SDI Encounters

EP036 - Rewilding and Companioning the Earth - Mary DeJong - Part 1

Mary DeJong is a deep ecologist, ecotheologian, urban naturalist, and practitioner and guide of place-based pilgrimage. She specializes in the spiritual companionship of "rewilding." Mary facilitates retreats and pilgrimages in the Pacific Northwest and in Iona, Scotland that strengthen the unique and mystical interconnection of participants, the sacred, and the natural world.
How do we facilitate space for the Holy to speak through nature, and more specifically, the bioregion in which we live? How do we meet the growing anxiety that is undeniably present related to the ecocidal destruction of their homescapes and the Earth as a whole?
Mary discusses this with Frederica Helmiere and myself, and offers a preview of what to expect at the Rewilding Institute that she will facilitate as part of our ‘day-before’ offerings at our 2020 Conference in Santa Fe in April 2020.
Mary is offering a Rewilding Institute at our SDI Conference in Santa Fe in April 2020. Learn more at www.sdievents.org
The things Mary was sharing were so good, we asked her to just keep going. So we’ll release that part of our conversation in next week’s episode. You can learn more about Mary’s work at her website, www.waymarkers.net
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Support for this podcast comes from SDI’s upcoming one night event with Mirabai Starr and Ann Holmes Redding – A Fierce and Tender Wisdom: Reclaiming the Feminine Across Spiritual Traditions. The event is happening in Bellevue, Washington, USA on November 12, 2019 at 7pm. In this extraordinary SDI event, we will gather and explore and model cooperative feminine leadership in these turbulent times. Join us for an interactive sacred celebration that reclaims and centers women’s voices in spiritual spaces. Together we will step up to the call for prophetic feminine wisdom and take refuge in the sanctuary of community. Register now at our website.

EP035 - The Universal Christ - Fr Richard Rohr (from 2018 SDI Conference) - Part 2

 
Fr. Richard Rohr is a globally recognized ecumenical teacher bearing witness to the universal awakening within Christian mysticism and the Perennial Tradition. He is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he also serves as Academic Dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Fr. Richard's teaching is grounded in the Franciscan alternative orthodoxy--practices of contemplation and self-emptying, expressing itself in radical compassion, particularly for the socially marginalized.
This recording comes from the keynote talk that Fr. Richard gave at SDI’s Seeking Connection conference in April of 2018, where he shared on the concepts presented in his recently released book, The Universal Christ. This is part 1 of Fr. Richard’s keynote, with part 2 coming out in our next episode.
Fr. Richard will be presenting at our 2020 conference, coming up in Santa Fe, New Mexico in April 2020. We hope to see you there - Learn more at sdievents.org.
Also you may note that Fr. Richard mentions Rev. angel Kyodo Williams and Mirabai Starr, who also gave keynote presentations at our 2018 Conference. We offer these as a complete keynote DVD, which can be purchased on our website.
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Support for this podcast comes from:
THE SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE TRAINING INSTITUTE
BEGINNING JANUARY 2020, “INTERFAITH AND INTERSPIRITUAL WISDOM TRAINING, ”A UNIQUE, ONLINE PROGRAM WITH AN OPTIONAL URBAN PILGRIMAGE IN CHICAGO. IF YOU’RE DRAWN TO COMPANION PEOPLE OF OTHER TRADITIONS, INCLUDING THE EVER-GROWING TIDE OF SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENTS, THIS PROGRAM IS FOR YOU! IDEAL FOR SPIRITUAL AND SECULAR COMMUNITY LEADERS, EDUCATORS, SOCIAL WORKERS, LIFE COACHES, THERAPISTS, CHAPLAINS AND MORE. VISIT WWW.SPIRITUALGUIDANCETRAINING.COM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS INNOVATIVE OFFERING. 

EP034 - The Universal Christ - Fr Richard Rohr (from 2018 SDI Conference) - Part 1

Fr. Richard Rohr is a globally recognized ecumenical teacher bearing witness to the universal awakening within Christian mysticism and the Perennial Tradition. He is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he also serves as Academic Dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Fr. Richard's teaching is grounded in the Franciscan alternative orthodoxy--practices of contemplation and self-emptying, expressing itself in radical compassion, particularly for the socially marginalized.
This recording comes from the keynote talk that Fr. Richard gave at SDI’s Seeking Connection conference in April of 2018, where he shared on the concepts presented in his recently released book, The Universal Christ. This is part 1 of Fr. Richard’s keynote, with part 2 coming out in our next episode.
Fr. Richard will be presenting at our 2020 conference, coming up in Santa Fe, New Mexico in April 2020. We hope to see you there - Learn more at sdievents.org.
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Support for this podcast comes from SDI’s upcoming one night event with Mirabai Starr and Ann Holmes Redding – A Fierce and Tender Wisdom: Reclaiming the Feminine Across Spiritual Traditions. The event is happening in Bellevue, Washington, USA on November 12, 2019 at 7pm. In this extraordinary SDI event, we will gather and explore and model cooperative feminine leadership in these turbulent times. Join us for an interactive sacred celebration that reclaims and centers women’s voices in spiritual spaces. Together we will step up to the call for prophetic feminine wisdom and take refuge in the sanctuary of community. Register now at our website.

EP033 - Cultivating the Spirituality of Children - Kristen Hobby

We thought that spiritual companionship for children, and finding ways to cultivate children’s spirituality, would make an excellent podcast conversation.
Kristen Hobby is SDI’s Australia and SE Asia Coordinator, and just completed her PhD work on the topic of young children’s spirituality. We listen to her wisdom on how to companion and create safe and open space for children to explore their own spiritual journeys.
But the conversation wouldn’t be complete without trying out some companionship with actual children. So this week's episode features conversations with a few of our own kids - Grey Whitney, Juniper Helmiere, and Charis Helmiere.
If you're interested, Kristen recommends the set of questions posted on this website: 
https://campfire.org/blog/article/reflection-thriving-questions-you-can-ask-kids-teens/
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Support for this podcast comes from Spiritual Companionship For Our Times, SDI’s annual gathering of spiritual companions happening in Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 23 – 26 2020. Registrations are now open, with Super Early Bird pricing through September 15th. We’ll be celebrating SDI’s 30th Anniversary, and charting the road ahead as we seek to welcome more and more people to the transformational gifts of spiritual companionship, and to make this healing modality available to every person on the planet. 
Learn more now about our annual conference at www.sdievents.org.
 

EP032 - Wild Mercy - Mirabai Starr on Feminine Wisdom

Mirabai Starr writes creative non-fiction and contemporary translations of sacred literature. She taught Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog. She has received critical acclaim for her translations of the mystics, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila and Julian of Norwich. Her latest book is called Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce & Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics. I’ve read it myself, and it is a rich tapestry of Mirabai’s personal spiritual journey, woven with perennial wisdom from across spiritual traditions, and practical methods for invoking the sacred feminine into our lives – and this is wisdom for all of us to practice and to share, whether you identify as male, female, non-gendered or fluid.
We are having an event on November 12th 2019 in Bellevue Washington with Mirabai Starr and Reverend Ann Holmes Redding, celebrating feminine wisdom in community practice, at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellvue, Washington. You can register for it now on our website, sdiworld.org under Events.
SDI also hosted Mirabai at our Bellevue offices for a one-day workshop in March, and she sat down with Reverend Seifu Anil Singh-Molares for this podcast discussion.
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Support for this podcast comes from Spiritual Companionship For Our Times, SDI’s annual gathering of spiritual companions happening in Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 23 – 26 2020. Registrations are now open, with Super Early Bird pricing through September 15th. We’ll be celebrating SDI’s 30th Anniversary, and charting the road ahead as we seek to welcome more and more people to the transformational gifts of spiritual companionship, and to make this healing modality available to every person on the planet. 
Learn more now about our annual conference at www.sdievents.org.
 

EP031 - My Boss is a Zen Priest

With this episode we’re starting a new running series called “My Boss is a Zen Priest” – my boss is SDI’s Executive Director, Reverend Seifu Anil Singh-Molares. He’s my manager and he provides oversight on the things I’m working on, and he’s an ordained priest in the Zen Buddhist tradition. We have weekly one-on-one check in meetings, where I tell him about the things I’m working on, and he provides feedback and insight. And because we work at SDI and my boss is a zen priest, that feedback and insight often delves into deep dives around spirituality. I take my notes into his office, he’s often wearing his robes, and our discussion can go from a P&L spreadsheet to being given a koan to meditate on for awhile. Oftentimes I come out of these one-on-one meetings wishing I’d had a recorder because we often have really profound discussions, so I’m going to start doing that, and we’ll see where the conversation goes.
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Support for this podcast comes from Spiritual Companionship For Our Times, SDI’s annual gathering of spiritual companions happening in Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 23 – 26 2020. Registrations are now open, with Super Early Bird pricing through September 15th. We’ll be celebrating SDI’s 30th Anniversary, and charting the road ahead as we seek to welcome more and more people to the transformational gifts of spiritual companionship, and to make this healing modality available to every person on the planet. 
Learn more now about our annual conference at www.sdievents.org.

EP030 - The Vitality of Spiritual Companionship - Ravi Verma

We really do believe that spiritual companionship is world-changing. We listen into being the stories of one another, discerning together the ways that Spirit manifests in each of our lives, and cultivating a sense that we all belong, we are all participating in the deep mystery of Divine Life. One of the clearest voices within SDI, speaking of the transformational nature of this work, is Ravi Verma.
In this episode I talk with Ravi, who is a spiritual director based in Los Angeles, and served on SDI’s Coordinating Council for six years, with the past two years serving as the Chair. He’s been a leader and steady presence at SDI for a long time. Ravi has dedicated his life to the work of spiritual companionship and has given much to this organization, living out his belief that this life-changing modality can transform us, and can change the world.
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Support for this podcast comes from Spiritual Companionship For Our Times, SDI’s annual gathering of spiritual companions happening in Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 23 – 26 2020. Registrations are now open, with Super Early Bird pricing through September 15th. We’ll be celebrating SDI’s 30th Anniversary, and charting the road ahead as we seek to welcome more and more people to the transformational gifts of spiritual companionship, and to make this healing modality available to every person on the planet. 
Learn more now about our annual conference at www.sdievents.org.

EP029 - Building Community with Bruce Calvin

Bruce Calvin is a spiritual director who trained at Mercy Center in Burlingame California. He is currently working on building supportive communities and opportunities for networking between spiritual companions at the local level, including starting a new gathering in his own community in Northern Virginia. He served on the SDI Coordinating Council from 2013-2019, which included a transition period between Executive Directors. Matt Whitney talked to Bruce at our post-SDI Conference retreat back in March about how he came to SDI and his experiences within the organization. Bruce gives us an intimate look into how the Council, and SDI, has transitioned and is continuing to transition, to being a broadly diverse community of spiritual companionship.
The Leadership and Local Community Intensive that Bruce is facilitating at our 2020 Conference can be found here: https://www.sdievents.org/communities
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Support for this podcast comes from Spiritual Companionship For Our Times, SDI’s annual gathering of spiritual companions happening in Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 23 – 26 2020. Registrations are now open, with Super Early Bird pricing through September 15th. We’ll be celebrating SDI’s 30th Anniversary, and charting the road ahead as we seek to welcome more and more people to the transformational gifts of spiritual companionship, and to make this healing modality available to every person on the planet. 
Learn more now about our annual conference at www.sdievents.org.

EP028 - Are You A Spiritual Companion?

We are exploring in this episode the definition of a spiritual companion with Executive Director Reverend Seifu Anil Singh-Molares. Who is a Spiritual Companion? Many world religions have historically honored the role of the spiritual companion. 
SDI extends invitation and welcome to you, as a community of life travelers, to all those who practice spiritual care across expressions and vocations, or if you are curious or interested in discerning further for yourself the work of a spiritual companion.  
Do you see yourself as a spiritual companion? We want you to be a part of our learning community, and we want to nourish you in your transformational heart-work. You’re listening to this podcast, which means you are already dipping your toes in the waters of spiritual companionship. You can also stay connected by subscribing to our monthly email newsletter called Discover, or through our quarterly Listen publication – which you can register for on our website, sdiworld.org. If you do these, then I invite you to take the next step and become a member of SDI, which supports our work in providing resources and community for spiritual companions.
Thank you for providing this urgent work and healing to our world.

EP027 - Rabbi Lauren Tuchman - New Contemplatives

Rabbi Lauren Tuchman received rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2018.  As far as she is aware, she is the first blind woman in the world to enter the Rabbinic order. Rabbi Tuchman was named to the Jewish Week’s 36 under 36 for her leadership concerning inclusion of Jews with disabilities in all aspects of Jewish life. She spends her days teaching and companioning young folks involved in social justice work.
In this episode, Rabbi Lauren talks with Lizzie Salsich, our Community Outreach and Program Coordinator. She also manages our New Contemplatives Initiative, which provides scholarships to our annual conference, vocational support and development opportunities for emerging spiritual companions in their first half of life.
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Support for this podcast comes from Spiritual Companionship For Our Times, SDI’s annual gathering of spiritual companions happening in Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 23 – 26 2020. Registrations are now open, with Super Early Bird pricing through September 15th. We’ll be celebrating SDI’s 30th Anniversary, and charting the road ahead as we seek to welcome more and more people to the transformational gifts of spiritual companionship, and to make this healing modality available to every person on the planet. 
Learn more now about our annual conference at www.sdievents.org.