Living Compass Spirituality & Wellness

Scott Stoner
  • 5.0 (21)
  • RELIGION
  • UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

The Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Initiative is a non-profit that creates low-cost, often free, wellness resources, including this podcast, currently used by tens of thousands of adults, teens, parents, faith communities, and organizations around the world. The Rev. Dr. Scott Stoner, the founder of this initiative, is a licensed marriage and family therapist and Episcopal minister. He has over forty years of experience equipping individuals, couples, parents, and families with the tools and inspiration they need to navigate their lives and relationships with awareness and intention.

  1. 3D AGO

    "Do You Want to Be Made Well?" Episode 166, March 6, 2026

    "Do You Want to Be Made Well?" Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast Lent Series: Cultivating Healing and Wholeness with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind   In this Lent episode, host Scott Stoner reflects on one of the most striking healing stories in the Gospels — Jesus's encounter with a man who had been ill for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1–9). At the heart of the story is a deceptively simple question Jesus asks the man: Do you want to be made well? Scripture John 5:1–9 — Jesus encounters a man among many who are blind, lame, and paralyzed near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem, and asks him a single, penetrating question rather than inquiring about the nature of his illness or how long he has suffered. Key Themes The Power of the Question — Of all the things Jesus could have asked, he asked only this. It is not a question meant to shame or judge. It is an invitation to examine our deepest desire and longing. Getting Comfortable in Our Dysfunction — Sometimes we hold on to our dis-ease because it is familiar. Scott shares a personal story from his time as a parish pastor, when a church council member lovingly turned the question back on him after he repeatedly reported struggling with overwork and neglecting self-care. The community's gentle, loving accountability became a real turning point. "I Have No One to Put Me in the Pool" — The man in the story believes healing can only come one specific way. Jesus gently shows him otherwise. How often do we say, "I'll be whole, I'll be at peace, I'll be able to let go — but only when this happens"? Healing often involves releasing our need to control the how and when. Letting Go — Much of the invitation in this story is about loosening our grip — on ego, on control, on habit energy that keeps us stuck. The Divine source of healing may be closer than we think, and arriving by a path we didn't expect. Resources Mentioned Living Compass daily Lent readings — available by email or as a free PDF download at livingcompass.org Living Compass app — available on all major app stores and at app.livingcompass.org (includes guided meditations) Connect with Scott Scott welcomes your reflections on this episode. How does this story land for you? Where are you sitting with the question Do you want to be made well? Reach him at scott@livingcompass.org. May you be safe, may you be healthy, may you be at peace, and may you live with ease.

    8 min
  2. "Wrestling with God and Listening for the Whispers," Episode #165, February 26, 2026

    FEB 27

    "Wrestling with God and Listening for the Whispers," Episode #165, February 26, 2026

    Show Notes: Healing and Wholeness — Wrestling with God and Listening for Whispers Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast | Lent 2026 In this episode, Scott Stoner reflects on two powerful biblical stories that illuminate what healing and wholeness can really look like — not always peaceful or easy, but sometimes raw, wrestling, and hard-won. Drawing on the story of Jacob wrestling with God the night before his reconciliation with his brother Esau, Scott invites us to see that God is present not only in the moments of clarity and consolation, but in the darkness, the struggle, and the dis-ease we carry. Whatever we are wrestling with — a broken relationship, a physical challenge, an emotional weight — we do not walk through it alone. Scott also revisits the story of Elijah from 1 Kings, reminding us that God's healing voice doesn't always come in the dramatic and overwhelming moments of life. More often, it comes as a gentle whisper — through Scripture, a meaningful conversation, a moment of stillness in prayer, or a quiet sense of being led forward. The episode closes with a beautiful reflection from contributor Robbin Brent, who writes that faith is not about certainty or the absence of questions, but about the willingness to keep trusting in the deeper reality of God's healing presence, even when circumstances seem to contradict it. Wherever you are on your Lenten journey, this episode is an invitation to be still, listen for the whispers, and trust that way will open. The full Lent 2026 devotional booklet and the option to sign up to get the Lent daily reflections for "Cultivating Healing and Wholeness" by email are available at livingcompass.org.

    7 min
  3. "Opening Our Eyes: Healing Our Vision," Episode #164, February 23, 2026

    FEB 23

    "Opening Our Eyes: Healing Our Vision," Episode #164, February 23, 2026

    Opening Our Eyes: Healing Our Vision Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast — Lent, Week 1 This episode explores the theme of "Opening Our Eyes" as part of the first full week of Lent, connected to the daily devotional booklet Cultivating Wholeness and Healing with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind. Scott reflects on the many healing stories in the Gospels involving sight, noting that healing doesn't always happen all at once. Drawing on the story of the blind man in Mark 8 — who is healed progressively, first seeing blurrily and then fully — Scott invites listeners to recognize that moving from blindness to blurry is still grace, still progress. He then explores the different kinds of "blindness" Jesus addresses beyond physical sight — spiritual, emotional, and relational — and how each can leave us seeing life less clearly and with less love and hope than we'd like. Whether it's a faith stuck at an early stage of development, emotions we've numbed to protect ourselves, or patterns of "othering" people in our relationships, these forms of blurriness are not causes for shame but invitations to healing. Scott closes with the image of Bartimaeus crying out, "My teacher, let me see again" — reminding us that Jesus is in the business of opening eyes, and that Lent is a season to nurture and restore our vision in all its dimensions. Free PDF of the devotional booklet and daily email reflections available at livingcompass.org. Contact Scott at scott@livingcompass.org.

    8 min
  4. "Cultivating Healing and Wholeness," Episode #163, February 17, 2026

    FEB 18

    "Cultivating Healing and Wholeness," Episode #163, February 17, 2026

    Host: Scott Stoner, Episcopal pastor and licensed marriage and family therapist Episode Summary Recorded the day before Ash Wednesday, this introductory episode launches the Lenten podcast series centered on the theme Cultivating Healing and Wholeness with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind. Scott reflects on what it means to tend to our whole selves during the 47 days of Lent, drawing on his 40 years of experience as pastor and therapist. Key Themes Scott opens with a simple but powerful question: When was the last time someone genuinely asked how you're doing? He invites listeners to treat Lent as an annual spiritual check-up — an unhurried season to reflect on body, mind, heart, and soul. Healing, he suggests, is less like a lightning bolt and more like tending a fire: patient, gentle, and attentive. The Ash Wednesday words "Remember that you are dust" are framed not as shame but as an invitation to humility and openness. He also introduces the Living Compass model of well-being — four quadrants (Heart, Soul, Strength, Mind) with eight dimensions of wellness — and reminds listeners that wellness begins with "we." Resources Mentioned Daily readings booklet — PDF download or daily emails available at livingcompass.org Living Compass App — search "Living Compass" in your app store or visit app.livingcompass.org; includes guided Lenten meditations; free trial for one year, then $10/year Spanish-language content — daily reflections by Estela Lopez and Pedro Lopez (Bruja La De Vida), PDF available at livingcompass.org and posted daily on the Bruja La De Vida Facebook page During This Series Two new podcast episodes will be released each week throughout Lent. Blessings on your Lenten journey.

    8 min
  5. "Practicing Love, One Step at a Time," Episode #162, February 12, 2026

    FEB 12

    "Practicing Love, One Step at a Time," Episode #162, February 12, 2026

    In this Valentine's Day episode, Scott reflects on the Buddhist monks who recently completed their 2,300-mile peace walk to Washington, D.C., drawing connections between walking meditation, pilgrimage, and the true nature of love. He explores how love is primarily a decision and practice rather than just a feeling, using 1 Corinthians 13 as a guide to understand love as patience, kindness, and endurance. Scott shares insights from his retreats at Magnolia Grove Monastery in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, emphasizing that sustaining long-term relationships—whether marriages, friendships, or commitments to justice—requires showing up one step at a time, even when feelings waver. This episode reframes Valentine's Day as an opportunity to practice love as a sustained commitment rather than momentary emotion.

    7 min
  6. "Compassion Fatigue," Episode 161, January 29, 2026

    JAN 29

    "Compassion Fatigue," Episode 161, January 29, 2026

    Many of the people Scott works with as a coach and therapist are reporting that they are experiencing compassion fatigue. In this episode, he talks about what compassion fatigue is and how to address it.

    8 min
  7. "Stay Warm," Episode #160, January 23, 2026

    JAN 23

    "Stay Warm," Episode #160, January 23, 2026

    In this episode, Scott shares a "check-in" process he often uses with individuals, couples, and organizations he works with, called the "internal weather report." He also shares how, in the midst of the deep freeze hitting Wisconsin, where he lives, as well as much of the rest of the country, the universal wish that people extend to one another is "stay warm." What would it mean for us to "stay warm" emotionally and spiritually in the midst of the many storms happening around us today?

    6 min
  8. "Home by a Different Way," Episode #159, January 12, 2026

    JAN 12

    "Home by a Different Way," Episode #159, January 12, 2026

    Sometimes an encounter changes us so deeply that we cannot return the same way we came. When has that been true for you? The story of the Wise Men being warned not to go back to Herod, but to go home by a different way after they encounter the Christ child, is a metaphor for how when we encounter the Divine, we often choose to move forward in a new way.

    10 min
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5
out of 5
21 Ratings

About

The Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Initiative is a non-profit that creates low-cost, often free, wellness resources, including this podcast, currently used by tens of thousands of adults, teens, parents, faith communities, and organizations around the world. The Rev. Dr. Scott Stoner, the founder of this initiative, is a licensed marriage and family therapist and Episcopal minister. He has over forty years of experience equipping individuals, couples, parents, and families with the tools and inspiration they need to navigate their lives and relationships with awareness and intention.

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