The Light in Every Thing

• Re-Post: Consecration as Shadow Work - Episode 6 in the series, “Christian Shadow Work”

  When we speak of spiritual transformation, we often imagine a straightforward process that’s similar to the way we work with the world of things and objects around us: if something is broken or imperfect all we need to do is fix it. We remove, correct or even eliminate the problem on the way to the goal.In this next conversation, Patrick and Jonah recall how authentic Christ-centered transformation begins with a different orientation altogether. The key is not elimination at all but, instead, begins with simply witnessing our shadow with honesty and courage.They reveal how this first step is connected to John the Baptist's call to repentance, providing the archetypal first step in transformation—creating space for us to "die before dying" by stepping outside ourselves to truly see our lives in a higher light. This conscious witnessing differs dramatically from forced confession or shame-based approaches that have plagued Christian communities. And it is foundational for deeper prayer.What we learn in such witnessing can be hard to bear. The most painful part of this witnessing can be to see how our untransformed shadows don't just affect us or others—they flow into God Himself. This recognition that our inner and outer actions that flow from our untransformed shadow-Self actually wound the divine, opens up a piercing question: what can we do?This us where the sacramental path comes in, offering a radically different understanding of sin and transformation. Rather than focusing on fixing problems, the sacrament for the self (the sacrament of consultation/confession) invites us to shift our attention toward a new and different kind of action. It calls us to offer something—and also to receive something. Through this dual process of human offering and reception of divine grace, something wholly new can emerge—"the fire of love" that births a transformed identity no longer defined by our shadows but by our participation in divine self-giving. Support the showThe Light in Every Thing is a podcast of The Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Learn more about the Seminary and its offerings at our website. This podcast is supported by our growing Patreon community. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/ccseminary. Thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed our theme music, “Seeking Together,” and the legacy of our original show-notes and patreon producer, Camilla Lake.

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• Re-Post: Shadow as Preparation for Light — Episode 5 in the series, “Christian Shadow Work”

  In this re-posted episode from our shadow series, Patrick and Jonah have an intimate and reflective conversation where they work to reclaim the true meaning of ‘repentance,’ or ‘metanoia’—a change of heart and mind that arises not through fear, but through the courage to face our shadows with compassion. They are inspired by the words that are spoken in the time of St. John from the altar in the renewed worship service: “The health bearing, guilt conscious” word that comes like a flame into our lives.They begin the conversation by once more looking at one of the shadows Christianity itself has cast, naming how church communities have often wielded repentance as a tool of coercion, distorting it into a threat rather than a gift. Jonah shares a formative experience of being told, as a teenager, that unless he spoke the “right words,” he would burn forever in hell—an image he compares to having a spiritual gun to the head.Yet rather than discarding repentance altogether, the conversation leads deeper. Through honest stories—such as Jonah’s moment of awakening when his daughter was diagnosed with a chronic illness, or Patrick’s encounter with a college friend who called him back to integrity—we glimpse the possibility of a repentance that dignifies rather than diminishes. It is a turning that doesn’t wallow in guilt but opens a path forward, grounded in love. When we find the courage to look at the egotism, denial, or failures that have been revealed to us, we can begin to recognize what Light is making these things visible. Illumined by the gaze of Christ who suffers alongside us, we may discover that even our darkness we uncover can become the ground in which true light takes root. This episode invites listeners into that quiet miracle: repentance not as punishment, but as preparation for this loving light of His gaze.Support the showThe Light in Every Thing is a podcast of The Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Learn more about the Seminary and its offerings at our website. This podcast is supported by our growing Patreon community. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/ccseminary. Thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed our theme music, “Seeking Together,” and the legacy of our original show-notes and patreon producer, Camilla Lake.

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• Re-Post: Integrating Our Shadows- Episode 4 in the series “Christian Shadow Work”

  What if the shadow we cast isn't something to eliminate but part of the medicine for what ails the soul? In this conversation from our series, “Christian Shadow Work,” Patrick and Jonah further explore how Christ relates to our darkness. This involves nothing like condemnation but rather a creative and radical process of integration that leads towards healing.Drawing from the biblical image of the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness (Numbers 21:8-9), they reveal how the very thing that has poisoned us can, when rightfully integrated, become part of the medicine that heals us. This spiritual principle illuminates again why "there is no condemnation in Christ" (Romans 8:1). Our shadows are included in the divine plan, integrated by God into the path that leads us into spiritual maturation. They are something possessing enough power and personal relevance to bring us to the threshold where grace can enter. Fighting this integration, rejecting the shadows we cast, actually rejects this wisdom-permeated divine path.Going beyond just the ideas, this conversation unfolds a practical pathway for shadow integration. It begins with the courage to behold our darkness honestly; the step of taking responsibility by saying "yes, this is me"; exploring what our shadow is trying to teach us; and finally, allowing our weakness to become an altar at which we can pray for divine assistance. After exploring individual examples from their own lives, Jonah and Patrick focus on what they experience emanating from Christ in these experiences, emphasizing how he doesn't approach our shadow with a corrective spirit saying "you should be different," but with a transformative invitation to "become new through this darkness." Our very specific life-journey, with all its unique shadow elements, isn't a failure to meet some general ideal but a holy alchemical process guided by the highest spiritual forces in the universe. When approached this way, our shadow becomes not our enemy, but the very doorway through which our deepest healing unfolds.Support the showThe Light in Every Thing is a podcast of The Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Learn more about the Seminary and its offerings at our website. This podcast is supported by our growing Patreon community. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/ccseminary. Thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed our theme music, “Seeking Together,” and the legacy of our original show-notes and patreon producer, Camilla Lake.

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• Re-Post: The Transformative Power of Shadow Work — Episode 3 in the Series, “Christian Shadow Work”

  In this third installment from our “Christian Shadow Work” series, the conversation reveals a striking contradiction between Christian history—famous for its condemning practices—and Christ's actual relationship with human darkness. Rather than simply erasing or punishing sin, Christ demonstrates a radical integration of human brokenness into the transformative process. Like an alchemist turning lead into gold, Christ shows us how our darknesses can become the very substance of our spiritual maturation.We explore why modern spiritual paths that simply affirm "you're perfect as you are" miss something crucial about human development. Without acknowledging our shadows, we remain stuck in a static self-image rather than participating in the dynamic process of becoming. Our darkness isn't merely tolerated by divine love—it serves a purpose in our becoming fully human.The third episode of our series looks again at the nature of “shadow” or “sin” as that in the human being which hinders Divine Reality from being revealed. Humanity is still working to reveal the image of God in which we have been made. We can understand our shadows, then, as opportunities to grow and mature—parts of ourselves that need to be acknowledged, understood for what they are, and transformed over time. How does Christ Jesus relate to the sin of humanity? He demonstrates for us the path of salvation by taking up the cross, suffering, dying and being raised again by the Father. We can take up our own sin with Him and walk the same path.Support the showThe Light in Every Thing is a podcast of The Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Learn more about the Seminary and its offerings at our website. This podcast is supported by our growing Patreon community. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/ccseminary. Thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed our theme music, “Seeking Together,” and the legacy of our original show-notes and patreon producer, Camilla Lake.

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• Re-Post: Shadows, Light, and the Path to Non-Condemnation — Christian Shadow Work, Episode 2 (2023)

  In this episode’s exploration of shadow work in Christianity, Patrick and Jonah venture into territory many ”on the way” find challenging: how to face our flaws, weaknesses, and darkness without falling into either denial or self-condemnation.The conversation begins with a vital distinction between healthy shadow work that leads to authentic humility and the unhealthy wallowing in self-criticism that can become its own form of spiritual ego. Drawing on personal experiences, biblical wisdom from Paul's letters, and the story of the man born blind, they challenge popular religious misconceptions that equate suffering with divine punishment or suggest that true spirituality means instant perfection.A different view of human shadows emerges. Unlike traditions that demand we either hide our weaknesses or punish ourselves for having them, Christ offers a third way: seeing our shadows truthfully while holding them in a gaze of unconditional love. "There's no condemnation in Christ"* doesn't mean our flaws don't exist – it means they're included in the redemption story, valued as the very ground where divine light does its transformative work.Most powerfully, Patrick and Jonah reveal how true spiritual wisdom isn't born from perfection but from integrating our shadows. When we speak from a place that has acknowledged darkness and worked through suffering, our words carry a depth and authenticity that spiritual bypassing never achieves. As Christ demonstrated through the cross itself, sometimes our greatest weaknesses become the most profound revelations of divine love.Some of us struggle mightily with perfectionism or are haunted by past mistakes. Some of us on the way are simply called by Truth to radical honesty on the spiritual path. We hope this episode offers a liberating vision: our entire being—shadows included—is gradually being transformed, through our life in Christ, into a vessel of heavenly light. How might our relationship with ourselves change if we approached our flaws not as evidence of failure, but as sacred ground for transformation?*Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 8, verse 1.Support the showThe Light in Every Thing is a podcast of The Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Learn more about the Seminary and its offerings at our website. This podcast is supported by our growing Patreon community. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/ccseminary. Thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed our theme music, “Seeking Together,” and the legacy of our original show-notes and patreon producer, Camilla Lake.

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