Poema Podcast
Episodes
Monday Jul 27, 2020
Monday Jul 27, 2020
Today researcher and podcast host Holly Oxhandler Phd, LMSW joins me to talk about how the church can deal better with mental health - in particular during and post pandemic in the new realities it presents.
Holly shares the challenges the church faces dealing with people with mental illness and shares her thoughts on how churches, social workers, therapists and other professionals can work together in a healthier way to provide positive support to those struggling with their mental health. She also shares practical steps churches can take to deal with the issue of mental heath in a much healthier way without stigma.
Holly also discusses how managing mental health, including in the church, post pandemic, will change and what we need to do to adapt - and how church and mental health professionals need to work together much more and better if we're to deal with the grief and trauma the pandemic had brought us.
Monday Jul 20, 2020
Poema S6 033 | Marlena Graves on Why The Way Up Is Down
Monday Jul 20, 2020
Monday Jul 20, 2020
Today author and speaker Marlena Graves returns to the podcast to talk about her new book 'The Way Up Is Down'. We explore how we can grow deeper in our spirituality, and come closer to the divine through emptying ourselves, through the act of surrender and letting go of materiality, ego, and pride - in contrast to how a lot of Western culture and even parts of the church have taught us.
Marlena tells her own story, of her recovery from the grief of leaving a church community which had hurt her, the challenges she faced with her relationship with God and how she came to a place of raw honesty in her interactions with the divine.
Marlena shares the raw truth about Jesus's example of how when we humble ourselves, surrender, pour ourselves out, it's there we find true intimacy with the divine, and freedom to grow and become more like the Jesus we follow.
Monday Jul 06, 2020
Monday Jul 06, 2020
Today I'm joined by Professor of Communication, interdenominational speaker and feature writer Heather Thompson Day. In this episode we discuss communication, and the power of words and stories to shape our lives, our circumstances and our relationships.
Heather shares how stories are what shape us, how we frame conversations can have an impact on how we work, and our spiritual journey. And she demonstrates how we can influences people's perspectives and opinions much more effectively, and communicate better, when we frame it in the context of story.
We also talk about how stories can shape our faith journey and our theology way more effectively than any academic, theological argument, because we can all connect over story. She reminds us that the best communicators are the best listeners, and how education allied your own story can make you a very communicator on a topic - but it begins with story. And we end by talking about why the Jesus story is so compelling.