Unauthorized Theology

Theology for people who bring their whole heart and mind when they talk with God.
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Deconstructing doesn't mean we've lost our faith. It means we're digging deeper -- finding lost teachers, reviving forgotten traditions, and using the mind God gave us. hollypettit.substack.com

  1. 02/03/2025

    “I Am God”: Emerson’s Wrestle with the Divine

    🔹 In This Episode:Join us as we explore Ralph Waldo Emerson’s journal entry from May 26, 1837, where he grapples with pantheism, Manichaeism, and the nature of the self within the divine. * 🌿 What does it mean to be an individual? * ✨ Emerson’s radical statement: “I am God”—and why it matters * 🔥 His struggle with Manichaean dualism and the tension between body & spirit * 🌎 How harming the world is harming the divine (and ourselves) 🎧 Prefer to listen? Hit play above! Love to read? The full text version is on Absinthe & Transcendentalists. 💬 What do you think? Drop a comment—what does Emerson’s struggle tell us about him — where he was emotionally and spiritually when he wrote this? How does his process of discernment reflect (or differ) from your own? ✨ Support the Show: 5 Minutes of Peace is free for all, thanks to generous listeners who subscribe or toss a coin into the tip jar. 📌 Next Episode: We continue with Emerson’s journal—please join us! Until then, peace be with you! 5 Minutes of Peace is available to all, completely free. Gratitude and palm leaves to our listeners who support this mission through paid subscriptions, as well as those generous souls who simply toss a coin into the tip jar. Get full access to Absinthe & Transcendentalists at hollypettit.substack.com/subscribe

  2. 01/09/2025

    The Cloud of Unknowing, Alan Watts and the Elephant

    Step into 5 Minutes of Peace, where wisdom from diverse traditions meets the silence of contemplation. In this episode, we explore the idea that ultimate truth lies beyond what we can fully understand. Drawing on the parable of the blind men and the elephant, insights from Taoism’s Laozi, Christian mystics like St. Augustine and The Cloud of Unknowing, and modern thinkers like Alan Watts, we uncover a shared invitation to humility and stillness. Join us as we reflect on the profound mysteries of life and rest in the unknowing. Perfect for seekers of all backgrounds, this short yet transformative practice will inspire deeper connections to the divine, the self, and the world around you. If this resonates, don’t forget to share it with a friend or leave a review—your support helps grow this space for reflection. Get full access to Absinthe & Transcendentalists at hollypettit.substack.com/subscribe

  3. 12/31/2024

    Finding Stillness in Darkness: The Spiritual Lessons of Primordial Black

    new Though not an astrologer, even I can sense that this last new moon of 2024 carries special weight. Not only has it closed out a tumultuous year, but also the 100-year life of America’s sorely-missed former president, Jimmy Carter. It feels like we’re moving through a door. Here’s something I read the other night that shows us where we are now— Night is the origin…. Night is the blackness of procreation, for everything issues forth from blackness into light. We ourselves were born from the blackness of the womb into the world of light. This is Raven Grimassi, in his book “What We Knew in the Night.” (That’s an affiliate link, btw.) He’s Turing us away from the idea that blackness is the absence of light. Darkness, he explains, is but shadow, or the absence of light. Blackness, however, is what exists in the primordial, fertile void. Grimassi continues— Before any suns were created in the universe, there was the blackness of outer space…. There was only blackness, and it was first. We’re on the cusp of something new here. We haven’t walked this path before. We don’t know what to expect, but the good news is that this time is very potent. We have a chance now to affect our lives and the world around us than we usually do. Let’s be deliberate. How would we want things to be, in the most perfect of all worlds? There’s a real chance now to bring that into being. Let’s work together for it. Hey You — thanks for joining me for 5 Minutes of Peace. I’m not a witch, or an astrologer, but am indebted to those who are for the inspirations around this episode. I hope that those of you who are witches aren’t too thrown my my use of “amen” at the close. It’s the language I use. Please add your own, with my blessings. Happy New Moon, and Happy New Year to all. Let’s create something worthy of our ancestors in 2025! Get full access to Absinthe & Transcendentalists at hollypettit.substack.com/subscribe

  4. 12/19/2024

    How Ambient Sound Meditation Can Help You Stay Grounded Daily

    Hi — how have you been feeling lately? Me, I’ve been untethered, ungrounded, and generally uncomfortable. When I get like this, a meditation using the natural sounds around me help drag me back to reality — and not the stressful realm of anxiety that we often mistake of reality, but THE REAL, without the stuff we tack onto it. I’m not talking about recorded ambient sounds here, but the real sounds of your environment. What do you do with noise during your quiet times? Few of us get absolute quiet during a meditation session or in our lives, and that can be an advantage if we make it one. What are the sounds you hear right now? In this moment, sitting in the parlor of my antique house, our arthritic refrigerator hums, my dog snores beside me, my cranky ancient oil furnace rumbles deep down in the field stone foundation. Outside, cars pass, wind rustles the trees, car doors slam as my neighbors bring their children home. There will be a train passing through town shortly, sounding its horn as it reaches the crossing. Where are you taking your five minutes—on your way to or from work? Driving, or on public transportation? In a waiting room? In line at the ATM? Are you perhaps walking on a sidewalk or on a trail? Focus on the surrounding sounds, and give each a name. How many sounds can you find? Are you surprised at the number you collect if you keep listening and naming? Note, if there are negative or annoying sounds in your environment, one way to neutralize them is to “denature” them. Separate your feeling of annoyance from the sound. Observe your body’s reactions. Recognize how your body as surround by these sounds, but your Self is unaffected. Think about how your eardrums process sound waves; they accept all, judge none. Each sound is the same as another in the auditory processing region of your brain. Learn to focus on that, rather than the part of the brain that judges. Get full access to Absinthe & Transcendentalists at hollypettit.substack.com/subscribe

  5. 06/08/2024

    Emerson's Journal for July 26, 1837: Books Will Fail You But Nature Never Will

    In today’s episode, Emerson is struggling to find inspiration — a problem common to spiritual seekers and creators alike. Writers prime their pump with the words of others found in beloved books. The same is true for religious seekers. The Father of Transcendentalism reminds us not to lean too heavily on books, however — not even the Bible, Koran, or Sutras — because the Divine is speaking to us every moment of every day. To rely on a book is to settle for second-hand knowledge — it’s like scrolling through your phone while the Universe is talking. Thank you for listening! This post is public so feel free to share it. Here’s the text we’ll be using in this episode; I put in breaks to make it easier to scan. Yesterday I went to the Athenaeum and looked through journals and books — for wit, for excitement, to wake in me the muse. In vain, and in vain. And am I yet to learn that the God dwells within ? That books are but crutches, the resorts of the feeble and lame…. I return home. Nature still solicits me. Overhead the sanctities of the stars shine forevermore…. A man is but a bug, the earth but a boat, a cockle, drifting under their old light. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journal Thanks for listening to Five Minutes of Peace. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Get full access to Absinthe & Transcendentalists at hollypettit.substack.com/subscribe

  6. 05/17/2024

    The Deep Force Within: Emerson, Self-Reliance & the Power of Spontaneity

    Greetings from beautiful Fort Belvoir, Virginia! I'm on vacation this week, but brought Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Nature" along. In today's passage Emerson describes tools of thought we can use to find Transcendence. Get full access to Absinthe & Transcendentalists at hollypettit.substack.com/subscribe

  7. 04/20/2024

    Can Theology Make Us Sick?

    The essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson are the perfect cure for the tangled mess of hidebound rules and superstition we often mistake for theology today. In this episode, we’ll explore a brief passage from Emerson’s essay, “Spiritual Laws.” His take on just what those are—and the mistakes we make in their identification—is still fresh 183 years after he set down his pen. Note, the “simple mind” we talk about in this essay is a positive attribute, and to be envied. Emerson believed the greater our simplicity, the greater our freedom. Oh, and apologies, by the way—my nasal twang is especially prominent in this episode. Score it all under “allergies,” my friends. I used a different bell today, too, which in real life sounds clear and bright, but in the playback sounds flat and clattery. Sorry about that! Back to the original bell next time. Thank you for reading Absinthe & Transcendentalists. This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Absinthe & Transcendentalists at hollypettit.substack.com/subscribe

  8. 04/02/2024

    Thomas Merton -- What Does Salvation Even Mean?

    A reading from Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation with a brief chat, then five minutes of silence. I’ll ring a bell at the end to release you back into your day. Oh, BTW, you’ll hear my roosters calling back and forth to each other during “the silence” — sorry, that’s Dodger and Patches, who share farmyard duties. You might even hear a few of our more talkative hens now and then. It’s good practice to use the sounds around us as part of our contemplation / meditation — but it helps when you know they’re coming. ~ Best wishes! ~ Get full access to Absinthe & Transcendentalists at hollypettit.substack.com/subscribe

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Deconstructing doesn't mean we've lost our faith. It means we're digging deeper -- finding lost teachers, reviving forgotten traditions, and using the mind God gave us. hollypettit.substack.com

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  • Creator
    Theology for people who bring their whole heart and mind when they talk with God.
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Holly Pettit
  • Show Website
    Unauthorized Theology