"What is Contemplative Spirituality?" April 24, 2025

Living Compass has launced a new mobile and web based app that focuses on the integration of contemplative spirituality and wellness.  

You can download the app on your Apple phone at:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/living-compass/id6738334257

 

You can download the app on youor Google/Android phone at: 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.livingcompass&hl=en

 

You can also access all the content in the app on your web browser at app.livingcompass.org

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"The Ground Begins to Soften, Happy Easter!" April 20, 2025

In this episode for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, we reflect on this well-known passage:

This Easter episode explores the image of the earth softening in springtime as a sign of resurrection.  Scott even sings this verse from one of his favorite Easter hymns:

When our hearts are saddened, grieving, or in pain, By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

—John M. C. Crum

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Love Bears All Things," April 17, 2025

In this episode for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, we reflect on this well-known passage:

"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

The episode concludes with a three-minute guided meditation on this passage.  

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Holy Is As Holy Does: Walking the Way of Love," Lent Episode #12, April 14, 2025

As we begin Holy Week, Scott reflects on how Jesus's actions and choices this week teach the most about walking the way of love. He concludes with a three-minute guided meditation.  

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Trust in the Slow Work of God," Lent Episode #11, April 11, 2025

In this second episode of this week's focus on cultivating patience, Scott shares four passages from Scripture that are helpful guides as we seek to deepen our practice of patience. He concludes with a 3-minute guided meditation.  

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Cultivating Patience," Lent Episode #10, April 7, 2025

The etymology of the word "patient" comes from a Latin word meaning "to bear suffering." This is why we call a person who is being treated by a medical professional a "patient." In this tenth episode for Lent, Scott talks about how cultivating patience is particularly challenging when we or someone we love is suffering. We are called to go deeper in our faith to draw strength. The episode closes with a three-minute guided meditation.

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"The Story of the Stone Soup: A Lesson in Generosity," April 3, 2025

A European Folk Tale known as The Story of the Stone Soup has much to teach us about generosity. Scott explores this story in this episode, and then closes with a 3-minute guided meditation to help listeners apply the lessons to their lives.

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

Lent 2025, Episode 8: "Generosity & Listening," March 31, 2025

In this fourth week of Lent, we focus on Practicing Generosity. In this episode, Scott shares a story about Ab Nicholas, the primary benefactor of Living Compass, and how he modeled generosity in the way he was present with others. He closes with a 3-minute guided meditation to help listeners hear how God calls them to practice generosity.  

If you don't have a booklet, sign up to receive the daily emails for Lent from Living Compass at www.livingcompass.org/lent-signup. An archive of the daily readings can be found at https://www.livingcompass.org/living-well-through-lent-2025-readings. 

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Lent 2025, Episode 7: "Joy Down in My Heart," March 27, 2025

"I've got that joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart....." is the theme of this episode.  Scott not only sings the song but reflects on what that really means when we access that joy, which is a true gift from God.

If you don't have a booklet, sign up to receive the daily emails for Lent from Living Compass at www.livingcompass.org/lent-signup. An archive of the daily readings can be found at https://www.livingcompass.org/living-well-through-lent-2025-readings. 

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Lent 2025, Episode 6: "Doing Our Part to Grow Joy," March 24, 2025

This sixth episode for Lent 2025 focuses on Cultivating Joy. Scott starts with a funny story about how sitting around waiting for joy to grow on its own rarely bears much fruit.  We need to do the little things, day by day, that cultivate joy in our lives and the lives of others. 

If you don't have a booklet, sign up to receive the daily emails for Lent from Living Compass at www.livingcompass.org/lent-signup. An archive of the daily readings can be found at https://www.livingcompass.org/living-well-through-lent-2025-readings. 

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Lent 2025, Episode 5: When Peace Moves Us Out of Our Comfort Zones," March 20, 2025"

This fifth episode for Lent 2025 focuses on Cultivating Peace. Jesus calls us to be peacemakers, and often, that means moving out of our comfort zones and making peace with people who we find challenging to make peace with. To do this, it can be helpful to consider our thoughts, words, and deeds regarding peacemaking.    

If you don't have a booklet, sign up to receive the daily emails for Lent from Living Compass at www.livingcompass.org/lent-signup. An archive of the daily readings can be found at https://www.livingcompass.org/living-well-through-lent-2025-readings. 

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Lent 2025, Episode 4: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit (Peace)," March 17, 2025"

This fourth episode for Lent 2025 focuses on Cultivating Peace. Jesus calls us to be peacemakers, not simply people who feel peaceful. To be a peacemaker means to enter into situations where there is conflict--and as Scott shares in this episode, sometimes being a peacemaker means bringing peace to a conflict that we have caused.  

If you don't have a booklet can sign up to receive the daily emails for Lent from Living Compass at www.livingcompass.org/lent-signup. An archive of the daily readings can be found at https://www.livingcompass.org/living-well-through-lent-2025-readings. 

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Lent 2025, Episode 3: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit (Faithfulness), March 13, 2025"

This third episode for Lent 2025 focuses on Cultivating Faithfulness. Faithfulness is described as "trusting in the slow work of God" and also as practicing deep listening--to one another and to God. 

A guided meditation is also offered during the last 3 minutes of this episode.  

If you don't have a booklet can sign up to receive the daily emails for Lent from Living Compass at www.livingcompass.org/lent-signup. An archive of the daily readings can be found at https://www.livingcompass.org/living-well-through-lent-2025-readings. 

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Lent 2025, Episode 2: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit (Faithfulness), March 10, 2025"

This second episode for Lent 2025 focuses on Cultivating Faithfulness. Faithfulness is described as "a long obedience in the same direction," and the journey of faith is compared to running a marathon.

A guided meditation is also offered during the last 3-4 minutes of this episode.  

You can sign up to receive the daily emails for Lent from LIving Compass at www.livingcompass.org/lent-signup

(Click the player above to listen to this episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Lent 2025, Episode 1: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit"

This first episode for Lent 2025 begins our focus on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind. In this episode we look at how humility is the soil in which we can cultivate these fruits. The Parable of the Sower is explored as a metaphor for our inner lives.  A guided meditation is also offered during the last 3-4 minutes of this episode.  

You can sign up to receive the daily emails for Lent from LIving Compass at www.livingcompass.org/lent-signup

(Click the player above to listen to this 6:00 episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Preparing for Lent by Tending Our Soil," March 2, 2025, Episode 111

This year, our Living Compass daily readings for Lent will focus on Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit. In this episode, we look at the Parable of the Sower and discuss how tending the soil of our inner lives is good preparation for Lent.

(Click the player above to listen to this 6:00 episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"There is No Path to Peace. Peace is the Path," February 19, 2025, Episode 110

This episode explores the wisdom from Buddhist monk and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh who said, "There is no path to peace. Peace is the path."

(Click the player above to listen to this 6:00 episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"The Fish Who Wanted to See the Ocean," Episode #108 January 28, 2025

Scott tells the story about a fish who wanted to see the ocean and discusses how it is a metaphor for living a contemplative life. 

(Click the player above to listen to this 6:00 episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

"Listen to the Sound of the Genuine--a Guided Six-Minute Guided Meditation," January 13, 2025

(Click the player above to listen to this 7:00 episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.

This episode is a 6-minute guided mediation on a quote from Howard Thurman about "listening to the sound of the genuine" within ourselves.  The entire quote is: "There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever need."

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