Shownotes
Discover Advent in Everyday Moments: LOVE
This video includes prayers, discussions and interviews focusing on spirituality, love, and faith. The main speaker introduces Bishop Robert W. Ihloff of the Episcopal Church, who stresses the importance of living the faith and accepting others regardless of their beliefs. Father Jeff Hual explains his meaningful involvement in the Syrian refugee crisis initiated out of love and friendship, which included providing wheelchairs and education materials. The video also features Dr. Dorothy Adamson Holley, a Developmental Psychologist who integrates psychology and spirituality in her work, shares her philosophy that love plus forgiveness equals freedom.
00:18 Opening Prayer
00:40 Introduction to Right Reverend Robert W. Ihloff
01:21 Discussion on the Future of the Church
04:41 Introduction to Father Jeff Hual and His Ministry
05:06 Father Jeff's Involvement in the Syrian Refugee Crisis
10:39 Introduction to Dr. Dorothy Adamson Holley
11:57 Dr. Holley's Philosophy on Love, Forgiveness, and Freedom
12:21 Dr. Holley's Reflections on the George Floyd Incident
13:44 Closing Thoughts
Listening for Clues is pleased to present our new series, "Good News!" featuring weekly conversations with people who are making a difference, large or small. We want everyone to know what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how. So, our listeners and viewers can experience the good news and go out and make a difference themselves.
Listening for Clues invites you into conversations that discover clues, rather than solutions to life’s problems. Join the journey with Jon Shematek and Lauren Welch, Episcopal deacons, as we explore whatever lies ahead. Check our website Listening for Clues.
© 2023 Listening for Clues
Transcripts
Let us pray.
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:Dear Jesus, may the light of your
love always shine in our hearts.
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:As Christmas draws closer, we
marvel at your great love for us.
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:Let your love transform every aspect of
our lives and touch everyone we encounter.
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:Our hearts are open to you, Jesus.
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:Amen.
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:Jon: ,today we have a very special
guest, the Right Reverend Robert W.
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:Ihloff, who is a bishop in the Episcopal
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:Church.
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:Bob served 28 years as a parish
priest in three dioceses, followed
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:by 28 years as a Bishop of Maryland.
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:He was formerly a member of the House
of Bishops Theology Committee, President
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:of Province 3, a trustee of the Virginia
Theological Seminary, and of the
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:national Board of Episcopal Schools.
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:He's currently offering
spiritual direction.
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:.
, Bob: I think what we are going to see more and more of is people who take the
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:gospel seriously as the gospel of love.
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:are going to hopefully jettison
some of the ways in which
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:Christians have been offensive.
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:And not the least of that is
the ability to welcome people
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:of different points of view.
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:We will have people who, for
whatever reason, justifiably
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:or not, drive us crazy.
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:But they are part of the household
of God, and they need some respect,
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:and they need to be listened to.
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:. The church I believe in for the
future is a church in which the litmus
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:test will not be what you believe
or how you present the faith in a.
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:written and or verbal sense,
but how you live the faith.
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:How do you, in your daily life, witness
to a God who is loving and who has
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:called all of us to be brothers and
sisters and into one family that finds
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:that love undercuts the other things
that divide us, so that it's possible
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:for people who are vastly different to
have a love and respect for each other,
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:despite their difference I think it's
not God's will that we should be uniform.
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:It is God's will that we learn to
love one another despite differences
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:Jon: We have a special guest
with us today, Father Jeff Hual,
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:who's the rector of All Hallows
Church in Davidsonville, Maryland.
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:Lauren: So, Jeff, Jon and I were really
inspired at the election convention
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:when you spoke about this ministry.
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:So now we want you to share how you got
involved and what you were doing now,
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:Jeff: you know, that's not a
short answer as far as how I got
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:involved in this because it was
something that just happened.
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:you know, in our line of work,
we tend to say that the Holy
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:Spirit caused this to happen.
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:And that's the best answer that I
could possibly give because, you know,
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:if we claim love as God's principle
attribute, this is a ministry that
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:grew out of love and friendship.
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:It started nine years ago with a friend
of mine I went to Turkey on a seminary
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:immersion tour that was sponsored by a
small religious association in Istanbul.
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:And I became friends with the director of
this little association, a guy named Hakan
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:Gulerce and this association was Because
of the theologian that they follow.
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:A 20th century scholar named Said
Nursi, they were seeking to foster
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:relationships with Christian communities.
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:This was something that
Nursi felt was very important
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:this was around the time that the
news of just how bad the Syrian
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:refugee crisis was starting to finally
bubble up onto the Western news.
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:And so I contacted Hakan and I said,
we gotta make this something that
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:highlights the Syrian refugee crisis.
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:So we decided the best thing that we
could do would be to make a video as a
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:faithful Muslim and a faithful Christian,
encouraging Muslims and Christians
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:worldwide to find ways to cooperate
to try and alleviate the suffering.
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:And we always viewed that as being
an ongoing project that, I plan on
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:traveling back there in the summer
and we would do more work together.
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:So I said, How can we get involved?
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:How can we help?
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:He said, Abi, that means brother Abi.
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:We need wheelchairs.
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:Apparently a lot of people had
either lost wheelchairs in getting
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:out of Syria, or they now needed
wheelchairs because of the bombings.
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:And so All Hallows, I held a fun drive
and we raised enough money to buy.
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:I think a dozen wheelchairs.
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:And we sent that over and Hakan bought
wheelchairs for people who needed them.
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:And then I said, okay,
what do you need now?
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:He said, well, we need
educational materials.
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:So I started a fund drive to
raise educational materials.
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:What Hakan and his wife Rukia and
some other core volunteers have built.
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:It is a fabulous, multifaceted,
long-term aid program that has all of the
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:hallmarks of how a near Eastern society
would seek to approach the problem.
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:It is all built.
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:Relationally.
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:It is all built on becoming friends,
finding out what people need.
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:This, this is not, you know car drives up.
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:How many people in your family
pop your trunk and we put the
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:food pantry food in your trunk.
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:This is, how can we help you?
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:What do you need?
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:How can we best approach that?
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:How can we solve, help you solve
the problems that you need solved?
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:And I was absolutely amazed.
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:At what we've been able to do.
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:Jon: today we've got a special guest, Dr.
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:Dorothy Adamson Holley is joining us.
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:Dr.
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:Holley.
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:Dr. Dot: Hey.
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:Jon: Hey.
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:Good to see you.
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:Also known as Drum Dr.
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:Dot, which is very cool.
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:She's a Developmental Psychologist
and Licensed Clinical Social Worker
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:who integrates psychology and
spirituality in clinical practice.
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:She's the founder and psychotherapist
of the Breathe Holistic Counseling
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:and specializes in working with
clients who have not responded
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:well to traditional treatment.
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:Dr.
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:Holley is the creator of Drumetry,
an art form that integrates
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:African drumming and poetry.
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:She's an author, recording artist,
songwriter, vocalist, percussionist.
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:dancer, harmonicist and
healer through music.
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:Dr.
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:Holley is a proud member of the
Baltimore based Band, Roses n Rust.
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:Welcome Dr.
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:Dot.
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:Lauren: Is there anything else
that you would like to share?
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:A bit of wisdom about?
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:Hmm.
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:Dr. Dot: That's way, general, anything?
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:Okay.
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:I'll give you my tagline
for everything I do.
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:Love plus forgiveness equals freedom.
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:That's my tagline.
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:Love and forgiveness are the two
most powerful forces in the universe.
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:If you can love and if you
can forgive, that's freedom.
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:So I mean, I go through,
man, we, I'm human.
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:We go through so much crap in life,
and I know we go through anger and
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:blah, blah, blah, but I always settle
into a place of love and forgiveness.
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:I did an interview during the pandemic
and someone asked me something about, I
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:don't remember, but I kept saying I was
so mad at God because when George Floyd
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:was murdered, By that officer I, I saw
the, I saw the video and I saw that and
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:it was traumatic, no doubt about it.
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:And I was allowed, maybe I won't
even say a day to rest in that.
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:And then my mind kept going to, Compassion
for the guy who had his knee in his neck.
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:Like what?
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:I'm like, God, okay, you gonna
gimme more than a day to be
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:pissed off about this bull?
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:You know what I mean?
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:But it couldn't, I could
not, it was horrible.
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:So I'm thinking about his childhood.
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:I'm thinking about if he's locked
up, like what is he thinking?
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:Like that he actually
killed another human being.
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:Like I'm thinking about his
family and like, what would
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:motivate a person to do that?
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:And so that compassion came to
the fore and I'm like, God, okay.
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:Like, It ain't even, even a
day, let me like be pissed for.
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:But it everything, because
love is all that exists.
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:Everything else is just fear and
that is, I, it's not that I'm saying
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:it's intellectually I live this.
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:I know it in my soul.
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:So no matter what I go through,
no matter what you, it's always
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:you have to fall always back into
that place of love and forgiveness.
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:Because I'm deeply and richly loving.
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:I'm Lord knows I'm forgiven.
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:Lord knows I'm forgiven.
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:You know what I mean?
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:So that's the only words of
wisdom that I will leave.
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:I have so much, but that is the most
profound for me in my own life and love.
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:Plus forgiveness equals freedom.
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:That's my hashtag, my
tagline, blah, blah, blah.
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:That's it.
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:Jon: And that's the words
we all need to hear.
