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It’s a crossover event! On April 20th, the longest and shortest running Episcopal podcasts* took over Middle Way at the Church of Bethesda-By-The-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida. Listen as Popping Collars co-hosts, Greg Knight and Betsy Carmody, join us, Eli and Laura, to discuss how podcasting has informed the way we think about faith and life.

*don’t quote me (Laura) on this, but it is probably true… it feels true

About Popping Collars:

A podcast where priests, pastors, ministers, and religious thinkers from around the country make meaning about what people are binge watching, tweeting about, trolling on message boards, and celebrating on blogs.

Episode Highlights:

  • “We had similar calls to nothing.” 2:11
  • “My podcast hosts… are my colleague group.” 10:04
  • “I see the podcast as an extension of my social group, in a way, and so I go, what do I want to talk with my friends about that I’m not hearing them talk about that I know we want to talk about?” 18:24
  • “It’s all about incorporation, right? It’s not about box over here with Jesus and box over here with rest of life. All of this stuff is linked together.” 20:24
  • “The thing that I love about the podcast is being able to talk with my friends, my smart friends, and hearing them say smart things.” 23:51

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Jamie Robinson is Bipolar, but she is so much more. One of the most inspiring mid-life women Eli knows and counts as a friend. In this episode (which we recorded three times and still haven’t been able to get the complete audio), we’ll explore Jamie’s life with a mental health disorder and how she has embraced it for the good. With a number of technical problems on this episode, we are only able to tell about one third of Jamie’s story, so she’ll be back soon to share the rest. You’ll even have to wait for our two Final Questions…they FAILED in the audio. Ah well. Enjoy and we’ll be back soon.

Episode Highlights:

  • “Birth stories we tell, they’re very precious. All the details of birth. Death is like that, too. It’s precious.” 5:38
  • “’Well, didn’t you get help?’ And I was like, ‘No, because I was excelling in other ways.’” 9:23
  • “Bipolar isn’t only challenge and strife and lack of sleep and panic attacks and stigma and all of this. There’s other things there that are intertwined in who I am: my passion, my ability to be a really strong and effective advocate, my ability to learn and become fluent in sign language.” 16:05
  • “Pain is pain is pain.” 18:06

About Jamie:

Jamie lives just outside of Boston with her husband, Jay, and kids, Grace
(13) and Tyson (12). She has been a disability rights activist for 25
years and is a national trainer for equal opportunity and nondiscrimination
in employment for the National Disability Institute. With a MA degree in Deaf
Studies, Jamie is fluent in American Sign Language and has been a part of
the Deaf community for 20 years. Five years ago, she founded
DEAFinitely, a non-profit organization that empowers Deaf and hearing
youth from multi-lingual, cultural, racial, and socio-economic diversity to
spark social change through dance and American Sign Language. As a
person living and thriving with a mental health disability, Jamie is an
impassioned advocate for celebrating differences and using them to drive
one’s life work.

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We are blessed to have June Sory join us for Episode 3 of the podcast. She is a Counselor and Clinical Mental Health Counselor with 20 years of experience working with individuals and couples. Our conversation with June touches on many topics that are pertinent to “these times.” Primarily, it shines a light on a few challenges of midlife. She has great insight and her down-to-earth manner will put you at ease. Grab a cuppa or glassa and join us for Episode 3 of Being Truly.

Episode Highlights:

  • “Now we’re starting to say, ‘Wait a minute. All of this we have is a gift and we have to be grateful for it.'” 5:08
  • “Our childhood writes our software.” 13:51
  • “Love will not sustain a relationship. We have to nurture it, pay attention to it, take care of it.” 19:53
  • “Who’s the dude who wrote that rule? And why don’t we have a conversation with him about whether or not that’s working for you.” 26:30
  • “Because we are caretakers, we will give up self for others constantly… Self care is not selfish.” 29:02
  • “Give yourself permission to be you. Because you’re the best at being you.” 31:28

About June:

June Sory is a psychotherapist and counselor based in West Palm Beach, FL.  She is a member of the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC), the American Counseling Association (ACA), and the Association for Marriage and Family Therapists (AMFT).  She is nationally certified as a Counselor and Clinical Mental Health Counselor and licensed by the states of CT and FL.

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Anna LeBaron is the author of The Polygamist’s Daughter: A Memoir, the story of her life in and escape from a violent polygamist cult led by her father. In this episode, Eli and Laura talk with Anna about the trials and abuse she endured during those years and how her escape at the age of 13 began a process of healing and growth built on a foundation of faith in God – God the proud Father, God the nurturing Spirit, and God the trustworthy friend and sibling embodied in Jesus. In a future episode, we will continue our conversation with Anna and delve more deeply into her work as a book launcher coach, social media coach, and personal growth activist.

Episode Highlights:

  • “It was like the enemy knew who I was and said, ‘We can’t have that.'” 9:45
  • “If you were planted in hard soil, you’re not alone. He is with you.” 18:20
  • “If you’re alive and breathing and listening to this, He’s not done with you.” 28:37
  • “Freedom isn’t the absence of someTHING… it’s the presence of someONE.” 31:35
  • “I can dance like a crazy person and love every second of it.” 39:34

About Anna:

One of more than fifty children of infamous, polygamist cult leader, Ervil LeBaron, Anna LeBaron endured abandonment, horrific living conditions, child labor, and sexual grooming. At age thirteen, she escaped the violent cult, gave her life to Christ, and sought healing. Her book, The Polygamist’s Daughter: A Memoir, was published in 2017. A gifted speaker, social media coach, book launch coach, and personal growth activist, Anna is passionate about helping others walk in freedom. She lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and loves being Mom to five grown children and Yaya to her first grandchild.

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Elizabeth Geitz, a seasonal assisting priest at Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, where Eli and Laura worship, is the author of seven books. More importantly, she is a woman of wisdom who understands the place of women in the Bible and in God’s heart. In this conversation, Elizabeth shares her passion for social justice, equality for women in the church, and how feminine images of God in the Bible can help us ALL on our faith journey. 

Episode Highlights:

  • Elizabeth’s 5-Minute Faith Journey 2:28
  • “I am going to spend a significant amount of time and energy discovering what the Bible really has to say to women.” 9:08
  • “We often need to be midwifed through one of life’s many transitions.” 15:32
  • “Your Anam Cara is your very, very deep spiritual friend.” 29:11
  • “One image for God is totally and wholly insufficient.” 35:15
  • “Keep reinventing yourself.” 40:04

About Elizabeth:

Elizabeth Geitz is an Episcopal priest, nonprofit entrepreneur, and award-winning author of seven books. With a focus on spirituality and justice issues, her writings speak to people of passion who want to make a difference in the world. Elizabeth’s latest work, Spiritual Truth in the Age of Fake News, has been designated a Readers’ Favorite and contains 101 thought-provoking biblical reflections. Her books have been hailed by NY Times bestselling authors Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sister Helen Prejean, and John Berendt as well as by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael B. Curry.

Elizabeth serves as Seasonal Assisting Priest at Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida; and as Founder/Chair of Good Shepherd Sustainable Learning Foundation which is engaged in a cross-cultural ministry in Cameroon, West Africa. She is the former Canon for Ministry Development and Deployment in the Diocese of New Jersey and a CREDO Spirituality Faculty member. Canon Geitz holds a BS from Vanderbilt University, an MDiv from The General Theological Seminary, and an MAT from the University of South Carolina.

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