The Pocket Contemplative dgschmelzer@gmail.com (Dave Schmelzer)

You'd think that apart from affirming that, of course, forgiving people who've hurt us is crucial to our happiness, there wouldn't be much more to say. But Desmond and Mpho Tutu wrote what seems like the final word on the subject in their wonderful The Book of Forgiving, which includes many stories from Desmond's leading of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was central to preventing bloody civil war after apartheid fell. Dave Schmelzer talks with Grace Schmelzer about how the Tutus's insights have impacted their experience of forgiving.

Mentioned on this podcast:
The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World, by Desmond and Mpho Tutu.

In Part 1, we looked at how churches seem to be in the midst of a transition to something new. Here, Vince Brackett and Dave Schmelzer will take a deep dive into the thoughts of the big kahuna on this subject, Charles Taylor, and of his brilliant student, Hartmut Rosa. What if our world is set up to tell us that if we only had more resources we could have the life we want? And that our lack of resources is our fault--leading us to push and push and burn out. Taylor and Rosa think that's massively relevant to each of our lives and that churches fall under the same pressures, which, if unaddressed, will push them away from relevance. Dave and Vince discuss the profound hope that's at the heart of this.

Mentioned on this podcast:
Charles Taylor and his book A Secular Age
Hartmut Rosa, of whom a relevant book would be Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World

While churches are rapidly declining in numbers, new things are popping up. Dave Schmelzer will explore what's happening and the hope for what might be next with rich perspectives from thinkers like Phyllis Tickle, Charles Taylor, Hartmut Rosa and others... alongside some anecdotes from his friends that might ring a bell for you.

Mentioned on this podcast:


Charles Taylor's A Secular Age
Hartmut Rosa's Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World
Phyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why

Christian contemplative spirituality got forgotten for about three hundred years, after Brother Lawrence's famous teachings in the 1600s. The person who brought it back and set the stage for a whole new era of Christian spirituality--and people like Richard Rohr and Thomas Merton--was an unlikely candidate, an upper-middle-class British woman named Evelyn Underhill. Dave Schmelzer starts with a brief overview of this remarkable woman and then interviews Underhill's most accomplished biographer, Dana Greene.


Mentioned on this podcast:


Evelyn Underhill: Artist of the Infinite Life, by Dana Greene
The Spiritual Life, by Evelyn Underhill
Dana Greene's website: danagreene.org
To receive the Evelyn Underhill newsletter, go to evelynunderhill.org 

Last episode had Gary Neal Hansen telling Dave that among the ten ancient Christian prayer practices he teaches and write about, the two that have most popped for people are the Jesus Prayer (the subject of a recent podcast) and what's called Praying the Office (first popularized by St. Benedict), which is how a large swath of Christians have prayed for centuries. Dave hasn't been drawn to Praying the Office, but his wife Grace absolutely has. Dave gives an overview of Hansen's remarks about Praying the Office and then turns things over to Grace to hear more and to walk us through what exactly happens as we give it a try. 

Mentioned on this podcast:


Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers, by Gary Neal Hansen
Prayers for Summertime: A Manual for Prayer (The Divine Hours), by Phyllis Tickle
The Divine Hours (Volume Two): Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime: A Manual for Prayer, by Phyllis Tickle 
The Divine Hours (Volume Three): Prayers for Springtime: A Manual for Prayer, by Phyllis Tickle
The Divine Hours, Pocket Edition, by Phyllis Tickle


If you or someone you know is interested in exploring spiritual direction with Grace Schmelzer, please email her at graceschmelzer1@gmail.com

Gary Neal Hansen has taught ten ways to pray from very different Christians traditions to lots of people. Gary (who wrote Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers) talks with Dave Schmelzer about what he's learned both from the practices themselves and from how people have found them helpful or not. He and Dave also spend some time on what prayer itself is actually supposed to do for us. 

Mentioned on this podcast:


Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History's Best Teachers, by Gary Neal Hansen
Gary's website: garynealhansen.com 
A free, downloadable book from Gary: Love Your Bible: Finding Your Way to the Presence of God with a 12th Century Monk