Love
The Light in Every Thing is a podcast of the Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Learn more about the Seminary at our website or become a friend and supporter with access to more content at our Patreon.
Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together". You can find more of his music here.
Episode 1: Love and the Senses
Inspired by one of our listeners, we are excited to announce a new series of episodes focused on the question of love. In this episode we take up the question of ‘sensuality’. In the large sense of the term, sensuality really points to all that we experience through our senses. Jonah and Patrick seek, in conversation, what it means to live in and through our senses guided by love, and explore what happens when we don’t.
Episode 2: Love and the "Father"
Jonah and Patrick take up a heartfelt request from David Evans. Here is part of what he wrote, "My request is that I would be very interested to hear you discuss The Great Love that Christ describes as coming from the Father. The deep ground of Love. It seems that all loving acts are first framed in this Great Love."
To honor this request, Jonah and Patrick dive deep into one of the references he asked us to explore: the story of the Prodigal Son in the Gospel of Luke.
This episode is dedicated to Edward Reaugh Smith, whom many of you may know as the the author of The Burning Bush. He died this past August 12th, as I was informed by his widow, Jo Anne. What he shared with me as to how he dedicated thousands of hours of his life working through every sentence of Rudolf Steiner's in relationship to scripture was deeply moving. It was his original insight, presented in the Burning Bush, to recognize in the story of the prodigal son the archetype of all evolution - world and personal. Thank you for your service to the spirit, dear brother Edward!
Episode 3: Friendship and Marriage
In this episode, Jonah and Patrick take up the topic of romantic relationships, partnership and marriage. Along the way they share two personal stories that changed everything for them.
Episode 4: Self Love?
In the fourth part of our series on love we take up a major trend in the psychology, self-help and new age worlds: the question of loving our selves. Further stirred by a meditation from Richard Rohr and a mis-reading of the teachings of Jesus on love, Jonah and Patrick speak about how love can never be directed back upon itself; it always needs an Other.
This topic was so rich we had a longer conversation than usual and we will be sharing this in two parts.
Episode 5: The Question of Self Love Continued
We pick up the conversation mid-stream from the fourth part of our series on love in which we take up a major trend in the psychology, self-help and new age worlds: the question of loving our selves. The conversation moves from a meditation given by Richard Rohr through what Patrick refers to as the "Spiritual Cross" of love (loving God and loving neighbor) to the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the image of our true selves in becoming.
This topic was so rich we had a longer conversation than usual and we will be sharing this in two parts. Click here to listen to part one.
As a final gift from this episode we'd like to offer a Christian meditation that comes to us through the first letter of the apostle John (4:16):
God is love
The one who abides in love
Abides in God
And God in them.
