Truth Bombs and Cheese with David Rice

SEASON TWO - EPISODE 27: TRUTH BOMBS AND CHEESE WITH DAVID RICE

Truth bombs and cheese.

This has been the theme of so many of my conversations with David Rice. David is one of those guys who, when he speaks, you listen.

Over the few years that I have known David, he has spoken so many truths that I needed to hear. He may not even know the impact that his words, encouragement, and truth bombs have had on my life and soul.

For years, I have kept a journal where I catalog thoughts, quotations, and ideas I want to remember. I have multiple quotes from David in this journal. Under one quote in the journal I had written: “Another truth bomb from David.”

In this episode of the podcast, David and I talk about spiritual formation, church, and...cheese.

Yep, cheese; my guess is you didn’t expect that one.

David is a pastor, practical theologian, former cheesemonger, chef, gardener, father, husband, and a vessel for truth bombs. You can learn more about David via his website  and you can connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

As you continue on this journey of spiritual formation within a church and as you wake up to the reality of God in your life, may you have peace, may you have calm, and may you have happiness.

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A Yearly Contemplative Breakfast with Matt Nightingale

SEASON TWO - EPISODE 22: A YEARLY CONTEMPLATIVE BREAKFAST WITH MATT NIGHTINGALE

Do you have that person who you grab a drink with maybe once a year and it’s as if no time has passed at all? That’s how my friendship with Matt Nightingale has worked.

Matt and I met probably twelve years ago. I think we initially connected through Twitter and our friendship then developed at a yearly conference we attended. It became our yearly tradition where we’d always have breakfast together during the conference. Our breakfast always ended up being hours of conversation and countless cups of coffee. 

In this episode of The Why Behind the What, I have the privilege of interviewing my friend and colleague, Matt Nightingale.  He is a pastor, spiritual director, an educator, ted-talker, musician, father, and does a lot of work surrounding spirituality and sexuality. He has a profound journey and his story is incredible. He has become known for his TEDx Talk with his former wife that shares part of his painful and redemptive story of being in a mixed-oriented marriage for 23 years and coming out during his mid-forties.

In this episode we talk about the importance of contemplative spirituality, spiritual direction, the restrictive teachings of fundamentalism, and how after deconstructing beliefs we didn’t really believe we were opened to finding God in new and incredible experiences.

I hope you’ll find our conversation to be as enjoyable as I did.

You can connect with Matt on his website. You can also follow him on  Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. A few people and resources we mentioned in this podcast are: Steve Wiens, The Journey Center, Quest Novato, Eva Sullivan Knoff, Joanna Quintrell, The Christian Closet.

And, as you discover a faith that you can truly believe in, one where you journey with others through contemplative practices that can be a healing balm to your soul, may you have peace, may you have calm, may you have happiness.

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Podcast Episode Six: Journaling

SEASON TWO - EPISODE SIX: JOURNALING

Dear Diary,

After forgetting about you for almost 20 years, I picked you up and decided to reread parts of you. Oh dear Lord in heaven. What was I thinking of writing all that stuff? It’s some of the most hysterical, embarrassing, vomit-inducing, fundamentalist stuff I have ever read.

It is epic. So, I have decided to read those parts to my podcast listeners.

Sincerely,

Nathan

It’s true. In the sixth episode of the Why Behind the What, I read from my first journal when I was quite the young and immature conservative evangelical. But ever since then, I have always kept a journal with me to write down thoughts, ideas, prayers, quotes, and over things I want to remember and reference. I have a row of them on my bookshelf.

Journaling is a powerful spiritual rhythm. It gives voice to our prayers, longings, and desires. It filters our prayers and thoughts to their core and can become a time capsule for our prayer life. It also can be a way to hear the still small voice of God. 

I’ve found journaling to be an incredible funnel for our deepest thoughts and desires. The more I write, the more I am able to filter out random thoughts and bring focus to my thoughts or desires I have been ignoring or too distracted to notice.

Some of the most famous and impactful spiritual books in church history are simply journal entries. Whether it’s Saint Augustine’s Confessions or Mother Teresa’s Come Be My Light or works by Henri Nouwen and Thomas Merton, these are all works by spiritual leaders who journaled their thoughts, desires, and spiritual journey.

Their words and prayers impact generations of people...while my words and prayers would be an embarrassment for generations of people.

In this episode, I also give a few tips on how to start journaling, so be sure to listen. My favorite journals are Moleskine. I have used them for years and I always have a handful lying around my office. A good resource I recommend is from a former professor of mine: Journaling as a Spiritual Practice: Encountering God through Attentive Writing.

As you start writing your thoughts and desires onto a page while listening for the Divine, may you have peace, may you have calm, may you have happiness.

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Podcast Episode Five: Centering Prayer

SEASON TWO - EPISODE FIVE: CENTERING PRAYER

Nothing can make me fall asleep quicker than being forced to do Centering Prayer for 20 minutes after lunch, during prime nap time, when you’re in graduate school and constantly exhausted. Yet, the first time I tried Centering Prayer, this is what happened. After 20 minutes, I awoke to drool streaming down my chin.

After this experience, I didn’t try this ancient practice again. It wasn’t until over a decade later that I tried Centering Prayer and this time I found it had become a profound practice for my soul that leads me into greater peace and calm, centers my soul, and allows me the space to listen for God. It’s been a game changer in my spiritual life. It was revived my soul and lead me into deeper awareness.

At it’s basic, Centering prayer is a type of silent prayer in which we center ourselves upon God’s presence.

This is why it is also one of the most difficult spiritual practices. It’s a practice where I can’t do anything, really. I don’t check things off my list. Instead, it forces me to be rather than to do. In Centering Prayer, I just am as I am. It’s just me and my thoughts, which can become quite noisy when sitting in silence.

But this is also why Centering Prayer is an essential practice.

Instead of me trying to achieve or do something, Centering Prayer becomes about me being present, as I am, to the Divine One who is always present to me. It becomes this centered place where I’m not working on my own soul, but God is working on my own soul. Through it, God does a transforming work in me and I am simply opening myself up to the One who does such good work.

Centering prayer allows us to be in union with God, to be aware of God, and to be as close to God as your very breath. It is a holy act, where we don't have to worry about doing, but instead settle into simply being.

Catholic Priest, Basil Pennington gives the following framework for Centering Prayer:

Be With God.

Stay With God.

Return to God.

In this episode, I share more about Centering Prayer, but I also give instructions on how to do a sit as well as end the episode with silence to experience Centering Prayer. As I mention in the podcast, a few resources I recommend are: Centering Prayer, by Basil Pennington; Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, by Cynthia Bourgeault; and Centering Prayer in Daily Life and Ministry.

As you learn to center yourself through silent prayer, as you learn to be with God, stay with God, and return to God, may you have peace, may you have calm, and may you have happiness.

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Podcast Episode Three: Solitude

SEASON TWO - EPISODE THREE: SOLITUDE

Solitude. I know, it sounds boring, doesn’t it? Unless you're an extreme introvert and your probably rejoicing- “this is the best thing ever!”

I’m a bit of an extrovert, so for a long time solitude was torturous for me. I hated it. But, as an extrovert, I have learned that solitude isn’t torturous, it is actually essential to my spiritual transformation and my personal well-being.

As Henri Nouwen has stated, “without solitude it is virtually impossible to have a spiritual life.”

As a spiritual practice, solitude is more than getting away from people, untethering ourselves from technology. Solitude is an opportunity to turn away from other people, technology, and other ways we can be interrupted in order to turn toward and be present to God who is always present to us.

Solitude is the place where we encounter God as we are and we leave that place transformed and renewed because we were with God. It could be said that in solitude, we not only spend time with the Divine, but we also discover our true self, who we are truly meant to be in God’s presence.

As Ruth Haley Barton says in her book, Invitation to Solitude and Silence, that in solitude and silence the love of the Divine comes to us, but it also begins to flow out of us to others. So, solitude can be an avenue for God to transform us into healed, compassionate, and loving people who not only reflect the Divine, but also love others in the same way as the Divine.

I had always thought that being alone was simply a way to become quickly lonely or an opportunity to get away from those friends that you could only handle in small doses. But it is so much more than that. It is a proven way to be with God and hear the still small voice of God.

In this episode, I am going to challenge you to start exploring solitude. But don’t worry, I set the bar low; really low. If you want some resources, I recommend: Thoughts in Solitude, by Thomas Merton; Invitation to Solitude and Silence, by Ruth Haley Barton; The Way of the Heart, by Henri Nouwen. Be sure to share this episode and, if you could, write a review on iTunes.

And in the solitude, may you have peace, may you have calm, may you have happiness.

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