Ashton Gustafson | Let The Music Play

Ashton shares his reflections True Self and the false self.

Gideon Tsang is a pastor at Vox Venaie. He leads this community in Austin, TX as they are collectively learning to find ways for love and life to intersect and coming to understand how we can do more together than we can do alone. He joins us in this episode of let the music play podcast as we discuss his personal reflections what community is and how it can be a gift to the world.Vox Veniae - http://voxveniae.com/@GideonTsang - https://www.instagram.com/gideontsang/

Sister Joan Chittister has beautifully been a conduit for the message of faith, hope, and love for over 60 years. Following the heritage and order of Saint Benedict, Sister Joan has become one of today's leading spiritual voices, bringing her energy and fiery spirit to everything she does. It's through this voice that builds bridges across all religions that Sister Joan joins us at Let The Music Play Podcast as we discuss discovering the presence of the divine under our very feet and how we can honor and celebrate the humanity of everyone whose path we intersect.

In Coming Clean, Seth Haines writes a raw account of his first 90 days of sobriety, illuminating how to face the pain we’d rather avoid, and even more importantly, how the Divine can meets us in that pain.

Roger W. Thompson has become a better version of himself because of the time he has spent in natural wonders of mountains, deserts, and oceans. These are sacred places, where God still speaks through the wild. He records his thoughts by journal through these travels in We Stood Upon Stars, providing insights of the American wilderness and how, if we listen, its Voice will speak truth into our doubts and searches.

Mike Morrell is the Communications Director for the Integral Theology think-tank Presence International, co-founder of The Buzz Seminar, and a founding organizer of the Wild Goose Festival.He curates contemplative and community experiences via Relational Yoga, the ManKind Project, (H) Opp and Authentic North Carolina, taking joy in holding space for the extraordinary transformation that can take place at the intersection of anticipation, imagination, and radical acceptance.Mike is also an avid writer, publishing consultant, author coach, futurist, and curator of the book-reviewing community at TheSpeakeasy.info. His latest work, which he co-authored with Fr. Richard Rohr, was The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation.

Shane is an executive coach, sought after speaker, and author of several award winning books. His most recent is Cats Don’t Bark: A Guide to Knowing Who You Are, Accepting Who You Are Not, and Living Your Unique Purpose (Hachette, 2015). Through his unique coaching techniques, trainings, and workshops he unlocks purpose, potential, and creativity.

John Mark Comer lives Portland, OR, with his with wife Tammy and their three kids – Jude, Moses, and Sunday. He's the pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church, right in the center of the city (by Powell's Books if you've ever been to Portland). John Mark is also the author of numerous books; My Name is Hope, Loveology, Garden City, and his most recent, God has a Name.

Dr. Kelly Flanagan is the author of Lovable: Embracing What Is Truest About You, So You Can Truly Embrace Your Life. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist and co-founder of Artisan Clinical Associates in Naperville, IL. He writes and blogs regularly about the redemption of our personal, relational, and communal lives. Kelly is married, has three children, and enjoys learning from them how to be a kid again.

A gifted pastor, teacher, writer, and leader, AJ Sherrill has over 15 years of pastoral experience in diverse church settings across the nation. He is the author of Enneagram and the Way of Jesus, Quiet: Hearing God Amidst the Noise (2014), and Urban Disciple: Following Jesus through the Gospel of Matthew (2013). AJ holds two masters degrees in theology and a doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary.

REV. JAMES MARTIN, SJ, is a Jesuit priest, editor at large of America magazine, and bestselling author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and Between Heaven and Mirth. Father Martin has written for many publications, including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and he is a regular commentator in the national and international media. He has appeared on all the major radio and television networks, as well as in venues ranging from NPR’s Fresh Air, FOX’s The O’Reilly Factor, and PBS’s NewsHour to Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. Before entering the Jesuits in 1988, Father Martin graduated from the Wharton School of Business and worked for General Electric for six years.

Beth Winterburn's work is characterized by bold, gestural brush strokes and minimalist detail. As a nod to her analytical roots in photography and architecture, she approaches each piece with a mathematical mindset - counting evens and odds, balancing lights and darks, visually "slicing" the composition into thirds and fifths. She approaches her work as if it's a problem to solve: combining and contrasting elements with and against one another to create a cohesive yet dynamic piece. Beth's work is an exploration of contrast, tension and resolve. Methodical by nature, she challenges her own ideas of control by experimenting with materials, allowing them to behave as they naturally would, with subtle direction. Each canvas, piece of paper or panel is an invitation to engage - to feel, to react, to explore the tension and resolve of each and every element and property used to build it.Beth joins us in Episode 53 at Let the Music Play Podcast as we discuss process, the why behind her work, and her story of crafti

Rebekah Lyons is the author of Freefall to Fly: A Breathtaking Journey Toward a Life of Meaning and You Are Free: Be Who You Already Are (released February 21, 2017.) She is a mother of three, wife of one, and dog walker of two living in Nashville. She’s an old soul with a contemporary, honest voice who puts a new face on the struggles we all face as we seek to live a life of meaning. Through emotive writing and speaking, Rebekah reveals her own battles to overcome anxiety, depression, and consumer impulses—challenging people to discover and boldly pursue the calling God has for them. As a self-confessed mess, Rebekah wears her heart on her sleeve, a benefit to friends and readers alike.

Aaron Niequist is a worship leader, song-writer, and pastor in the Chicago area.After leading worship at Mars Hill Church (Grand Rapids, MI) and Willow Creek Church (Barrington, IL), he created A New Liturgy - a collection of modern liturgical recordings.Currently, Aaron is curating a discipleship-focused, formational, practice-based community at Willow Creek called The Practice.

Aaron McHugh writes and speaks about how restore balance and discover your path to a well-lived life. He's also an Ironman triathlete, a mountaineer, and a student of curiosity. Aaron joins us in this episode of Let The Music Play Podcast, as he teaches and describes for us what it looks like to live and find "a third way" in our lives.

After living in a season of stillness and solitude, Jay Shetty took his experience as a monk in India to empower his passion and hope for the world...making wisdom go viral.In the last 10 years Jay has helped more than 10,000 people find their purpose through ancient wisdom. Jay has developed workshops and delivered keynotes to empower people to successfully apply mindfulness techniques in their lives.Jay's video "Changing the world begins with us" featured by The Huffington post received 10 million + views in just 5 days of launch.His work has also appeared on BBC Radio London, BBC Asia Network, and Shortlist Magazine.Jay joins us in this episode of let the music play podcast, as we discuss the journey of awakening to the reality that happiness is aninside job.

This episode highlights a number of our guests and the conversations we had with them around the topics of love, hope, beauty, wonder, mystery, and whimsy.The song provided in this episode is "Saturn" from Sleeping At Last.

James Finley, Ph.D. lived as a monk at the cloistered Trappist monastery of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, where the world-renowned monk and author, Thomas Merton, was his spiritual director.Currently, Jim leads retreats and workshops throughout the United States and Canada, attracting men and women from all religious traditions who seek to live a contemplative way of life in the midst of today's busy world. He is also a clinical psychologist in private practice with his wife in Santa Monica, California.In this episode Jim shares his insights and reflections on the work of Meister Eckhart.