From the outside, the practice of Orthodoxy seems rigid, complicated and intimidating. In this episode, Angela explores how Orthodoxy cannot be fully understood until it is fully experienced. Like a spiritual Tardis, it’s bigger on the inside.

Forgiveness Vespers for the Introvert

Jan 8th, 2021

The start of Great Lent begins with preparation. We prepare our refrigerators, freezers and pantry for the fast, emptying it of meat and dairy. But we prepare our hearts as well, emptying it of resentments or grudges, wrongs we have done or wro

Everybody Has a Hatchet

Jan 8th, 2021

We all have ways to work through our hang ups. Whether we run away from the things we fear or rush headlong toward them, taking a moment to consider the story we’re telling can go a long way in helping and preserving us.

More Lessons in Letting Go

Jan 8th, 2021

Parenting is a sacred and daunting task at every stage of their development but parenting teenagers has its own set of challenges and its own joys as well. When do when the time is right to let them start “adulting” and how does our prayer life

Suffering and Struggle - Part 2

Jan 8th, 2021

In this episode of The Wilderness Journal, Angela continues her discussion with writer/nurse, Adrienne Bocci-DiSanto about suffering, illness, empathy and the role of the Orthodox Christian.

Empty Wells

Jan 8th, 2021

Is “giving” something we only think about at the holidays? What does it mean to give from a empty well?

A Garden in the East

Jan 8th, 2021

How we care for and nurture our bodies has implications for all areas of our development—physical, emotional, and even spiritual. The body is a living and organic revelation of the unseen spirit inside—a kind of garden. Garden in the East is a

Why Worry?

Jan 8th, 2021

How does worry affect our ability to simply be present? What can we do to free ourselves from the grip of worry?

Monk in the City

Jan 8th, 2021

The preflight announcement on the plane always instructs us to “put our own mask on first” before helping someone else but how often do we take that advice in the normal day to day? On “self-care” and finding moments to stop and breathe.

Making Space for Silence

Jan 8th, 2021

How is it possible to find silence in the middle of the city? Why does it matter? On the lessons learned from St. Isidora and the daily task of floor washing.

Into the Wilderness Pt 1

Jan 8th, 2021

On this episode of the Wilderness Journal, Angela contemplates exploring the “wilds” of Chicago and discusses hot button issues like Climate Change and Bigfoot with Fr. Kaleeg Hainsworth, Orthodox priest and author of “An Altar in the Wildernes

Into the Wilderness Pt 2: Re-Wilding the Heart

Jan 8th, 2021

In this episode Angela continues her conversation with Orthodox priest and Spiritual Ecologist, Fr. Kaleeg Hainsworth where they discuss the role of the Orthodox Christian in issues about the environment, the wilderness as a “de-tox” method, an

Best Laid Plans

Jan 8th, 2021

What does it say about a person who has a collection of barely used daily planners stashed under her bedside table? It is a sign of a disorganized mind and an unwilling spirit, or maybe just never finding the right thing? Angela and fellow auth

Day 30: Waking Anxious

Jan 8th, 2021

What can we do with the anxiety that creeps in on us? Angela finds sorting anxiety like sorting laundry on this episode of The Wilderness Journal.

Leaning In and Letting Go

Jan 8th, 2021

We’ve all heard about helicopter parents. I’m more of a lawnmower parent. I want to make straight the paths before my kids. I do not want to see them hurt. And of course, that’s natural– no parent wants to see their child injured– but when I ma

Harvesting Air

Jan 8th, 2021

There is a wind farm on I-65 that evokes a sense of longing– for peace, for stillness, for quiet. What does it mean for us, in a busy and loud world, to stay engaged, to seek out that stillness, to harvest this like the wind turbines harvest ai

To the Shore

Jan 8th, 2021

In times of fear and distress, we can turn to the simple act of prayer to calm the waters. Angela reads a passage from Nearly Orthodox about this very thing, and about learning to pray the Jesus Prayer in Greek.

In Praise of Coffee Hour

Jan 8th, 2021

It’s often intimidating to walk into a new space filled with strangers. It’s hard to be the stranger but it’s also sometimes intimidating to be the one charged with welcoming the stranger. How does “coffee hour” or “fellowship” after Liturgy re

I Hope I Do

Jan 8th, 2021

The start of a new year brings us to a point of clarity– a starting point, an ending point. It is in these moments that we can choose hope as we look forward, or regret from looking back. What does the New Year represent to you? “I wish I had”

A Sense of Place

Jan 8th, 2021

In this episode of the Wilderness Journal, Angela talks with poet Scott Cairns about having a sense of “place” in one’s life, as well as the importance of language, dialogue, and literature in the task of building the self.

Poetry and Liturgy

Jan 8th, 2021

In troubled times, some people turn to binge watching television shows, some to food, some to drink. Angela turns to poetry. In this episode we explore how poetry and Liturgy intersect because in a technology laden, short attention, sound bite

St. Ephraim and Forgetting

Jan 8th, 2021

The prayer of St. Ephraim is a familiar one for Orthodox Christians, especially during Lent. This season offers us the chance to practice the prayer and to come face to face with our own inner “construction” as we come closer to Pascha. What r

The Trouble with Time

Jan 8th, 2021

On this episode of The Wilderness Journal, Angela Doll Carlson explores the topic of "time" with her friend (and Ancient Faith author) Dr. Nicole Roccas. They discuss connections between fear and apathy, and the differences between standing sti

Suffering and Sickness - Part 1

Jan 8th, 2021

The church fathers have a lot to say about suffering but what can we make of it in our modern lives? In this episode, Angela talks with nurse and writer, Adrienne Bocci-DiSanto about this notion of pain, medication and suffering.