Poema Podcast

Poema S6 004 | Jim Woods On Creativity & Our Life Story

Today my good friend Jim Woods returns to the podcast to explore our lives as stories. We discuss being authentic in our lives and our art, how we can confront pain and explore it & how authentic creativity helps us lead healthier lives.
Jim talks about what genuine connection really is and how we find out, setting healthy boundaries to guard our emotional health, including how social media use has impacted his own mental health. 
He also talks about how we can grow and develop as artists, and gain confidence and trust in ourselves by showing up for ourselves and our art - and of course, we discuss the enneagram. 
Jim is a fountain of wisdom on creativity and our personal journeys, and it's always such fun to chat to him. 

Poema S6 003 | Meredith McDaniel - In Both Want & Plenty

I'm delighted to welcome author and qualified counsellor Meredith McDaniel to the show today. Meredith runs a private counselling practice called 'Milk & Honey' and has just released her first book, "In Want & Plenty".
In today's episode we explore the concept of abundance, of being in need, and divine provision. Meredith talks about how God can often give us what we need even when we don't know what we need - and the radical concept of being in both want and in plenty at the same time.
We also discuss moving into the pain rather than walking around it, how often the cost of growth is feeling pain, and how in growth, things often need to get worse, before they get better - and how God is part of this journey.
If after listening you want to explore this more I'd highly recommend Meredith's book 'In Want & Plenty' - and it's available now wherever books are sold.

Poema S6 002 | Andre Henry on Racism, Hope & Hard Pills

Today I'm joined by musician, podcaster and activist Andre Henry. Andre and I explore the issue of systemic racism in western culture, and Andre unpacks for us the racism which many of us don't see, or don't know, which can come from ibuilt white privilege. 
Andre shares how his creative work and his faith has been impacted and challenged by the increasing racism in US culture, and shares some of his frustrations in his work and in those who don't see they are part of the problem. 
Andre discusses some initial practical steps all of us can do to combat racism, and how there is no middle ground in racism - either we're part of the problem, or we're actively anti-racist and doing the work of change. He also shares with us some great resources to help us do this, and his own biggest inspirations, and how he practices finding hope.  
This was a challenging, discomforting and inspiring conversation, with hard pills we all need to hear. 

Poema S6 001 | Sarah Bessey on Feasts & Miracles In The Wilderness

A new season of Poema Podcast begins with a conversation with author and speaker Sarah Bessey. Sarah joins me for the third time, to talk about her latest book 'Miracles & Other Reasonable Things', which charts her spiritual and personal journey of the last few years. 
Sarah shares a bit of her own deconstruction journey, her experiences both in the church and in her own life which challenged her faith in unexpected ways, and how a post miracle experience wasn't the happy ever after the Christian church often paints to be. She explores deconstruction and non-dual thinking and how the challenges this brings with traditional / evangelical language of the church, and how she has attempted to reconcile the two. 
Sarah also goes into great depth about the experience of being in the wilderness, and how she discovered that far from being a lonely solitary place, it can be a place of great community, feasting, and joy, even in the midst of suffering. And of course, Doctor Who inevitably came up! 
Finally, Sarah shares briefly about the grief of losing her beloved friend Rachel Held Evans, and how this has impacted her relationship with God and her spiritual journey. 
This was such an inspiring and fun conversation, I hope it's encouraging for you too. 
 

Poema S5 033 | Finding Hope with Andy Mort

In today's episode I welcome my friend and podcaster Andy Mort back to the show. We live in difficult, dark and dangerous times. The political climate in the West, in particular the US and the UK, is divided, heated and bleak, and we have a climate change emergency. Right now, it's difficult to find hope.
Today Andy and I explore the the real issues behind what's happening in our world, and how looking at history can help us understand the present - and discover that in fact, there might be many reasons to hope and discover some joy, even in the midst of how things are now. 
I finished this conversation feeling so much more hopeful, about our world and my own life, I hope you do too. 

Poema S5 032 | Alexander J. Shaia on Awakening, Transformation & Change

My beloved friend Alexander J. Shaia returns to the podcast today. In this episode, we discuss the process of awakening, transformation and change in our personal and spiritual journeys. 
Alexander shares how we need to be awakened to our need for growth, go through a process of transformation, before we see genuine change - and how this is an ongoing process of growth for us, and we discuss what this looks like in practice. 
There's so much in this episode I can't explain it all in a short summary - but Alexander is one of the wisest, deepest thinkers I know, and he has a deep well of knowledge to share. This is such a great conversation, one of my favourites. 
You can find out more about Alexanders' work & get more resources of his at www.quadratos.com
 

Poema S5 031 | K.J. Ramsey on Finding Grace In Suffering

Today I welcome author and therapist K.J. Ramsey to the show. K.J. tells us her story of how an experience of deep suffering through an illness which changed her day to day life dramatically. The God she had known or thought was God, was no longer sufficient. But in the process, she discovered a new depth to her spirituality and understanding of Jesus.
K.J. explains how we can try and explain and justify our suffering, and the reality that we simply can't understand suffering, and it's OK that we don't. She explores how we can be fully present in our lives now and discover deeper depths to the divine mystery, and a greater knowledge of who we are. 
Finally, K.J. explores how she discovered solidarity with Jesus in his own emotional, physical and mental suffering, and discovered how it's in the midst of suffering we can actually draw closer to him - and we explore how this is contrary to the Hollywood, prosperity 'God solves the problem and gets you to heaven' story which evangelical Christianity tries to sell us, which isn't even suffering. 
K.J. has such insight on suffering and the divine, a background in therapy and knowledge the neuroscience of suffering, and has such wisdom to share here, it was a true joy to speak to her.

Poema S5 030 | Marlena Graves on Her Beautiful Disaster

My guest today is author and speaker Marlena Graves, an expert on spiritual formation. Marlena shares her personal story, of a traumatic childhood, struggling with mental illness - and how in the midst of this wilderness, she found a glimpse of the divine. 
Marlena shares with us how the suffering and wilderness helped her discover the deeper truth of a loving God, who meets us in our brokenness, a God who isn't constrained by church, theology or religious certainty, but can still be found within spiritual community and the Christian faith.
Marlena discovered how the desert experiences, the very real suffering we experience, when prayers aren't answered, can actually connect us to Jesus way more than the mountaintop experiences, and the divine can be found to be faithful even there. 

Poema S5 029 | Drew Brown on the Spirituality & Enduring Relevance of Superheroes

Today my friend Drew Brown joins me for the first time. Drew is a musician and advocate, and also a fellow fan of superheroes and comic book characters. He loves exploring the deeper meaning behind the on-screen journeys of many comic book characters and what meaning they and relevance they can have for our own journeys, including the journey of deconstruction.
In this episode we explore the spirituality of comic book characters, and the identity, stories, and character arc of several major comic characters we see in movie, including villains.
We talk about the stories and characters which resonate with us and our journeys, and indeed the cultural warnings and messages we can see regarding deconstruction and mental health, in the respective stories of Steve Rogers (Captain America), Bruce Wayne (Batman) and arguably the greatest comic book villain, the Joker. We also explore the links between the stories of Superman, Jesus and Moses.
This is both one of the most fun episodes I've ever done, yet also one of the deepest.

Poema S5 028 | JulyDa Return

This week I welcome back one my beloved friends, Julida Alter, one half the musical duo JulyDa. We talk about the creative process and inspiration behind their new music, and explore how our art is always a reflection of our own journeys, both in life and faith.
Julida also shares some new developments in her own life, and how these have been reflected in this new music, and reflects on how these developments might impact their creativity going forward. We then dive into two particular songs, 'You May Learn' and 'Aspiration', and the stories and creative process behind these songs, as well as their single 'Sea Of Glass'.
Julida always has such insight into the creative process, and how it connects with our own personal, spiritual journeys, this is well worth a listen.