"When I think of the tapestry of the cosmos, I see all sentient beings as threads woven together—one energy running through us all." - Felicia Murrell In today's episode, author Felicia Murrell joins the Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant in conversation to offer a new vision of living gracefully and with connection. In this conversation, we're diving deep into what it means to be woven together and yet be gloriously unique in this stimulating conversation and about belonging, identity,...

How do you remind yourself that we are one—even with those we struggle to like?  On this episode, Dr. Donny Bryant and Dr. Barbara Holmes are joined in conversation by Dr. Liza J. Rankow. Together they explore the concept of mysticism and its relevance to social justice and the uncertainties of our world. Dr. Rankow emphasizes the importance of direct experience with the divine and how that experience can inform and sustain our work for a more just world; highlighting that the current state...

When was the last time you deeply listened to someone’s story? On this episode, Dr. Donny Bryant and Dr. Barbara Holmes are joined in conversation by Alison McCrary exploring the very real impact of how we listen, speak, and show up in the world.  A former nun and tireless advocate, guest Alison McCrary reminds us, “We’re all called to be holy beings—to be the eyes, ears, heart, and being of God in the world.” How will you embody the eyes, ears, and heart of God in the world today?  Alison...

How can we cultivate resilience and hope, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges and ongoing chaos? In this episode Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant talk with Rev. Otis Moss III about Dancing in the Darkness: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times, and how we can build resilience by consecrating chaos through prophetic grief and liberation listening. Otis Moss III built his ministry on community empowerment and social justice activism. As senior pastor of...

Envision a future brimming with peace, joy, and creativity. What does that look like for you?  In the final episode of “The Cosmic We” season 4, Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant discuss the importance of envisioning a future that bridges the ordinary and the eternal.    As Dr. Holmes explains: “We are unique and ordinary mystics in the making, flowing from one state of existence to the other, inhabiting the ordinary and touching the eternal. We are embedded in the continuum of life,...

How do we heal while traumatic events continue to happen?    “As we sit with what is and what never should have been, our feet remember the call of drums and we allow the spirit within us to soar.” – Dr. Barbara Holmes In this episode, learn more about the essential expression of joy as Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant explore the themes of the 5th chapter, Healing, in Crisis Contemplation. Resources: The transcript for this episode can be found here. If you wish to get a copy of...

What does life look like in our modern-day village?   Based on the next chapter in Crisis Contemplation, The Village Response, in this episode, Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant explore the role our communities play in shaping our humanity, our self-expression, and our healing. Resources: The transcript for this episode can be found here. If you wish to get a copy of Crisis Contemplation, you can find it in the CAC Bookstore. Connect with us: Have a question you'd like Dr. B or...

Who do you consider part of your village?  In this episode, both Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant helps us make sense of our community wounds and explore the next chapter of Crisis Contemplation, Wounds. Dr. Barbara Holmes explains why unwelcome events are often essential to true transformation: “Wounds are portals. They are entryways to somewhere else within you. Sometimes things happen in your life that make you realize you have allowed a scar to form over something that was...

Do you have a time-tested contemplative practice for moments of crisis?   In this episode, Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donald Bryant offer us this thought: “When crisis has you in its grip, contemplation offers the ability to stop striving. It allows you the space to grieve your losses and then let go. It lets you know that it is okay to withdraw from ordinary pursuits for a while and let the Spirit lead.”   This episode is based on second chapter of Crisis Contemplation:...

Are you experiencing a crisis? How would you recognize it?  On the 4th season of The Cosmic We, we are taking a pause from our normal format to explore the themes of Dr. Barbara Holmes' book Crisis Contemplation. Together, Dr. B and Dr. Donny explore ways we can apply it to the realities we face in our daily lives. This first episode is based on the themes of Chapter 1: Crisis. Resources: The transcript for this episode can be found here. If you wish to get a copy of Crisis Contemplation,...

How has your experience of faith changed since your childhood? What shifts in the foundation of your faith have you intentionally and unintentionally made?  In this final episode of season 3, Barbara and Donny have a conversation with Brian McLaren about the ways we construct God and how, in many ways, the Christian faith hasn’t fully grasped Jesus’s teachings.  Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a...

On this week’s episode, Barbara and Donny has a conversation with the Center for Action and Contemplation's Living School manager and spiritual director Gigi Ross about ways to embody contemplation when our paths of discovery and growth make unexpected shifts. Gigi Ross serves as the CAC’s Living School Manager, supporting students in the Living School. She came to the CAC after spending her last six years in Washington, DC homeless, unemployed, and living in poverty. She resides in...

How can preaching be a way of relating to life and one another? On this episode, Dr. Frank A. Thomas joins Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant for a conversation about his ability to preach in a way that is applicable to the life around us. Frank A. Thomas, PhD, currently serves as the Nettie Sweeney and Hugh Th. Miller Professor of Homiletics and Director of the Academy of Preaching and Celebration at Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana. Indicative of his great love of...

Have you ever experienced another culture’s interpretation of universal wisdom? Dr. Rachel Harding drops by to talk about ancestry and mysticism with “The Cosmic We” hosts Barbara Holmes and Donny Bryant. What do you think Dr. Harding means by travel being a mnemonic device? How have you witnessed that play out in your life?  Rachel Elizabeth Harding, is Associate Professor of Indigenous Spiritual Traditions in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Denver. A native of...

What if mainstream Christianity prioritized contemplation? Fr. Richard Rohr joins Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant to discuss reimagining our notions of love, power, charity, and accessing the “universal mind.” Fr. Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province. He is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation and the academic dean of the CAC’s Living School. An internationally recognized author and spiritual leader, Fr. Richard teaches primarily on...

Welcome to Season 3 of The Cosmic We! As we start a brand new season, Dr. Barbara Holmes wanted to interview, and re-introduce you to the co-host of the show, Dr. Donald Bryant. Dr. Donald (Donny) Bryant is a champion for christ-centered preaching and is the lead Pastor of ONE Community Church, a multicultural and intergenerational church located in Farmington, MI. He is also the founder and CEO of Alden Oils, a major specialty oil supplier in the United States. The company has grown to be a...

Dr. Brian Swimme joins Dr. Barbara Holmes and Donny Bryant for this episode of the Cosmic We. Brian Swimme is the Director of the Center for the Story of the Universe and a professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Oregon in 1978 for work in gravitational dynamics. He brings the context of story to our understanding of the 13.7 billion year trajectory of the universe. Such a story,...

Rev. Dorsey O'dell Blake joins this episode of The Cosmic We with Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant. Rev. Dr. Dorsey Odell Blake, Faculty Associate, Leadership and Social Transformation, was officially installed as Presiding Minister of The Church for The Fellowship of All Peoples in October, 1994. During Dr. Blake’s installation service, Mrs. Sue Bailey Thurman presented Dr. Howard Thurman’s robe — which had not been worn since his death – to Dr. Blake as a symbol of her trust in his...

Barbara and Donny welcome Cole Arthur Riley to this episode of The Cosmic We to explore the power of our stories. Cole Arthur Riley is writer who was formed by thinkers such as Audre Lorde, Octavia Butler, James Baldwin, Thomas Merton, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Julian of Norwich, to name a few. Cole studied writing at the University of Pittsburgh, but traces her love of words back to her father, who would bribe her and her siblings to write poems and stories to get...

On this episode, Bayo Akomolafe joins Dr. Barbara Holmes and Donny Bryant for this episode of The Cosmic We. Bayo Akomolafe is the grateful life-partner to ‘EJ’, father to Alethea Aanya and Kyah Jayden Abayomi, son of Olufunmilayo Ibidapo Akomolafe and Ignatius Abayomi Akomolafe, and descendant of Yoruba fields of archetypal becomings and mythopoeic landscapes. He is an author, celebrated speaker, teacher, and self-styled trans-public intellectual (a concept imagined together with and...

Barbara Holmes and Donny Bryant welcome Dr. Peter Gathje for this episode of The Cosmic We. Dr. Gathje is a founder and co-director of Manna House, a place of hospitality in the Catholic Worker Tradition located in Memphis. He helps with Room in the Inn, a shelter program involving area churches. He is active with a number of peace and justice organizations including Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. He frequently speaks at local churches on a variety of topics, including...

On this episode, Dr. Monica A. Coleman joins Dr. Barbara Holmes and Donny Bryant for this episode of The Cosmic We. Dr. Monica A. Coleman is Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Delaware. She spent over ten years in graduate theological education at Claremont School of Theology, the Center for Process Studies and Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Coleman has earned degrees from Harvard University, Vanderbilt University and Claremont Graduate University. She has received...

Barbara Holmes and Donny Bryant welcome James (Jim) Finley for this episode of The Cosmic We. Jim was a student of Thomas Merton and is a retired clinical psychologist. Dr. James Finley teaches how connecting to our Divine indwelling can transcend fear and shame and awaken to our True Self. He is the author of Merton’s Palace of Nowhere and The Contemplative Heart, as well as the host of the podcast Turning to the Mystics. Jim is a faculty member with Dr. Barbara Holmes at the Center for...

On this episode, Belvie Rooks joins Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant in conversation for this episode of The Cosmic We. Belvie Rooks' work weaves the worlds of spirituality, feminism, cosmology and social justice with a passion for dialogue. She is the co-founder of Growing a Global Heart, a project to plant a million trees along the Trans-Atlantic Slave Route in West Africa and the Underground Railroad in the U.S. to honor the millions of lives lost during the slave trade. She has a...