Poetry puts the past in perspective, positions us in the here and now, and propels us toward what is possible. I share three poems that have the power to sustain through trying times and give hope.

We can learn to see God anywhere. Author and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon leads us in a spiritual practice called divine drawing. Using a story from her book, Charlotte helps us engage our senses and memories to discover God in familiar places.

What if your loneliness was space meant for God? Charlotte Donlon and I continue the conversation about sharing the universal burden of loneliness in Part 2. She also reads a chapter from her book.

There should be no only in lonely. Author, spiritual director, and podcast host, Charlotte Donlon believes its a privilege to share our stories of loneliness, including her own.

This episode describes three ways the arts help us show compassion as wounded healers. A guided 5-minute breath prayer is included to help you experience God's compassion personally:

“Courage—you develop courage by doing small things like just as if you wouldn’t want to pick up a 100-pound weight without preparing yourself.” —Maya Angelou. This is a different kind of courage: the courage to slow it way down and how to train for it.

How do we make space for the creative gladness we require in order to create? In this episode, I share about the core value of creativity and five ways to reignite your energy when it seems gone.

Hands tell a lifetime of stories. So does art. Using a piece called Rainbow Hands from the book A Cloud of Outrageous Blue by Vesper Stamper, I lead a 10-minute visio divina exercise.

“It’s possible that 2020 is the year of the sketch phase.” Author-illustrator Vesper Stamper is the artist of the month. She joins me to talk about embodied art and fighting for joy. She also reads from her new book A Cloud of Outrageous Blue.

Does shame hinder you from being the artist you are? Artist and writer Vesper Stamper came to faith in a creative environment that was “decidedly unshameful.” She’s the artist of the month. Her book What the Night Sings won multiple awards and her new book A Cloud of Outrageous Blue recently released.

Does your day begin and end with God? Illustrator and storyteller Vanessa Brantley Newton leads a traditional Jewish morning prayer, the modeh ani, to set the day right and remember God is faithful.

Dear Artist, are you kind to yourself? Vanessa Brantley Newton believes its crucial so we can show kindness to the world as Christ would. This is Part 2 of my interview with this vibrant illustrator and storyteller. Vanessa knows how to shake things up with the likes of Judy Blume…

Artists see the world differently, and yet, we desperately want to be seen and heard. Illustrator and storyteller Vanessa Brantley Newton's mission is to help children of all backgrounds know they are valued. Her work touches adults just as profoundly, and her story of harnessing dyslexia, synesthesia, and stuttering makes her a powerful advocate for those who feel invisible and out of place.

How am I using my creative capacities to know God? Am I living in resurrected life? Josh Banner, spiritual director and creator of the Invitation Podcast, leads a lectio divina style meditation based on Phillipians 3:10, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (NKJV).

Josh Banner is a spiritual director and host of the Invitation Podcast. This is part two of our deep dive interview. We discuss spiritual direction, how contemplative prayer helped him have more fun, and ways to find deep rest in things you are already doing.

Josh is the host and creator of the Invitation Podcast. He is a certified spiritual director, a retreat leader, and facilitator of contemplative prayer practices in prisons. In part of one of this interview, we talk about rediscovering the art of brewing beer, being human, and wakefulness.

“2020: I wouldn’t recommend.” Have you seen the t-shirts? It’s funny and true but 2020 has something deep and meaningful to teach us. Pain is not in itself inherently bad or evil. Pain is a signal that something needs mending.

Blessing changes our experience. Liturgy gives voice to groanings and prayer we don’t have the words to say. This episode is a meditation with readings of blessing for today’s struggles of pandemic and injustice.

Carolyn Arends is a recording artist, speaker, author, and college instructor. We talk about the ebb and flow of creative rhythms and bringing our doubts to God. We chat about:

• tending to your garden during exile as a creative person,

• and expressing emotions with God during disorientation through prayer and art,

Christiana Peterson is the author of Mystics and Misfits: Meeting God through St. Francis and Other Unlikely Saints. We talk about:

• the artist as contemplative parent, story, and mental health and

• finding space to process crisis in music and story…