Story Sage, Part Two
This week on the podcast, Dan continues his conversation with Cathy Loerzel, Executive Director, and Rachael Clinton, Assistant Director of Program Development and Admissions, continue their conversation about what it means to enter the stories of others with curiosity, attunement, and care.
This week on the podcast, Dan continues his conversation with Cathy Loerzel, Executive Director, and Rachael Clinton, Assistant Director of Program Development and Admissions, continue their conversation about what it means to enter the stories of others with curiosity, attunement, and care. As we gear up for our new Story Sage online course, we’re inviting you to consider how you might develop the capacity to enter stories of harm and heartache for the sake of healing. Click here to be the first to know when we launch this new online course.
Dan: “We really want people to grow in a greater sense of what is involved, what it costs, and what it gains to be involved in meaningful conversations that go beyond the surface, beyond just empathy and advice.”
Rachael: “Attunement offers delight. It’s a way of saying ‘I see you, I actually care deeply about you, and I want to be with you, even if where you’re at is not good.’”
Cathy shares about a particular encounter with a woman at church who moved past social niceties to engage in something deeper and more lasting. That experience serves as a frame for the conversation as Rachael, Dan, and Cathy reflect on the importance of reading faces well, responding to what we see, and engaging in a way that expands awareness and helps make meaning.
Rachael: “When I can be with someone who sits in the questions I have with me, that feels so much more honoring—even if I have to deal with the terror of ‘You just really saw something of my heart.’ Now I feel exposed, but I also feel not so alone in this.”
They also return to the theme of containment from last week’s episode, reflecting on the importance not rushing or presuming that others want us engaging their stories. A posture of invitation, permission, and setting parameters allows room to breathe and settle in, offering the containment that is crucial when engaging stories of trauma and harm. And when that happens, when our stories are engaged with honor and delight, it is nothing left than a taste of the goodness of God.
Dan: “Conversations are meant to create a ground where we come to know one another, you come to know yourself, I come to know myself, but ultimately we come to know God better in our relationship.”
Next week, in the conclusion of this series, Dan, Rachael, and Cathy will continue unpacking these themes and will share more about the Story Sage online course, including the unique opportunity of stepping beyond themes and ideas into the particularities of one brave woman’s story.
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In their final conversation about archetypes within the kingdom of God, Dan, Cathy, and Rachael unpack what it means to be a widow or widower, and how one can become a thriving king or queen. What are the wounds that impact a king or queen, what does true leadership look like, and how does a king or queen bring order to God’s kingdom?
This week, Dan, Rachael, and Cathy take a deep dive into and further reflect on the archetype of priest. What is required for a priest to grow in their ability to do what priests are meant to do? In this episode, you’ll hear our hosts and Cathy talk about the importance of archetypal thinking, how the archetype of an “orphan” relates to the calling of a priest archetype, and the process by which an orphan is transformed.
Picking up their conversation from last week, Dan and Cathy turn their attention to uncovering the roots of conflict in relationships and how we can move towards true connection.
This week, Dan is joined again by Cathy Loerzel and Rachael Clinton to further discuss our Healing the Wounded Heart online course. They particularly review the benefit of a closed Facebook group created for tribe members. The ultimate goal in creating the tribe option was to ensure that participants would not have to move through the course alone and would benefit from processing with others along the way. This added option has truly brought increased engagement with the material, and we hope very much that you can join us for our upcoming semester tribe!