This is an audio version of Mike Murphy‘s Friday rumblings. This is a regular post on Facebook that I’ve turned into a podcast. I decided Mike’s words needed a wider audience. You may agree or disagree with what he says, but there is certainly much food for thought contained here.

  Phileena Heuertz joins me this week on Faith Conversations. She is founding partner of Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism. She is a spiritual director, yoga instructor, speaker, and retreat guide. We talk about what a pilgrimage of the soul looks like. As we look at Phileena’s book Pilgrimage of...

This week on the podcast, John Lustrea and I discuss and use some spiritual practices as part of the discussion of a movie. The movie choice might seem unlikely, but we chose—actually John chose—the movie Moana. And he suggested we look at the movie through the lens of Exploration. A fruitful and substantive conversation ensued. We might even influence you to go watch the movie. I hope we do.

I am delighted to have Lori Neff back on Faith Conversations this week. We are rolling out a book club. Both Lori and I have had numerous people email and ask if we would consider starting the book club up again. Then I went on a little monologue and talked a bit about some of the ways I get fed. Podcasts are one way. Find out which ones I listen to!

So much is happening in our world that I felt I needed the grounding presence of Rev. Mike Murphy on the podcast. We read some emails and respond, we talk about prayer, and we take time to talk about the recent suicides that have captured the attention of journalists and the world. Even as we mentioned Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, we acknowledged the many who will never make it into the news cycle. Suicide is epidemic in our society. We talk about the questions it raises and how we can combat it.

Diana Butler Bass has written a thoughtful book titled, Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks. If you've not heard of Diana before, she is the award-winning author of 10 books on American religion. She holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University, has taught at the college and graduate level and is currently an independent scholar. She is a popular speaker at conferences and universities and churches across North America. We had a delightful time as she unpacked a word I thought I knew a lot about until Diana opened my eyes. This week on the podcast I have John Lustrea as a co-host instead of a guest.

Joining me on the podcast this week is long-time friend and former colleague, Melinda Schmidt, and as moderator to our discussion, my son John Lustrea. On this episode, we read and respond to listener email. One email, in particular, had push back and raised interesting questions. As we explore the heart of that email, we share helpful ideas on how to disagree agreeably.

Long-time friend and former co-host of Midday Connection, Melinda Schmidt, joins me on the podcast. We riff off of the last stanza of Mary Oliver's amazing poem, "When Death Comes," off and on during the conversation, as well as Melinda's latest blog post. We also talked about Aaron Niequist's new book, The Eternal Current. Melinda also talked about her current favorite podcasts.

Kaitlin Curtice is a voice to pay attention to and a writer to watch. She is a Native American Christian author, speaker, and worship leader. You may have read her writing in Sojourners. She also writes at www.kaitlincurtice.com on the intersection of culture and spirituality. We talk about reading, writing, and the amazing prayers that are included in Kaitlin's beautiful book, Glory Happening: Finding the Divine in Everyday Places.

Michelle Van Loon returns to Faith Conversations to talk about what happens when a church leader's sin has been revealed. The #MeToo movement dominated headlines for months. Now the #ChurchToo hashtag has taken a turn in the spotlight—and it's heartbreaking. Michelle also wrote a blog post about this. Hear more on this episode!

John Lustrea is back with me on the podcast to discuss a movie that both he and I watched. We had such an overwhelmingly positive response to the last movie we discussed, that we decided to do it again.

On this episode, I talk with Brian Allain and we focus on how to become a published author as we talk about a variety of conferences Brian holds around the country under the monikers Publishing in Color and Writing for Your Life as well as online webinars that are available through Writing for Your Life.

Gregory Alan Thornbury is Chancellor of The King's College and Vice President of New York Academy of Art. In the recently released biography on Larry Norman, "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?," Thornbury talks about Larry Norman and the perils of Christian Rock.

Good friend, Michelle Van Loon, joins me on the podcast sitting across from me at my kitchen table. Nice having her on my home turf and not via Skype! It was a bit of a Millrose program as we went from topic to topic, and we share some recipes during the conversation!

Adam Hamilton is senior pastor of the 20,000 member Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City. He is a prolific author with 25 books to his credit. Making Sense of the Bible is a favorite of mine. On the podcast we talk about his latest, which is Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times.

Elaine Storkey is known for her work as a scholar, author, speaker, and journalist. She has been a tireless advocate for the marginalized. Most recently she was the President of Tearfund. On the podcast, Elaine and I talk about the global pandemic of violence against women. She recently penned a book titled Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women.

John Lustrea joins me this week on Faith Conversations to discuss a movie. The focus of the podcast is The Way, a movie starring Martin Sheen, which takes viewers on a 500-mile trek across Spain called the Camino de Santiago.

My husband, Mike Murphy, joins me on this episode. We discussed a conference we recently attended which focused on the work of Breakthrough Urban Ministries, an inner-city ministry on the west side of Chicago in the East Garfield Park neighborhood.

Sandra Glahn joins me on Faith Conversations this week to talk about Vindicating the Vixens: Revisiting Sexualized, Vilified, and Marginalized Women of the Bible. Sandra is general editor on this project that looks at some familiar female biblical characters in a new light.