Cutting to the chase, getting what we want won't make us happy because of what the researchers call "hedonic adaptation." The good news is that these same researchers tell us these desires for our lives absolutely can be central in helping us create a happy life. So what gives? How can our dreams for our lives work for us and not against us? Dave Schmelzer will explore this key question by way of famed happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky's research and insights. But before getting there, he'll look at this question a bit more broadly by considering Carl Jung's "Five Pillars of a Happy Life" along with some commentary by Arthur C. Brooks.

Mentioned on this podcast

• You can sign up to receive Dave's weekly "Thursday notes" here.
• Sonja Lyubomirsky's book The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but Does
• Arthur C. Brooks's book The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life

In another episode of Dave's "history corner," he looks at the cataclysm that happened when the emperor made Christianity the state's religion in 325. Where Christians had been poor, persecuted and few in number, it now messed with the heads of the old guard to suddenly be favored and joined by millions of far less devout "fellow Christians" who loved the perks of their connection to power. The response of a few bold people to head to the wilderness changed what Christian faith--and its contemplative variant--was to become. It's quite a story.

Mentioned on this podcast:

Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation Through the Centuries, edited by Kim Nataraja

You can sign up for Dave's "Thursday Notes" here

You can learn more about the free, online Faith Part 2 course here. You can register your interest here.

Contemplative practice has a remarkable connection to our physical health, among its many benefits. Dave Schmelzer will review how it connects with lengthening our telomeres, the caps on our chromosomes which determine whether we age with vigor or disease. He'll touch on advice for stress management and exercise and diet and sleep, all in a context of a mindful world.

Mentioned on this podcast

The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer, by Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel

You can sign up to receive Dave's "Thursday notes" here

You can learn more about the free, online Faith Part 2 course here. You can register your interest here.

"I dunno, that seems kind of out there to me" is a sentiment that has shadowed Christian conversations from the start. Dave Schmelzer takes us on a journey to the second century when early attempts to define orthodoxy made consequential choices about how much our experience might inform our understanding of who God is. He introduces us to key figures like Irenaeus and to a consequential debate that perhaps we haven't heard about: whether the fourth gospel would be John's or Thomas's.

Mentioned on this episode:

Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation Through the Centuries, edited by Kim Nataraja

You can sign up for Dave's "Thursday Notes" here

Some resources about The Gospel of Thomas you might enjoy:

Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, by Elaine Pagels

After relaying some brief advice from Dick Van Dyke about turning 100, Dave Schmelzer chats about some wisdom from the Buddhist therapist Lewis Richmond about what he's learned by working with aging clients. Dave touches on fascinating ideas from Richmond about horizontal versus vertical time and the isolation of a sudden setback and experiencing aging as a fresh start along with much more.

Mentioned on this podcast:

Lewis Richmond's book Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser

Here's how to learn more about and register interest in the Faith Part 2 course

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Mark Charbonneau and his friends at The Vine church in Austin, Texas are charting a unique way forward in our cultural and religious divisions. Dave Schmelzer talks with him about what their “third way” looks like and how it might help all of us in the middle of such unprecedented divisions. Does it only apply to a small number of people of good will? Does it offer broader hope? They close with a few words about the life of a pastor at all, much less one in the middle of these sorts of cultural divides.

Mentioned on this podcast:

The Vine church in Austin, Texas

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Some great thinkers like GK Chesterton and Meister Eckhart pitch that right at the heart of God's reality is play and that the more we can tap into this bone-deep playfulness, even in the middle of realities that look quite unpromising and overwhelming, the better we'll thrive.

Mentioned on this podcast

The God Who Plays: A Playful Approach to Theology and Spirituality, by Brian Edgar

Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, by Stuart Brown M.D.

Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, by Matthew Fox

The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron

One of the charms of Christian faith is that so many scriptures encourage us to ask God for things we want. But as we age we realize it must be more complicated than that--and the great contemplatives add complexities as they focus on things like union with God as the main thing or with cautions about things like "disordered attachments". But we still do in fact want things! Dave Schmelzer offers us some things to ponder in these conundrums.