Poema Podcast

Poema S7 026 | Abby Norman on the Power of Lament

Today Abby Norman returns to the podcast to talk about the importance and transformative, healing power of lament - as she discusses in her new book "You Can Talk to God Like That". 
We talk about the importance of naming our pain, feeling our pain, and giving voice to the grief and trauma we carry. We explore how naming our pain and lamenting it, actually robs it of its power, and opens up the pathway to healing. 
We also talk about how lament and naming our pain, allows us to find deeper connection to ourselves, to each other, and to the divine. 
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'You Can Talk To God Like That' releases May 18th in all formats in the US & on Kindle / Audiobook in the UK, and in paperback in the UK on July 20th.

Poema S7 025 | Jenna DeWitt on Taylor Swift, Identity & The Enneagram

In the second in our short 'Taylor Swift' themed podcast series, my friend Jenna DeWitt joins me to discuss Taylor Swift's story and music in the context of identity and the Enneagram. 
We go through Taylor's career and see how her music reflected her own personal journey into discovering and owning her own power and voice, and what we notice about her personality type - Enneagram 3 w 4 - through this journey. 
Jenna shares her own personal experience growing up with Taylor's music, being a similar age and personality type, and how it connected to her own growth and empowerment. I also share how Taylor's music has connected with me on my journey, as a 4w5. 
This episode again touches on how music can connect with us so personally at different stages of our journeys, and how we find our own stories through the art and stories given to us by master storytellers like Taylor. 

Poema S7 024 | Heather Thompson Day on Taylor Swift & The Art of Storytelling

This week we're doing a short series of Taylor Swift-linked podcasts. In today's episode, we examine Taylor's journey as a storyteller, as told through her music. 
Heather and I explore the art of storytelling, and how Taylor has perfected and practiced this through her musical career.
We also discuss the power of sharing our stories in our art and why good stories are so compelling, and where our own stories have connected with Taylor's work. 
This episode is a great insight into the power of story, what makes great art, and how we can find ourselves through sharing and hearing stories. 

Poema S7 023 | Jay Bakker on Faith, Doubt & Transformation

Today my guest is the inspiring author and speaker Jay Bakker. In this episode, recorded in July 2020, he shares his own powerful story of personal and spiritual transformation.
He shares more about the trauma, grief, and losses he's experienced and how they impacted his life, theology and faith, as well as the mental health challenges he's faced. 
We explore how the things Jay experienced changed his perspective on spirituality, Christianity and the church. We also discuss the potential impact of the pandemic, as we experience a collective grief and trauma.
It's a powerful and inspiring story, and well worth a listen.

Poema S7 022 | Our Grief Stories: Amanda Held Opelt

In this episode I'm honoured to be joined by Amanda Held Opelt, to share her stories of grief. 
Amanda shares her experiences of grief, from losing a beloved grandmother, miscarriage, and the death of her sister Rachel Held Evans.
She tenderly and honestly shares the impact grief has had on her life and faith, the questions it raised, how it's shaped her own journey - and we talk about how we as a culture, and individuals, need to develop healthier rituals to name and process our grief. 
(This episode was shared with Amanda's consent). 

Poema S7 021 | Our Grief Stories: J. A. Browne

Today a new on-off series 'Our Grief Stories' begins with author J. A. Browne telling the story of the loss of her mother in 2015, and then her dad in 2019, how she experienced grief, her reaction, and the lessons she learned. 
She tells us how she learned how we experience life differently through the lens of loss, and how the loss of a parent is a very particular, and very painful type of grief. She tells us the physical, emotional and bodily trauma responses.
In talking about this I resonated and shared a bit of my own journey, as we found shared experiences and reactions to the loss of a parent, how life changes, how it influences our life choices, and how we have both discovered healthy ways to process and manage our grief.
 

Poema S7 020 | Rev Dr Kate Hanch PhD on Reclaiming Women's Voices & Finding Hope

Today Rev Dr Kate Hanch PhD, comes on the show to talk about her study on prophetic humility through the lens of women, and marginalised women. 
Fully acknowledging her own inbuilt bias and white privilege, she talks about how we need to centre women in conversations around theology, and historical women theologians whose voices have been silenced due to patriarchy. 
Dr Kate then moves on to talk about how and where she is finding hope in these difficult times we're living in and how her faith helps her face challenges.  And then she talks about finding joy in the midst of pain, and lessons we can learn from periods of struggle.
 
 

Poema S7 019 | Bob Doto on Sitting with Spirits

Today I welcome writer and speaker Bob Doto to the show. In this episode we explore how we can have a form of relationship with the spirits of those who have passed.
Bob explains how he discovered and experienced how we can encounter spirits and do spirit work through the lens of biblical hermeneutics, magical and mindfulness practices, shadow work, and self-inquiry. 
Bob shows having a relationship with the spirits of those who have passed is not only possible within the all Christian traditions, but is inherent to the faith as a whole - and we discuss exactly how this fits in with the practices and experiences of lament and grief.

Poema S7 018 | Caroline McGraw on Why You Don't Owe Anyone

Today author and coach Caroline McGraw joins me to talk about her new book and why "You Don't Owe Anyone".  
Caroline explains to us how often we feel obligated to the world around us, feel we "owe" people and put impossible expectations on ourselves, and the unhelpful roles we can sometimes assign ourselves. We explore the dangers of perfectionism and how to free ourselves of it.
We also discuss why it's so important to name what we're carrying - fear, trauma, mistakes - and face up to it in order to be transformed and grow. And why continually pursuing growth is so important.
Finally, Caroline gives us some practical steps we can take to begin this journey in our own lives. 
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Pre-Order Carolines book here (& get some amazing pre-order bonuses): 
https://awishcomeclear.com/james-prescott

Poema S7 017 | Sarah Bessey & Lisa Sharon Harper on the Rhythm of Prayer

Today I'm joined by author & speaker Sarah Bessey, and speaker, author, podcast host and activist Lisa Sharon Harper, to talk about the new collaborative book they've worked on and contributed to, along with many others, 'A Rhythm of Prayer'.
We talk about the background to the creation of the book in the context of the events of the last 12 months - global pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, the US Presidential election and the weight this book carries and the message it wants to send us in these times of grief & uncertainty. 
We talk about the inspiration for Lisa's own contribution, Sarah's reasons for creating this book and the importance of new liturgies for a new time - and the significance of all of these voices being women. 
"A Rhythm of Prayer" is available now at all online booksellers.