Alexander Zelitchenko, Interview #47

Name: Alexander Zelitchenko

Where you live: Cyprus

What you do as a vocation or avocation? I have no vocations

Your two favorite books:

Bible

Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse (Oxford World's Classics) by Alexander Pushkin and James E. Falen

Your two favorite songs: Impossible to say

Why you are interested in spirituality? This is human work - to cognize world as a whole and its part - spiritual world

Your favorite quote: "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"

Your favorite web sites: http://www.russkiysvet.narod.ru/
Your hero? Too many
A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? Any spiritual lesson you HOPE to learn, you learned already
A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" Too many. Pyramids of Gaza or Jerusalem among many others

Mark Townsend, Interview #46

Name: Mark Townsend

Where you live: In a quaint little Market Town situated near the English/Welsh Border

What you do as a vocation or avocation? I served as an Anglican (Episcopal) Priest for ten years, but now work in a free-lance capacity as a Writer, Magician and Retreat Leader

Your two favorite books: His Dark Materials (trilogy) by Philip Pulman and The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Your two favorite songs: Word on a Wing by David Bowie and The Man with the Child in His Eyes by Kate Bush

Why you are interested in spirituality? I was about ten when I first started asking spiritual questions. I'm 41 now. Those initial questions triggered the start of a journey that continues to this day. The questions are still not fully answered - hence the adventure never ceases. I have passed through many traditions, both inside and outside the realms of the Church. As a natural questioner I usually find myself squeezed out of groups and communities that have closed, set answers. As a natural mystic I also get quickly bored by over-intellectualized and literalistic belief systems. In June 2007 I left the world of intuitional religion. It was the most frightening and bruising experience of my life yet, as I discover time and time again, it is through the cracks we often discover pure gold. A few weeks after my decision I sent the following email to a close friend:

"Life is still really tough Caroline. Every day flies by with so much to do and still hardly any cash coming in to pay the mortgage, rent and bills etc. But I'm free - OH GOD I'M FREE - freer than I've felt in thirty years. I can't express how frightening and at the same time how liberating all this feels. Caroline, something's happening to me. It's as if I've entered a new stage in my magical journey, and it's rapidly moving me out of institutional / organized religion altogether and into something totally different... and yes Jesus is coming with me (because he's not the property of the Church alone). I am feeling my dried up wells of the last few years of life within the dear old C of E (which I still love so much) beginning to be re-filled with living water, and it tastes fresh and magical. I'm not sure where all this is leading but I know I need to let go and trust in the path - the Path of The Blue Raven."

Your favorite quote: "...no one can teach you anything about being human. Your essence itself knows already what there is to know. It understands, and already is, more than anyone can speak of. Already, in your potential, you surpass the wise sayings of any guru, enlightened one, or prophet. These people can startle, provoke or point you towards your essence, but they must then back away, and shade their eyes - for your essence outshines them." Simon Parke

Your favorite web sites: Again, there are so many but here are a few:

http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/

http://www.themagiccircle.co.uk/

http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/

http://www.ceilede.co.uk/

http://www.druidry.org/

Your hero? There are so many. and one of them has to be Jesus because he left us with so many shell shocking and spine tingling stories that I still find quite breathtaking. However I no longer see him as the founder of a new religion - rather, a universal hero whose message is a beautiful gift that can be unwrapped and embraced by all. The Inner-Christ is the divine spark within all from every religious tradition, or none. It is there in Christian America, Buddhist Tibet, and Magical Avalon, but simply called by different names. For a Tibetan it is the 'Buddha Nature' - for a follower of Merlin, the 'Wizard Within'.

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? To be truly myself, without fear of rejection.

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" The Forest! It is my natural cathedral. I wrote my second book there - The Wizard's Gift. I find it to be the place that most connects me to mother earth and to my true inner Self.

For further information on my books and my work please visit his website http://www.magicofsoul.com/ and

http://www.marktownsendmagic.co.uk/

Dan Morehead, Interview #45

Name: Dan Morehead
Where you live: (currently) Durham, NC, USA
What you do as a vocation or avocation? I study Christian theology and philosophy and am currently finishing a Ph.D. dissertation for the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
Your three favorite books:
Pnin by Vladamir Nabokov
Dogmatics in Outline by Karl Barth
Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Your two favorite songs:"July, July" by The Decemberists
"Shelter From The Storm" by Bob Dylan
Why you are interested in spirituality? I'm not, or at least not as such. Generally, when people in Western cultures (and especially within the US insofar as the narrative about the Americas being a blank slate, or so-called New World, further accentuate a false sense of rootlessness) talk about spirituality, this talk ends up naming a scattered yearning or desire to transcend a felt emptiness or incoherence. The assumption that, let's say, someone doing yoga in his or her Manhattan studio apartment is connected to a spiritual practice connected to India's cultural forms of life seems to be more the legacy of American Romanticism's emphasis on heroic simplicity and the exotic rather than organically connecting to these disciplines. In this sort of context, then, I find talk about spirituality without a qualifier to be deeply problematic, ambiguous and too easily co-opted by nationalistic politics. In short, I'm never clear what spirituality means other than saying something such as life, yet the question "why are you interested in life?" seems absurd.

Your favorite quote:

For given Man, by birth, by education,

Imago Dei who forgot his station,

The self-made creature who himself unmakes,

The only creature ever made who fakes,

With no more nature in his loving smile

Than in his theories of a natural style,
What but tall tales,the luck of verbal playing,

Can trick his lying nature into saying

That love, or truth in any serious sense,

Like orthodoxy, is a reticence?--W.H. Auden,

From "The Truest Poetry is the Most Feigning"

Your favorite web sites:
http://www.divinity.duke.edu/
http://www.ekklesiaproject.org/
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/
http://www.stopsmilingonline.com/
http://www.criterionco.com/
http://larcheusa.org/

Your hero?: Those who attend to the needs located on the shadow side of our experiment in democracy.
A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? Humility.
A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" If I can change the thrust of the question from where to amongst whom, then I'd answer on a walk or in a conversation with Reno, Lucy, Dave, Abby, or Jillaine, my dear friends.
Dan blogs about theology, poetry, music, and politics at: http://americasyoungtheologian.blogspot.com/

Gretchen Rubin, Interview #43

Name: Gretchen Rubin

Where you live: New York City -- U.S.A.

What you do as a vocation or avocation? After several years as a lawyer, I had an epiphany that I really wanted to be a writer. Zoikes, now that I think about it, I made the switch ten years ago!

Your two favorite books: I couldn't possibly pick my two favorites. Reading is absolutely my favorite activity, and my list of favorites would be pages long. But to name one of my favorites -- I just finished re-reading Carl Jung's memoir, MEMORIES, DREAMS, REFLECTIONS for the third time.

Your two favorite songs: Under the Bridge, by the Red Hot Chili Peppers; and The Holly and the Ivy, by anyone who is singing it.

Why you are interested in spirituality? I am interested in vast and timeless subjects. Spirituality is the most vast and timeless.

Your favorite quote: Well, just as I have millions of favorite books, I have trillions of favorite quotations. But the last question reminded me of one of my favorites:
"Contemplate the extent and stability of the heavens, and then at last cease to admire worthless things." Boethius

Your favorite web sites: I have so many friends who have blogs, I don't want to answer that!Your hero? I wrote a biography of two of my heroes: Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy. I would add St. Therese of Lisieux, as well.

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? Self-control.

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" In any library, in my office, or snuggled up on the couch with my children.
(Editor's note: To see Gretchen's cool happiness project, go to http://www.happiness-project.com/ and you can sign up for her e-newsletter)

Lisa, Interview #42

Name: Lisa
Where you live: ALtoona, WI
What you do as a vocation or avocation? Schedule in home cares for disabled adults and frail elderly.
Your two favorite books: Sears Christmas Wish Book and Why Do Men Have Nipples by Mark Leyner.
Your two favorite cd's: Anything Big band.
Why you are interested in spirituality? Because it's like the Hokey Pokey, it's what it's all about.
Your favorite quote: This is from an elderly lady in rural Iowa, " Whyyyy, there's just no sense in that." (Think about it...you can use it in just about any situation)
Your favorite web sites: You Tube.
Your hero? My parents
A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? Why don't all humans come with an instructional manual?
A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" Lake Superior

Oriah, Interview #40

Name: Oriah
Where you live: I live in the country, about two hours north of Toronto, on five acres of land surrounded by four hundred acres of conservation authority forest.
What you do as a vocation or avocation?
I write- books, poems, thoughts, dreams, analysis, commentary, mulling, musings and memories. But mostly I write stories that help me understand, see, shape, celebrate and continue the life I have been given.
When I am not writing, I sit and watch the brilliant red cardinal feed his mate bird seed and let my paying attention be my prayer. I listen deeply and hear the divine ask me to move slowly and to soften. I forget, and I speed up and start to get sharp edges. And then I remember. . . . and I slow down again and I soften. . .. and then I forget and start running and get prickly. . . . and then I remember again to listen and slow down and soften. . . .
Your two favorite books: Hmmm. . . . two fantastic novels come to mind:
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Your two favorite cd's: in this moment:
Chill Out Classics (a collection)
Anything by Keith Urban. There- the secret is out- I like (and sing along with) country music!
Why you are interested in spirituality?I am interested in life, in living fully, in offering something to the world in my brief time here and in learning to love well so that I and those around me can be happy. Spirituality- the practise of going to essence, of cultivating a connection with that which can be experienced as the divine and sacred core of who and what all things are- helps me open to the possibility of love and life more fully.
Your favorite quote:"Everyone does the best they can with what they have to work with at any given time." Don House (my father)
Your favorite web sites: Oh no. My age is showing. Do I have a favourite website? Well. . . .I bookmark the local cinema site, the weather sites and my bank sites- but I don't think these count. Sorry.
Your hero?
I had trouble with this one. "Hero" is an archetype that has much more juice in the US than it does in Canada- so my "heros" tend to be smaller, everyday folks. My husband is my hero because, at 55 he has had to courage to go back to the core of who he is and is creating the music that is his soul's offering to the world. My father is my hero because despite being raised in a horribly abusive household he took full responsibility for his own life and became a loving father and caring husband. My friend Linda is my hero because she quit the job that was kiling her despite her fear, and because she is always open to learning. The men and women who get up every day and do what needs to be done to feed the children are my heros.The elderly who continue to be open to life and learning despite the cultural disrespect and physical limitations they suffer are my heros. Immigrants who leave all that is familiar to them and come thousands of miles to a strange culture and the snowy landscape of Canada to build a new life, often knowing no one here, are my heros. . . . .I find myself surrounded by heros everyday.
A spiritual lesson you hope to learn?
To remember to listen and slow down and soften a little more often. :-)
A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"
In the wilderness, on the granite rocks of the Canadian Shield, amidst the lakes and pines of northern Ontario.

David B. Parker, Interview #41

Name: David B. Parker

Where you live: Galesburg, IL

What you do as a vocation or avocation? Presbyterian minister, father of three, and husband to one amazing woman.

Your two favorite books: A New Kind of Christian: The Story We Find Ourselves In by Brian D. McLaren, and Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss--my son's first book he learned to read.

Your two favorite cd's: Legend, by Bob Marley & U2's best of 1980-1990.

Why you are interested in spirituality? While many people know that we need each other in this ever-connected world, I believe in One that we need to be connected to in just as deep a way. Your favorite quote: "If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it."--I use it all the time with my kids!

Your favorite web sites: Facebook, ESPN, and many other blogs I check out.

Your hero? Martin Luther King, Jr.

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? Meditation-- I can't stand sitting still!

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"

1) By any body of water2) and Jamaica (which falls under #1)

our church website: http://www.fpcgalesburg.com/

my weak (not weekly) blog: http://revdad.blogspot.com/