Sense of Soul - Sidewalk Blessings

Episode Date: September 11, 2023

Today on Sense of Soul I have  Rev. Adrian Dannhauser, Priest in Charge at the Church of the Incarnation in Manhattan. Adrian was raised as a Southern Baptist in Mississippi, but it took the Episcopal Church in New York City to bring out her passion for spreading the Gospel. She discovered the Episcopal Church in her mid-twenties and still marvels at its many gifts – ancient tradition, progressive theology, an invitation to question, an emphasis on social justice, liturgical space for contemplation, and Christian community grounded in the Eucharist. As Priest in Charge, Adrian gets to be involved in nearly every aspect of life at Incarnation, from preaching, teaching, pastoral care and leadership development, to budgets, administration and financial stewardship. She is the author of Ask Me for Blessing (You Know You Need One). Which is based on a ministry of chat and pray with people in front of her church on Madison Ave, in NYC. It essentially unpacks the meaning of the word ‘blessing’ and the concept of grace, while weaving in elements of my own story and anecdotes from my encounters with people on the sidewalk.  Browse Adrian’s Blog to learn about her ministry of offering blessings on the sidewalk in front of the church. You can learn more about the book and the ministry it’s based on at https://www.askmeforablessing.com. Check out Sense of Soul Network of Lightworkers affiliates program, visit www.senseofsoulpodcast.com    

Hello, my soul-seeking friends. It's Shanna. Thank you so much for listening to Sense of Soul podcast, enlightening conversations with like-minded souls from around the world, sharing their journey of finding their light within, turning pain into purpose, and awakening to their true sense of soul. If you like what you hear, show me some love and rate, like, and subscribe. And consider becoming a Sense of Soul Patreon member, where you will get ad-free episodes, monthly circles, and much more. Now go grab your coffee, open your mind, heart, and soul. It's time to awaken.

Today on Sense of Soul, we have Reverend Adrienne Danhauser. She is the priest in charge at the Church of the Incarnation in Manhattan. As the priest in charge, Adrienne gets to be involved in nearly every aspect of life at Incarnation, from preaching to teaching to pastoral care, to leadership development. But one place you may find her if you visit her church is on the sidewalk out in front where she chats and prays with anyone who needs it. She's also joining us to tell us about the book she wrote about this journey called Ask Me for a Blessing, You Know You Need One. Adrienne was recommended by a listener, Lauren, who I absolutely adore. And thank you so much, Lauren, for doing so, because Reverend Amy is a beautiful soul. And I can't wait to share this episode with you. Hi, Adrienne from New York.

Well, you're not from New York, are you? I now consider myself a New Yorker in 20 years and it took going through the pandemic to identify as a New Yorker. Well, I got here in 2003. I'm a Mississippi girl. You know, you can't take the country out of the girl. So that's there. But yeah, just getting real deep, real quick, going through the pandemic in New York City, pastoring a church. It was like identity forged through adversity. You know, I was in it with my people. The hardest thing I've ever done was being in this leadership role at that time. But that's part of the outcome is I'm a full fledged New Yorker now. Well, I'm from the South too, originally. I don't know if you knew that. I'm originally

from New Orleans. Amazing. Yeah, I know. Your reference to Mardi Gras in your book, I chuckled. I know, you know, it's kind of funny. It's like party hard. And then the next day everyone goes to church and get their ashes. Yeah. Yeah. What a great place to be from. I always think that God is going to like reward me with a church in New Orleans. And I talked to the Bishop of Louisiana recently and she said, come on, please, when you're ready. Yeah.

Amazing. So, but I live in Colorado now. And how long have you been there? Oh gosh, since I was in second grade. But you know, we always went back every summer. It's still kind of home to me. I've never like dug my roots really deep down except for having four children. Yes. Yes. You're planted. Yeah. Cause they're Colorado like bread for generations here. So yeah. So I'm here, but they love New Orleans too. So I always wonder if maybe one day, one day, maybe.

Well, I have a dream of moving to Colorado as well, because I love to snow sleep. Well, we have an amazing woman here who I don't know if you know, Nadia Bolts Weber. Yes, that's right. Yeah. I'm a theologian. Like I, you know, kneel at the shrine. I really respect her work. Yeah. We had her on early on kind of like you, that real talk, right? Like, let's just be real, you know, and I love that about her and you. And I love, you know, going out of the box a little bit just to meet people where they are. Yeah, absolutely. And if we can't own it and be

real about where we are, then faith doesn't have much for us. You know? Yeah. The churches will get emptier. Really. You know, also your, your story, your book reminds me of every good principal of my children's school. Okay. Are out there. They're outside in front of the school every morning saying hello to the kids, giving big hugs to all the kids as they come in the school every morning saying hello to the kids, giving big hugs to all the kids as they come in the school. They, oh, I have goosebumps. Truth bumps. This is what someone said the other day. I love that. But you always know how the school's going to be. If you're like, oh, is this a good school? If you see the principal outside talking to parents, you know, just being a part of it,

not just sitting in their office and you only, you don't even know who they are. You know what I mean? You know, I've had those kinds of schools too. I'm honored to like be compared to one of those principals because as a mom, I feel the exact same way. And there's just such assurance and truly love and care for your child demonstrated by that presence.

There's this one I'll never forget. My kids were in middle school and my son broke his foot after school playing school, I had heard that he was like the new principal at the school. And we weren't supposed to go into that school. We weren't feeding into that one. But it was just as far as the one that she was supposed to go to. So I open enrolled her to that school just for him. And there he was every morning outside, everyone running and hugging and giving him hugs. And when you know how you want your children to be treated, right?

I mean, this is just a basic lesson of Jesus, right? Treat others as you want to be treated. And he was a great example of that. And I think that reading your book and just seeing the pictures of you, like on your website of you out there, I got that same feeling. You take action. Thank you. Yeah. The point is God's love demonstrated in physical presence and human

connection around things that matter. You know, I sat outside a few weeks ago. I don't know what came over me, but I was almost angry. And where I was like, wow, they really did use Jesus. This is my opinion to put the fear of God really in people. And I thought to myself, but that's not the Jesus that if you just read, you know, just read without listening to what you've been told kind of thing. I'm like, it's not that they didn't get it wrong. Like the whole, you know, I believe in Jesus, but they got it wrong where it was more important to be like Jesus.

Hmm. Then to receive the gift of grace and salvation through Jesus. Right. That belief part they held on to so strongly to control people. It should have been more about be like him. Right. Do as he was teaching. And I almost feel like for myself, I know I told you in my email, like, I feel like I am still struggling a little bit with not being angry. I do. I definitely feel like I have religious trauma syndrome and it's not really from any one. I mean, I could say that I grew up Catholic, but I really didn't. I was like one of

those Catholics that my dad, you know, and my mom, they went to Catholic church, but only on like Easter. My dad made sure he had his last rites. I'll tell you that much, but that was important to him. Like he really felt that he needed to confess his sins before he went to the other side. You know, I know that he probably was like, just in case. Sure. There's an element of that to be sure. But it's, but a lot of it's based on fear yeah you know growing up it was that you know I was always praying for forgiveness for my sins and as a child how many true sins do you need to be spending time praying for I remember I have my daughter in a catholic school

and she was in second grade making her first confession, right? Which I didn't have that experience growing up. And she was talking to me about it and she said, I don't know what to say. And she's like, I'm just going to make something up, you know, that I fought with my cousins because she doesn't have siblings. I'm like, well, is there anything that you ever need to say you're sorry for? Maybe when you've apologized to me and it's like, nope, I don't think there's anything at all. It is a second grader. I think that's perfectly fine.

I don't know when we sort of transition into the self-awareness of our brokenness and i like to talk about it in terms of human frailty our finitude where where god is infinite and the need for healing not reprimand right yeah that's it christ the healer make me whole. It's not a duty. Right. That's exactly right. And when can confession become an encounter with the living Christ? And your point about becoming more Christ-like, I mean, that is what goodness is to me. And that is how, when the Bible says that all things work together for good,

for those who love the Lord, you will become more Christ-like in this life. If you have faith, as you go through the struggles and all the crazy things that life throws at us. Yeah. I think, you know what, thank you so much for sharing that story about your little girl, because for her to almost want to make up a sin, the innocence of a child in second grade. Yeah. When I did my ancestry, I discovered that almost every single lineage that came through Louisiana anyways, was forced to be Catholic. I didn't realize that. I always think of just like America and you think the freedom of religion, right? The freedom part is about religion, but there was no freedom there. So I actually had an ancestor. He was on one of

those first five boats. He actually was German. There was a lot of Germans on those first five boats. He was a witness to whoever was getting on the boat. They were suggested to one, you know, learn French, you're going to France, just in a different location. And you should be baptized right here now. And he would be the witness before you got on the boat to be baptized if you weren't already. I did learn also through my dad's ancestry that a lot of the Germans were Jewish. Then you have the slaves and the black code.

That was like one of the very first things is you were to be baptized Catholic and you got Sundays off. And then I had a Canadian lineage, which turned into the Cajuns, right? And indigenous. I had a shaman at CN Picaroche, who's known as the apostate. And he was known as a sorcerer, like a great tent shaker for his tribe. And they gave them Christian names and converted him and his tribe into Christianity. It's funny because the Jesuits wrote volumes on him and said when they would return, he'd be tent shaking again. I said, what are you doing? That story really hit my heart because I remember one of the first books that I ever read outside of

Christianity was the book by Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ. Yes. Where he goes to this religious conference and it's all different religions. And there's this one, I think he was an evangelist or something gets up and he's saying, you know, we're all coming together, but we're not making fruit salad. And then when Thich Nhat Hanh gets up and says, I like fruit salad. Why would you only want from one fruit? But he also does go on to say, he thinks it would be a travesty for one to lose their religion. And I think about that when I think about that medicine man, that shaman, you know, this indigenous culture. Yeah. So much wrong has been done in the name of religion, including Christianity, for sure, you know, around colonialization.

I mean, it breaks my heart too. You know, I think it makes God weep. You know, it's still happening today, right? Jesus's name being misused and, you know, even at certain places in the Bible, I wonder if Jesus would say, okay, the gospel of Matthew has me saying X, Y, Z. Well, no, Z wasn't right. It's possible because even the living word was influenced by human frailty. So we have to just be humble and open and know that like, there's so much that we will never understand. I think what really is the anchor of my faith lies in the mystical tradition, including contemplative prayer and, you know, things that I guess kind of get lost along the way. I mean, we have the meditative

practices too, and the desert mothers and fathers and, and certainly the Eucharist. And I'd be really interested to know about your experience of that growing up, but to have Jesus's presence, what I like to call it edible grace in the bread and the wine, and then to take that in as spiritual nourishment, that is so precious to me. And I really think something mystical is happening there. Do you have thoughts around that? Yeah. You know, I will have to say, I mean, I wanted to be a pastor. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, I brought a lot of people to Jesus. And I taught Sunday school. I mean, I was always very spiritual. I some of my greatest memories are on my knees with my mom doing the rosary. I like tradition. You know, I'm very nostalgic and just my family, my culture and all these things. So I think that's part of probably my grieving is some of that. And it's not that, yeah, I think I did kind of get angry.

I was like, oh my gosh, you know, for 2000 years. But I must say like a lot of the ceremony part is beautiful to me. The actual church setting, the smell of a church, you know, the frankincense and all of the things that go along with those traditions. I love the music. You know, I love, love Gregorian chants. And doing study, I understand, you know, why they're doing that. You know, I think a lot of people miss the intention. They're just so robotic and going through the flow and just really following what everybody tells them to.

They miss the message and the intention and the beauty. And really, truly, there's even science of why, you know, these things are so powerful for humans. Some of those traditions, a lot of people don't even know where they actually stem from. A lot of them are pagan, or we forget Jesus was Jewish. You know, and I've learned more about Christianity over the years from rabbis. I'm not surprised. Yeah. One of the reason is, is because of the way they're so open because they trash. This is my new fun work because it's looking at scripture, seeing it from a different perspective, perhaps one for today, more modern. How does that text fit today? Yeah, I'm familiar with the term midrash.

Yes. I will consult that for sermon prep. prep? I like more of being involved in my spirituality rather than it just being taught at me and saying, this is what you need to believe or else. Absolutely. And I think when we look at scripture, we have to look at the time it was written, the time period that it's being written about. Those are often like centuries apart. And, you know, today, how we see it now, and certainly what we bring our lens to it. And it's just so rich. And that's why I do think it's still relevant and alive. And that is part of my task is to help people see it as such.

You know what else I'm discovering just over the past few months is there's a lot. Well, and I would say this is also for the Gnostic Gospels. So I don't know if you've ever studied outside, you know, into those, but there is a lot of explanation of quantum physics. Wow. I'm familiar with the gospel of Thomas more so than the others, but I didn't know about the physics piece. Yeah. It's so interesting, but see, you have to think of these stories more of an allegorical story. And I know that you're a storyteller. It's, this is what you like to do. I'm like that too. I'm going to use my, my parenting as an example.

You know, you could talk at your kids, you know, and lecture at them, but they're going to rebel. They're going to not receive it. But if you maybe share a story or even an example, maybe of your own personal or something where they can receive it in a way that is not so aggressive towards them you know yeah stories are a portal to truth yeah in a way that we can't get there just through being didactic yeah it's like music or art as a vehicle for the message of really at the end of the day, God loves you, love yourself enough to do the right thing. And like if you receive that love, that will be the outcome. That might be a little simplistic.

I feel like that's always kind of where I end up. Yeah. Cause that's where we can be vulnerable with each other and say, I've been there too. Like I'm not above you. We're all made of the same cloth. We're all, you know, it actually makes me sad. One time I had put on my Facebook,

I don't remember what it was about, but I said something about all of us being God's children. And this guy came back and said, no, we're not all God's children. Only God's children are those who come through the belief that Jesus is the savior and all of the rest of them are going to hell. That doesn't sit right with me. You ask any child will struggle with something like that. Why? Because they haven't been conditioned yet to think such a thing. They know that it's preposterous. That if there was a creator of all of us, why he would only pick and choose one people.

And if there was a God, why he would just be a white man with a long beard sitting on a throne is also ridiculous. Well, that's one of the reasons I'm an Episcopalian. Yes. I grew up being taught that belief in a more conservative strain of Christianity. And, you know, I had a felt experience of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, whatever you want to call God. But my head and my heart were just not lining up. And then I finally found a faith tradition that made sense. Yeah, I can't deny that I have felt the Holy Spirit, even if it was a Christian church or if it was a Catholic church or whatever kind of church. I live here in Colorado. Have you been here? I have. Well, one thing about Louisiana and actually I'm sure in New York as well,

mother Cabrini, the story of mother Cabrini, it's so connected to that story. I mean, even my mom and her sisters went to St. Mary's Italian, their elder nuns knew mother Cabrini. Wow. Like the story of this woman, you know, coming here, you know, from Italy during a time to take care of the Italian immigrants is really what she came for. Take care of those orphans. So many people were dying of yellow fever. And it was more like the adults, kind of like COVID. Children were escaping it. And she made her way, you know, in the late 1800s, in the early 1900s, here, all the way to Colorado, all the way past, all the way to California, all the way back to the East Coast. Like how? On, you know, a train,

I guess. But I mean, it just seems almost impossible. I'm like, what a miracle, but they have a shrine in the mountains and I don't care what religion you are. If you go up there, there is a very powerful energy is very sacred. I'm ready to come make my pilgrimage. Yes. It's amazing. I just, for some reason, you know, I've been to New Orleans. They have like her room still like in, I think it's in the St. Louis cathedral, maybe, or close by they have like a museum and they have her Bible and all of her stuff still. But, you know, here's the thing. Is it so unique to mother Cabrini, Mother Teresa, the saints?

Or should we all be, you know, raising ourselves to that for humanity, for Mother Earth, for mankind? I think there is a level of spiritual potential that might be more realized than some of those saints, but we have it. And it is something to nurture, right? Faith is a gift, but you can't just, you know, be receiving and not co-collaborating and co-creating with God. I mean, there is just so much spiritual depth that we can be tapping into through a variety of disciplines and practices and theologies. And I love how your podcast like just canvases so many opportunities. And I'll reference St. Augustine, right? And his idea of freedom, spiritual freedom. Freedom is not just sampling from limitless options or possibilities. It's when you commit to something like in a marriage or in a religion, you got to like go with it to really experience all that it has to offer. So whatever you choose, go deep.

That's so crazy. That's one of the things that I asked myself early on was how much of what I believed in have I just been told to believe in? And of that, how much have I experienced? And so I was missing the doing part with the experience part, the really diving in, like you're saying, like I'm just going through the motions and doing as I'm told, but you know, I'm a seeker. I'm a, I'm curious, you know, and I think that more people today as they become more conscious are seekers and they're curious. They want to have experience. And so you out on the streets, getting to know people and experiencing like people, how did that change you? I'm so much more compassionate and empathetic,

and it's made me a true pastor in terms of my day job as clergy. It's enriched my ministry across the board. And, you know, my goal is to approach every encounter from that deep, compassionate, loving example that Jesus showed us. And I also realized like my purpose in life is to make his presence known and to let people know how deeply cherished they are. And it has animated my life and given me clarity of purpose. And, you know, whether I have a little square foot of concrete out on the sidewalk talking to, you know, individuals or this platform that you're giving me right now, it's such a worthy message to share. And that that's what I'm all about. I'm so glad that Lauren connected us. I love Lauren. She's special. Absolutely. And you know, I like God was in that. Yes. And I see God working through these little details of our lives and through us to impact one another. I mean, that's how divine intervention is active. and Christianity through another lens reading the Gnostic Gospels.

And I really like this Jesus. I mean, he's like a Zen master. Sage indeed, yeah. However, much of the Gnostic Gospels, especially like the Pistis Sophia, Mary Magdalene is a huge part of it. In fact, Mary Magdalene is mentioned hundreds of times in that book. Peter was mentioned like five. Mary Magdalene was who Jesus showed himself to.

Yes. Okay. I got some beef with Peter sometimes. And I guess I have beef with from the beginning to the end. Women are, well, unless you're a virgin Mary. You know, it starts with Eve and her stupid mistake. Which, let's just go there. Knowledge.

You know, like, they don't want you to have any knowledge. You're not supposed to eat from this tree because we want you to stay small so it's like knowledge is a bad thing all the way to the end then poor Mary Magdalene wrongly accused for thousands of years as being a pastor too it is so unfortunate that she got such a bad rap and I don't remember remember which Catholic Pope it was. Gregory. Gregory, Gregory, who basically conflated her with a woman in another story who had been in prostitution. And then Mary Magdalene, who Jesus had cast out seven demons, right? And so that conflation is just a way to keep her down, keep women down.

And she was probably like a woman of means. Well, have you looked into what Elizabeth Schrader had found? Say more. Elizabeth Schrader had done some study in Papyrus 66. She had found that Mary Magdalene is actually Mary of Bethany. But there was a Pope years ago that reclaimed her in some way and said that she's the apostle of all apostles. I'll co-sign that yeah she was the first witness to the resurrection i mean one of jesus's closest disciples i did ask elizabeth trader to come on when we have gone back and forth i feel like i'm like wow it took this long for someone to bring her into the light as she should have been. Part of why we have to come to the Bible with

a healthy critique is because it was written by men and for men. True. Okay. So there are like feminist interpretations. And I am just remembering because you mentioned Nadia Bolts Weber, and I think the word would be a hermeneutic, which is a fancy theological term of how you're going to approach a passage of scripture. But I remember her saying in her church when she had one, like if there was a woman that popped up in the scripture text for that day, you had to preach on her. And I thought, that's a great rule. Hey listeners, did you know that Sense of Soul has a network of Lightworkers affiliates program? Now you get to work with one of our inspiring guests.

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Book your session and get a special Sense of Soul discount at www.thepowerinyourhands.com and use the code SENSEOFSOUL. You can also go to mysenseofsoul.com and in the menu, look for the Network of Lightworkers. Now back to our amazing guest. But there, and we have to be honest about what's in the Bible and the problem spots. And, you know, the characters are in there, uh, not to extol as much as to identify with and see, you know, what does this say about human nature? And also what does it say about the

nature of God? And we always have to be seeking that knowledge, knowing more about ourselves and knowing more about God as two sides of the same coin. And we get in trouble when we don't make sure those are connected. You know, I love the book and the movie Red Tent. Yes. I remember that book. China's story. Oh, the movie is good too. It's on Amazon. So powerful. Like I want to know their stories too, right?

And I think it's totally legitimate to, as a prayer practice, you know, maybe meditate for 10 minutes, get really grounded and centered and try to meet these people, you know maybe meditate for 10 minutes get really grounded and centered and try to meet these people you know and just just see see what happens it's using the imagination in prayer there's so much richness there that's not explored agree i mean jesus did this he was sitting with himself talking to god and i don't remember who said it. Prayer is talking to God and meditation is listening. Yes. Yeah. You know, I did have a meditation early on in my journey.

It was probably a decade ago where Jesus showed up in my meditation. And I was walking along like this river. It was very clear. Like I can tell you as it along like this river. It was very clear. Like I can tell you as it's like a memory. He picked me up and he held me and I shrunk and he held me close to him. And you know what he said to me? Why have you seeked me your whole life and don't know? I was like, literally, holy shit.

Oh my gosh, you're right. Oh, I have truth bumps again. Yeah. That's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. And these visions are real and powerful and carry the word of God straight to our heart. Yeah. Yeah. I've had a lot of dreams like where there's this guy in a robe. I couldn't really see his face and we're by a river again. And he, he has this oyster shell and he holds it out to me and there it's like packed with stuff. And there's a drop of water falls on the oyster shell and then goes into the water water and there's like tadpoles. There's like life. And he tells me this is the yoke. Years later this year, that guy's in my dream again. And he tells me that his name is Oso. And I look up the word Oso and it means like, like in Hebrew or something like that means

Jesus or something. I'm like, wow. I know I have to look it up. I know. And I was even asking everyone, have you ever heard of the name? Oh, so not weird.

That's very weird and lovely and wonderful. Yeah. I feel like when we're able to quiet our mind, right. However, that is, if it's in your dream or. Can I tell you when? Yeah. I have.

And, uh, it was after a day I had been fighting with a family member or on the phone. Okay. And I'm in contemplative prayer and Jesus shows up and I hand him sort of the negative energy that I'm experiencing, you know, residually from that. And he like throws it over his shoulder. He's like, get that out of here. I hand him my backpack because I was in seminary at the time and my, all my books. And he like puts that on a shelf, almost like, you know, let's not deal with the to-do list right now. And then I hand him my heart and he takes it and he just absorbs it into his. And I have a professor at the time who's a Catholic sister. I actually write about her in my book, Janet Ruffing.

And this is, you know, mysticism. She is a self-proclaimed mystic. She teaches it. It's, it's a really big deal. And I told her like that heart, it was the bloody kind of anatomical like heart, which kind of grosses me out. And I've always kind of had an aversion to seeing like the sacred heart of Jesus is a real heart and light shining and she's like that's one reason you know that was really God is because it's something that there was a slight aversion to it um but then it was there and then Jesus took it in and you take the message of union with Christ. You are one and union with God. And I was so grateful to have like someone who I could reflect with,

who is knowledgeable in spiritual function and in this whole field. Okay. So that's something that I don't think was ever truly taught to me that God is part of me. Like I am a part of that. For some reason, I felt this separation, right? Like I was just lesser than employee of this major company. Right. The ones that don't don't even know, you know. And in the Gnostic Gospels, it's what you just said. You know, the kingdom is within. Yes. And I just always thought seeking God was always an external thing. I love the idea that Christ is in us and we are in Christ.

I almost want to go grab a prop from the Sunday school room, but just a little stalk of wheat. Wheat shows up in the Bible a lot. It's like the grain is in the stalk and the stalk is in the grain. Like the little bit grain is on the stalk, right? But also the imprint, right? Just like we are made in God's image. The imprint is in that grain too. So that when it falls into the ground, it will become a stalk of wheat. So, you know, back to metaphor story, how do we in our being to really grasp it? Because again, it's all about love. God said, yes, I want to be in you and create you and be with you. It's the life that's in us, right? Yeah. So I don't know

if you knew this. This is so amazing. I just recently learned this. There's a cell or particle, laminin, and it is in the shape of a cross. Undeniable, not like a cross, like equal sign, negative, positive. No, it is a cross and it is what binds all of us. It absolutely is amazing to me. But like I'm finding there's so much science in the Bible. It's so true. I mean, and as we learn more, one very erroneous approach is to say, well, we can explain things now that people had to use God to sort of fill in the gaps of the lack of scientific knowledge. But no, as we go deeper, you see even more of a connection and what I would say evidence. They even named that CERN, the God particle. I'm fascinated by stuff like that.

I am too. You know, I think as seekers and as people who have been controlled their whole lives about their beliefs, when they do open up, you know, they're seeking an understanding. And for myself, I'm like, I want to know how, I want to know why I get stuck on that. But a lot of that is just distraction, really taking you away from the experience, which going back, I mean, that's really truly what I'm wanting is to experience this Holy Spirit, which let's talk about that. The word Holy Spirit is a feminine word. So Father, son, and Holy ghost, Holy spirit. Why would we ever think that there would not be a feminine coming after that or a mother involved in that? It doesn't make any sense. If God said that he made us in his liking, why would it not

be father, mother, and son? Well, I, I am all about giving the, the Holy spirit, mother, and son. Well, I am all about giving the Holy Spirit a feminine touch. I don't know the whole gender identity. We can't separate God at any of that, but it's important to have like goddess energy, so to speak. That's one reason why Mary, the mother of Jesus, gets so venerated. But what I like to say about the Holy Spirit, there is a term from Hebrew scripture, the Shekinah. And that's one reason that the spirit that comes and rests. I like to call her Shakina. And I got that term from a woman that I had a conversation with in the deep South. And she was an older lady, African-American. And she's like, you got to watch out for Shakina. You know, Shakina was the one like active in the civil rights movement and brought down apartheid in South Africa.

And wow, he's crazy in the best way. But she's also that still small voice. But I'm with you on a feminine aspect of the divine. For sure. And there's even scripture. El Shaddai. Also, you know, some people will say it's mountains, but some say breast. Oh, wow. Interesting. Yes. Yes. I get that. You know, there's a lot of different things that are just in plain sight. You know, if read without interpretation from man, that possibly it's right there. I mean, the first time I picked up a Bible, I was shocked.

I couldn't get past the first few chapters. I'm like, wait a minute. Where did I miss that Adam's daughters mated with angels? Oh, yes. What? Yeah. I mean, it just, it wasn't taught in Sunday school. No, it wasn't. There's a whole nother like rank of heavenly host in the,

yeah, it's some wild stuff in there. A lot of it in the old Testament is dark. Yes, it is. And part of it is because it does reflect the underbelly of humanity. Well, see, and that's why I like drashing. Yeah. What meaning can we find out of it? You know, and why should we not do that if it's a living word?

Okay. And so that's another thing. In the Gnostic Gospelsels it talks about Jesus is the word it talks about Sophia the feminine the wisdom being the first thought yes I'm like boy did they just kick that out but they did because the word heresy means choice and great they took away our thought they took away choice oh no i got truth bumps they took away our thought they took away our choice wow and they left us with the word but they told us what it meant right so i think there's so much wisdom in there i know there's

wisdom in there there's literally wisdom in there covered up in proverbs where she was there when the earth was the beginning of creation absolutely she was there is this very strong energy you know when people say the divine feminine is rising what's true everywhere everywhere do you, just yesterday on my way home, it was this rare moment of presence I had with the song that was on the radio. And at first I didn't even recognize the song because I was like, wait, what does it say? And then it went to the chorus, which we all know the song. It's Take Me to Church by, is it Hooser?

Take me to church. You know, I don't know. Yes, yes, yes, yes. So what I found was crazy. So I get home because I'm just like, I have to look and see if I heard this right. I mean, I thought that this song was saying something totally different. Do you ever do that? I get so many words wrong. My kids are like, that thought that this song was saying something totally different. Do you ever do that? I get so many words wrong. My kids are like, that is not what it's saying. So take me to church. The beginning of it says, my lover's got humor. She's the giggle at the

funeral, knows everybody's disapproval. I should have worshiped her sooner. If the heavens did ever speak, she's the last truth mouthpiece. And then it goes on. And the main chorus of the song where it says, take me to church. I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your, it says, lies. I always sing life. Very different. But it says, I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife, offer me my deathless death. Right? Yeah. I'm making a note to go and look at these lyrics. The lyrics. Right. Shocking. And then it actually goes on to talk about a goddess even in it. I was shocked. And I just said, you know, we're so busy and here I am, I've been singing the wrong lyrics,

but you know what? So somebody asked me, I sent this to a friend and she said, so what does a deathless death mean to you? I said, that's an infinite death do you believe in hell well I think even the pope said the hell's not a thing anymore or it's not where it was right right I think you know I'm actually gonna I'm gonna need to wrestle with this question for part of my sermon on Sunday because you know if the scripture kind of mentions it that's where people's head go and like what you need some explanation. And as I think about it, I want to mention a book by C.S. Lewis, who is an Anglican theologian and a lay person and just communicates brilliantly. And he wrote this book called The Great Divorce. And it's about an idea of what

heaven and hell might be like. And everybody in hell has the option to go to heaven at any time. But heaven involves like being with people and hell, you can live as far apart as you want. And so I think that Napoleon is out in another galaxy wanting to get away, get away, get away. It's helpful, again, the power of story to try to help us understand. So I do hold on to if you don't want to be with God, then you God will let you get away. You know, but there's always the opportunity to come back. And even if we think about in the Middle Ages, at least in the Christian tradition, everyone believed in universal salvation because there was such an allegiance to this idea of purgatory and praying for those who were dead to like, I did that for my dad, get through it. So, you know, I don't love that idea, but the flip side, the flip side is that everybody will get there eventually. In contrast to where we kind of started this conversation with the criticism you received

on Facebook about, you know, only Christians go into heaven. I like but no i do not believe in a place where we people are dormant forever and also it wasn't there a city that in english is hell but there's a city close to nazareth or something like that once they there was an area that's like a pit where things were burned they worshiped malik who's the horned god, and would sacrifice their children for their crops in this place. I mean, that sounds like hell to me. Yes. Maybe it was a reference. But I think that when people are using, you know, stuff, tactics, like I think it's a tactic almost to use to scare, you know, people. Yeah. And I think that our country is based off of that too. So we've got this like, you know, mindset of control that has kind of been the root of this country.

And so now the systems are falling and the churches are getting empty. So you're outside on the, on the street saying, if you won't come in, I'm going to come to you. I'm going to give you blessings and, and they're willing from all faiths. I would say most identify as Christian, but I have had a young Indian man who is Hindu. He said that he and his, his fiance is not talking to him because her dad doesn't approve of him anymore. And so the marriage is off and he was just so heartbroken. And so we prayed, but this man was in like distress and looking for consolation anywhere he could find it, you know, otherwise

he probably wouldn't have stopped to talk to me and to be able to be there and be privy to such a major thing in his life. I mean, that's the greatest blessing of my ministry is that I'm trusted with these vulnerable moments and I'm there with these vulnerable moments. And I'm there for the highs and the lows and the questions and just kind of come alongside people on their journey, even if it's for a minute. That's what I got from your book, Adrienne. I got that it doesn't matter what sex you are, what race, what religion.

We all just need to offer these blessings to each other, no matter what. That's what Jesus would have done. Yes. That's what he did. Did you watch The Chosen? I've heard such wonderful things and it's on my list. It lit my fire again for Jesus. Really?

Oh, okay then. Yeah. They humanized him almost in some way, which connects with people. Yes. You know, it's part of what the incarnation is all about. God, the son becoming the person of Jesus of Nazareth. But we are little incarnations too. And the way we manifest God is unique to each one of us. And, you know, we like to talk about self-actualization and realization. Well, that's simply becoming what the person God made us to be. You're showing people Jesus.

Thank you. That's what I see. That's the desire in my heart. That's, and I think that that's the only way today that people are going to be reached is if they can experience it. Yeah. I mean, because, or drashing and we're evolving, we're constantly changing. There's this impermanence. And when you don't grow anymore and you're not seeking and being curious anymore, I mean, what are you? Maybe you're like some ultimate angel or something then, because, you know, what would be the purpose of life? Right. What do you think the purpose of life is?

Well, I do think that the growth and making the world a better place and you always have to be on the move. I mean, God is always on the move. There's no such thing as like resting on your laurels or even stagnation. Either you're going to grow in the right direction or you're going to start sliding back. Taking action, doing something. If I ever come to Manhattan, you're going to be the first sidewalk I visit. I'm ready for you. I love it. It really is the highlight of my week.

And especially in this day and age where I think it is at the FDA, someone has declared an epidemic of isolation and loneliness. And this human connection is so critical. We need a lot of positive vibes right now. The world is in chaos. The fact that there's a war going on and it has been going on for so long and no one stopped it and can't stop it in 2023 is shocking. It's all shocking. It's terrible. It is shocking. The women and girls in Afghanistan. I mean, it's, it's, it's just crazy making. And I would say that's one of my most common prayer requests is pray for the world, pray for peace, pray for my own sense of peace. And a lot of people are looking for that, but we all need our spiritual grounding

even more. I was watching, well, I saw that there's all these solar players going on, you know, and this, how the waters like in the Atlantic are hotter than they ever been. So hurricane season might be horrendous. Yes. You know, a lot of people think that there's signs of revelation. Apocalypse is coming. Yeah. Do you hear that a lot of people think that there's signs of revelation apocalypse is coming yeah do you hear that a lot i don't know i mean yes it depends on and there's always somebody saying that oh yeah forever that's true that's so true but like now it's like, well, maybe it really does. I remember this is so funny. Do you know that him? Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel. Well, I was driving. This was the year 2011.

And I'm switching radio stations and I land on maybe it's family radio, but has a certain strain of Christianity. And the tune was May 21st, 2011. The saints will be called up to heaven. Wow. And then on May 22nd, 2011, like the cover of the New York Post was New York City on a cloud and says, heaven looks just like New York City. But yeah, there's, there's always someone talking about it. I mean, and can it just be the end of how we know it? You know, I mean, I'm, you know, different people giving, you know, throwing out different, they're drashing different

ideas. It's, it's always nice to speak to people who are serving like you are in teaching. And you know, the end of the world as we know it, like, I love that idea. You know, maybe there is like some breakthrough on the horizon. That is a song too. Yes, it is. Thank you. They already wrote about all this. It's a new word and we just have to listen. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. I think that you're so wise and as a woman, very powerful women, you know, are finally can use their voice and take action without you know being ridiculed well hopefully i'm sure you have probably one person coming down the road said heretic you

don't have the authority and my response is god bless you sir god bless you please Go find Jesus, please. He will that you've reached a level where people are listening. Yeah. Blessings on you and this, this true ministry of truth telling, like it's what the world needs. And I feel so blessed and honored to be in conversation with you today. Thank you. I feel like I want to make more space for Jesus to come in. This is, this is my truth right now, because I know that people hear me frustrated a lot, and I still want to let everybody know that, you know, I do believe that Jesus is, I mean, everything he did in his life was a reflection of what if we followed. I mean, can you imagine? I mean, we wouldn't be having this chaos.

That's what a savior does. And I want to affirm the frustration and the wrestling, which is what I think we're commanded to do is engage. Yeah. Like you said, the mysteries, if you literally are not thinking for yourself, then you are living in heresy. There you go. That's it. That's how that goes. Well, thank you, you beautiful soul.

And tell everybody where they can get your book. And the website is actually the name of your book too, isn't it? Sure. Ask me for a blessing.com. And the book is called ask me for a blessing. You know, you need one. Probably Amazon would be the easiest, but certainly Barnes and Noble and other places, wherever books are sold. Certainly if you have a local bookstore go in there and ask for it and tell them to put it on the shelf i would be grateful i love the

cover oh yeah the the cover is like the chalkboard sign right so i have a chalkboard sign that i write ask me for a blessing on although it's my handwriting isn't quite as good as the graphic ask me for a blessing god's grace is meant to be shared. And that's what I normally write on the board. But every once in a while, I'll write, ask me for a blessing. God knows you need one, which will get some laughs and people who would stop who might not otherwise. However, we changed it for the book to, you know, you need one because the word blessing was on the cover,

as was the word Bishop for Bishop Michael Curry, who wrote the forward. And so my publisher thought, well, that's just too much God language. We want, we want to appeal to people who aren't necessarily religious. And I want to appeal to the wide variety of people who stopped to talk to me, right. From the, the atheist to the spiritual, but not religious to the spiritual and very religious. Where can they find you on the street? Like what day do you do that? And where are you at? So my church is on Madison Avenue in New York city between 35th and 36th streets. And I'm just out there every Tuesday from nine to nine 30. It's a, just a little snippet, but I'm pretty reliable unless it's raining. You can find me there.

So go ask her for a blessing. And also on your website, there's even a place for YouTube. If you want a blessing, they can even send you one, right? You can email me through the website or AdrienneDanhauser at gmail.com. Pretty easy to remember. You know, people have asked me to give them a call and we'll talk and I'll bless them that way. Or I'm ready to engage in any, you know, way to, to spread the message of God's love and grace. Jesus is going to be proud of you. He is proud of you. You know, I love in the beginning of the book of Thomas or how it says, what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.

And then you got to get out there and bring it. Bring forth what is within you. Thank you for everything. Thank you. And also, thank you, Lauren, for connecting us. Yes. Thank you, Lauren. All right.

Thanks so much for joining me. Blessings to you. Thanks for listening to Sense of Soul Podcast. And thanks to our special guests for joining me. If you want more of Sense of Soul, check out my website at www.mysenseofsoul.com, where you can work with me one-on-one or help support Sons of Soul Podcast by donating to my coffee fund. Thanks for listening.