking about how mystery is a way of seeing the world, and how the path of unknowing is always available to us, inviting us into a kin-dom presence where we can be grounded in peace in an impatient world. Thanks for tuning in!...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 05/20/26, entitled The Mystery of the Present Moment. In this episode, we talk about the mystery of the present moment as an invitation to recognize that there is something precious going on in every moment of our experience, and to have "eyes to see" means that we can sense the infinite in the finite passingness of things. Thanks f...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 05/13/26, entitled Finding Mystery in Ourselves and Others. In this episode, we talk about what it looks like to encounter the mystery of a person beyond our experiences of them, and how upholding that we are always more than our past and present situations invites us into an unfolding compassion for ourselves and one another. Thank...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 04/29/26, entitled Relating From Mystery. In this episode, we talk about what it looks like to relate to the world from this sense of mystery and curiosity -- to disrupt our future storytelling and worrying with a sense of unknowing that always invites us back to the present moment to tend gently to what is going on within us and ar...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 04/22/26, entitled The Big Mystery. In this episode, we talk about the big, cosmic mystery within which all of our human dramas are taking place, gaining inspiration from the recent DESI 3D map of the cosmos, we remember that something incomprehensible, grandiose, and mysterious is taking place here -- and we each have a part in it....

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 04/16/26, entitled Circling the Mystery. In this episode, we introduce this series on mystery by reflecting on how mystery is an orienting device, rather than a navigating one, and how there are areas in our lives where we need clarity, but there is also always an invitation to let the mystery hold all that we do. Thanks for tuning...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 04/08/26, entitled What is Progressive Christianity? with Jim Burklo. In this episode, we welcome pastor and author Jim Burklo, who shared thoughts from his recent book, Water in the Desert, on the core convictions of a progressive Christianity that is centered on love and a common table where all are welcome. Thanks for tuning in! 

This is a special episode that is an our 2026 Easter Meditation, entitled, A Radiant Theosis: Catching a Flash of the True Self on Resurrection Sunday. In this episode, we talk about the Easter story from Matthew 28, and read it as a metaphor for catching a glimpse of the True Self, connecting that theme with our Lenten series and our Good Friday meditation. Christ is risen, and thanks for tuning...

This is a special episode that is a Good Friday Meditation. You can listen to this while walking the stations of the cross, or strolling your neighborhood or the coast, or while sitting down wherever you are comfortable. Happy Holy Week, and thanks for tuning in! 

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 04/01/26, entitled Giving Up, For Good. In this episode, we bring this series Giving Up and Waking Up to a close by reflecting on how this practice of letting go can extend far beyond Lent, and how when we have eyes to see things in our life that are no longer serving us and can detach from them, a deeper connection with our fellow...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 03/25/26, entitled Unveilings of Our Unravelling Egos. In this episode, we reflect on the insights that came from our honest sharing about the ways our egos show up in the world, and how beneath our performance and protection, there is a profound, common longing for belonging in our shared human situation. Thanks for tuning in! 

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 03/18/26, entitled Come As Your Ego. In this episode, our community came dressed as our egos, and we offered as a reflection exercise for conversation about how our egos offer us a way to move through the world, and also invite us into deeper honesty and presence. Thanks for tuning in! 

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 03/11/26, entitled A Presence Beyond the Ego. In this episode, we talk about how the big picture of giving things up during Lent has to do with starting to separate from the ego's control over our identity, and how, when we start to loosen our grasp, we open into a much larger, truer Self. Thanks for tuning in! 

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 03/04/26, entitled Pilgrimage as a Practice. In this episode, Pat and Sheryl Kelly share about their journey through the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, how they experienced their post-retirement pilgrimage in Spain, and invited our community to reflect on the pilgrimages we are each being invited into in the liminal spaces in our...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 02/25/26, entitled On Giving Up and Waking Up. In this episode, we talk about the Lenten theme of connecting practices of letting go with building loving presence, and how, when we are able to learn the prayerful practice of "dispassion," we become untethered from the unconscious stories, desires, and fears that run our lives. Thank...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 02/18/26, entitled Ash Wednesday Thoughts. In this episode, we talk about the ashes of our world, and how taking time to contemplate mortality actually invites us to integrate death into our perspective and come into a more present and loving posture in the world. Thanks for tuning in! 

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 02/11/26, entitled Reading the Bible Like Jesus. In this episode, we talk about how everyone picks and chooses certain parts of their sacred texts to emphasize, and how Jesus read and used his own sacred text, as a call for us each to engage more lovingly with our sacred traditions. Thanks for tuning in! 

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 02/04/26, entitled Protecting Our Neighbors' Belonging. In this episode, Dr. Karen Rice shares about how we can find belonging within activism by using our unique gifts to contribute to the better good, and help protect our neighbors' belonging in times like these. Thanks for tuning in! 

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 01/28/26, entitled On Beginning Again. In this episode, we talk about how we are each learning to treat ourselves and others with patience by getting comfortable with the rhythm of beginning again - and how, in urgent times, slowing down to get a feel for this builds compassion within us and helps us resist the callousness of our ti...

This is the recording from our Dinner & Dialogue gathering on 01/21/26, entitled Peaceful and Present, Together. In this episode, we honor our new partnership between Way Collective and First Congregational Church Santa Barbara, called Kin Commons, by looking at the value of practicing peaceful presence together, and how communities like ours that prioritize love can be a part of healing the w...