Hard Sun

Michael Mazzola

Since birth, Mike Mazzola has been a seeker: always watching, absorbing, feeling, perceiving and thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Too much thinking… After years of rationalizing and intellectualizing his way through a series of traumatic events, it became too much. Mike found himself at the edge of an emotional abyss when help finally appeared. Starting December 8, 2018, messages began to appear from beyond the physical world – experiences for which there was no rational explanation, but which transformed his life entirely. The Universe intervened when he stopped thinking...

Episodes

  1. 08/14/2021

    Eternity is Now - A Visit with Roger Butts

    A beloved member of the Colorado Springs community, Roger Butts recently released his book Seeds of Devotion, written during the pandemic. This episode offers an insightful interview, discussing many things, including his time as a hospital chaplain during the early months of the COVID-19 crisis. Spiritual leaders like Roger operate daily in the Space Between - where the spiritual world and physical world collide. Rev. Butts has vast experience working at the intersection of theological training and practical application. His humility, transparency and openness to the Unknown are refreshing during this time of rigid beliefs.  ABOUT THE BOOK In Seeds of Devotion, Roger Butts delivers evocative and lyrical prose while sharing wisdom from some of the most powerful figures in spirituality today. Musings from Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and contemporaries like Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton are sprinkled in this devotional as he reflects on life's deepest mysteries. Written with an open heart and years of purposeful practice as a chaplain, Roger Butts offers immersive passages with reflection questions allowing for further spiritual exploration at the end of  each devotion. This book invites you to ask bigger questions of yourself and your life while immersed in meditative silence. These prayers and reflections are meant to guide you to a place of peace and spirituality but also challenge you to delve further into your grace. But most importantly, they are all designed to help you listen and connect with the deep wisdom of your heart. ABOUT ROGER Roger Butts is a former Staff Chaplain at a hospital system in Colorado Springs. A graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary in D.C., he is ordained in the Unitarian Universalist tradition. He is a long-time member of the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship and the International Thomas Merton Society. After serving two UU congregations as senior minister, he traveled for a year organizing against the death penalty throughout Colorado. When he can, he sits with the Springs Mountain Sangha (Buddhist) at Colorado College. His prayers and an essay have been published in a number of anthologies from Skinner House Books. He is also a contributing writer for Contemplative Light. His writings have been published in the Boulder Daily Camera, the CS Gazette, and the Quad City Times. For many years he was a board member of the local branch of the NAACP and the Greenberg Center for Learning and Tolerance in Colorado Springs. He is married to Marta Fioriti, a minister in the Black Forest of Colorado Springs. They have three teenagers and a black lab.  He believes humor and grace will save us all.

    52 min
  2. 02/04/2021

    Hard Sun - Pilot Episode 12-08-2020

    This is the pilot episode of Hard Sun Podcast. About The Show Since birth, Mike Mazzola has been a seeker: always watching, absorbing, feeling, perceiving and thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Too much thinking… After years of rationalizing and intellectualizing his way through a series of traumatic events, it became too much. Mike found himself at the edge of an emotional abyss when help finally appeared. Starting December 8, 2018, messages began to appear from beyond the physical world – experiences for which there was no rational explanation, but which transformed his life entirely. The Universe intervened. The more he submitted to the experiences, the more he was shown - from beyond the Proof. Mike shares his experiences here on the Hard Sun Podcast and he continuously searches for others who have experienced similar spiritual interventions. The show has no agenda and makes no attempt to persuade its listeners toward a particular belief system. It illuminates these occurrences, and allows the listener to decide what to make of them. Hard Sun Podcast also endeavors to cultivate bewilderment and awe – and hopes to inspire listeners to live in this bewilderment and awe. To move beyond thinking minds and realize there is something so much bigger at play. With the stories shared therein, the show attempts to help us shift collective consciousness from materialism and earthly form, to an awareness and amazement of who we truly are. About Mike Born and raised in rural Missouri, along the Mississippi River, Mike moved to Colorado in 2001. He currently works for a non-profit in Colorado Springs that provides free home energy-efficiency upgrades to low-income families, which has a dual purpose of reducing air-pollution and providing a healthier environment. His professional background includes construction, real estate and social-entrepreneurship. Mike loves the lifestyle offered by the Mountain West. After growing up as an outdoorsman in Missouri, he has a passion for the offerings of Colorado. Running, cycling, hiking, skiing, camping, etc. allow for an increased connection to the earth and freedom from the harmful effects of current technology. Surrounded by loving friends and family, Mike works every day to help people – and leave everything better than he found it. This podcast is his next step in the evolution of this human experience. “When you believe more in what you don't see than in what you do see, then what you do see you won't see, and what you don't see you will see.” – Michael Bernard Beckwith

    23 min

About

Since birth, Mike Mazzola has been a seeker: always watching, absorbing, feeling, perceiving and thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Too much thinking… After years of rationalizing and intellectualizing his way through a series of traumatic events, it became too much. Mike found himself at the edge of an emotional abyss when help finally appeared. Starting December 8, 2018, messages began to appear from beyond the physical world – experiences for which there was no rational explanation, but which transformed his life entirely. The Universe intervened when he stopped thinking...