Around the Fire

Gene Maynard

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Christianity
Updated Daily

The Trailhead will take you on a journey deep into spiritual formation country. It will retrieve the core ideas and practices that have, for centuries, helped hungry spiritual people and communities navigate the way into a deeper, more transformative life with God. genemaynard.substack.com

Sep 15

Around the Fire

Welcome to Around the Fire. I'm Gene Maynard — this is the podcast home of The Compass, a spiritual formation community on Substack. Pull up a chair. Something's been stirring in my heart about spiritual formation for the newly convinced followers of Jesus, and I’d like to share it with you. I produce Around the Fire and The Compass to help you navigate the interior journey toward a deeper life with Jesus. There are lots of options available to you here: just keep showing up an read, or sign up for a free subscription to get The Compass in your email whenever I publish a new resource about the that deeper life. If you’d like to try the paid side of things, there’s a free trial waiting, no pressure, just a chance to see what a month looks like: a spiritual formation practice tool each month, a video teaching aid that expands it, and a live conversation to walk through it together. If you want to know what it means to become a Waymarker, you can read about it here. What ever works best, you can start here whenever you’re ready. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit genemaynard.substack.com/subscribe
Jul 26

Around the Fire with Melissa Miller

There’s a chair for you here around the fire. I’ve invited a guest to pull a chair and join us: Melissa Miller. Melissa is a fellow author on Substack who writes, Steady As She Goes. I’m a subscriber and I always find something interesting, something that makes me think, and something that makes me smile. By my way of thinking, that’s a good trilogy! I think you’ll like her Substack channel and you can find it here: Steady As She Goes on Substack The reason I invited Melissa to pull up a seat here around the fire is that she is releasing a new book: But I Prayed for This. She is writing on topics that interest me and fill my space here on The Compass and on Around the Fire. So, I wanted to have a conversation with her about this coming book. She is doing something in this book that is not always done: she is creating space to be spiritual and human at the same time, in the same person, in the same moment. She knows what it is to get the thing you asked God for and still feel unsettled by it. You prayed. The prayer is answered. And you find yourself wondering if you’d missed something. It is that realism that we covered while we talked. How grief and gratitude belong in the same space. How walking and praying fit together. How pauses are an essential part of growth. How being spiritual and being human are not two separate things. For me, listening to Melissa, it felt like chatting with a fellow traveler who is comcortable sitting around the fire and telling us what she’d learned so far. You can find out more about But I Prayed for This and pre-order a copy here: Preorder But I Prayed for This If tonight stopped you and made you think, there is a seat here for you here at Around the Fire so the next conversation finds you too, and if you want the longer version of this, the daily companion to these short audio evenings around the flame, that is The Compass, over on Substack. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit genemaynard.substack.com/subscribe
May 16

Two Words That Describe What God Is Up to in Me

Around the Fire is an audio companion to The Compass, my Substack publication on contemplative Christian spiritual formation. Think of it this way: the weekly essays are the miles. This is the campfire at the end of the day that offers a few minutes to sit with something we’ve been carrying, go a little deeper, and let the day’s ideas settle. Today’s episode is about two words that have come to me as I’ve been living here and walking the trails in northwest Montana. Both words describe what I am becoming aware that God is up to in my life and how this space and time has been given to me for the purpose of formation and focus. Around the Fire today is relating a simple answer to the question what might happen in our life if we can regain the practice of noticing what God is up to in our hearts, in the lives of people we are with, and in our culture. New episodes drop Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday though the mission of hosting depleted, exhausted, and wounded pastors and missionaries interrupted this rhythm the past two weeks. If you’re not yet part of The Compass community, I’d love for you to join us. Free subscribers get the full essay five days a week. Paid subscribers receive monthly spiritual formation practice tools, teaching videos, and live conversation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit genemaynard.substack.com/subscribe
Apr 25

A View that Demands I Behold

Around the Fire is an audio companion to The Compass, my Substack publication on contemplative Christian spiritual formation. Think of it this way: the weekly essays are the miles. This is the campfire at the end of the day that offers a few minutes to sit with something we’ve been carrying, go a little deeper, and let the day’s ideas settle. Today’s episode builds off of the Friday Compass “Wandering” post “When Did We Stop Seeing” by exploring an old word, “Behold!” It is asking a simple question: what might happen in our life if we regain the practice of noticing what God is up to in our hearts, in the lives of people we are with, and in our culture. New episodes drop Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, usually seven to nine minutes, long enough to matter, short enough to finish before the fire burns down. If you’re not yet part of The Compass community, I’d love for you to join us. Free subscribers get the full essay five days a week. Paid subscribers receive monthly practice tools, teaching videos, and live conversation. Pull up a chair. I’ll see you around the fire. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit genemaynard.substack.com/subscribe
Apr 24

Around the Fire

Around the Fire is the audio companion to The Compass, my Substack publication on contemplative Christian spiritual formation. Think of it this way: the weekly essays are the miles. This is the campfire at the end of the day that offers a few minutes to sit with something we’ve been carrying, go a little deeper, and let the day’s ideas settle. Today’s episode builds off a question my wife asked about evil: how did these people who treat others with such inhumanness become like that? It’s a great question, one to think about, one to wonder about how a person is formed toward goodness or toward ugliness. New episodes drop Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, usually seven to nine minutes, long enough to matter, short enough to finish before the fire burns down. If you’re not yet part of The Compass community, I’d love for you to join us. Free subscribers get the full essay five days a week. Paid subscribers receive monthly practice tools, teaching videos, and live conversation. Pull up a chair. I’ll see you around the fire. IHG (In His Grip) — Gene This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit genemaynard.substack.com/subscribe
Apr 21

Around the Fire

Around the Fire is a new audio companion to The Compass, my Substack publication on contemplative Christian spiritual formation. Think of it this way: the weekly essays are the miles. This is the campfire at the end of the day that offers a few minutes to sit with something we’ve been carrying, go a little deeper, and let the day’s ideas settle. Today’s episode builds off this week’s Compass essay on spiritual classics, which is anchored specifically to William Penn’s No Cross, No Crown, and follows one thread a little further into the dark. If you haven’t read the essay yet, it’s worth starting there before you pull up a chair here. It’s called “The Two-Foot Shelf.” New episodes drop Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, usually seven to nine minutes, long enough to matter, short enough to finish before the fire burns down. If you’re not yet part of The Compass community, I’d love for you to join us. Free subscribers get the full essay five days a week. Paid subscribers receive monthly practice tools, teaching videos, and live conversation. Pull up a chair. I’ll see you around the fire. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit genemaynard.substack.com/subscribe
Feb 1

The Sound of Still Water

I don't usually post on weekends, but today asked for an exception. Lorri and I drove into Glacier today with no particular agenda—just following the road as it wound along Lake McDonald. We found ourselves at a pullout and instead of checking it off the list — been to the lake and moving on — we just... stopped and wandered along the lakeshore. It took only a few moments to discover the treasure waiting to be loved: As our eyes took in the beauty, our ears began to tune into what you can hear in a natural quiet zone: small waves lapping against the shoreline, the occasional bird call, wind moving through the trees. We sat there, not talking, not capturing the perfect shot, just being present to what was already there. Three seconds of those sounds are uploaded above. With our sense filling up and our day slowing down, we made an easy choice: drive up the east side of Glacier. Rounding a sharp corner, this iconic mountain parted the clouds and seemed to whisper, “Don’t miss this.” We heard, agreed, pulled off again. The light kept changing, the clouds kept shifting, and each movement felt like a gift rather than something we'd earned or achieved. I'm sharing these images not to make you envious of our backyard (though I won't pretend it's not extraordinary), but because something about today felt important to pass along: the treasure wasn't in the destination. It was in the decision to linger. We live in a culture that's constantly asking us to do more, see more, accomplish more. Even our vacations become exhausting productions. We rush through experiences instead of inhabiting them. We're always heading somewhere else, convinced that the next thing will finally satisfy. But what if the deepest satisfaction is already here, in the simple act of pulling off the fast lane and paying attention? What if slowing down isn't about doing less, but about being present enough to receive what's right in front of us? The lake didn't perform for us today. Mount Reynolds didn't appear on schedule. The clearing skies weren't guaranteed. We simply showed up, and then we stayed long enough to notice what was already being offered. That's not just a lesson for tourists in national parks. It's a posture for life. What would it mean for you to find your own version of that pullout by the lake? Not someplace exotic you need to travel to, but the ordinary moment you could linger in today—the morning coffee you actually taste, the conversation you don't rush through, the sunset you watch all the way down instead of just glancing at? The sound of still water. The mountain emerging from clouds. The patches of blue sky breaking through gray. These aren't just Montana moments. They're invitations to a life where simple presence becomes the treasure we've been searching for all along. What's one simple thing you could linger with today? Gratefully, — Gene This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit genemaynard.substack.com/subscribe
Jan 10

When You Can't See Ahead

Yesterday's snowstorm became an unexpected spiritual director. As I walked through heavy snow with visibility down to almost nothing, I couldn't see the mountains I know are right in front of me. And in that moment of forced present-ness, I realized how much of my life I've spent living in the future—planning, strategizing, mapping out what's ahead. But what if seasons of limited visibility aren't obstacles to navigate around, but invitations to see differently? What if not being able to see far ahead actually helps us see more clearly what's right in front of us? Join me for a brief reflection on the gift of living one faithful step at a time. Subscribe to The Compass If this reflection resonated with you, consider subscribing to The Compass. Each week, I share practices and reflections for the contemplative journey—helping you slow down, pay attention, and discover what God might be saying in the everyday moments of your life. Free subscribers receive regular encouragement, while paid subscribers gain access to deeper resources, guided practices, and our growing community of fellow travelers. Whether you’re just beginning to explore contemplative spirituality or you’ve been walking this path for years, there’s a place for you here. I’d be honored to have you join us. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit genemaynard.substack.com/subscribe

The Trailhead will take you on a journey deep into spiritual formation country. It will retrieve the core ideas and practices that have, for centuries, helped hungry spiritual people and communities navigate the way into a deeper, more transformative life with God. genemaynard.substack.com

Creator

Gene Maynard
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

214
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Gene Maynard
Show Website

Around the Fire