and now with over 25 years of experience mental health and spirituality. Dr. James Howard<br>well good afternoon everybody wherever you are in the world at this time welcome to reclaiming authenticity finding the courage to reclaim that which has always and I do mean always been in you very excited to be with you here today every Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time noon Pacific Standard Time at Beach and every week as you know these broadcast focus on the integration of spirituality and our mental health and all within the context of our relationships relationships that we have with the person I was looking back at you in the mirror our relationship with others and relationship with God or the Divine and a lot of people ask me you know why why is this integration of the spirituality and mental health placed in the context of relationships why not other context and you know my my answer is<br>quite simple because from where I sit and how it was trained at my experiences and so forth when you think about it we often receive and I mean like Humanity in general receives our deepest physical emotional psychological even spiritual wounding in relationships we are relational people we are social beings and yet the irony is that we can discover also our greatest healing our greatest strength of our most profound peace and forgiveness and love through healthier relationships and he's relationships just might be within our own families could be with our co-workers and it could be with our friends and so forth because whatever we transform whenever we heal we also transform others simply by our presence simply by the grace that has been shown to us simply by<br>they are understanding and how we relate to one another but first forgiveness kindness compassion begins with how we treat ourselves<br> because whenever we are compassionate with ourselves we can then the more compassionate with others when we are forgiving with ourselves then we can be more forgiving with others and when were able to live in this profound gratitude with ourselves we tend us covered how this gratitude opened our hearts to see me and live in gratitude with others so all-in-all transformation first and foremost begins with us or to put it another way as that one said just by paying attention to what's going on around us we discover that there are people who heal Each Other's Love and forgive each other is offenses and share their possessions and Foster the spirit of community and celebrate the gifts that they have and live in constant antis<br> patient of the full manifestation of God's glory and that's a great way to put it so I took my hat to Henry now and more information about me or to leave me your comments about Today show I invite you to visit the website it's www.bbnradio.org so really claiming authenticity that's all one word so www.bbnradio.org, reclaiming authenticity and these broadcast I am happy to say are Now podcast in case you want to go back and listen again or if you want to go back into the archives and listen to previous shows and if you would like to call in and be a part of today show how you invite you to call the toll-free line 888-627-6008 that's 888-627-6008<br> and give me your insights your comments your thoughts on today's subject the ancient wisdom and spirit of mountains the ancient wisdom in spirit of mountains and for those of you who are tuning in for the first time just welcome I always like to have new listeners and I just like to say that I am just a very strong believer that everyone and I mean everyone that we come into this world already equipped and graced with everything that we need in this life in terms of our skills and our talents are giftedness our strengths are character traits personality and so forth however as we go along in life and maybe just due to some unpleasant experiences or being in the wrong place at the wrong time we may feel that as a result we have to hide our talents we have to hide<br> are giftedness we push down our skills way way down within us so that nobody can see it or perhaps we were told that we would never amount to anything or whatever other comments or voices we heard telling us that there is nothing special to us and that is just simply wrong that is just not a healthy way to relate to one another so at any rate we we do not realize or around get the nest and we often go through life functioning from a place of woundedness or we go from throughout life from a place of being a victim and feeling that everything that happens to us as well because I'm a victim and we start to attract that we start to expect and it keeps us in that victimhood mentality and so we go through life functioning from that place of woundedness instead of a place of healing or a place of wholeness or embrace<br> in our uniqueness or are Hatch at<br> well I have to begin today and again welcome to the program I just hope that everybody is doing okay out there and if you are struggling in some capacity or another I pray that you would find Grace rest and peace for you now from the perspective and I do enjoy writing so writing and speaking from the perspective of one who just loves to hike mountains I found that there is a striking parallel between our search for authenticity and how the ancient wisdom of mountains you know both literally and figuratively often give us a glimpse into our desire for the psycho spiritual transformation<br> take that it is quite ironic because when you think about it mountains have much to teach us and that's why I just invite you to be open for this about broadcast just to be in a place of teachability and you're able to hear many many things because mountains do have a lot to pass on to us in terms of its wisdom and every year every Steven from that's a rainfall the snowfall generation to generation it's our mountains that remain the stable Giants as you will in our landscapes<br> and since the beginning of time people have always had a fascination with mountains and and often spending their lives or small fortunes climbing the highest mountains in the world and it is really fascinating when somebody just has this desire just to be able to do this some people desire to climb these mountains other people just aren't content to be at the base and look up and like wow I get it I understand it but maybe it's due to some physical limitations or otherwise they're unable to climb but still to take in the mountains majesty and beauty is just just breathtaking okay well at any rate people today and on down through history have been led inwardly to withdraw from society and you know live in mountains or at work develop their spiritual abilities were connect with the yearning that led spiritual leaders<br> Lofton just pulled away from society and and sought God on the mountain top and it's interesting just going around throughout the world and just the natural terrain that's out there and just the the many mountain chains and then just the cultures that have developed around them as well as the teachings in the Customs is just quite fascinating and I remember ancient China they record five sacred directional mountains that stretch across its Country and this is the fees are places which sages dwell or Emperors made lifelong pilgrimage is the seat the blessing of Heaven<br> and so these include that the Eastern Mountain the Northern Great Mountain Western great Mountain the southern great mountain and then of course the central mountain and these five mountains or the five Peaks as they're called are Central to the religion of taoism and that is living in harmony with the way or with the pass and the mountains were considered powerful spiritual locations that parallel the cardinal directions and were believed to be the pillar that separated Heaven from Earth and in the research that I did and cording to ancient Chinese cosmology the realm of Heaven covered the realm of Earth and from this belief came the idea that heaven could fall down if it wasn't supported<br> Caitlin tested the different energies of these mountains influence the spiritual Traditions That Grew on each of them and as the mountains themselves were believed to have spiritual energies and actually held up heaven and so you know thousands and millions of people would make pilgrimages to these mountains throughout China in order to receive the blessing of the land and the mountains well another example of the very famous mountain is Crow Patrick and perhaps it's the most important Catholic pilgrimage destination in Ireland probably next to the Blarney Stone I don't know I've never been to the Blarney Stone but I've been to Crow Patrick and following in the footsteps of st. Patrick who believe we have the celebration coming up here in about 12 days for those of you who are Irish it is a belief that the St Patrick's been about 40 days fasting<br> on this mountain somewhere around 4 4441 a d and this is the same melted we're about a million pilgrims per year climb to the top and following his fast it's believed that the Patrick rang a bell so loudly that a drove all the evil spirits and snakes out of Ireland in other words they heard this battle and they just hightailed it out of there they just said I'm out and they are gone and for most people then the pilgrimage to the top of this sacred mountain is also an act of penance off to remembering your Patrick's devotion by reaching the summit on hit on their knees or even walking barefoot and I will say that I have climbed a crow Patrick and it was early Saturday morning as I was wrapping up my my trip in India doing research and other activities and it was fairly early I'd say it's<br> about 8 in the morning. Time and it was really misty it was semi cloudy and so forth and course Crow Patrick if you've ever walked that mountain or climb that mountain you know that it is comprised mainly of shell and when she'll gets wet it gets a little slippery so I made it about halfway up or so and you know being a guy from America I didn't want to have some you know medical issue up there on Crow Patrick so I decided to turn around and come back down and I just didn't want me to be helicoptered out and at some point but the as I was coming back down the mountain this older couple who was in much better shape than I was they were just you know Trucking along up the mountain like no big deal no big deal and we stopped and we talked for a little bit so I said I was from the states and they said they welcomed me to Ireland and so forth and<br> and on my way down I was hanging some prayer ties just to make special prayers on Crow Patrick and the one gentleman or let's just say the gentleman he was looking behind me and he just said look at that and I turned around and both he and his wife and myself saw this beautiful rainbow that seem to have come off the mountain the other side of the mountain and down into the water which I believe is the Atlantic Ocean but you know it's just fascinating just how it showed up all of a sudden and just a beautiful beautiful reminder of the the ancient wisdom and the energy of crow Patrick so I highly recommended that if you happen to be in Ireland no trip is complete without climbing Crow Patrick so you may not have heard it here first but you definitely heard it here so anyway but that's part of the beauty of<br> just visiting other mountains throughout the world or perhaps you you live near Mountain chains and you know what I'm talking about and so for it well continuing on with this wisdom and teaching of mountains in general Native American Mystic and ceremonial dancer artist and writer Joseph otherwise known as beautiful painted Arrow he in his many writings emphasizes how Melton's metaphorically refer to the human heart he writes that took the traditional form of a Vision Quest was to reach the top of a mountain he says going to the top of a mountain or or any high place has the quality symbolically of going to the heart or the center of vibration where we search not just for ordinary aware of this but for the highest possibility in conscious<br> new summarizes that the Mountaintop is in the environment for The Highest Potential because the vibration of light there is often a very high quality and it's on top of a Vision Quest mountain where heart and mind are bonded together and I like that I like that and so I clearly recommend highly recommend that if you've ever done a Vision Quest on top of a mountain you know exactly what beautiful painted arrow is talking about so it appears that from the various cultures or religions and languages and so forth that they recognize us Echo spiritual connection to at least one of hundreds of mountains throughout the world in fact depending if you have a fat favorite mountain or if you've ever climb to a Mountaintop and looked over a valley or at the gist of what you behold and<br> have you you know how this has changed you are indeed The View can be breathtaking you know and just looking at the directions around you both of you below you to the north to the South to the east to the West no one can certainly grass the proportion of just how small we are in comparison to the vast world and perhaps it is this realization that we are drawn to mountains because we are stirred to reconnect with them in our hearts and with our hearts<br> and the down throughout history many battles have been fought on or close to mountains but which is perhaps as a means of reflecting the hearts inner struggle well perhaps we also climb mountains to get away from that you know disconnected World shall we say and conditional relationships in order to reconnect with ourselves and with God<br> another author and painter art educator and therapist Peter London he also writes about how external Landscapes have a lot to teach us about our internal Landscapes and he says each of these great forms at Earth takes mountains and Hills Plains valleys Meadows and step swamps and marshes and deserts and forests and jungles and Savannah's and beaches and Islands each of these<br> transmute to Geo biographies of her own personal journey across time and Circumstance the finite Summit of a mountain peak the river final arrival to the see the clearing in the depths of the wood They don't serve as exemplars and as metaphors for often the Steep and uncertain perilous Journey that is our life and so we often are drawn to these places because we are on a spiritual journey are set and how often they are there to teach assist if we are paying attention if we can simply be aware if we can quiet our souls and it just really take it in and listen for there is much much to be learned<br> And yet when we look at mountains we may not realize that the the physical or the psychological or Sivan spiritual interdependence we have with them for our survival and well-being okay and here's what I mean by that people in Wildlife you often depend upon Mountains for their agricultural or Forest benefits of course as well as you do for their source of water and nutrients and we've also come to depend on the mountains minerals such as coal or iron ore or shell or methane or copper clay or gold or sickle silver nickel sorry about that clay silver nickel chromium etc for everyday use okay and mountains also provide a safe habitat in conservation for wildlife as well as they do affect climate conditions such as blocking much of the wind and moisture on the windward<br> side of them<br> and last but not least mountains are also known for their aesthetic Beauty and recreational opportunities as hikers and National Park enthusiastic visit them year after year after year but still there is a lot of talk these days about reducing our carbon Footprints from eliminating greenhouse gases and Industrial emissions and the effects of mining to say the global warming debate and conservation<br> get what I don't hear included in these debates our conversations is how damaging it were a should say how the damaging effects of our carbon Footprints clearly mimic the damaging effects are interpersonal Footprints have on one another<br> see how it comes back to relationships but I don't hear in the let's reduce our carbon Footprints conversation is the damaging effects are carbon Footprints clearly mimic the damaging effects of our interpersonal footprints that we have on one another<br> okay because sadly today it's often considered the norm or if it's not the expectation that people will simply walk all over one another I mean people are going to cheat they're going to steal and then they expect that these actions will have no psychological or spiritual consequences<br> I mean if we assumed this and we are just simply gravely mistaken and as evidenced from our attitudes and actions we have not learned from previous generations discoveries and mistakes and we clearly do not have that ancient wisdom that comes from recognizing these lessons of respect or dignity and value and gratitude passed on to us in the creative order things or let's put it another way you know it has to be you know I should be glaringly obvious that the way we treat our environmental resources and animals is it a direct reflection of our attitudes and behaviors towards each other<br> the fact the spite of all our searching for the psycho-spiritual wholeness we simply do not possess such wisdom yet because we simply don't understand how we are spiritually and emotionally fragmented however it's from this understanding that we recognize the opportunity that is before us that he'll this relationship to ourselves others and the Lent<br> now for those who seek a heightened psycho spiritual awareness mountains also have a lot to teach us about interpersonal with God and with others and intrapersonal with ourselves relationships as I just had just mentioned you know standing at the base mountains remind us just how small we are in comparison and you know as we hike or as we climb you know we are struck by the beauty and Splendor of life that surrounds us and this was something that it was a hard lesson for me to learn the first time for a couple of times I climb bear Butte out there in South Dakota there in Sturgis by Sturgis South Dakota and Fairview it is just probably one of my favorite places to visit just because the mountain itself is considered so sacred and<br> and just out of the the number of people who have climbed that and just its role and how people gathered on or around the mountain in order to seek and cry out to God and you know when before I knew what actually I was doing I know it was love with the mindset like okay I have to hurry up I get to the top of bear Butte as fast as possible and you know I just I missed everything that was what's going on around me you do in fact I bypassed people who are coming down from the mountain and you know I just asked you know how much longer and they said well okay it's it's there if you have to go around and climb up there but you're not too far you got about another half hour or so climbing to go but don't worry when you get to the top it is worth it the view is spectacular it is really a spiritual moment up there<br> I'm so that kind of spurred me on it's like all right look cool let's get to the top so when I got to the top I saw a beautiful prayer ties and I offered my own prayers and then prayer ties as well for people who like said love with Carrie prayers for<br> and as I was coming down from the mountain you know of course I've met people who are coming up the mountain and of course they said they asked me what how much further to the top and that's what I said well don't worry about it cuz you're about halfway or you're about you know the three quarters of the way you just go around you know if it's going to make a turn or go around the mountain is going to seem but but don't worry when you get to the top it's worth it the view is spectacular and we wished each other well and I continued down the mountain and that's when it hit me I was so worried about just getting to the top that I missed the beauty and Splendor and the lessons along the way<br> so I simply slow down took my time and paid attention to what I was seeing and hearing and feeling<br> well in these moments when we have a greater Awakening of how our uniqueness has been gifted by God as as well as our growing edges and vulnerable areas you know and these places where we have yet to surrender to God in a sense we can be overcome with a sense of gratitude and understanding even though we may not know what we might discover about ourselves people continue to seek God with the help of mountains<br> now and we're over like whatever we experience can be a powerful psycho-spiritual transformation that leaves us unlike we were before and I'd I can attest to that every Mountain I've climbed when I reach the top and offered prayers or just simply gratitude for my life and everything that God has brought me to and through I'm coming down from the mountain I was not the same person when I first started something had changed in me something had shifted so I just no longer looked at myself or others or the world with the same perspective that I had before climbing that mountain okay and yet herein lies the irony of humanity<br> you know that that that history has demonstrated how some people are already drawn to mountains to extract the minerals but are not drawn to people<br> in other words people often will sell their souls for all the natural resources that they can procure while at the same time throwing away the most important resource of all mainly relationships relationships I've been established by a loving Creator's hand<br> and it's this psycho-spiritual disconnection that is something the land does not forget and deed the land remembers and souls and souls have Trek the lands for countless Generations when we get more I think about it they at the air that they breathe the same air we breathe the same sources of water from which they drank we drink the same mountains they applying for psycho spiritual renewal we climb today<br> the literal and spiritual pads have have been Blaze trust to follow and our imprint doesn't go unnoticed and as we walk in the footsteps of our ancestors and our relations and as a great cloud of witnesses they carefully observe our attitudes and our actions<br> yeah but the land remembers mountains remember through the countless violence and aggression that have been displayed throughout history in which the say The Human Stain has been communicated<br> give me the blood of those who who laid slain cry out from the land which is imprinted with the horrors of let's a genocide or desolation<br> and then we may attempt to forget about these tragedies as the so-called history books are written from a softer perspective that is a romanticizes the harsh reminders of the depraved human interaction while I would really love to hear your heart on the subject so if we are you been sitting and listening to me and you have a couple of questions would like to make a comment or self invite you to call in after the break that number is 888-627-6008 and I'll be taking your calls after the break again you are listening to reclaiming authenticity and I am your host dr. James hauke and I'll be back with you in 1 minute<br> well welcome back I'm dr. James how can you are listening to reclaiming authenticity again before we go further in the show I just want to say a word about next week's broadcast it's entitled we sat down by the river and wept<br> we sat down by the river and wept<br> and interesting that the power of reflection or Surrender and forgiveness and sowing the seeds of growth or to let's say another way as Paulo Coelho says the energy of hate will take you nowhere but the energy of forgiveness which is manifested through love will manage to change your life in a positive sense so that is next Friday March 12th we set down by the river and wept<br> well earlier in the show we have been talking about the spirit of mountains and mountains all things Fascinate people by their beauty and their Majesty in fact for those who seek a heightened psycho spiritual awareness mountains have a lot to teach us about as I said the interpersonal God and others and the intrapersonal with ourselves these relationships and we clearly do not possess this ancient wisdom yet that comes from recognizing those lessons of respect and dignity and value and gratitude passed on to us through the creative order of things to put it that way or y'all to put it another way it it should be so obvious to us that the way we treat our environmental resources and animals is definitely a direct reflection<br> of our attitudes and behaviors towards one another in fact all of our despite all our searching for Alessia psycho-spiritual holness or a psycho-spiritual integration we simply just struggle to possess you know such wisdom because we don't understand how we are spiritually and emotionally fragmented<br> yet it's from this understanding that we recognize the opportunity that is before us to heal the relationship to ourselves to heal the relationship to others and certainly to heal our relationship that we have with the land and it is through this that the the land remembers as I mentioned before the break and I'm through that the countless violence and aggression throughout history in which the stain is communicated time and time again and as I mentioned even the blood of those who laid slain cry out from the land which is imprinted with the horrors of what's a genocide or desolation and we may want to forget about these tragedies but the land does not forget<br> you know how we made them to Shield ourselves from the reminder of if we're standing on a certain place or ground or a mountain what kind of atrocities were being done their fans and what kind of imprint has been put on the land<br> they are certainly harsh reminders and however The Echoes of pain and suffering tell us that these stories need to be heard and share<br> let me read to you a<br> quote that I came across the other week about this very thing about the imprint and how the land remembers everything that has been done on it or in it or underneath cuz I listen to the screams of the wounded and dying carried on the Wind across the Prairie blood spilled in the ground<br> we tend to forget about these things but the trees they remember the Rocks they remember the Earth it remembers<br> they remember when we forget<br> the story is forever imprinted imprinted on this land if we listen they will guide us they will give us Visions they will tell us stories past present and future all touch one another because time does not exist for Spirits time does not exist can you hear them<br> can you hear their cries<br> well by inviting us to understand how mountains teach us about authenticity we certainly are called to heal from our psycho-spiritual wounds and to reclaim our connectedness to all living things<br> Donnelly discover who we are in relation to all of creation but we also understand that we are Stewart's that we are entrusted with the care of the world is that provides for us I mean recently come into this world and and then what we have is at our disposal but that wouldn't sweats been entrusted to us and really what do we do with what has been entrusted to us how do we care for that how do we pass it on to others how do we ensure that the things were passing on and we're going to be life-giving to the next-generation even generations of a say perhaps we will never meet but we are still connected to<br> and that's why the last Specter this connection is then to develop ways to reconnect these fragmented areas of Our Lives that have been separated by let's say the losses that we have encountered in our life for the pain or the trauma and after careful introspection of our wounded Miss sand and let's be honest here you know that this takes a lot of Courage because it doesn't matter who you are nobody really wants to look at their wounds nobody wants to consider how they have been impacted or how they have been affected by their wounds it does take courage to even contemplate even to ask tough questions about just what happened to us and how do we put the pieces of our lives back together<br> and so after careful introspection of our wounded this when they realize that we have intentionally or unintentionally giving away those parts of ourselves as a means of survival okay and this is something that I refer to each week at the beginning of this broadcast is just we don't realize this but it's out of this self-preservation because we we don't know what else to do and where we might feel ridicule or we might fear of humiliation or we might fear something else owns if we show like the very best part of ourselves that in some way is going to be exploited<br> and we push that giftedness those those very very precious things of who we are way way down and out of fear<br> but when we realize that when we were able to heal and when we were able to show that giftedness and uniqueness and the very best things of ourselves and just who we simply are when we allow those things to come out and when we allow those things to you know dominate our lives tremendous things happened in fact the ridicule the shame the humiliation all that are just no match for somebody who is living in the dear just total all incomes authenticity it is it is so life-giving that those negative energy field aspects that come from people who don't quite know what's going on but yet they are also wounded themselves those things just simply cannot stand up to that and that's how powerful being in authentic genuine<br> relationships is all about<br> well Native American Chippewa activist sunbear again another one of my favorite referred to the kind of behavior that whenever we give away parts of ourselves as a means of survival he often refers to it as people giving away their personal power and it leaves them with little to no precious emotional energy to live authentically and today you know mental health professionals refer to this giving away of ourselves as dissociation and dissociation occurs whenever we let's say emotionally or physically detach or psychologically to attach your separate ourselves in situations or the reality that's how to become overwhelming or perceived as life-threatening and examples of dissociation range from Simply daydreaming to<br> relieve stress or boredom to what's a more severe cases of Amnesia which the brain protects us from further traumatic damage or abuse or conflict and in severe cases now people are often given a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder and this is when a person's situation is so emotionally and or physically Worth or spiritually or psychologically overwhelming that there's a fragmentation or a split of his or her identity is perceived reality<br> and consequently and alternative Identity or identities emerge to just further Shield or protected the wounded vulnerable self there's a famous I believe it's still in production because he'll probably get it on Hulu or Netflix or Amazon Prime or one of those other places but if you've ever seen the movie or read the book Sybil Sybil this certainly captures in a very graphic manner how this dissociative identity disorder can emerge in an often is begins in Sybil's case as just very very graphic horrific childhood trauma mom won't give away the story but you have to watch it sometime however I will caution you to<br> watch it with a friend do not watch it by yourself okay cuz you want to discuss or if you just need to process things together to invite a friend over your wife or husband and and or other family members and just strap in and hang on for the ride because it is a very graphic movie but that's dissociative identity disorder or back in the day it was called multiple personality disorder so one of the things I really enjoy getting back to our theme of mountains is when I find people you know who who climb mountains and really are able to capture just the the wonderful wisdom and the energy of the mountains they have to describe it similar to different parts of a symphony and here's what I mean there's a point to a symphony<br> where the music begins softly and then it starts to swell and swell and swell to a heart beating Crescendo I mean we feel that inside you know just says the temperatures are going the drums and and the the horn to carry us along and we find ourselves at the very height of its music when the sounds of Sale s the symbols crash and the drums Thunder a vibration in our hearts and then clearly into our throats and we feel our spirits lifted almost as if we've been taken to a higher better place outside of ourselves and magically transform its within this atmosphere of sound where we went to stay because it's the feelings are so euphoric we love it and perhaps it's within this moment of sound were able to transcend something in ourselves that we have been unable to do by any other means and<br> just as quickly as there is this Crescendo there there is also this descent that brings our feet back down to earth back down to the everyday sounds of traffic conversations and machines but still we tell ourselves that which we want to retain that memory for as long as possible and we might even find ourselves that that that the music carries us and as we leave the concert hall or wherever we heard the Music Auditorium or theater and it's in this distant memory of the music that we often try to get back to and so we buy CDs and we download the music or something to remind us of that great experience and just as we have to leave the concert hall or the auditorium or theater whatever we to<br> for those who have climbed the mountains we to have to come down from that mountain and live out in relationships what we have encountered at the Mountaintop<br> and if we have not invested time or authenticity in these relationships we may find ourselves as emotionally empty or less a spiritually emaciated as the land itself has been stripped of its resources down throughout history and and sooner or later we have to return to like say our daily routines and discover new ways to live our psycho-spiritual transformative experiences and it is much as we may have experienced an exhilarating psycho-spiritual transformation the irony is that these life-changing moments are not necessarily for ourselves<br> k a d just as strong as the experience of this psycho spiritual transformation was or is we are then called to transcend these Mountain Top experience is by getting beyond our self-serving attitudes where I codependent Behavior has been embraced our mutually shared connection to one another<br> in other words shifting our Focus from what do we get out of this to how do we keep it and and how we gifted then to serve others how can we live and you know authentically that is life-giving to the emotional physical or spiritual well-being of others and ourselves<br> and what about where does this transformation first take place in US is it emotionally is it physically is it psychologically is it spiritually<br> yeah all the above but where does this transformation first take place in US<br> well it depends depends on where we are in our journey our path and for that matter what exactly is transformed<br> and are there certain times in our lives when let's say we are more right for transformation or is it a matter of just being in the right place at the right time<br> and are we simply responding to God's calls during our hearts and nudging us along<br> well regardless of the questions being aware of God's spirit in our lives always requires a response from us let's let's call it an Act of Faith K you know I'll talk to let's let's also remember that ignoring God and indecisiveness to take the initial steps of self-discovery is also a response now yeah that it's true that the psycho spiritual transformation is initiated Often by God but it's also an intentional daily effort on our behalf it's not some passive phenomenon it requires an active participation or work on our part in other words we have to come down from the mountain and live it out we have to live out this transformation and that could take the rest of our lives<br> but it's all going to be set in the backdrop and the context of our relationships because they said at the beginning of the broadcast it's within relationships where we often experience are our deepest most horrific emotional psychological spiritual or even physical wounds but yet ironically it's also within healthier relationships where we can experience just wonderful transformation and the depth of healing emotionally psychologically physically and spiritually<br> transformation place is us on a path if you will or a journey to follow and embrace all what God has in store for us and yet transformation also compels us to transcend ourselves and in our surroundings in order the fan the Flames of this internal spiritual fire that has been sparked in US<br> and from the Christian Perspective the psycho spiritual transformation results in a life of service to others following the example of how Christ served at healed and redeemed humanity and as romantic as being on this psycho spiritual journey sounds we will be faced with dangerous obstacles that just my block our way from the social context in which we live in other words not everybody is going to be you know accepting of our spiritual journey in and welcomed us with open arms not everybody we encounter or we attempt to serve a reach out to understand or trust our motives<br> and we're social beings can we have to contend with in the context of you know relationships but also those relationships are placed within cultural norms or rituals and expectations and when these types of reactions occur let's not take societies response personally or discourage us from what we would like to do with our lives and the truth is that there's going to be times when our spiritual journey takes us beyond the so-called social convention it just simply has to<br> we're never the same and it's just amazing where it's going to take us<br> and when we and others recognize this change we are very fortunate the fact people who knew us before our transformation May dismiss us believing that yeah well it's just a you know this new attitude you have is just a phase you're going through it won't last you go you'll go back to the same old person you were well just give it time we will wait and see and you know we just have to take those comments with a grain of salt and just realized that many people are still living with this skeptical what's the catch kind of perspective or they may simply be waiting for us to get over it and return to the way we used to be and admittedly I I believe they are in for a long wait it's it's just interesting they they just are they don't know what to do at that point yet in response do we ignore the stirrings of our hearts and simply turn our backs on society or do we have<br> stand that what has been transformed in us that compels us to re-engage society to heal the suffering of others<br> remember we go up the mountain we have to come down from the mountain we have to live out these transformative experiences these Mountaintop experiences and so we need this kind of transformation in our lives but yet it compels us not to seclude ourselves away but it compels us to come down from the mountain and re-engage Society in order to reach out to others in order to heal others in order to remind them that they're not alone to remind them that somebody cares to remind them that the very best of who they are has yet to come out to be discovered to be shared<br> and undeniably as I said once we've been transformed in this manner when we're never going to look at life for others the same as we did before because we're now looking at the world with our Awakening soul and discern every experience through the lens of Heavens perspectives and as a result all things in our lives will undergo a transformation even work becomes a sense of loss of a worship experience and within every person I strongly believe that with every person's journey to seek God there's also this call to ongoing authenticity and this is why I entitled these broadcast as reclaiming authenticity it's an understanding if the recognition and its reclaiming the things that are ours from the very beginning<br> in other words you have to come to or come into this world as we are or no hidden agendas like we can really hide that one from God no false pretenses just simply who we are and God is always always always any culture any language anywhere God is always responded to Seekers who worship him with hearts that are truthful and spirits that are confined themselves I should say at I'm broken and longing for God's presence it's this act of worship that and prayer that naturally flows out of the heartfelt spiritual desire to know God and dwell in that Holy presence and if that desire that compels us to be genuine and our relationship with others<br> Adidas at the worship at if you want to call this year it's worship at its Essence and it's it's a response of a heart that is earnestly striving and crying out after the heart of God<br> worship and prayer flows out of the deep wrenching hunger and thirst to know God to know the truth. Only took to know God but to dwell in God to dwell in God's presence<br> indeed our our transformation ultimately encourages us to recognize our capacity for relatedness and relationships and therefore a psycho spiritual transformation is that ongoing process by which God's character saturates a person in his or her thoughts is in her behaviors and styles of relating with ourselves others and God and such transformation is not limited to either of the mind or the spirit but instead and capsules lights both<br> well I'll leave you in this broadcast with a quote from Father Richard Rohr use the founding director for the center of action and contemplation in Albuquerque New Mexico and he states that a change of heart is always a change of mind<br> both Socrates must undergo transformation for you know if it is going to take root and bear fruit in our lives<br> why you have been listening to reclaiming authenticity I'm your host dr. James how can I invite you to visit the website to leave me your comments and to have a conversation with me and if you'd like to reach out to me that'll be wonderful I love to hear from people all the time so again the website is www.com reclaiming authenticity so until next week I wish everybody well please be safe please behave yourselves and go and the peace of God bye bye<br> 4000 comments or product to buy a book by dr. hope it's all there to reclaiming authenticity. Calm and we'll see you next Friday at noon Pacific Time on PBS radio TV<br>