Spiritual Geography Podcast

I’m currently serving as power of attorney for someone. That gives me the authority to make certain decisions on their behalf. But it doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want. I have a responsibility to act in their best interests. Shouldn’t we expect the same responsibility from the people we elect to represent us? When we vote, we’re entrusting people with the authority to make important decisions...

Discerning what’s true has become an important part of citizenship. We talk about misinformation, confusing ballot language, why truth matters even when it hurts “our side,” and how asking questions like “Who benefits?” and “Where did you hear that?” can help us see through the smoke and mirrors. When we can see through the smoke and mirrors, we’re better able to choose the kind of communities and...

What does it mean to love your country? And what does that love ask of us? In this episode of Spiritual Geography, I explore the idea of “cheap patriotism”—patriotism that asks nothing of us—and what jury duty, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s idea of “cheap grace,” and my own experience have taught me about participation, responsibility, and putting love into action. Maybe patriotism isn’t simply something...

The polls may be encouraging, but polls aren’t the future. In our latest Evolving Democracy Live, Christy and I talk about the temptation to keep checking the numbers and asking, “How are we doing?” Maybe there’s a more useful question: What am I doing? We talk about the many ways people are participating in this election, from canvassing and marches to conversations and simply making civic partic...

When we think about civic engagement, we often think of voting. If we want to get more involved, we might think of protesting, phone banking, or knocking on doors. But if those activities feel uncomfortable, it might seem like activism just isn’t for you. But what if there are many other ways to make a difference? Today on Evolving Democracy Live, Christy and I talked about how each of us can “mov...

In today’s Live, Christy and I talked about how we might turn our rumination regarding the chaos, fear, and uncertainty into Rumi-Nation, using the ageless wisdom of the 13th-century mystic to help move our nation forward. Rumi’s idea that “where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure” can be our rallying point to create something more loving, expansive, and humane out of the destruction now...

Were the feathers I found really signs from people I loved who had died? I don’t know. After my brother died, I began having experiences I couldn’t explain. As I read about after-death communication, I learned that many people experience ordinary things — birds, butterflies, pennies, feathers — as signs from people they have lost. Then feathers began showing up for me, too … sometimes in ways that...

When we think about power, we tend to look up — to presidents, billionaires, institutions, and the people who seem to be calling the shots. What happens if we look around instead? This week on Emerging Democracy , Christy and I talk about power-over: dominance, hierarchy, othering, and the insistence that everyone conform. But more importantly, we talk about its antidote: power-with. None of us ha...

After my brother died, I started having experiences I couldn’t explain. Hearing voices. Feeling as if I was communicating with long-dead relatives. After I while I had to draw a line. I said out loud, “This is too much. I don’t know which voice is my own. I need you to go away.” They did. And almost immediately, I wanted them back. What happened next was my journey into other people’s accounts of...

This week we lost Dolly Parton, an extraordinary talent and an even more extraordinary humanitarian. She had an outsize impact on the world, donating hundreds of millions of books to children. She didn’t start out donating millions of books. She started with one. There is power in small actions. These seemingly small actions pile up and, before you know it, there are millions upon millions of acti...

So many of us want the world to change. Sometimes we find ourselves wishing some outside force would come in and create a magical transformation. But what if we are part of that magical force? In today’s live broadcast, Christy and I talked about how what looks like a miracle may actually be thousands of small actions accumulating over time. A conversation. A protest. A vote. A story shared with s...

This is continuing the story of what happened after my brother suddenly died, when I felt like I started hearing from him directly. We each interpret our experiences, whether the experiences are “otherworldly” or “everyday.” I interpreted my “otherworldly” experiences one way, and my interpretation ran afoul of someone else’s spiritual beliefs. That conversation raised a question I spent years pon...

It’s true that we want to reclaim our ability to influence the political outcomes of our country. But we can start by reclaiming our own personal power. Fear and hopelessness can immobilize us, but joy, compassion, and love move us out from within ourselves to impact the greater world around us. And when we bring that power together, we become a force for change. What becomes possible when we stop...

People don’t usually wake up all at once. They wake up with each conversation, each new piece of information, and every time they’re willing to be curious about their perspectives. Think about how we wake up in the mornings. There’s the sudden, startling alarm clock waking us up, and then there’s waking up gradually, with the sunrise. When we start seeing the world differently, it usually happens...

Every one of us has moments that divide life into before and after . For me, that moment came on the day my brother suddenly died. This is the experience that changed the trajectory of my life – my spiritual life, my vocation, and the way I understand the world. I'm not trying to convince anyone of what happened to me. Instead, I hope my story invites you to explore how curiosity can open us to se...

“All politics are local.” In today’s live, Christy and I explored that familiar phrase. Yes, national decisions shape our local communities, and local elected officials have tremendous influence over our daily lives. But we also discovered another meaning. Our own lives are local. Every conversation, every purchase, every relationship is an opportunity to shape the kind of community we want to liv...

This week on Evolving Democracy , Christy and I talked about how to keep moving forward when the news feels overwhelming. We kept talking about this idea: brainstorming instead of doomstorming. When we’re brainstorming, we don’t assume the old ways are the only ways. We ask, What are we really trying to accomplish? What haven’t we thought of yet? That’s how new possibilities emerge. We also talked...

Sometimes changing your mind begins with wonder. This week I’m sharing something a little different: a sermon I gave in 2023, before Spiritual Geography existed as a podcast. Listening to it again, I realized many of the ideas that have become central to my work were already taking shape. On the surface, it’s the story of how marrying my husband, with his infinite curiosity about insects, changed...

When the world feels uncertain, where do you turn for guidance? This week on Evolving Democracy Live , Christy and I explore the idea of inner authority – the values, wisdom, and discernment that help us decide what is ours to do, even when the world feels chaotic. We discuss why facts matter, how misinformation can disconnect us from our own moral compass, and why listening to our inner authority...

The word woke has become so politically charged that many people stop listening the moment they hear it. But what if we stripped away the rhetoric and asked a simpler question? What does it really mean to be awake? This week, Christy and I explored the idea that being “awake” isn’t about perfection or political identity. It’s about being willing to see reality as it is, to listen to other people’s...

“I don’t do politics.” It’s something Christy and I have both heard a lot lately. And honestly, we understand why. Politics can feel exhausting, overwhelming, and deeply divisive. But this week we explored a different question: What if politics is about more than elections and government? Merriam Webster says that an alternative definition of politics is “the total complex of relations between peo...

What do you do when hope disappears, but giving up isn't an option? There are seasons when the problems around us feel so overwhelming that it's hard to believe anything we do matters. In this deeply personal episode, I share my own struggle with hopelessness and the unexpected question that helped me move forward – not by finding certainty or optimism, but by choosing love, integrity, and faithfu...

This week in Evolving Democracy , Christy Johnson, Ph. D. and I explored what we’re calling audacious activism . We’ve often talked about taking small steps because they matter. This week we asked a different question: What if we’re capable of more than we think? Audacious activism doesn’t necessarily mean doing something louder. It means allowing ourselves to grow into new ways of contributing. M...

Most people think admitting they are wrong is dangerous. What if refusing to see ourselves clearly is even more dangerous? For years, hospitals were told never to apologize after a medical mistake. Yet when some began openly acknowledging errors, apologizing, and explaining how they would prevent future harm, lawsuits often decreased. Why? Because people often want more than compensation. They wan...

In this week’s Evolving Democracy livestream, Christy and I explored a question inspired by this week’s Spiritual Geography episode (link below): What makes someone a hero? When we think about villains, we often think about power, control, wealth, and self-interest. Heroes, by contrast, are motivated by something very different. They care about people. They act from love, community, and a commitme...