7 Bowls of…10.15.21
Each week I put together a curated list of articles, podcast episodes, youtube videos and other things I have found interesting or helpful during the week. This weeks offering is about growing through the COVID19 crisis emotionally, spiritual development, and a great resource for finding new music.
As we slowly edge into almost 2 years into the pandemic, and at least 6 months of recovery and modification, I'm starting to enjoy reading any sort of story about how the last 2 years have changed people. I've been aware of Ryan Holiday for the last 6 months or so and I love his intention about life. This is a great short reflection on how parenting, and the idea of being a busy parent has changed this year.
Consortio Dei Podcast | John Chandler
John hosted a podcast during the time I hosted and produced The Productive Pastor. I'd call him a mutual podcasting friend. While that show has ended, and John has changed vocations, his new podcast is fantastic. I gave it multiple listens last week, and he only has two episodes out! The podcast is about developing and having healthy rhythms for sacred work.
Flowstate | Website/Newsletter/Substack
Every time there is some sort of publishing innovation, I love to see how the music people take to it. And as someone who typically has music going most of the time in the office or around the house, I really love the amount of variety really good music curators provide. Flowstate is a daily substack newsletter/email that points to one artist or idea a day. I’ve been jiving with it for the week and I absolutely love it.
Praying in an Apocalypse | Sarah Bessey
I think we can all step back and talk about the hardness (is that even a word) of the last year. One of the things that I have personally experienced is seeing what spiritual development amidst personal and mental upheaval looks like. Prayer changed for me in the last year, and these are some great words about how prayer shapes and changes and shifts in the middle of loss. I found this quote to be the strongest, "Prayer isn’t inactivity or passivity there; it is the practice to keep us rooted to God and one another as we keep loving in the face of fear, contending for hope in the midst of despair, fighting for justice in our world”
Quarantine Is the Space and Drums Portion of your Life | Andrew O’Brien
Meredith and I spent some time this week in Dallas at a Dead and Company concert (most of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead and John Mayer). It is as close as you can get to the real thing in the 21st century. Like they have since the mid-70’s, a significant portion of the 2nd set is an extended jam that sounds exactly like what you would expect, drums and space. While doing some quick research to understand how long this has been going on, I found this fantastic article from mid 2020 that really puts our understanding of the last year into it’s proper place.
Jerusalem : The Biography | Simon Sebag Montefiore
This week I published an article about the relationship between Jerusalem, Jesus and James, and the whole larger political climate there. I read several different books about the history of Jerusalem and this one was the best. If you are into the Bible or have a teaching ministry, this is a great simple read. It’s eye opening.
Over the last year I have grown to love the Lectio 365 app. It comes from the folks at the 24/7 prayer movement. I recommend it to people all the time who are learning to integrate prayer into their daily life. It ends up on my insta stories at least two or three times a week.