Tag Archives: Meditation

The Most Important Decision in Life – College commencement speech by Bishop Robert Baron that inspired this episode
The most important question in this life is what kind of soul you will have.
“To love is to be vulnerable.” – CS Lewis
“What you do with your soul really is a map to your future.” – Father Len
Your soul is not your mental ability or your psychological profile. It’s a thing that contains all the virtues of God and the spirit of God.
The Old Testament describes heaven as a place of true relationship where people relate to each other soul to soul.
From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur Brooks
Happiness comes down to care of your soul, not success in the world.
“Everybody worships something. Everybody adores something. Everybody has something that gives their life meaning and worth. Everyone lets something capture their imagination. That thing will control the direction of your life. If you worship money and things, then you’ll never feel like you have enough. If you worship your body and beauty and sexual allure, in time, you’ll be resentful because you’ll never be beautiful enough. You’ll feel ugly. And, as time and age starts to show, you will die a million deaths. If you worship power, you’ll end up feeling threatened and afraid. Read any biography of a dictator. You will need evermore power to numb you against the fear of being afraid. If you worship intellect, being seen as smart, you’ll end up feeling stupid and a fraud and on the verge of being found out. The most insidious thing is, that for most people, it will remain unconscious, but it’s their true religion.” – David Foster Wallace
Whatever you worship shapes your soul and controls your life.
Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body by Daniel Goleman
Meditation is one of the best ways to care for your soul and good for your health.
Not all worship is good. Worshiping or calling on the name of God can be a way of manipulating evil.
Good worship is supposed to lead you to self-sacrificing love.
What will what you worship do to your soul?

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Ep82 Encore: Can Freedom Destroy Our Country?

May 13, 2022UncategorizedAngel of Death, Ben Hur, Catholicism, Community, Egypt, Emile Durkheim, Freedom, God, Hebrews, Judaism, Meditation, Narcissism, Passover Meal, Pharaoh, Religion, Selfishness, slavery, Sohrab Ahmari, St Paul, Suicide, The Bible, Tyranny, United Stateswrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:21 — 22.3MB)

The effect of freedom depends on how you define it. Father Len reveals how God defines freedom and how other definitions can produce destructive consequences.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

Freedom involves being free from something in order to be free to become something.
The American Revolution was about becoming free from the tyranny of a king and the injustices and oppression of a political system.
70% of Americans say they are free or mostly free.
Two thirds of Americans define freedom as being “free to do whatever I want.”
Being “free to do whatever I want” is an immature definition of freedom and the least likely to lead to happiness.
Being “free to do whatever I want” is a form of tyranny that allows you to intrude on the life and liberty of others.
“The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos” by Sohrab Ahmari
We create laws to set the parameters for a working society.
To be free theologically means that we are always working on freedom. Working to become free from the tyranny of selfishness, oppression, and injustice.
When the people of a country define freedom as selfishness, it will always be divided and destroyed.
People who report the highest level of happiness tend to be religious and meditate regularly.
People who report the most freedom from moral constraints tend to be the least happy.
“Suicide, A Study in Sociology” by Emile Durkheim
The really hard part of becoming freer is wrestling with our own egos and recognizing when we’re being selfish.
“If your definition of freedom is, I get to do whatever I want, just historically, it ends terribly. If our country just believes, I’m free to just think about myself, that’s a loss of freedom. I think it destroys our country.” – Father Len
Christians who believe giving up liberties for the sake of others makes them less free don’t understand the freedom of the cross of Christ.
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Ep69 Becoming Truly Free

September 18, 2021UncategorizedAngel of Death, Ben Hur, Catholicism, Community, Egypt, Emile Durkheim, Freedom, God, Hebrews, Judaism, Meditation, Narcissism, Passover Meal, Pharaoh, Religion, Selfishness, slavery, Sohrab Ahmari, St Paul, Suicide, The Bible, Tyranny, United Stateswrestlingwithgodshow

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Father Len explains what it takes to become truly free and how the common American understanding of freedom leads to selfishness and narcissism.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

Freedom involves being free from something in order to be free to become something.
The American Revolution was about becoming free from the tyranny of a king and the injustices and oppression of a political system.
70% of Americans say they are free or mostly free.
Two thirds of Americans define freedom as being “free to do whatever I want.”
Being “free to do whatever I want” is an immature definition of freedom and the least likely to lead to happiness.
Being “free to do whatever I want” is a form of tyranny that allows you to intrude on the life and liberty of others.
“The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos” by Sohrab Ahmari
We create laws to set the parameters for a working society.
To be free theologically means that we are always working on freedom. Working to become more free from the tyranny of selfishness, oppression, and injustice.
When the people of a country define freedom as selfishness, it will always be divided and destroyed.
People who report the highest level of happiness tend to be religious and meditate regularly.
People who report the most freedom from moral constraints tend to be the least happy.
“Suicide, A Study in Sociology” by Emile Durkheim
The really hard part of becoming more free is wrestling with our own egos and recognizing when we’re being selfish.
Christians who believe giving up liberties for the sake of others makes them less free don’t understand the freedom of the cross of Christ.

Ep15 What Is Prayer?

June 17, 2020UncategorizedCatholic Church, God, Golf, Hiking, Meditation, Prayer, St Ignatius, The Daily Examenwrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:23 — 8.6MB)

Father Len shares his love of prayer. He explains what prayer is and isn’t and the purpose of prayer. He also offers some ideas for developing your own personal prayer life.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

True prayer is listening. It’s about being totally mindful of God and being in the presence of God.
Prayer is not about providing God with frequent intelligence briefings about stuff we want because God is the “big candy machine.”
Father Len shares a fun story about a very kind and well-meaning minister and his wife that were concerned about the inadequacies of the car he was driving at the time and volunteered to “pray him up a new truck” to illustrate what prayer shouldn’t be.
Prayer is about being in the presence of love and wanting it to control you.
Father Len shares a favorite type of prayer he uses called “The Daily Examen” created by St. Ignatius 500 years ago.
Meditation on virtues like joy and love is an effective type of prayer that can help us find God in the fingerprints of our day while providing a sense of calm and peace.
Our whole life should be a love affair with the divine that inspires us to regularly spend time with God.
Some of us confuse entertainment that is self-gratifying with prayer. Father Len explains why golf is not prayer.

Ep14 Finding Lost Faith

June 15, 2020UncategorizedCatholic Church, CS Lewis, David D Burns MD, Dorothy Day, Faith, God, Marriage, Meditation, Prayer, slavery, St Ignatius, The Bible, The Daily Examenwrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:31 — 25.2MB)

Father Len explains what causes a loss of faith and gives listener Jennifer some ideas for finding her lost faith.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

Father Len explains the difference between faith and belief.
Faith is like a muscle. If you don’t use it, it will atrophy and you’ll lose it.
Faith is like a seed. It’s a gift from God. We must prepare the soil in which it grows. The soil is our hearts. The best means for preparing the soil is prayer and reflection.
Faith is like water. It needs a path to flow. Prayer and reflection dig the “trench” that allows faith to flow.
Prayer and reflection are habits that give birth to faith.
Father Len introduces one of his favorite tools for feeding and deepening his faith, “The Daily Examen” created by St. Ignatius.
The daily practice of gratitude will make you a happier person and deepen your faith.
“Feeling Good: the New Mood Therapy” by David D Burns M.D.
Life is a matter of negotiating problems.
Troubles in life do not cause faith to evaporate. Quite the opposite. We can find the presence of Christ in all of our problems.
“God whispers to us in our good times, but shouts to us in our pain.” – CS Lewis

Ep7 Defining God is Really Hard

April 27, 2020UncategorizedAndrew Newberg, Creation, Divine, Eugene D'Aquili, God, Human Beings, Julian of Norwich, Meditation, St. Augustine, The Bible, Vince Rause, Voltairewrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:16 — 14.0MB)

Father Len explains that we don’t have the words or understanding to accurately define God, but our brains are hardwired to seek the divine.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

Some notion of the divine has existed in every culture since the beginning of time.
Brain studies have shown that human beings are hardwired to think about God.
“Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief” by Andrew Newberg, Eugene D’Aquili, Vince Rause
Accurately defining God is impossible for human beings. No description of God is ever perfect.
We try to describe God in human terms like God is love, God is like a father, and God is like a Shepherd. God is all these things, but way more.
Mystics over time have described God this way: “You are different, you are different, you are different. No thing in creation is an accurate image of God.”
In the Bible, when angels go to heaven they describe God like this: “You are holy, you are holy, you are holy.” In this case, the word holy means different.
God is always speaking to us. Human beings long to reply to this divine thing.
God is among us and through us, but not part of creation. Creation is not God.
The Bible says God is neither male nor female. The reference to “God the Father” does not mean God is a man. It describes God’s relationship with us likening it to the relationship between a loving parent and their child.
Augustine described God as “the lover, the beloved, and love itself” and alternately “the giver of the gift, the receiver of the gift, and the gift itself.”
Julian of Norwich described God this way: “God is creator, redeemer, and sanctifier.”
All of life has an element of mystery and surprise. Studies have shown that even couples married for 50 years, who know each other so well they can communicate through grunts, whistles, and glares, are surprised and mystified 15% of the time by something they learn about their spouse. We
Human beings are meant for relationship. Relationship with each other, creation, and God. No human being can satisfy all our relationship needs. Only God can fulfill these needs.
“In the beginning God created man in His own image, and man has been trying to repay the favor ever since.” – Voltaire

Wrestling with God Show

Two fun-loving and God-fearing Irishmen, a Catholic priest and his good friend, grapple with the big questions about faith, religion, and life.

Tag Archives: Meditation

Ep101 It’s a Soul Problem

Ep100 The Most Consequential Decisions in Life

Ep82 Encore: Can Freedom Destroy Our Country?

Ep69 Becoming Truly Free

Ep15 What Is Prayer?

Ep14 Finding Lost Faith

Ep7 Defining God is Really Hard