Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.
In this week's episode, we name the catastrophic human loss the world is experiencing through war as well as earthquakes, fires, and flooding, and talk about how we can engage with peace by learning to calm our inner storms in response. When we do this, we remember our humanity and the humanity of others, making it harder to give into acts of vengeance, revenge, or applied chaos. We explore the story of Peter stepping off the boat and wanting to not only calm stormy sea waters, but to walk on water as he saw Jesus do. Rather than experiencing fear, churn, and turmoil and then deciding we just aren't strong enough or good enough to do anything about it, we can expand the margins of this story and imagining leaping off the edge into storminess over and over again, so that we can practice feeling our own fears and "sinking-ness" while also practice calming those inner waters. The more we grow our capacity to calm ourselves within, the more we can balance and have faith in even the worst swells around us. And most importantly, the more we connect to others in a humane way.
We talk about how this is the covenant edge of peace, the generative, creative edge of bridge building within and outside of us where we transform the energy of destruction into one of collaborative respect. But we must be able to do this within ourselves if we're to do it with others.
One of the ways that tethers us to our humanity and the humanity of others so that we do not plunge into the storm entirely, is to plunge into Love, to fall in Love, in our everyday life. As pat as it sounds, engaging in activities and with people that enliven us stirs our hope and sense of possibility. We remember why life is precious, not just for us, but for everyone. Finding connections of Love in everyday life keeps our inner flame of hope alive which lets us share that hope with others in tangible ways.
I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.
My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.
Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!