Mike Morrell may be best known as the collaborating author, with Richard Rohr, of The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation. Mike was involved with the founding of the Wild Goose Festival, a justice, arts and spirituality gathering that takes place each July in western North Carolina; he is also the founder of the Wisdom Camp, which takes place each year just before the Wild Goose.

Mike curates contemplative and community experiences through programs such as Relational Skills and ReWilder, wherein he joyfully holds the space for the extraordinary transformation that can take place at the intersection of anticipation, imagination, and radical acceptance. Mike lives with his wife and two daughters in Asheville, North Carolina. To learn more about Mike’s ongoing exploration of Spirit, Culture, and Permaculture, visit his blog at MikeMorrell.org. 

Going with these possibilities of different stages of consciousness, it might very well be that what grates against me initially really has a gift in there for me if I stick to it. That's what I experience when I continue to return to that interior silence in order to experience the fellowship of God and the communion of saints. — Mike Morrell

There are many different qualities of silence, as we all know — there's the awkward silences, the uncomfortable silences... and then there's a silence of unconditional presence and spacious regard, the possibility of anything happening. — Mike Morrell
This is part one of a two-part episode. Click here to listen to part two.

Some of the Resources and Authors We Mention In This Episode:

Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation
Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy
Phyllis Tickle, The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why
Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer
Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God
Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
Jeanne Guyon, Selected Writings
Miguel de Molinos, The Spiritual Guide
François Fenelon, The Complete Fenelon
Carl McColman, Embracing Jesus and the Goddess
Stanley Hauerwas, Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir
Spencer Burke, A Heretic's Guide to Eternity
Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable
Thomas Keating, Open Mind Open Heart
N.T. Wright, For All God's Worth
Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel
Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker, Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire
Gareth Higgins, How Movies Helped Save My Soul
Don Milam, The Ancient Language of Eden: Rediscovering the Original Language of Jesus: Love, Grace, and Mercy
Cynthia Bourgeault, The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three
G. I. Gurdjieff, Meetings with Remarkable Men
William Paul Young, The Shack
Michael W. Smith, Freedom
Wynonna Judd, Coming Home to Myself
Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light
Margaret Barker, Temple Mysticism: An Introduction
Ken Wilber, A Brief History of Everything

We're supposed to be ministers of reconciliation, you know, but sometimes I think we rush to that before we even know what it means, because our consciousness is not keeping up with our vocabulary. I think so many religious folks have very lofty vocabulary but without the consciousness, the being, the heart cultivated, that can become a very dangerous weapon. — Mike Morrell
Episode 96: Silence in the Divine Dance: A Conversation with Mike Morrell (Part One)
Hosted by: Carl McColman
With: Cassidy Hall, Kevin Johnson
Guest: Mike Morrell
Date Recorded: April 7, 2020