Yesterday, I delivered my first sermon in an actual house of worship. It was an exciting and bizarre moment for me, and turned out to be quite beautiful. Exciting because I see myself as a priest, and giving a sermon is a very priestly honor. Bizarre because I never thought I’d ever write a sentence like that last one! I’ve been marrying people for the last eighteen years. My first chaplaincy assignment was fifteen years ago. I’ve done plenty of conflict and relationship coaching over the past twenty years. I’ve even given away around 10,000 loaves of bread over the past decade. And yet, it’s only recently that I’ve come to see myself as a priest. (growing up, it was always wizard!) One of my projects is to rescue the community-oriented elements of religion from the trash heap where they ended up, with the rest of the religious junk we discarded. To pick up the “baby” of caring and food and togetherness from the “bathwater” of dogma, rigidity, and us vs. them. My other project is to preach the gospel of ahimsa (unconditional love) at every scale, and explain both the pragmatic and spiritual benefits of doing so. Today’s sermon represents a major milestone in my own understanding of that journey, and therefore, my ability to conspire with my fellow humans to make it happen. (For the video version, go here: https://www.youtube.com/@tenthousandheroes) 🦸♀️🦸🏾🦸🏼♂️🦸🏽♀️🦸🏿🦸 ♥️ If you liked this episode, let us know with a review. And follow this show to get all our latest episodes. ♥️♥️Of course, If you really liked this episode, subscribe to The Ten Thousand Heroes newsletter to get weekly 5 minute reads on meaning, purpose, and community. Plus, you’ll never miss an episode again. http://tenthousandheroes.club
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24:48
#00127 How To Create Political Hatred
Earlier this week I spoke with renowned mediator Ken Cloke. Ken is a living breathing apostle of the philosophy of practical nonviolence that Gandhi and MLK took to such a high level. Because we were on a call with a group of professional mediators, I asked Ken what the recent US election might mean for mediators in the US. I'm sharing his answer more publicly because I see the philosophy behind mediation as being appropriate to anyone involved in human relationships. The mediation mindset is what happens when you look at human relationship as a spiritual path. I encourage you to listen to Ken with the following question in mind: What is the essence of non-violence? He says the word "nonviolence" explicitly only once, near the end of the episode, but everything he is saying about doubling down on our values and rising above hatred is, in my mind, the core of Gandhian teachings. Other important tidbits are Ken's definition of an enemy, which is a really kick in the stomach, and his architecture of hatred -- the three essential elements to creating political hatred. 🦸♀️🦸🏾🦸🏼♂️🦸🏽♀️🦸🏿🦸 ♥️ If you liked this episode, let us know with a review. And follow this show to get all our latest episodes. ♥️♥️Of course, If you really liked this episode, subscribe to The Ten Thousand Heroes newsletter to get weekly 5 minute reads on meaning, purpose, and community. Plus, you’ll never miss an episode again. http://tenthousandheroes.club
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19:37
#00126 It's Worse Than You Think: We Too Must Grow!
Happy USA Election Day 2024, denizens of the world. May it be, in fact, happy and harmless. I have an election-day message for you. We Too Must Grow. It's a combination of my thoughts on the opportunities the election presents us with "It's Worse Than You Think" and my explication of a song that I think is INCREDIBLY RELEVANT to this moment. The song is called "We Too Must Grow". It was written and recorded by my friend Joe Bridge. Here's a link if you want to listen to a version without my comments: We Too Must Grow - Joe Bridge 🦸♀️🦸🏾🦸🏼♂️🦸🏽♀️🦸🏿🦸 ♥️ If you liked this episode, let us know with a review. And follow this show to get all our latest episodes. ♥️♥️Of course, If you really liked this episode, subscribe to The Ten Thousand Heroes newsletter to get weekly 5 minute reads on meaning, purpose, and community. Plus, you’ll never miss an episode again. http://tenthousandheroes.club
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12:01
#00125 How to Win a Democracy
This episode is based on a speech/sermon I wrote in October 2024 and delivered at a March for Democracy in a small town. I used the opportunity to share what conflict mediation has taught me about winning. Part I: Definitions of winning and losing Part II: What's really standing in our way Part III: The pearl of wisdom and what we can do about it There's also some bonus material -- concrete guidelines based on 2200 years of human experience (the Bhagavad Gita) Enjoy! The full text of the speech can be found at: https://ankurdelight.com/2024/10/09/how-to-win-a-democracy/ 🦸♀️🦸🏾🦸🏼♂️🦸🏽♀️🦸🏿🦸 ♥️ If you liked this episode, let us know with a review. And follow this show to get all our latest episodes. ♥️♥️Of course, If you really liked this episode, subscribe to The Ten Thousand Heroes newsletter to get weekly 5 minute reads on meaning, purpose, and community. Plus, you’ll never miss an episode again. http://tenthousandheroes.club
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18:01
#00124 Move Slowly and Heal Things: A Muslim-Jewish partnership conversation
This episode is about Muslim-Jewish relations. It's about whats been going on in Israel and Palestine for the last year. It's about what's possible in the next year. It's about what happens when we expand the circle of concern. And it's about what is happening, all over the world, in small communities, unreported by most of the news, when people open their hearts, right now. I interviewed Aziza Hassan and Andrea Hodos from New Ground: A Muslim-Jewish partnership for change. I get their stories, their experiences, and their perspective on how to build a relationship that can handle the test of conflict. This the opposite of what you will hear on the news. It's about going deeper and staying closer, not demonizing and vilifying. Join us. 🦸♀️🦸🏾🦸🏼♂️🦸🏽♀️🦸🏿🦸 ♥️ If you liked this episode, let us know with a review. And follow this show to get all our latest episodes. ♥️♥️Of course, If you really liked this episode, subscribe to The Ten Thousand Heroes newsletter to get weekly 5 minute reads on meaning, purpose, and community. Plus, you’ll never miss an episode again. http://tenthousandheroes.club
10,000 Heroes is a show about Purpose.
We interview people we admire about their journey with Purpose.
Which is a journey we’re all on – whether we like it, or acknowledge it, or not.
And then we share their insights, tools, and struggles with you.
10,000 Heroes (10kh) provides inspiration, intimacy, and maybe even a little bit of guidance, as to what it means to live a truly purposeful life, and how we each can get there in our own unique way.
In my mind, it’s not just a podcast, it’s a hero generation machine.
Because a World on Fire needs People with Purpose.
Ireland