The Daily Edify
Get spiritually grounded and aligned with the flow of love each weekday morning with The Daily Edify. Each episode focuses on a spiritual practice, a poem, a book, a sacred text — something that can empower us to be more fully alive to the gift that is the day before us. Jeff Lehn is a pastor in Chicago, and has a heart for all people to live authentic, joyful and compassionate lives.
Episodes
89 episodes
Life Is Short
Today's episode is about the cliche, "Life is short." We explore how being fierce with reality can be clarifying and animating for our life. I mention a few recent books:
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10:28
Scruffy Hospitality
Today's episode is about the practice of "scruffy hospitality," a term coined by Jack King. I learned about it from the recent book by Oliver Burkemann, Meditations for Mortals....
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10:24
Joyspan
Today's episode is about "joyspan," a new concept I learned about recently. Rather than "lifespan" or "healthspan," "joyspan" focuses on the quality of our life and how we might grow, adapt, give and connect with others, especially in the secon...
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10:25
Goodness Is Stronger Than Evil
Today's episode is about a conviction of Desmond Tutu, archbishop of South Africa, which later became a hymn. I share a story I learned about from the spiritual autobiograp...
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13:03
At Table
Today's episode is about the potent theological symbol of the table - a place of gathering, connection and sustenance. We remember who and whose we are. This summer, we've been "eating our way" through the Gospel of Luke with Jesus. His table p...
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10:36
Thresholds
Today's episodes is about "thresholds" - those times of transition in our lives and what they offer to our spiritual lives. Thinking about our kids growing up, the changing seasons and the gift of being present to each moment given to us.
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9:42
Who Is Blessed?
Today's episode is about the beatitudes of Jesus - why they still matter and how we can take our cue from them in these tumultuous times. Sorry for the long hiatus! It's good to be back today.Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at thedai...
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13:04
Get Proximate
Today's episode is about the invitation to "get proximate." It comes from Bryan Stephenson, the celebrated human rights lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. He encourages us to get proximate, get close, to those who are on the ma...
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10:58
The Reverse Golden Rule
Today's episode is about the "reverse golden rule." We've all heard of the Golden Rule, found in all major world religions - in Christianity, we hear Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mo...
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9:50
Finite and Infinite Games
Today's episode is about the concept of finite and infinite games. It was developed by religion scholar James Carse, a longtime professor at NYU. He wrote a book of the same title in the mid 1980s and the idea is really generative. In a finite ...
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10:46
They Are With Us Still
Today's episode is about the changing of seasons and the remembrance of All Saints' last Sunday. We recite Kathleen McTigue's poem, "They Are With Us Still," and wond...
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10:53
The Greatness, the Sweetness, the Tenderness
Today's episode is about a lovely blessing from Julian of Norwich, entitled "God's Love for Us." A friend shared it with me during my sabbatical and reciting it as becoming part of my morning routine. It has helped me relax into the bigness and...
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8:58
Our Only Home
After a long hiatus, we're back with a new episode today about home. I share a bit more about my sabbatical during spring/summer and a visit to Holy Wisdom Monastery (Madison, WI) in particular. While there, I learned a beautiful rendition of t...
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9:41
Grace
Today's episode is about grace. We read Denise Levertov's lovely poem, "The Avowal," and reflect on a mantra I've come to cherish recentl...
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9:27
The Great Story
Today's episode is about the juxtaposition yesterday of Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day. I mention a
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11:17
In Light and Darkness
Glad to be back after a hiatus, friends! Today's episode is about light and darkness. They are not oppositional, but complementary forces with a symbiotic relationship. It's the Advent theme our church focused on in December and is...
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9:27
The Practice of Blessing
Today's episode is about the spiritual practice of blessing - especially with our words. We begin with the most famous blessing in the whole Bible from Numbers 6:24-26 - "The Lord bless you and keep you..." We need to receive this blessing ours...
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10:46
A Thanksgiving Prayer
Today's episode, in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday, features a prayer by Ted Loder, "My Words Can't Carry All the Praise," from his book, Guerrillas of ...
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6:44
Flow
Today's episode is about the concept of flow developed by Hungarian-American psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. A flow state is when you are so absorbed in what you are doing that you lose all sense of yourself, and time seems to fall away,...
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9:26
The Cushion of the Sea
Today's episode is about a concept I first heard Arianne preach about several years ago in a sermon at the church we served together in Fort Wayne. The concept is "the cushion of the sea," and it comes from Arthur Pierson. The gist is that ther...
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7:54
Tend to Your Pain
Today's episode is an invitation to tend to your own pain, as we reel from terror and war in Israel and Gaza in these very difficult days. We talk about what is ours to do, Richard' Rohr's line about pain ("If we don't transform our pain, we wi...
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9:48
The Eight Wonders of Life
Today's episode is about the "eight wonders of life" that Dacher Keltner articulates in his new book, "Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can T...
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12:09
Unconditional Positive Regard
Today's episode is about something I've learned from my social worker friends: unconditional positive regard. As my friend and colleague Allison Bengfort writes, "It's an intentional, emotional posture that the best therapists extend to their c...
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9:26