Season 29: Episode 1 | Becoming Human: With God in Our Bodies
Welcome back for our twenty-ninth season of the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast. This season is years in the making. We’ve long wanted to bring a season full of Spirit-directed conversations on the experience of being human, in all its complicated glory, but the timing was never quite right. And now, it’s finally here: Season 29 | Becoming Human: With God in Our Bodies. Our goals this season are to confront the dualism between life in the body and life in the spirit, to hear stories of people who experienced their bodies as a place of encounter with God, and to explore the connection between the integration of life in our bodies and our spiritual lives with our leadership. We will be having deep, spiritual conversations with friends of the Transforming Center about their very human experiences in their bodies and how they’ve experienced God in and throughout these experiences. We will explore God in concrete bodily realities like gender, sexuality, race, ability, aging, illness, and death, to name a few.
In this first episode Ruth helps to set up our upcoming season, laying down the biblical and foundational groundwork for embodied spirituality. Drawing on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, she reminds us that we are “spiritual beings learning to become human.” This episode is a map to help us know where we’re going this season. Ruth concludes with Brian Wren’s hymn “Good is the Flesh.”
You can also access podcast on Stitcher and Spotify.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Soulful Spirituality by David Benner
- How Can So Many Pastors and Leaders Be Godly and Dysfunctional at the Same Time? By Todd Wilson
- Tending Soul, Mind and Body, the Art and Science of Spiritual Formation by Todd Wilson
- Into the Silent Land by Martin Laird
- Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton
- Honoring the Body Biblical Foundations (document Ruth references in the episode)
Music Credit:
- Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist
- Led by the Spirit from Music in Solitude
We’re on Substack! On the Journey with the Transforming Center is our home for “reflection, conversation, and connection with our transforming community.” It includes thoughtful reflections from Ruth Haley Barton and the Transforming Center team, as well as alumni and friends of the Transforming Center, occasional special video teachings and guided practices, and space to interact with our content and respond with how God is working in your life through the posts. This is also where you find all of our podcast patron content! There are free and paid tiers. We’d love for you to join us over on Substack.
Support the podcast! This season patrons will receive special bonus conversations with each of our guests. Become a paid member of Substack today to receive these practices and so much more!
The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders. Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self!
*this post contains affiliate links
The purpose of the Beyond Words blog is to offer helpful and hopeful content that strengthens the souls of leaders and the congregations and communities they serve. All comments are monitored and the TC reserves the right to delete those that are not consistent with this goal and purpose. Access our comments policy.
Join thousands of pastors and spiritual leaders
Receive On the Journey with the Transforming Center —rooted in prayer, community, and transformation, the Transforming Center nurtures leaders who long for more of God. On the Journey offers space to pause, reflect, and be renewed — so we can live and lead in life-giving ways.