{"id":20022,"date":"2025-12-01T05:00:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T11:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/?p=20022"},"modified":"2025-12-02T08:52:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:52:51","slug":"season-28-episode-1-advent-week-1-invited-inward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/2025\/12\/season-28-episode-1-advent-week-1-invited-inward\/","title":{"rendered":"Season 28: Episode 1 | Advent Week 1: Invited Inward"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this season of the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership<\/em> podcast, Ruth invites listeners to embark on a unique journey during Advent 2025. Departing from traditional liturgical approaches, we will focus on the overlap between the seasons of Advent and winter, inspired by Marilyn McIntyre’s book Midwinter Light: Meditations for the Long Season.<\/em><\/a> Ruth will be joined all through Advent by Marilyn McIntyre, herself. Together they will explore themes such as inner reflection, the significance of silence, and the profound connections between spirituality and the physical season of winter.<\/p>\n

This week, Ruth and Marilyn discuss the importance of recognizing and responding to the invitation for inward focus during this time and the subsequent freedom it can bring. We conclude with practical suggestions for embracing the quiet and contemplative aspects of the season and posing the following questions for reflection:\u200aHow are you perceiving or sensing the invitation inward? \u200aAs you sense or perceive that invitation, do you feel yourself resisting, or are you willing? And finally, do you have any sense at all of what you might be invited to freedom from and freedom to?<\/p>\n

\"\"Marilyn McEntyre<\/strong> is an author of over 20 books, including Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2021) and Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict<\/a><\/em> (2020). Her book, What\u2019s in a Phrase? Pausing Where Scripture Gives You Pause<\/a> <\/em>won the Christianity Today book award in spirituality. Midwinter Light<\/a><\/em>, reflections on poems for the \u201clong season,\u201d has just been released. A former professor, now writer, writing coach, speaker, and retreat leader, her deepest interests lie in connections between spirituality, language, healing earth, and each other. She teaches regularly for programs at Western Seminary, New College Berkeley, and the Oblate School of Theology.<\/p>\n

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