Reconstruction Calls

Deconstruction & Reconstruction are an invitation to never stop believing. In this conversation with Rev. Jared Houze, we discover that part of the process is that before we can believe, we must first belong. Knowing that we belong to community gives us a place to believe from. This insight came from a real curious question related to what he would like for his kids -- being that he grew up baptist and is now an Episcopal priest. Come listen into this call to also hear some real wisdom in the work of reconciliation and how the church is uniquely positioned to bring people together. 

Rev. Jared Houze is the senior minister at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Abilene, Texas. 

When we began the COVID lockdown, many of us made plans that would help us get through. But then it just kept going. The gift of 2020 may be clarity in our lives as things got simpler or required us to live differently. You might say that 2020 has caused many of us to renovate our lives. Because of this the question arises, what do we do next? If we don't feel called to something specifically, what should we do to discern our next steps? That is what I brought Spiritual Director Kim Verriere back to talk about. Kim was on in episode 5 (Dreams And A Deep Trust) and we talked about her dream work. What I learned in that episode is that sometimes hearing the voice of God means trusting our deepest selves. We will talk about discernment, next steps and how to begin noticing the voice of God all around us.

Learn more about Kim at www.greaterlovecollective.org

What if our dreams are God's prayers for us and to us? Dreams and other mystical experiences can sometimes be like scratch off tickets in that we may not be best served to scratch one too hard. Sometimes the Holy Spirit is speaking to us over time and through multiple occurrences and what is revealed is the leading of God in our lives. This episode's guest is Emily Turner, a spiritual director, a writer and a mystic. I wanted to have Emily on because she is tuned into listening and hearing from God in different ways. Sometimes listening to the ways that other people hear God speak in their lives, gives us a new perspective.

Learn more about Spiritual Direction and Aaron Manes at www.aaronmanes.com

Occasionally I think it is a good idea to just listen to someone's deconstruction story. Often times we hear our own stories reflected in their truths. About a decade ago in Nashville, I met Bob Hutchins who at the time owned a marketing agency. We haven't been in touch much but a year or two ago, I noticed a change in his social media posts and I decided to reach out and what I found was that Bob had been through a deconstruction of faith and I wanted to know more about his reconstruction process - so that is today's episode. We will listen to Bob's story, talk about learning to listen for God in new ways and we will see how much he knows about his adopted hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Bob has written a book called Finally Human: Using digital media to restore culture and better our world.

Bob is the host of the Rumors Of Grace podcast. Learn more and listen at www.rumorsofgrace.com

Is all our Christian busyness interrupting our ability to grow spiritually? That is my first question to today’s guest Megan Westra. Megan is a pastor, speaker and an author. Her new book, “Born Again and Again,” touches on many of the words or concepts that may carry baggage for many people undergoing faith reconstruction. In this podcast we talk about moving from an individualistic kind of faith to a more communal view of salvation. We also talk about words that carry baggage and how to listen for a new meaning. You can find out more about Megan at www.meganwestra.com

The truest form of reconstruction is when your internal trust of God matches your external experiences with God. The Rev. Dr. Lil Smith is a seasoned Spiritual Director and a guide for many who are listening to new expressions of God in their lives. In this episode we talk about how it can be difficult to find that interior trust and how we see the Holy Spirit leading people through deconstruction of our traditional faith paradigms. I think I asked my best question yet and we do play a game along the way. 

More about Lil Smith:

Lil is director and co-founder of Retreat House (www.retreathousecommunity.org), a day retreat and spirituality center in Richardson, TX .  She is a trained spiritual director and supervisor.  In the role of adjunct faculty, Lil facilitates the supervised practicum classes in the Perkins School of Theology Certification in Spiritual Direction.  As a retreat leader, spiritual director and supervisor Lil shares with others her passion for the spiritual life. She is active with the life of Spiritual Ministries Institute, is a member of the Richardson Interfaith Alliance (RIA) and is on the board of Compassionate DFW.

In the COVID season of life we are all living in, what can we learn from someone who feels what everyone else is feeling. If an empath has learned to practice hope, then we can definitely learn to add to our own faith by listening. On this episode of the Reconstruction Calls Podcast, Aaron Manes speaks with Christy Stone (a therapist, spiritual director and an empath) about how to find the higher good in the midst of so much anxiety. 

What is an empath? An empath is a person who feels and absorbs other people's emotions and/or physical symptoms because of their high sensitivities.

Learn more about Aaron Manes' spiritual direction practice at www.aaronmanes.com

As a spiritual director, I am a trained listener. In a spiritual direction session often I am just listening for the movement of God in someone's life. Over the course of this podcast I was really struck by a couple of moments so I wanted to bring those back and listen to them again. The podcast is all phone themed (I hope you have picked up on that by now) so let's just call this episode a recall. 

We start with my friend Kim. I wanted Kim to come and to talk about dreams and dream interpretation and what I learned was that Kim believes deeply that her life is speaking to her and when she is truly listening and trusting, she is hearing the voice of God. Now, I am still a bit skeptic of dreams but Kim made me want to listen deeper.

Right after the George Floyd murder, I didn't really want to do a podcast that would ignore what was happening but also I didn't want to pretend that my voice was so important that I would do a podcast on race. I asked a few friends and they encouraged me to add to the conversation but to find a unique way to do that. My friend Beth Childs is a history teacher and an advocate. When Beth and I settled on what we would talk about I was interested but during the podcast, I really felt like I learned so much and mainly I learned that history may not find us the truth but it will definitely let us hear and see multiple points of view of the same occurrence and honestly, I had never thought about that before. Let's listen to that part of our conversation.

And lastly on this recall podcast, my friend Glen is one of my sage friends. In the past six months or so I have been on a journey through the idea of the sacred feminine. When you are exploring new spirituality you often need new practices to recognize this growing area of your life. Prayer is a tricky practice for a lot of people I know and work with so the idea of mother earth and prayer made me want to have Glenn on to talk about that. His ancestors are natives and he has adopted a number of their practices into his own spirituality - I want to listen again today as I ask him about what many native people knew by living close to the earth and just listening to their surroundings.

Learn more about Spiritual Director or this podcast's host at www.AaronManes.com

It's a long story but I met Dr. Erik Hansen when I lived in Nashville. He and his family went to the mission field in Kenya and now we live 5 minutes from each other in Dallas. When you follow a call to the mission field, you get a little more than you expect. I wanted to have Erik on to hear a part of his story. As a surgeon in a developing country Erik encounters children who need major surgery, limited resources, the tragedy of death and working with the families of intersex children as they navigate a society that doesn't have a lot of room for their situation.  

Deconstruction, like other types of change or loss, presents itself with recurring emotions and feelings. In this conversation with my friend Brian Brooks we talk about his story and experiences during his deconstruction process a few years ago. My hope here is for anyone currently in deconstruction to hear that they are not alone. For those of us who may be reconstructing, it is healing to hear these stories and reflect on our own journey again. Brian comes from the Church Of Christ tradition so we play a little game about acapella music and get a book recommendation. 

Reconstructing people are unique people to be pastoring. If we are coming back to church, often we are coming from dynamic circumstances that may include abuse, loss of faith, radical belief change and much more. I called my friend and my pastor, Rev. Dr. Blair Thompson-White, to get some insight on what that is like. We discuss how to look for a church and why she thinks the deconstruction/reconstruction journey is a move of the Holy Spirit. And of course we play a game and Blair recommends a few books and a podcast in "Hung Up." 

Reconstruction Calls, Episode 10 with Rev. Dr. Blair Thompson-White

Sue Monk Kidd's newest book, "The Book Of Longings" is popular in my house. I've asked my wife and partner, Brandi Manes, to come on and talk about the importance of this book. We promise there are no spoilers! Instead of telling you about the book, we wanted to share some of our reactions to seeing the humanity of Jesus, listening to the quiet or suppressed voices of faith and listening for the calling of God - yes, we got all of that from this book. 

The Reconstruction Calls Podcast is all about rethinking how we do the things of faith in a new way. Prayer is a difficult one for so many. We grew up petitioning God for our football team to win or the always good prayer from the not-so-religious uncle on Thanksgiving. This episode with my friend Glenn Simmons is a conversation on prayer. Glenn is someone whose prayer practice I admire - his strong connection to the "creator" through his embrace of native-American spirituality has taught me a lot. So listen in to hear a conversation on prayer, the sacred feminine and experiencing God through nature. Additionally we play a game called "Country Song or It Ain't" so come test your skills on some of the most epically named country songs of all time. 

My friends Eric & Amy Bird are good people to just talk music with. In my spiritual director training I was introduced to the idea of Holy Listening which is essentially sitting with the same subject (like art or music) for a long period of time and just continuing to look and look again to understand the nuance. I want to begin this conversation and hope to return to it with other guests in the future; How has reconstruction changed the way you listen to music. For Eric, Amy and myself we find ourselves living somewhere in nostalgia, authenticity and a connection to stories. Along the way we will learn that the Reconstruction Calls podcast is trying to set a record for getting Enneagram 5's to talk and we play a game called Nickelback, Creed or Hootie & The Blowfish. 

In this episode of "Reconstruction Calls," Spiritual Director Aaron Manes talks with fellow spiritual director Kim Verriere. Kim is the founder of the Greater Love Collective (www.greaterlovecollective.org) which as a group is fostering self-discovery through Soulwork, Creativity, and Activism. The GLC provides both resources in these areas and a safe community in which to explore them. Another thing about Kim, and the reason she is on this episode, is that for several years she has been tracking and working with her dreams as part of her faith journey. So mute your line and listen in on this conversation of intentional reflection, listening to your deepest self and hearing from God in a new way; plus you will hear Aaron sing a little Billy Ocean. 

Learn more and listen at www.aaronmanes.com

In this episode of "Reconstruction Calls," Spiritual Director Aaron Manes talks with Rev. Chris Terry about her journey to sobriety and why using the twelve step program as a guide can help all of us learn about ourselves and how to treat our own power as reconstructed people.  Additionally they also play a game called "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" and talk typologies along the way. 

About the Guest: Rev. Chris Terry is the founding minister at HeartSpace Spiritual Center. Her preferred title is HOSS – Head of Spiritual Stuff. She enjoys a lighthearted approach to self and life. She is driven and guided by curiosity and the need to learn, and she lives most happily in the world of ideas and possibilities.

While her passion is helping people grow, her genius lies in helping them discover and discard the patterns that block their inherent wholeness, freeing them to live in their own zone of genius.

Chris’s background is as diverse as her heritage, and includes entrepreneurship, volunteerism and alcoholism (recovered). She began her ministerial training the day she was born, but was formally trained through the Holmes Institute, where she received a Master’s Degree in Consciousness Studies and was trained as a Science of Mind and Spirit Minister. Her ministerial license is through the Centers for Spiritual Living, an international organization over a quarter of a million strong. The Centers for Spiritual Living spiritual communities, including HeartSpace, are realizing the vision of a world that works for everyone and a life that works for each.

Reconstruction Calls - Episode 4 with Rev. Chris Terry

Spiritual director Aaron Manes calls his friend Ryan Flanigan (Worship Director at All Saints Anglican Church in Dallas, TX, and founder of Liturgical Folk - www.liturgicalfolk.com) to talk about reconstructing church music in an era of contemporary and traditional worship services - they also play a game called “OT or T. Swift” along the way.

Spiritual Director Aaron Manes, calls his friend Kenton Self to talk about the process of deconstruction, and they talk about René Girard, Brian McLaren and Amy Grant.

Spiritual Director Aaron Manes calls his friends Mike and Kari Baumann to talk about evolving in faith as partners and walking the road of parenting as reconstructed people. We talk about everything from Enneagram to DC Talk to growing up adjacent to Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.