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Episode 48 – Loving Kindness
How would it change you to know that there is someone who loves you unconditionally? In this episode, Riley and guest host, Shiloh Logan, explore the awareness and utilization of loving kindness as an operative definition of love. They discuss how it interfaces with latter-day saint theological constructs like Zion and the degrees of glory, as well as the longstanding Christian call of disciples to nonviolence and detachment from outcomes. The calculus of transactional ROI in today’s religious observation has become a distraction leading to toxic burnout when expected outcomes don’t materialize. Conversely, pursuing the “mighty change of heart” which results from transformational experiences with God helps us escape the…
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Episode 74: D&C 124
Shiloh and guest co-host Christopher Hurtado talk about the early Saints' consistent divine call to create sacred space. Whether in Kirtland, Jackson County, Caldwell County, Daviess County, or Nauvoo, the Saints are instructed to construct a temple in order to perform sacred ordinances or to have revealed sacred things. When, in the New Testament, the Jews asked for a sign of authority for Jesus Christ's actions in driving out the money changers of the temple, he answered by saying "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The people, thinking he was talking about the physical temple of stone, did not understand that "he spake of…
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Episode 47: The Importance of Mentors
In this episode, Riley and Christopher discuss the critical importance of mentors in our lives. In the process, they wander back and forth through the various benefits and risks inherent in the establishment of mentor/protégé relationships. At its core, mentoring is about teaching, but on a deeper, more personal level. Mentorships include expectations of both parties, involve bi-directional growth. Mentors can help us grow in all areas of our life, secular and spiritual. In particular, spiritual mentors or gurus can help us grow spiritually. A traditional guru/disciple relationship is a long-term devotional practice. Christopher and Riley discuss the necessary discernment and grace that should attend mentor/protégé and guru/disciple relationships, as…
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Episode 73: D&C 121-123
Ben and Shiloh are excited to talk about D&C 121, and they find that there are always new rich and beneficial conversations about the scriptures whenever we approach them with excitement. This week's readings come from the time when Joseph and his companions were in Liberty Jail. Liberty Jail becomes a pivotal moment in Joseph's life as he is not really the same person who comes out of that experience as he was when he went into it. In these particular sections we can see, hear, and feel Joseph's trauma, and we can see that God is responding to and comforting Joseph in specific ways that are unique to his…
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Episode 46: The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Christopher and guest co-host Shiloh Logan talk about the power of the stories that we tell ourselves and the impact that they have on our lives. It has been said that "we don't live in reality, but, rather, we live in our stories about reality." What does this mean? Human beings are story and meaning-making entities. We are what makes meaning out of reality, and we do this through the stories that we create around and about events and ourselves. Stories are how we make sense of our world, and they are helpful and beneficial to us until they're not. A primary problem for human beings is when we can't…
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Episode 72: D&C 115-120
Shiloh and Ben discuss some history of the early Saints' early persecution that is not often talked about in Sunday school. These sections comprise the period in Missouri after the Saints left Kirtland in 1837 until the Missouri "Extermination Order" in October 1838. While the relationship between the early Saints and the Missourians was not perfect in 1838 it was functional and, some historians argue, had begun to heal and mend since the Jackson County expulsion in 1834 and the Clay County expulsion in 1836. However, relationships between the Saints and their Missouri neighbors took a radical downturn in the summer and fall of 1838 leading to Governor Boggs' famous…
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Episode 45: Being Present to Our Values and How We Spend Our Time
In this episode, Christopher and Riley discuss being present to our values and how we spend our time. They reminisce about the 60-second TV spots “Family. Isn’t It About . . . Time?” (Remember those?) Using these TV spots as a springboard, they talk about the process of formulating values, the difference between the quantity of time and quality of time, and the importance of being present to our values and how we spend our time. Whatever our subjective judgments about which activities might help us attain or keep what we value, hearing God in the process is a function of being present to the “still small voice” that speaks…
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Episode 71: D&C 111-114 (Updated)
Ben is joined again by Christopher Hurtado in a discussion about D&C Sections 111-114. The Saints are anxious about their future and ability to establish the Church according to the revelations. The Lord tells them that they need not be concerned with outcomes. He will take care of their debts and the destiny of Zion. They are invited to simply labor with Him. They are to take of their cross and feed His sheep. As we take upon ourselves the name of Christ, the scriptures about Christ become scriptures about us. The priesthood is the power of God to redeem Zion through gentleness, meekness, and love, without compulsion. How does…
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Episode 44: Contemplating Jesus
“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21) “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou have shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6). “He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matthew 13:11). These scriptures all point to a mystical understanding of Jesus Christ…
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Episode 70: D&C 109-110
Ben is joined by Christopher Hurtado for a discussion about the Kirtland Temple dedication. How did the early Saints view the temple and what does the Lord invite us to by way of the symbolism of the temple itself? Does God need a building or is the structure a mode by which we manifest our intention as a people? Prayer is often perceived as a way to inform or persuade God, but if God's knowledge and will are perfect, prayer can only be a mode of changing us and our perceptions to align with God's. How does Joseph Smith's dedicatory prayer show us a pattern of worship and prayer? What…
Finding Lasting Peace in a Modern World
