Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Steve Austin, Interview #214


Your Name:
Steve Austin (no, not the wrestler)

Where you live:
Birmingham, Alabama (the land of sweet tea, college football, and the largest cast iron statue in the world)

What you do as a vocation or avocation?
I have a few jobs. I work part-time as a sign language interpreter (I’ve been signing since I was twelve), and spend the rest of my time as a life coach, writer, and creating online courses via the Catching Your Breath Academy.

Your two favorite books:
1) 8 Habits of Love, by Rev. Ed Bacon
2) The Shack, by Wm. Paul Young

Your two favorite songs:

1. Pills, by the Drew Hale Band
2. Weak Sometimes, by Devin Balram

Why you are interested in spirituality?
I was a pastor when I nearly died by suicide. When I woke up in that ICU hospital room, I had a couple of choices: I could bide my time until I got out of the hospital and try to kill myself again, or everything would have to change. Thankfully, I chose the second option, and I’m learning what wholeness looks like.

In recovering from the darkest days of my life, I’m learning to embrace love-based spirituality, rather than fear-based religion. I’m finding that I’m loved, exactly as I am. And my goal today is to continue to journey from chaos to calm, from performance to belonging, from striving to simply being. I’m happy to report: it’s working out quite nicely. For the first time in my life, I like the guy who stares back at me in the mirror.

Your favorite quote:
I think that answer changes, depending on the day. But right now, it’s this quote by Sarah J. Robinson:

I found a God who walks through the darkness with me. Who understands my broken pieces and doesn’t expect me to pretend to be whole. Who can handle hurt and anger, even when I direct it at him. He never forced wholeness on me before I was ready. He sat with me in the dark when I made my bed in hell. He loved me even when I cussed at him and has always been infuriatingly kind.

Your hero?
Anyone who knows what it’s like to feel completely overwhelmed by life, but chooses to keep holding onto hope, while looking for practical ways to heal. Whether that person is a suicide survivor, a single parent, a survivor of abuse, or the person who is buried under piles of shame because their brain isn’t wired quite like everyone else’s. My hero is every single person who keeps clinging to the promise that better days are coming, and doesn’t allow a bad day or a really difficult season to define the rest of their life.

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn?
My word for 2019 is simply, “be.” I’m hoping to learn (again) that I have permission to take a deep breath and relax into my being. I’m hoping to learn to be comfortable in my own skin, and to celebrate every single victory. Humaning ain’t easy, but as we slow down and come to stillness, it becomes much easier to handle.

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"
Two places.
1) At my Grandparent’s land, down by the pond, where the crickets play and the frogs croak and I can sit barefoot, squishing my toes in the soft and cool Alabama clay.  
2) St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama. I spent a weekend there a few years back on a personal, private, silent retreat and it changed my life. I’d love to go back there very soon.

Bio: Steve Austin was a pastor when he nearly died by suicide. These days, Steve writes at iamsteveaustin.com and is the founder and lead content creator of the Catching Your Breath Academy. He is the author of two Amazon best sellers, From Pastor to a Psych Ward and Catching Your Breath. Steve lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with his wife and two children.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Martha Spong, Interview #213

Name:  Martha Spong

Where you live: South Central Pennsylvania

What you do as a vocation or avocation? Social media minister, writer

Your two favorite books: 
“Thirst” by Mary Oliver - I love her poetry; this is a volume I return to over and over again. “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” by C.S. Lewis - This is perhaps my most re-read book, going back to age 8, and returning to it is like visiting old friends and hearing their voices one more time. My daughter is named for Lucy Pevensie. If you don’t mind, I’ll add a third: The Gospel of Mark, which I love for its interwoven stories and its portrayal of a Jesus who is fully a lot of things.

Your two favorite songs: 
“I’ll Fly Away” - I have a collection of idiosyncratic recordings of this one, from Johnny Cash to Alison Krauss to Kanye West. “Songbird” - Again I love and have various versions, but especially love it as recorded by Eva Cassidy, for the way it marked a turning point in my life. 

Why you are interested in spirituality?  
From the time I was a little Southern Baptist girl growing up in Virginia, and even before I read the Narnia books, I had a sense that even when life in this world is challenging, we belong to something bigger and farther and deeper and more real than we can see. I’ve explored a number of denominational paths and other spiritual influences, but ended up remaining in church, which is the place I feel most connected to a love that is deeper and wider than our perceptions. I feel it most deeply in music and the reading of the Word and always hope to open that connection for others in my preaching.

Your favorite quote: 
“He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.” Mr. Beaver in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - such a great counter-balance to our nice, clean, safe Sunday School Jesus.


Your hero? 
My Cousin Jack, otherwise known as the Right Reverend John Shelby Spong, a person of the deep and courageous faith, brave enough to let go of all the handrails of established religious life to show the rest of us there is still a footing to trust. 

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? 
How God is working through the things I have been slowest to accept, or perhaps I should say through my stubbornness!

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"  
Almost anyplace I can see, smell, hear the Atlantic Ocean.

*****
Editor's Note: Martha is the editor of this book:

There’s a Woman in the Pulpit: Christian Clergywomen Share Their Hard Days, Holy Moments and the Healing Power of Humor, edited by Martha Spong, foreword by Carol Howard Merritt (SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2015).


Also found here:

Martha is also a contributor to this book:
The Abingdon Creative Preaching Annual 2016, edited by Jenee Woodard, curator of The Text This Week

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Tim Birchard, Interview #212

Name:  Tim Birchard

Where you live: southwest Colorado, USA

What you do as a vocation or avocation?   Advisor for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math undergraduate students

Your two favorite books:  I AM THAT by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway

Your two favorite songs: 
"Now Is The Time"  from my album "Love Songs from Hafiz"  
"Rumor"  from my album "Dots and Dashes"  

Why you are interested in spirituality?  
I used to be afraid of ‘getting all spiritual’. After feeling like organized religion had let me down in so many ways, I began to equate ‘getting all spiritual’ with being tricked… with believing lies.
From then on, I wanted proof. I assumed that if I could perceive it with my physical senses, it must be true. Anything outside of the scope of concepts could not be proven; therefore, if I believed in something I could not see/hear/taste/smell/touch or conceptualize, I was going to end up playing the fool… believing lies… and suffering more.

Yet the truth is, I am not this physical body. I am not this mind (therefore, I am not mind-based ego). And as my friend Atreya Thomas says, there are only two things we can be afraid of: something concerning the ego, or something concerning the body. Since neither is my true self, believing them to be real is a mistake.
As it turns out, when I believe what I see/hear/taste/smell/touch/mentally conceive to be reality, I am believing a lie. I am mis-identifying with the transitory and imagining it to be permanent. The path to truth is to discard what is perceived via the physical senses. Reality is beyond thought. Not “irrational”… but “extra-rational”. Fear of ‘getting all spiritual’ is ego-based fear.

Atreya, you said it best: as long as I mistakenly believe the illusory self to be true, the risk of egoic paranoid thinking will continue to be extremely high. My fear of ‘getting all spiritual’ is, in itself, a painful symptom of believing a lie. The doorway out of this suffering is to recognize my true identity as The Absolute.
When I gently recognize ALL thoughts (including these) and perceptions as movement of the mind, then I can rest in the peace and freedom that is my birthright.
Your favorite quote:   
“Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,
Love is knowing I am everything,
and between the two my life moves.” 
― Nisargadatta Maharaj


Your favorite web sites: 

Your hero?  
I work with college students who come from low-income backgrounds, and/or have a disability, and/or are first-generation college students (neither parent had a bachelor's degree when the student reached age 18).
Every one of my students who struggles to succeed in college and in life is my hero.

 
A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? 
How to live daily life while resting in the perfection of the present moment without being carried away by the distractions of my own mind.

 A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" 
EXTERNAL 
Takamatsu City, Japan
The mountains of southwest Colorado
The Caribbean Sea
INTERNAL
Anywhere I happen to be when I remember that disconnection is simply an illusion


Sunday, March 1, 2015

Vironika Tugaleva, Interview #211





Your Name:
Vironika Tugaleva
Where you live:
Nowhere specific. I'm on a permanent-address-less journey at the moment. I'm a citizen of the world.


What you do as a vocation or avocation? I am an author, coach, and speaker

Your two favorite books: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Prisig,  Island by Aldous Huxley

Your two favorite songs: That changes on a regular basis, but at the moment I'd say: I am Light by India Arie and Lateralus by Tool.

Why you are interested in spirituality? 
Accidentally, really. I was a die-hard skeptic and cynic, stuck in the box of empirical tradition, always believing I knew the "truth". I accumulated so many wounds over the years - trauma, addiction, self-hatred - I eventually had a mental breakdown. In that time, I found something deeper within me. It wasn't until much later, after I started trying to understand what was happening to me, that I discovered the entire field of spirituality. Now, I don't know what my life would be without this deeper self-understanding.

Your favorite quote:
This also changes, and there are so many! This one is probably the most poignant for me, as a teacher, right now:
     You've no idea how hard I've looked for a gift to bring You. 
     Nothing seemed right. 
     What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean. 
     Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient. 
     It's no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.
     So I've brought you a mirror.
     Look at yourself and remember me."
~Rumi
 Your favorite web sites: I love writing for TinyBuddha, Elephant Journal, MindBodyGreen, and HighExistence. I founded a project called The Real Us, where people share their stories of healing, authenticity, kindness, and courage. I always love reading those. I try to keep my own website an enlightening place for people to visit as well. You can find that here: www.vironika.org.

Your hero? Honestly, my partner. I met him after a few months of deep healing and he's been here for this whole amazing journey I've been on. He's helped me face demons I couldn't face alone. He helped me see past my self-imposed limitations. He believed in me when I quit my job, when I wrote a book, when I went public. He's been here every step of the way, not just as a support system, but as a fellow traveller on the journey of self-discovery and courage. I've watched him change and evolve, and he's done the same for me. Now, we've both shed our day jobs and are setting off to go travel the world, learn the mysteries of life, and appreciate each other even more. He's my everyday hero. He's what makes this fun.

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? At the moment, I'm learning about the balance between unconditional giving and self-care. I'm learning what it means to give without making it into a transaction, while still respecting myself as a human being with my own needs. It's a funny balance. I'm learning that, while I am powerful and beautiful and interconnected on a spiritual level, I do still have to honour this human experience. I have to respect my form, right here, right now, instead of playing martyr (like I sometimes do).

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" Eyes, human eyes, wherever I meet them. And nature. All nature. Unless it's that fake pseudo-nature at the mall.

Editor's note: Vironika is the author of the award-winning, bestselling book The Love Mindset and  Founder of The Real Us. You can find Vironika on her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Alan L. Pritz, Interview #210

Name: Alan L Pritz 

Where you live: MinneapolisMN

What you do as a vocation or avocation? 
I’m an Interfaith Minister with a private practice specializing in personal and organizational meditation training and spiritual counseling-coaching.


Your two favorite songs: 

Why you are interested in spirituality?
 I was drawn to matters of Spirit from early childhood. Ultimately, I have a driving desire to understand the true nature and purpose of things and found such verities fully realized in the peaks of spiritual attainment.

Your favorite quote: 
Forget the past. The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until man is anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now." --Swami Sri Yukteswar

Your favorite web sites: http://www.yogananda-srf.org/ and  www.Awake-In-Life.com,  

Your hero? Yogananda, Jesus, Lincoln

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? Selfless Love

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" 
With places that vibrationally evoke Paramahansa Yogananda. I also enjoy pilgrimage to holy sites of all faith traditions in order to absorb those divine vibrations.



Sunday, November 2, 2014

Patricia Cori, Interview #209

Your Name: 
Patricia Cori  


Where you live: 
I left the San Francisco Bay Area 30 years ago and immigrated to the Eternal City, Rome Italy, where I settled - but I spend a lot of the year traveling the world.

What you do as a vocation or avocation?
I wear many hats, I'm happy to say! I am an author with 13 best-selling books to my credit, a screenwriter, a public speaker and an environmentalist. My life work is dedicated to inspiring people to contemplate the greater multiverse, life beyond the material, and to taking our rightful place as guardians of this immense, beautiful planet.

Your two favorite books:  
How difficult to choose favorites from the wealth of books that have touched my life! The first that come to mind are Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis and The Poetry of Robert Frost - but oh, the list is immense.

Your two favorite songs: Fragile by Sting; Claire de Lune - Debussy

Why you are interested in spirituality? 
As we exasperate the conditions created by the pursuit of materialism and wealth, we realize that seeking a greater connection to Source and that infinite love is the only thing that truly gives meaning to our earthly lives.

Favorite quote: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Your favorite quote: ― Martin Luther King Jr.I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World


Your favorite web sites:  seashepherd.orgFacebook.com

Your hero? 
Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Society. He is one of the most courageous and focused human beings on the planet and he is a true whale warrior.

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn?  
Seeing god in every being - even those who are bending towards the darkness.

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" 
So many:1) Egypt  2) Glastonbury, England 3) The Azores islands (Atlantis) 4) Palenque, Mexico

Web Sites for Patricia:  theemissary.net    sirianrevelations.net


Mark Susnow, Interview #208

Your Name: 
Mark Susnow

Where you live: 
San Anselmo, California

What you do as a vocation or avocation? 
You might say I’m a lover of life. Its complexities, its mystery and its adventure.  And you could say I’m a life coach, thought-leader, author, musician, and avid tennis player.

Your two favorite books: 
Throughout the years I’ve had many favorites. After I wrote Dancing on the River: Navigating Life’s Changes, four years ago, there has been one book that has touched me deeply and that is The Beggar King: The Secret of Happiness by Joel Ben Izzy; I was so moved that I googled the author to thank him for writing the book and sharing his story.

Your two favorite songs: 
That’s a challenge to keep it to two. Since I’m a musician I have been exposed to many songs and music from cultures all over the world. I have always liked the Fool on the Hill by the Beatles. We are the World touches me and I play that on the piano and sing it. Most recently, on our weekly radio show, Journey On, we were honored to have as our guest, an amazing Brazilian artist, Kaliyani. Her inspiration Nammu’s Invocation, touched my soul.

Why you are interested in spirituality? 
I have always been interested since I’ve been a little kid. My father died when I was six. From that point on I always wondered about the nature of God and why certain things happen in life. In the last chapter of Dancing on the River I write about Embracing the Great Mystery.

Your favorite quote: 
"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be."--Lao Tzu  


Here’s one I wrote. "When you discover and honor your true nature and core beliefs, your life will be more consistent with the self you want to awaken."

Your favorite web sites
Although I don’t visit it that often, when I do, I always feel better. The http://www.Goodnewsnetwork.org is one of my favorites. And of course I’m excited about my site, http://www.inspirepossibility.com

Your hero? Both Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela are up there.

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn?  
Among other things we’re here to share our joy with others. With that comes learning to be less judgmental and more accepting.

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" 
I’ve been a meditator for over 40 years so I usually, not all the time, feel that deep place inside. And yoga allows me to find that deeper peace. Being in nature soothes my soul and I experience that deeper place inside when I play music.