Welcome to Soul School which comes out each WEDNESDAY!
In January (2016) I’ll spend some time on the podcast talking about the concepts of vocation and meaningful work during Soul School and with my guests.
For more on how you can join in that worldwide endeavor, visit the #synCREATE page.
Are you a good student? SOUL SCHOOL has homework. It can be very helpful to report in when you do your “assignments” So, share your thoughts about the episode or what you did for your homework at the Spark My Muse group page here and see what others are doing saying.
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Friday episodes are longer conversational ones with guests. Find the full list here.
Wednesday episodes are shorter, potent ones called “Soul School”. Find the full list here.
SPARK- LIVE: I also do live discussions with friends and guests on interesting topics about 3 times per month and feature the Replays here at the website. Sign up for those HERE; and follow me on Twitter for links and info. (Because some discussions are listed elsewhere.)
Scroll down for detailed show notes labeled by the minute,and don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast. If you feel so moved, get the 2-3 times monthly newsletter here that comes to you with love from me with insider info and extras.
Could you live with others communally and share everything in common? Money. Food. Living Space. Possessions. Goals. Identity. Your Future. Many of us may extoll the virtues of community but have minimal exposure with a lived-out experience. Tammy Perlmutter lives in a commune with her daughter and husband and you’ll learn her story today.
The longing for tight social bonds is so primal that even when the people we trust most betray us, we will seek out other opportunities for the solace of those connections until we find them.
Tammy Perlmutter is a talented creator who lives with the intentional community of Jesus People USA, a commune of Christians that dates back over 40 years.
From Tammy’s website:
I’m an East Coast girl at heart, born and raised in Philadelphia, but (for the second time!) called to Chicago for ministry. I live and work with Jesus People USA, an intentional Christian community of 200 members, living together in the historic 10-story Chelsea Hotel. We are rooted in the Uptown neighborhood, described as “Twenties Charm Meets Psych Ward with No Walls,” to love and serve the homeless, disciple believers, and be a presence for Christ in Chicago. I have lived communally for 15 years, and even with all its challenges and hardships, I consider myself beyond blessed to experience authentic, organic community in all its crazy, chaotic richness.
ministries of JPUSA (coffee shop, skate shop, gallery)
The group’s long-term existence and historic roots in the 1960s make it, according to sociologist Shawn Young, one of the most contemporary significant groups from the Jesus Movement era:
Founded in 1972, this community is one of the most significant surviving expressions of the original Jesus Movement of the sixties and seventies and represents a radical expression of contemporary countercultural evangelicalism. JPUSA’s blend of Christian Socialism, theological orthodoxy, postmodern theory and ethos of edgy artistic expression (as demonstrated at their annual music festival) prove what some scholars have longed suspected: evangelicalism is a diverse, complex movement, which simply does not yield to any attempt at categorization. [
The building where Tammy lives:
MIN 1:
INTRO
MIN 3:00
Tammy’s upbringing: living for 13 years in foster care around inner city Philadelphia and then a residential facility and being a lost girl.
MIN 10:00
How does Tammy think cycles of instability, abuse and addiction get broken and redeemed?
How hope happens?
11:00
Mentoring
Humiliation and despair.
12:00
A turning point when her case was turned over to Bethana social workers.
Being seen and heard for the first time.
13:00
Escaping into books and starting to write using the bookend papers.
15:30
Finding an intentional community (commune) JesusPeopleUSA
16:00
Cornerstone Festival and the rigged drawing
17:30
Being suicidal and living a dangerous lifestyle.
20:00
Keeping her promise about answering any question.
Finding a home instead of rejection.
22:30
Choosing a new life and the spiritual warfare battles she experienced at that point.
24:30
Being attracted to a Jewish East Coaster who she eventually married.
25:30
The Jews for Jesus experience that took them away from the community.
27:30
The deal to move back to Chicago and things feeling hopeless.
31:00
Being made for community and belonging.
33:30
Businesses that support the community and the ministries.
If this topic interests you, listen to the episode with activist Shane Claiborne who started the intentional inner city community in Philadelphia called The Simple Way. HEAR that here.
Welcome to Soul School which comes out each WEDNESDAY!
Since it’s a new year I need some help to know who’s listening.
Will you spare 90 seconds…
and take this quick, anonymous survey?
In January (2016) I’ll concentrate some time on the podcast talking about the concepts of meaningful work, vocation, service, and related concepts during Soul School and with my guests.
A theme this month is all out vocation. There will be other things covered each week too, but we will be trying to think differently about vocation and asking what it means to do meaningful work at different seasons of life.
What does it mean to you?
For Lori and her journey she wonders about doing God’s will.
3:00
What do I believe vocation is?
Privileged statement, “Do what you love and love what you do vocationally.”
Asking am I squandering gifts?
Should I live out my gifts outside a paying job?
Barbara Brown Taylor’s
An Altar in the World
About finding your calling.
About rewarding work that doesn’t pay
11:00
About doing jobs you didn’t expect or ones that seem to not be right for us.
What to you find meaningful in work? A greater purpose? Improving lives and soul work and a cause.
Right now, one of the most powerful and influential men in the world is undoubtably Pope Francis.
Pope Francis is the first Jesuit Pope, but too few people know the specific qualities of his Order (The Society of Jesus-Ignatian spirituality). His spirituality and training powerfully and uniquely guide his worldview, philosophy of vocation and work, and themes of his prominent, worldwide administration especially when compared with his predecessors.
Through his decisions, he influences Roman Catholics internationally (a staggering 1.1 billion people) and his ideas influence and inspire many of the 2.2 billion people who consider themselves Christian (specifically: a follower of the way of Jesus), including me.
What is most influential to Pope Francis?
His training in the Society of Jesus (the Catholic Order founded by Ignatius of Loyola 400 years ago). This is what guides how he see the world and makes all his important decisions that direct the Catholic Church and influence others worldwide.
Today, we will learn more about these teachings that often come out-of-sync with the ways and structures of established institutions of religion, politics, and power.
Spirutal Director, Jeanine Breault, formally trained in Jesuit Ignatian Spirituality
Today, you will hear from my spiritual director, Jeanine Breault, a Roman Catholic who is formally trained in the Ignatian tradition. We converse about some of the salient characteristics of the Ignatian spiritual teachings and traditions.
Thus, you will find out the manner in which Pope Francis is directed spiritually by his own spiritual director within this 400 year old spiritual tradition; learn how Ignatian spiritual directors (and the current Pope) see the world and how God works in it, and more.
SHOWNOTES: EPS 24: The (Ignatian) Spirituality of Pope Francis
MIN: 1:00
Answering: What is Ignatian Spirituality?
1:20
Finding God in all things. We are invited to notice how God is at work. More than head knowledge but an experiential knowledge.
2:30
God is always at work for the good in my life and in my world and growing in that awareness. How can I respond to God’s call?
3:30 An Intimate relationship with God SO THAT I can labor with God.
Now that there is a Pope who is a Jesuit (the first in history) how does that shift the role and the the way he see the world as the head of the church.
5:00
On Pope Francis’s new letter “The Joy of the Gospel” and the Jesuit flavorings contained within and the influence on his life.
8:50
On the massive changes at the Vatican.
9:20
Who was Ignatius of Loyola?
The story of the man who founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)
Born in 1491 and his message continues to changes peoples lives.
His war injury and what changed his life.
11:30
The mystical experience he had.
12:30
He work in the discernment of spirits (his work called the Spiritual Exercises) and how these forces work in our lives.
13:10
Discerning and choosing between two goods.
13:30
The rules for discernment that can be applied to anyone at anytime.
14:30
The basic of the rules of discernment.
When a person is oriented to God and desires to please God, then God confirms that and gives graces of peace, joy, and comfort. The opposite feelings do not come from God (fear, anxiety, discouragement, despair, etc).
16:20
Through the Ignatian spiritual exercises, one can figure out what is of God and what is not.
17:40
People coming to direction for the first time are really grappling with a sense of God’s love for them (and not really believing it.)
19:00
Coming to a spirit-led decision and grace is involved.
19:30
Overcoming the obstacle of unworthiness.
20:00
Working at cultivating people’s awareness. Asking questions that create space for inquiry, discovery and discernment.
21:00
We forget that God loves at at some level and it’s a continual process of remembering.
21:50
Her experience with guilt in prayer because of a lack of focus. Apologizing to God about being preoccupied. And the amazing thing God seemed to say in response.
The part of affirming the goodness of God and what God is doing in that person’s life is the job of the director.
23:45
The answer won’t expect to my question: “What do you say or do when people can’t see or sense God, or they have a blindness and are unaware?” (Maybe an “image of God problem”)
24:10
The “director” is not a good word. The Spirit of God is the actual director and it’s God’s business.
25:20
The parallel with gardening and patience for growth.
26:10
“God loves that person more than you do.”
26:00
On not “fixing” things and solving problems.
27:00
Compassionate listening and getting out of the way for God to work better.
28:00
What supervision of a spiritual director looks like so that good listening can keep happening for those directed.
29:00
Finding a director that is properly prepared to direct others is crucial.
Asking Jeanine, “What happens in your mind and heart when you find yourself wanting to solve problems and rescue someone?”
30:00
Remembering the kind of ministry direction is. A prevailing ope that God is at work and in control ultimately. It’s sacred time and time to stay focused. Setting aside things when they come up.
32:40
Do people expect you to be their counselor? And what happens when that happens during direction?
35:00
Helping people know what to expect from direction and how to find someone who is properly trained.
The international listing of trained directors. sdiworld.org
Director will work with people from any tradition.
42:30
The connection of Buddhism and Christian Mysticism in practice. Seeing the goodness in other traditions.
44:00
John O’Donohue and his comments of what Buddhism can brings to Christianity and vice versa.
46:00
Noticing the “now”.
47:00
Coming to a vibrant faith where (you realize) God is working in this very moment.
48:00
Relationships are the ways we become tuned to God and working out our salvation in real life and ordinary experiences.
49:00
Resources to continue on this path.
Ronald Rollhieser The Holy Longing and Prayer: Our Deepest Longing
Carmelite nun Ruth Borrows. Guidelines for Mystic Prayer
Tammy Perlmutter is a talented creator who lives with the intentional community of 
