In this episode of the SoulStream: Living from the Heart podcast, Rod sits down with Suhail Stephen, spiritual director, pastor of West End Abbey in Winnipeg, and founder of the School of Mercy and Justice, for a conversation about what it means to be present to God and to others.

Suhail shares his origin story in spiritual direction: a “magnetic attraction” to something he couldn’t yet name, rooted in a deep desire to experience God and to accompany others in that same experience. He reflects on his first experiences of receiving spiritual direction, which felt like discovering a missing puzzle piece, a space to be listened to without an agenda, and how that experience changed him.

Suhail also comments on what makes listening such a profoundly loving act, why the gap between our theology and our lived experience of God is one of the most common places people get stuck, and how healing our image of God is often at the heart of spiritual transformation.

Suhail closes with a beautiful set of Lenten reflection questions for the community and a personal answer to what “living from the heart” means: keeping the love of God at the center, and living as authentically as possible from who God has made you to be.

Topics in this episode: spiritual direction, contemplative prayer, listening, discernment, charismatic and contemplative spirituality, image of God, Lent, embodiment, vocation

Links:

Listen with Love Podcast

West End Abbey

writingisprayer.com

SoulStream.org

The last SoulStream Living from the Heart podcast on SoulStream: Walking the Stations: An Immersive Encounter Through Art and Faith

In this episode, we spend time with Sacred Journeys, a deeply moving art exhibit by textile artist Karen Brodie. Through quilted panels, personal reflections, and simple spiritual practices, the Stations of the Cross come alive.

I’m joined by SoulStream partner Kim Alexis and curator Angela Clarke as we walk through the exhibit and reflect on how this experience draws you in not just to observe the story of Jesus but to feel it and see yourself in it.

We also talk about simple practices like reflection and journaling that help us slow down, pay attention, and live more honestly from the heart.

Links:

Sacred Journeys with Textile Artist Karen Brodie

Karen Brodie

SoulStream.org

The last SoulStream Living from the Heart podcast on SoulStream: Experiencing God’s Love: The Transforming Power of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises

They share how this ancient spiritual practice invites people into a deeper relationship with God through daily prayer, imagination, reflection, and weekly spiritual direction over the course of several months.

Esther and Jan reflect on their own experiences with the exercises and how they helped them discern major life decisions, grow in trust, and encounter God’s love in deeply personal ways. They also describe how companioning others through the exercises can lead to profound healing, renewed freedom, and a clearer sense of purpose.

The conversation explores practical elements of the Ignatian tradition such as imaginative prayer, the daily Examen, and learning to discern God’s voice in everyday life. Through moving stories and real examples, Esther and Jan illustrate how these practices help people navigate grief, uncertainty, and life transitions while discovering God is present in all things.

If you’ve ever wondered how contemplative prayer works in real life or how ancient spiritual wisdom can shape modern faith, this episode offers a thoughtful and hopeful invitation into the journey.

Related Links:

Sowing Seeds of Hope and Resilience in Times of Uncertainty
April 24, 2026 – April 26, 2026. Join spiritual directors Jan Evans and Esther Hizsa for a weekend retreat engaging in God’s dream for our world by planting and nurturing seeds of community, compassion, creativity, and connectedness. Learn More.

Ignatian Spiritual Exercises Q&A – May 25, 2026, at 4 pm PT/7 pm ET. Jan and Esther are hosting a time to answer any questions you may have about SoulStream’s offering of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. Learn More.

SoulStream Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. SoulStream offers accompaniment in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. September 21, 2026, to May 29, 2027. Learn More.

The last SoulStream Living from the Heart podcast on SoulStream: Contemplation, Nature, and the Healing Path

The Evolving Nature of Spiritual Direction
Pearl recounts her early experience of spiritual direction and contrasts it with SoulStream’s approach.

Nature as a Deep Contemplative Practice
Discover how early morning walks transformed Pearl's spiritual life, revealing nature as a source of wholeness, healing, and expansive love. She shares touching encounters with the moon and empathetic trees that offered profound spiritual insights.

Staying with the Heart's Deeper Invitation
Explore the challenge of resisting our human tendency to "figure things out" and "grab and go" when encountering deeper spiritual truths. Pearl shares a personal journey of recognizing and healing old wounds by choosing to stay present with God's immense, unwavering love.

Resources Mentioned

• Soulstream.org

• Pearl’s SoulStream Spiritual Direction Page

• FCJ Center (Calgary convent)

• The Art of Spiritual Direction

• Living from the Heart (course)

• Jeff and Steve (”The Imbach Brothers”)

• Focusing training (practice)

• Gustav Tibonin (author/quote)

The last SoulStream Living from the Heart podcast on SoulStream: Trusting the Quiet Work of Love

On the SoulStream Living from the Heart podcast, we sit down with teacher and spiritual director Laurel Pritchard for a thoughtful conversation about listening, contemplation, and living from the heart.

Laurel reflects on how spiritual direction found her during a season of intense study, silence, and a longing for deeper conversation, and how contemplation for her has become less about adding and more about letting go.

We talk about the rare gift of being truly heard, learning to live with uncertainty, and meeting our thoughts and emotions with kindness.

Resources mentioned in the conversation

• SoulStream
A community offering training, courses, and retreats in spiritual direction and contemplative practice.

• Regent College
A graduate school of theology where Laurel studied during a formative season of her spiritual journey.

• Thomas Keating
Trappist monk and teacher of centering prayer

• Centering Prayer
A contemplative prayer practice rooted in silence and consent to God’s presence and action.

• Spiritual Direction
A contemplative practice of listening and companionship focused on noticing God’s movement in everyday life.

• The Enneagram
A personality framework Laurel references, particularly identifying with Enneagram Type Four.

• Desmond Tutu
Referenced for his wisdom around holding the pain of the world with prayer and compassion.

• Brian Doerksen
Mentioned in a story about embracing the life we are given without wishing for another.

The last Living from the Heart podcast episode on SubStack:

In this episode of SoulStream Living from the Heart, Rod Janz sits down with spiritual director and pastor Gordie Lagore for a thoughtful conversation on recovery, contemplative practice, and what it means to live from the heart. Gordie shares how a season of severe burnout reshaped his life, leading him into spiritual direction, deeper self-care, and a spirituality rooted in love rather than striving. Together they explore the limits of performance-based faith, the gift of silence, the role of therapy and trauma healing, and the importance of supervision and accountability for spiritual directors. Gordie closes with a simple Ignatian practice: noticing how God has loved you today and how God has loved through you.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Glittering Images, by Gerald May
An early and formative introduction to spiritual direction and the inner life.

Julian of Norwich
Referenced for her enduring wisdom and trust in divine love, especially the phrase “all shall be well.”

Henri Nouwen
Named for his insights on the false self, belovedness, and emotional honesty before God.

Thomas Merton
Mentioned in connection with contemplative spirituality and dismantling the false self.

Jeff Imbach
Gordie’s longtime spiritual director, who played a central role in his healing and formation.

SoulStream
Referenced as Gordie’s training context and as a model for safe, accountable spiritual direction.

Aging to Saging by Richard Rohr
Used as a framework for reflecting on life seasons, eldering, and the gift of aging.

Ignatian Examen
How has God loved me today, and how has God loved me through me?

EMDR Trauma Therapy
Named as a helpful companion to spiritual direction in trauma and recovery work.

The Enneagram
Used as a tool for self-awareness and compassion, with Gordie identifying as a Type Nine.

The last Living from the Heart podcast episode on SubStack:

In this episode of the SoulStream Living from the Heart podcast, Rod sits down with longtime spiritual directors Sue Vander Woude and Doug Schroeder to explore the art of spiritual direction.

Together they talk about how they each discovered this work, how contemplation slowly reshapes a life, and what it means to live from the heart rather than the head.

They share reflections on listening, presence, freedom, and the quiet transformation that happens when someone finally has a safe place to be fully themselves.

Resources Mentioned

• “Working the Angles” by Eugene Peterson

• The writings of Henry Nouwen

• The writings of Richard Rohr

• Thomas Keating’s teaching on centering prayer

• The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius

• Soul Stream spiritual direction training program

• Centering prayer groups and contemplative prayer gatherings

• Looking for a spiritual director? Learn more here.

• SoulStream

The last Living from the Heart podcast episode on SubStack:

Cassidy Hall joins host Rod Janz for a conversation about queerness, contemplation, and living from the heart. Cassidy shares how reading Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation led her to visit 19 Trappist monasteries in the United States. That journey opened her to silence as a space of healing and discovery. Together they discuss queering contemplation, mysticism, and how authenticity deepens our connection to God, to one another, and to ourselves.

Resources Mentioned:

• New Seeds of Contemplation – Thomas Merton

• Our Lives Matter: A Womanist Theology – Rev. Dr. Pamela Lightsey

• Upstream: Selected Essays – Mary Oliver

• 1946: The Movie (documentary)

• Contemplify Podcast with Cynthia Bourgeault

• Writings by Thomas Keating, Richard Rohr, and Henry Nouwen

• Quote by Alan Watts

• SoulStream

Cassidy Hall:

• Queering Contemplation: Finding Queerness in the Monastic Heart (book)

• Day of a Stranger (documentary film about Thomas Merton)

• In Pursuit of Silence (documentary film, co-producer)

• The Work of Beauty (film project)

• Encountering Silence (podcast, co-host)

A quote by Thomas Merton from his book, New Seeds of Contemplation:

“Many poets are not poets for the same reason that many religious men are not saints: they never succeed in being themselves. They never get around to being the particular poet or the particular monk they are intended to be by God“

A quote by Alan Watts (“In My Own Way: An Autobiography 1915-1965”):

“I have always done things in my own way, which is at once the way that comes naturally to me, that is honest, sincere, genuine, and unforced; but also perverse, although you must remember that this word means per (through) verse (poetry), out-of-the-way and wayward, which is surely towards the way, and that to be queer—to “follow your own weird”—is wholeheartedly to accept your karma, or fate, or destiny, and thus to be odd in the service of God, “whose service,” as the Anglican Book of Common Prayer declares, “is perfect freedom.”’ —Alan Watts

Mary Oliver's quote (essay “The Artist’s Task”):

“Creative work needs solitude. It needs concentration, without interruptions. It needs the whole sky to fly in, and no eye watching until it comes to that certainty which it aspires to, but does not necessarily have at once. Privacy, then. A place apart—to pace, to chew pencils, to scribble and erase and scribble again. It needs the whole sky to fly in. It needs a field of silence. And the voices of critics should be hushed.”

Last Living from the Heart podcast episode on SubStack: The Sacred Work Within: Honesty, Wholeness, and the Journey Through the Low

In my recent conversation with author and songwriter Justin McRoberts, we discussed his new book In the Low: Honest Prayers for Dark Seasons, which he co-wrote with artist Scott Erickson. He speaks with rare honesty about depression, burnout, and the quiet inner work that happens when life feels heavy. He reminds us that wholeness is not about escaping pain but learning to live truthfully with what is real.

At SoulStream, and in the practice of spiritual direction, this kind of honesty is often where transformation begins. The invitation is not to fix or perform, but to notice what is stirring within us and to listen for the gentle movement of Spirit there.

I hate to admit it, but one of the things that Justin said that moved me was his reminder not to turn everything into a product, even our spiritual growth. After years in sales and marketing, I know how natural it feels to want to promote, measure, and manage everything. But the sacred work within us does not need managing. It needs trust.

The low places are not wasted places. They are soil for something sacred and alive.

May you trust the quiet work happening within you and find that even in the low places, love is still growing.

Listen to the full conversation on Substack: “The Sacred Work Within: Honesty, Wholeness, and the Journey Through the Low.”

Also see In the Low: Honest Prayers for Dark Seasons by Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson

Justin speaks openly about living with depression, navigating ADHD, and what it means to seek wholeness instead of perfection.

We talk about faith, burnout, and learning to trust that something good is already growing inside us, even when life feels difficult.

Resources Mentioned

Books

• In the Low: Honest Prayers for Dark Seasons by Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson

• Prayer: Forty Days of Practice by Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson

• May It Be So: Forty Days with the Lord’s Prayer by Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson

• Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression—and the Unexpected Solutions by Johann Hari

Other Mentions

• Wayne Thiebaud—American painter known for his colorful, semi-realist works

• Burden Bearers—A counseling and care ministry mentioned during Rod’s story

• SoulStream

Ben explains how real change starts with listening for those inner whispers, saying yes to the unknown, and getting help along the way. He shares how mentors and spiritual companions became guides on his path, helping him integrate—not defeat—the parts of himself driven by success and approval.

Rod and Ben talk about contemplative practice, simple meditation habits, and the courage it takes to slow down. Ben describes his work teaching meditation in prisons through the Within Project, showing how personal healing can ripple outward into service. They draw from Joseph Campbell, Pema Chödrön, and Richard Rohr to explore what it means to let go, find wisdom in suffering, and keep returning to the heart.

In the end, Ben reminds listeners that the hero’s journey isn’t about escaping life—it’s about entering it more fully. The way forward, he says, is always within.

Resources Mentioned

• The Way Home: Discovering the Hero’s Journey to Wholeness at Midlife—Ben Katt

• When Things Fall Apart—Pema Chödrön

• The Hero with a Thousand Faces—Joseph Campbell

• Falling Upward—Richard Rohr

• Atomic Habits—James Clear

SoulStream

Ben’s Website

Since 2006, poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer has written one poem every single day. Not just when inspiration came. Not just when she felt like it. Every day.

What began as a simple challenge with friends became a way of living. And when grief arrived with the loss of her son Finn and her father soon after, it became her anchor.

The Practice of Noticing

Most of us wait for inspiration. Rosemerry chose to meet life head-on, one poem at a time. Over the years, she’s trained herself to notice—the way rain streaks a window, the way a smile lingers, the way an ordinary Tuesday holds its kind of poetry.

The point wasn’t perfection. It was presence.

When Loss Comes

Eighteen years of showing up meant that when tragedy struck, Rosemerry already had a way to meet it. Her poems don’t cover over grief with platitudes. Instead, they create space—space for sorrow, space for love, and space for gratitude in the midst of pain.

The Gift of Showing Up

Think of it like compound interest: small daily investments build into something far larger than the sum of their parts. A practice, done faithfully, becomes a foundation you can stand on when life shakes.

What About You?

Your practice doesn’t have to be poetry. It could be walking, sketching, prayer, gardening, music. What matters is showing up.

Because the practice isn’t about performance. It’s about presence.

This reflection was inspired by poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s conversation on the SoulStream Podcast. Listen here: soulstream.org/podcast

Since 2006, Rosemerry has written a poem every single day. What began as a 30-day challenge with friends grew into a way of living. For her, the page has become a place to practice presence, curiosity, and trust.

In this conversation, we explore how a daily creative practice can change the way we see the world and how showing up to the blank page can be life-changing. Rosemerry shares the profound story of losing her son Finn in 2021 and her father soon after. From that grief came her most recent book, The Unfolding, which she describes as written in the key of grief but with a melody of praise.

She reads her poem Still Here, about breathing in the first minutes after loss when life insists we keep going, and The Blessing, a meditation on cottonwood catkins and belonging. We talk about the beauty of truth-telling, why authenticity matters more than polish, and how nature is a lifelong teacher.

Rosemerry closes with what living from the heart means to her: openness, connection, and the willingness to love and be loved.

Resources and Mentions
Rosemerry’s website: wordwoman.com
Her podcast: Emerging Form
Her spoken word album: Risking Love (available on YouTube)
Her latest book: The Unfolding

SoulStream

In this episode of Soul Stream: Living from the Heart, Rod Janz sits down with writer and podcaster Amy Frykholm to talk about her deep connection with the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich. Together they explore Julian’s famous words, “All shall be well,” her surprising story as the first known woman to write a book in English, and her vision of a Christ who suffers with us.

Amy shares how Julian’s writings helped shape her own spiritual journey and how she sees suffering, love, and the voice of God in our lives today. They also talk about Amy’s current work, including her translation of Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love and her weekly lectionary reflections.

Amy Frykholm:

Amy’s website

Amy’s Lectionary Essays

SoulStream Links:

Living from the Heart

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

Resources mentioned:

New Leaf Network

Amy’s book Witnesses of Perfect Love

SoulStream Links:

Living from the Heart

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

In this conversation, we sit down with professor, researcher, and Telecare Executive Director Bill Strom for a deeply meaningful exploration of what it truly means to listen. With stories from his life and insights from his research, Bill invites us into the heart of supportive listening as a practice that forms us, heals us, and draws us closer to each other and to God.

We talk about the kind of presence it takes to become a good listener, how listening shapes our relationships, and why becoming “small” might be the secret to hearing others well. Bill shares the impact of his work with Telecare Crisis and Caring Line, his studies on active listening, and how his journey of learning to listen has changed his life.

Topics we explore:

• Common listening habits (and how to move beyond them)

• Why face-to-face connection matters more than ever

• What Bill’s research reveals about the traits of a good listener

• How listening can be a way of healing

• The surprising ways listening transforms the listener

Resources mentioned:

• Telecare Crisis and Caring Line

• Free online workshop: Become a Better Listener

• Listen Up! half-day in-person workshop (offered each fall)

• Bill Strom’s new children’s book on communication, Professor Kipper Kidd Meets Meaning Mayhem

SoulStream Links:

Living from the Heart

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

You’re not alone. Many of us experience a restlessness, a desire to come home to ourselves and to God. We grapple with the masks we wear and at times feel disconnected from our authentic selves in Christ. It’s a journey we all navigate, and together—during the Living from the Heart course—you will be invited to explore and experience a deeper sense of belonging and purpose.

An Invitation, Not a Program

Living from the Heart is not a program to complete or a set of ideas to master. It is an invitation to slow down, to listen, and to notice the movement of God’s Spirit within and around us. Through guided practice, shared silence, honest reflection, and community, we begin to release the need to perform or protect. We return to the simple and profound truth that we are loved.

The Transforming Power of Love

In time, we discover that this love changes everything. It gently reshapes how we see ourselves, how we relate to others, and how we engage the world. Not through pressure or urgency, but with increasing freedom, curiosity, and grace.

A Stirring Within

If something in you is stirring—a desire for deeper connection, a longing for spaciousness, or a quiet sense that there is more—you are not alone. Many who have walked through Living from the Heart began with that same wondering. And they emerged more grounded, more open, and more whole.

The Invitation is Now

Registration for the in-person intensive closes July 18, 2025.*

Learn more: https://soulstream.org/living-from-the-heart-course/

If you have questions or would like to talk more about what the course involves, feel free to email us at soulstream1@gmail.com and we will connect you with one of the facilitators.

*The in-person intensive is held at Carmel Hill in Deroche, BC, and Rivendell Retreat Centre on Bowen Island, BC. The application deadline for the online course is August 30, 2025.

In this episode, we sit down with Bradley Jersak, author, theologian, and university principal, for a rich and moving conversation about the life and writings of Simone Weil.

Bradley shares how Simone's fierce honesty and mystical vision changed his life during a season of deep unravelling. We explore her understanding of affliction, attention, desire for God, and the mystery of divine love in a suffering world.

We talk about what it means to pray without striving, the power of contemplative attention, and how Simone's refusal to look away from pain opens a path to compassion and solidarity. We reflect on her decision not to join institutional religion, her deep care for the marginalized, and how her voice helped spark change in the Catholic Church after her death at just 34.

This is a conversation for anyone who longs to hold the tensions of love and suffering, silence and action, mysticism and justice, and to live from the heart in the midst of it all.

Links

Awaiting God: A new translation of Attente de Dieu and Lettre a un Religieux by Simone Weil, translated by Bradley Jersak

Bradley’s website

More books by Bradley

SoulStream Links

Living from the Heart Deadline for in-person cohort: July 18, 2025. Learn more today.

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Peter Traben Haas, author, pastor, and contemplative guide, for a rich conversation about silence, beauty, and the invitation to deeper spiritual union.

From his home in the majestic San Juan Mountains of Telluride, Peter shares how landscape becomes liturgy and how the presence of God can be found in quiet walks, sacred words, and the inner stillness of centering prayer.

Peter opens up about the joy and challenge of pastoring in a place of overwhelming beauty, the soul’s journey through silence and suffering, and his recent Parkinson’s diagnosis.

Together, Rod and Peter explore the long arc of spiritual formation, from early mystical moments in childhood to discovering contemplative community and reintegrating the depth of Christian tradition.

Links

Centering Prayers: A One-Year Daily Companion for Going Deeper into the Love of God by Peter Traben Haas

Christ Presbyterian Church, Telluride

SoulStream Links

Living from the Heart (Deadline for in-person cohort: July 18, 2025. Learn more today.)

SoulStream

Upcoming Events, Courses and Retreats

The Art of Spiritual Direction Training Course

Felicia Murrell is a spiritual companion, author, and master life coach who brings a calm, grounded presence to everything she does. In our recent SoulStream: Living from the Heart podcast, we explored her book And: The Restorative Power of Love in an Either/Or World and talked about what it means to live with more openness, depth, and compassion.

A Life Woven with Many Threads

Felicia grew up in a small town in North Carolina where her early spiritual life was shaped by a blend of traditions. Her father's family attended the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her mother's side belonged to the United Church of Christ. Later, they became part of a Pentecostal church. Felicia calls this her "coat of many colours," a mix that shaped how she sees faith, community, and belonging.

From Doing to Receiving

Like many people, Felicia once understood prayer as something to do. It involved specific words, structured time, and certain outcomes. Over time, that began to change. She discovered a quiet, receptive form of prayer that invited her simply to rest in God's presence.

What began with soaking prayer in a charismatic church eventually grew into a deep contemplative practice. Her spiritual path has been shaped by voices like Brother Lawrence, Thomas Keating, and Cynthia Bourgeault.

Felicia puts it simply. "Love changed me in ways that striving never could."

A Love That Can Be Felt

Felicia shared a powerful story. A woman once prayed over her and then wrapped her in a simple hug. In that embrace, something shifted. She experienced divine love not just as a belief, but as something real, embodied, and healing. It was a turning point. Love became a felt presence that has guided her ever since.

Making Room with the Word “And”

Felicia’s book centers around a simple word with great power: And. In a world that often insists on choosing sides or fitting into categories, love invites us to make space for diverse thoughts, views, backgrounds, and opinions. It helps us hold difference, complexity, and beauty without forcing everything to be the same.

As Felicia says, “Love allows. Love celebrates the full spectrum of who we are.”

Listen In

This reflection is based on our conversation with Felicia Murrell on the SoulStream: Living from the Heart podcast. You can listen to the full episode on our Substack podcast page or wherever you get your podcasts.