January 21, 2025 • 38 mins
Welcome back to the Becoming Whole podcast! Join Aaron Tagert, men's spiritual coach, and Andrea Smithberger, host of the Sacred by Design podcast, as they dive into week two of our 'Pursuing Goodness' mini-series. In this episode, we explore the idea of 'Reclaiming Our Senses' and how the enemy attempts to steal, kill, and destroy the goodness in our lives. Tune in for an enriching conversation that encourages you to slow down and embrace the inherent goodness God has placed within you.
Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole
👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional
👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)
👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Becoming Whole podcast.
We are in our second week ofpursuing our Pursuing Goodness
miniseries to start the new year, and today we're going to be
discussing reclaiming our senses.
My name is Aaron Taggart, I'mone of our men's spiritual
(00:22):
coaches and our unwantedintensive guide at Regen, and I
am joined today by the amazingAndrea Smithberger, host of the
Sacred by Design podcast and oneof our women's spiritual
coaches at Regen.
Welcome in, andrea.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Thank you, Aaron.
The awesome Aaron and amazingAndrea Are people ready?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Ready or not, here we go Super excited for this
conversation today, so let's goahead and jump in here.
As we talk about reclaiming oursenses, john 10 came to mind
that we read about this enemythat you and me and and, frankly
, everyone listening has, thathe is out to steal, kill and
(01:12):
destroy all the good in our life.
And that's such a small versein that passage, but the
implications are so weighty,aren't they?
Yeah, yeah.
And he's coming for our senses.
Yeah, he is coming for oursenses in so many ways.
(01:32):
He has already, especially forthose who wrestle with unwanted
sexual behavior he's alreadyattacked and tried to steal and
destroy the goodness of oursenses.
Not to steal and destroy thegoodness of our senses.
And there's a quote from CSLewis that I really love.
I think that goes really wellwith this, and CS Lewis says
(01:56):
that badness is only spoiledgoodness and that there must be
something good first before itcan be spoiled.
Oh yeah, wow, good first,before it can be spoiled.
Oh yeah, wow Right, I mean, theenemy cannot, he can't create,
(02:17):
so he can only take what alreadyexists and try to kind of turn
it on its head or turn itagainst us, or yeah, that's how
he kind of comes at us.
Yeah, what's stirring in youright now?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, right away, I think of our listeners and that
maybe the idea of inherentgoodness doesn't feel right for
them, that maybe they've beendisqualified from it.
So, as we are pursuing goodness, we're pursuing something that
is already part of who we are.
And if we're pursuing goodness,let's acknowledge the way that
(02:53):
Satan pursues our goodnessthrough our senses.
And so Satan wants to rob youof your sense of taste.
He does.
He wants to destroy your senseof touch, and he probably
already has.
He's coming for your sight.
Satan is after our senses.
We are created as sensualbeings, and that is a good thing
(03:16):
.
That is part of our goodness,and so that has been spoiled.
Whether it's trauma, whetherit's exposure to pornography,
whether it's a pattern andaddiction with pornography and
masturbation, whether it'sinfidelity, some sort of hurt
has spoiled that goodness andSatan's after it.
(03:37):
Songs can become a trigger.
Right Cologne can become atrigger.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
He's coming for it.
Yeah, yeah, and I think that'san important part of this too.
Is that right?
Sensuality is really about thesenses, and yet the enemy has
kind of brought thisover-eroticized sense to
sensuality.
So when we hear the wordsensual or sensuality, so many
of us automatically go to kindof the sexual, and that is part
(04:12):
of sensual.
Don't get me wrong.
But I think the way that theenemy works here to kind of
steal, kill and destroy, is thathe almost kind of tries to
reorder things in a way whereit's like the sexual becomes
more important, or, you know, hejust kind of thwarts the
goodness.
That kind of even leads to someof the good sexuality.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, yeah.
And he, you know, coming toclaim our senses.
He can make a touch feel likeoff limits because it's dirty,
so sexuality, he can make atouch feel like off limits
because it's dirty, so sexuality.
This good, beautiful design forsexuality is attacked, even
through something that we thinkis so basic to our design as
(04:57):
human beings.
So it's good to be aware,really good to be aware.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, really good to be aware.
Yeah, in genesis, one after godmakes man and woman, he calls
this new creation very good.
And I, and I love, I love that,like he doesn't call the sun
and the stars very good, hedoesn't call, you know, earth
and and the water and the spacevery good, he makes man and
(05:29):
woman and he calls man and womanvery good.
And so again back to just withthe sensuality and our senses
being a part of that, that weare created very good in God's
eyes and there are things thathe really wants us to experience
pleasure and delight in.
(05:50):
And I think that you know itreally highlights it.
Yeah, it just highlights thatdesire he has for that delight
and pleasure, like he.
He created us that way in onpurpose.
Like he created us that way onpurpose.
What does this passage kind ofstir in you, andrea, when we
(06:13):
think about the ways that youknow he has created us?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Well, I love that we're going to the very
beginning, because there's nodenying our goodness, because
there's no denying our goodnessand when we go to the very
beginning, we see and learnabout our God, who is creative,
who loves color and texture andpattern and taste.
I mean, have you seen a giraffe?
Our God is creative and he'splayful and it's all good and he
(06:42):
calls it all good and heblesses our senses through
creation, which is his initialgift.
So, to look, to notice, to beaware of everything that he's
given us around us, and then tohear how, when he created his
very first son and daughter andcalled us very good that is the
(07:07):
starting point, that's the meatof this conversation is, okay,
we know what Satan's coming for,but why is he coming for it?
Oh, because from square one,from the very first moment of
any of our beings being a being,we are good.
Our God calls us good.
Yeah, we can't forget that.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, and you know, there's nothing we've done,
there's nothing that Adam andEve had done at that point.
And God says this is very good.
(07:53):
Yeah, yeah, right, it's notlike they had to.
They didn't even try, like theydidn't achieve anything.
They hadn't done anything.
Yeah, like he.
Just he creates man and woman.
And I almost just kind of getthis picture of him leaning back
and just like, oh, that is verygood.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
If God were you awesome, he'd be like there it
is.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah, exactly, this is awesome, yeah, and it just
like stewing on that a littlebit, you know.
I mean, I think God also it'snot just them as a physical, as
a as a physical being, I thinkit's also what he has in store
for them, his intention for themright To, to multiply, to
(08:35):
cultivate, to name to, to becaretakers of the garden, you
know, all of these thingsthey're kind of tasked with.
There's also really some somedeep enjoyment in that and I'm
starting to think about them inthe garden and the, the
different plants and animals andtrees and colors and and all of
(08:57):
these things.
I mean it must have just beennot sensory overload, because
you know they like everythingwas very good, right so, and but
just the scent, like I just geta picture of them so captivated
in in all of the things thatthey're seeing and smelling the
movement through the air, thecrawling of the animals, the,
(09:20):
it's every single one of oursenses.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
And the thing is, is that satan, even from the get-go
, slithers in right and heattacks Adam and Eve's senses
and he tastes this differentthing, hear this different story
, consider this differently.
And I feel like for ourlisteners, for these men and
women who struggle with unwantedsexual behavior, we're so quick
(09:54):
to shut down.
Our addictions and our habitscome from a place of maybe
distracting, avoiding, numbingout, and then, all of a sudden,
our reflex is to then shut down,to put the blinders on, to
shroud ourselves verydifferently.
But God never says coveryourself and close your eyes and
cover your ears.
(10:14):
He asks where are you?
He asks who told you that?
Who told you that?
And I feel like those questionscan be really good, as we're
considering pursuing ourgoodness, reclaiming our senses,
(10:34):
to say huh, where am I?
Where am I right now?
And who told me that I'm dirty?
Who told me that I will onlyamount to this?
Who told me that men are onlythis, that women are only that?
Who told me that?
And I feel like wrestling andsitting with those questions
some is a really great way to belike and also remembering how
(10:57):
very good you are meant to beand you are, that that can be a
power move in your unwantedsexual behavior and
understanding and also movingdifferently.
(11:21):
Yeah, unpack that a little bitmore.
The power move.
I like, yeah, it seems sostrategic, right, with John
10.10 saying okay, we know thatSatan comes to steal, kill and
destroy.
All right, he comes to, but hedoes not always get to.
(11:42):
And he does not always get towhen we understand, God says I'm
very good.
When we understand this punk iscoming to kill, steal and
destroy, but I am very good andI have eyes that see, ears that
hear, a mouth that tastes, anose that smells, a body that
moves and feels.
(12:02):
What can I do differently?
Well, I can ask where am I,when am I right now?
And like even my voice.
I feel like J-string are sogood at this right, this
curiosity and kindness, that youelevate your voice instead of
being like, well, here you areagain, here we go again, this is
who you are, and instead ofbeing like, oof, where are you?
(12:25):
Where are you?
Who told you that?
That is, that's a power move.
Satan comes, but he doesn'talways get get to, especially
when we slow down and rememberand ask some questions yeah,
yeah, that's so good and evenlike, even getting us just to
think less of like being verygood.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
You know, like I'm just I, you know he kind of
tolerates me, you know, or youknow, I think you know that's
real.
You know, I know I've felt thatway, you know, before my own
journey, and I know, you know somany probably, you know,
resonate with that and even thatstarts to feel like, oh, like
you know, and that's what theenemy wants, right.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
He wants us to feel so much less than everything god
has intended for us you know,yeah boo, I say boo, they got a
princess bride here I digressright there, yes, right to the
enemy.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Well, let's come back to John 10.
Yeah right, like there is somuch more, there's so much
abundance here in John 10.
It's easy just to kind of thinkabout this.
One powerful verse that youknow talks about what the enemy
(13:56):
is after.
But let's you know.
But we're talking aboutreclaiming the senses, right?
So let's pull out some reallygreat stuff here from John 10.
What is something that reallytugs at you when you read
through John 10 in light of oursenses?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Hmm, Well, I think you were even talking about it
when we were talking aboutGenesis 1 and how not sensory
overload, but how captivatingthat was.
Like we cannot even imagine, wecan't right what it would have
felt like to be surrounded by, Imean, the animals, the birdsong
(14:47):
, the trees, the aromas ofcreation at its very beginning,
and I love the message versionof that second part of John
10.10.
I came so you can have real andeternal life, more and better
life than you ever dreamed of.
Like, are you sure?
(15:09):
Are you sure that's for me?
Are you sure that's for me?
(15:32):
And God says, yeah, it is, itis for you and so for me it
brings back the questions again.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Okay, so where are you?
Where are you, Andrea?
Why are you discreditingyourself?
And what's holding you backfrom even considering that this
is for me?
What about you?
Yeah, so a couple of things,you know.
One thing that really standsout to me, too, is that this
phrase that the Lord says here Iam the good shepherd.
So there's the sense, too, thatthere's also a bad shepherd.
And if that's the case, and whoare?
Who are we allowing to shepherdus in our senses?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Right, people can't see us, so my eyes just got real
big.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, like he is the good shepherd you know, again
get us to kind of think counterto all that the Lord has
intended with our sensuality andour senses and the way we
experience them and the joy andthe light.
And also, you know, as I lookin here too and it's easy to
(16:31):
come across it, the sheep hearmy voice.
So there's the I would say, thesense of hearing right and
sound, and that they know him byhis voice and so in a way it's
just, you know, kind of elevatesthis hearing, like in this past
time.
And the sheep also have eyes.
They need to be able to seewhere they're going right.
So this good shepherd isleading them.
The sheep are seeing and they'rehearing his voice.
(16:52):
The sheep are seeing andthey're hearing his, his voice,
and they know in that instancethat all is all as well.
They will follow that shepherdbecause they know they can trust
him, because they have seenwhere he takes them and they
know that his voice leads theminto into life, where the where
(17:12):
that bad shepherd isn't leadingthe sheep right, I mean, he
doesn't even come in through thegate, he jumps over the fence,
he poses a threat to the sheep,and so I think that's some of
the things that come up for me,just thinking about the senses
and even just those images hereof the sheep, and it also, you
know that begins to bring up,too for me, psalm 23.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Oof yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Right, like some really beautiful imagery there,
but again being this kind ofidea of like a sheet being made
to lie down in a green pasture,right, knowing again that this
green path you're taking this inthe sites that you know talks
about still water.
So you can picture these thingsand I'm a I'm a backpacker, so
I love like nature and comingupon, like you know, coming down
(18:02):
kind of into a valley, you know, after maybe we've summited or
wherever that might be, alongour kind of path, and then just
seeing this meadow and thiswilderness and the wind blowing
through these wildflowers andthe trees and hearing those
things and the sound of a brookor that mountain, mountain water
(18:23):
stream, you know I start to getthese kind of images of this
you know just being made to bestill and lie down in in a
setting kind of like that.
You know everything's safe.
You can just take in the senses, you know what can you take in?
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yes, the imagination is really good here, more than
we ever dreamed.
And here's the imagination.
I love the part of Psalm 23,.
You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies,
with clients.
I will be like all right, let'sset the table.
What color is that tablecloth?
(19:07):
What flowers have to be there?
Is there wine?
Are there lemons?
Is it a dessert table?
You know what is it that feedsyour senses?
Set that table and know thatthat is what the Lord is wanting
to set with you and to play inyour imagination a little bit
that way of well, I love this,or this makes me feel good, or I
(19:31):
remember loving this.
That's a sweet way to set thetable and be caught up in this
abundance that the Lord wants tooffer us.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Yeah, and it's hard to think and not think of a
table and just all of the,something like maybe
Thanksgiving or just like all ofthis, this beautiful spread,
all of the something like maybethanksgiving or just like all
just this beautiful spread, allof the, the smells.
Louis giglio has a book calleddon't give the enemy a seat at
your table, and it's about psalm23 and he even goes as far as
he talks about like the table.
It, our reservation at thattable is the most expensive
(20:10):
reservation that we'll ever havebecause of Jesus.
Yeah, and if he's willing to gothat far so that we can
experience the delight and thejoy, the table, the smells, the
sights, the taste, there'sreally something to that.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
So how do you settle into that, Settle in at that
table?
You pursue your goodnessthrough your senses.
Matter matters to the Lord andthat's evident through Jesus
walking this earth wearingsandals, scratchy robes, talking
with friends, breaking bread,eating bread, making wine, and
(20:56):
he legitimizes our senses in areally profound and detailed way
.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jay Stringer says that everyday, if we pay attention, god
solicits us to simpleexperiences of sensuality.
Right, simple, like you know,are you?
But are you seeing it?
(21:24):
Are you hearing it?
Are you tasting it?
Are you hearing it?
Are you tasting it?
Are you living it?
Right, he's also.
He goes on to say essentialityis about opening our bodies to
being present, aroused andinfluenced by the world around
us.
If we do not feel wonder and Ilove that word wonder at the
(21:45):
flight of a hummingbird and Idon't know if you ever had one
buzz by you and just this islike the, I can't even mimic, I
know the sound, it's justincredible.
Yeah, this, this buzz, andthey're so stinking fast, but
they can, they just pause almostlike in midair, and we get to
(22:06):
see that and and hear that,right, but so if we can't, if we
can't feel a wonder of theflight of a hummingbird or an
eagle, he says, or at the scentof mint, how will we even begin
to feel the stunning sensualityof sex or our sexuality?
And so, again, just this ideaof these kind of simple everyday
(22:32):
experience.
We have them every single dayand it's almost like we can
sleepwalk, like we can be maybepresent, but not fully present,
not really see things the waythey are or the way they're
meant to be, and so there's likethis kind of shadow between us,
(22:54):
and you know what's reallythere.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Yeah, so this is where we've got to talk about
how you do this in real life.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Because, I mean, jay ushered us right in.
So thank you Jay, thank youAaron, but I have a lot of kids
so I watch a lot of animatedfeatures and right away I think
of Inside Out and just likethose core memories.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Right.
And so if you haven't seen it,maybe you should see it.
People, but the idea of thecore memory, to me I feel like
the practice of grounding.
Last night my family, we werehaving a conversation about joy.
I have kids, five kids rangingin age from 22 to 11.
And the conversation was loudand quiet and it was a lot, and
(23:43):
I planted my feet on the ground.
Is that step one of grounding?
And you go through each one ofyour senses and I'm not going to
get teary, I'm not going to doit.
I might, but I'm not OkayLooking around at the faces at
the table and noticing each oneof my kids and how different
they look, and the light on theChristmas tree behind John, and
(24:05):
then touch, feeling Winnie, mydog, her head resting on my lap
because I feel like she couldsense that I was taking it all
in and she's crazy, but she's agood little empath.
Smelling the candles we havethe Advent candles burning,
hearing their voices, Tasting Imade Rocky Road Christmas fudge.
(24:28):
What?
That's a whole other thing.
But so I locked in and thiscore memory through grounding
was planting my feet and goingwhat can I see right now?
What am I tasting right now?
What do I hear?
What am I smelling?
What am I hearing?
Each one of your senses, justone thing.
(24:48):
But taking the time to plantyour feet and go through your
senses is tomorrow can look liketomorrow.
We don't even know.
Yesterday's gone.
We have fright now.
So, in a moment of beauty, in amoment of chaos, in a moment of
struggle, in a moment of oh,this is really good, I'm feeling
(25:10):
really good.
What a gift to plant your feetright there and engage your
senses and pursue your goodnessright there.
So grounding is huge.
Practically Do you do it?
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Yeah, I do, and it also it's something I do with
clients, sometimes as well.
Have you ever done that?
Oh yeah, five four, three, two,one yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Yeah, and so those of you listening aren't aware of
that.
It's naming five things thatyou can see, kind of right,
wherever you're at.
If you're outside, if you're inan office, you know it doesn't
matter, like, wherever you're at, what are five things that you
see?
Four things that you can touchright, three things that you can
(25:53):
hear, two things that you cansmell and one thing that you can
taste and for for me that'scoffee right now could taste
that.
But so, just again, it's thisthere's something about doing
that and the grounding that justslows you down, that helps you
get present with your ownphysical body, your being to be
(26:13):
able to see and to name.
And I think that's why I likegrounding so much is because I
think, just as a culture and aspeople, I just think we are so
prone the hustle and bustle andgo and do more and go from this
thing to the next thing.
I used to live in Washington DCand you know we moved out, you
(26:37):
know into Maryland and this, thepace of life is night and day
and what that's done, I think,just for me in particular, but I
know my wife and family as well.
But the slowing down reallycreates that opportunity and, as
you were talking about thetable and your family and just
(26:58):
thinking like how present thosethings can be when the table
forces us to slow down, you know, thinking again about just like
the that, that that thereservation price, the table,
like there's something so sweetabout the slowing down, right
(27:18):
Cause right back in the Psalm23,.
You know that we're made to liedown, to slow down, to take in,
to look around, and I thinkthat's.
I think that's really beautifuland I think that's really
beautiful and I think that'shelpful.
You had also mentionedsomething about body, skin.
Do you want to talk a littlebit about that?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, I'm even thinking about whoever's
listening right now, that, asErin or I said the word goodness
and that it does apply to youIf maybe your heart tightened a
little bit or there was asqueezing in your belly or your
fists got real tight.
A body scan is an opportunityto pay attention to what you're
feeling and where you're feelingit.
I will, with clients and myselfand my family, draw out it
looks like a gingerbread manoutline, right, it's just very
simple arms, legs and a head.
(28:13):
And if something's coming up,where are you feeling that shame
, where are you feeling thattension?
And then get in and label it onthe little body outline and not
only that, but even give itsome color.
Like this is a deep red or ajagged line to show that it and
(28:34):
give it some words like this isprickly.
This is very flooding.
Kurt Thompson says you got toname it, to tame it.
When you can put words to wearon your body, you're feeling and
sensing things.
What a gift to yourself to beable to engage your senses and
your words, to reclaim.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
I love that, yeah, so important, yeah, just being
that heightened awareness ofwhat's going on in our body and
again, just, I think,experiencing the goodness of
senses and and when, when, yeah,when, maybe, when maybe there
is that kind of trigger but wedon't experience the sense the
(29:15):
way maybe we want to.
We see something that makes usthink of something else, or a
wound or trauma or what you saidearlier, a smell.
We smell something and itbrings back memories and that's
real, but I think that it's, youknow, that happens when we
allow ourselves again to slowdown and do something like you
(29:38):
know a body scan, you know which, you know something that we can
, you know, do you know, incoaching or you know, with, with
some kind of guidance from fromsomebody else, to help us kind
of draw back kind of intoourselves and into our bodies,
right, I think another reallygreat way is play.
I'm a father of four and mykids always want to do, you know
(30:03):
, some sort of game or whichnormally you know is like
monster, where I chase themaround the house, and so there's
the yells and the screaming andthe giggling and you know, feel
the floor and different things,right, and so even in something
like play, like play is is soimportant.
And Stuart Brown wrote a bookcalled play how it shapes the
(30:25):
brain, opens the imagination andinvigorates the soul how it
shapes the brain, opens theimagination and invigorates the
soul.
And he says that when we stopplaying, we start dying.
Right, when we stop playing, westart dying.
And and to me that's just,there's so much power in that
(30:48):
because, again, just even thatdescription of running around
with the kids and that type ofthing and you know, I know at
some point they'll be 22 and outof the house and I'm not, you
know, I don't have theopportunity to play monster, you
know, whatever else that theywant to play, right, but there
is just something that happens,like when we experienced that,
like their delight and thedelight in just the connection
(31:11):
and, uh, and those differentthings in golf, like I love golf
, like I you know I would jointhe PGA if I could.
I play every single day, I loveit, I love being outside and it
is like one of my primary, whenit's warm out, one of my primary
ways of self-care.
And so, as we talk about theimportance of how we do some of
(31:32):
these, self-care is so important, especially when it comes to
our senses and so being outsideand a number of different
courses that I've gotten to play, but the, you know the sway and
the flag on the green blowing,there's just so much to take in
(32:09):
and golf is one of those gamesthat it's played over several
hours, so it is a slow game.
It just allows the promotion oftaking in.
You know something like that.
So I think play is reallyimportant when it comes to
self-care, when it comes to oursenses and there's, we just show
(32:29):
, it just changes how we can,how we show up and how we can
engage the world and and reallysee and appreciate, you know,
what, what the Lord's made andwhat he calls good, that we can
experience that.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Yeah, golf is so not fun to me or fun, I'd rather hit
pickleball, just because it'sand I don't know the rules, the
kitchen, all that ball-y, but itis so fun to just and it's
quick.
But there's so many differentforms of play, telestrations
like a board game, silent, let'sgo oh yeah, yeah, there's so
(33:12):
many games, right.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
I mean this is like you know we could go on and on
about all the different types ofgames, right, the different
senses that, the different gameskind of.
You know maybe tap, maybe tapinto.
But all that to say, you knowplay, grounding, you know just
that, really taking things in,you know body scanning, all
really important ways to toreally slow down.
(33:35):
I think that's the big takeawayfor me, it's just the slowing
down, the need to slow down toget kind of back into our bodies
.
You know that we don't down toget kind of back into our bodies
.
You know that we don't justlive in this kind of out-of-body
experience, like we have thesebeautiful bodies that God says
are very good and wants us toexperience the fullness of that
(33:55):
goodness.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah, and you know for what Aaron and I are saying?
We believe it and we are livingthis and we're trying every day
and I pray.
I hope that this conversation,these ideas, these practical
tips are an invitation for aholy interruption, for what
(34:17):
feels like a cycle, what feelspredictable, what feels like a
cycle, what feels predictablethat there's an abundance that's
beyond the predictable.
That we are inviting you to,because of what the Lord has
invited us to.
We say yes to that seat at thetable.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Yeah, amen to that.
Well, listen, as we get readyto wrap up, some of the things
we talked about today again,some of these things we do
through coaching we talked abouttoday again, some of these
things we do through coachingand definitely encourage anyone
listening who struggles withtheir senses or thinking that
they're good, or those types ofthings, to, you know, maybe, you
know, reach out for a coachingsession.
(34:54):
You know we do.
You know free initialconsultations and we'll see
where it goes from there, youknow.
But that comes to mind for sure, as just a really great way to
kind of step into this in a safeway, to begin to maybe work
towards getting back to, youknow, that embodiment of the
(35:14):
good and of the senses as wetalk about reclaiming them.
So, andre, I'm going to giveyou the final word and then I
want to pray us out.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Final word, oof.
There's a lot of pressure onthat one, but I feel like we are
created on purpose, withpurpose, and our senses are a
delightful and amazing way toengage in our goodness.
And so we have put togetherthis scripture sandwich of John
10, genesis 1 through 3, andwrapping up with John 10 again,
(35:48):
and we hope that you feast on it, and we hope that these
practical tips yes, of grounding, body scan play are wonderful
invitations to consider pursuinggoodness because, my goodness,
you are worthy, worthy, worthygoodness because, my goodness,
you are worthy, worthy, worthy,yeah, come on.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Well, abba, father, we just thank you for this
opportunity to hear from you,lord, about our senses, how
you've designed us, lord, howyou've intended us to experience
our sensuality, lord, that it'sfrom you and that it's good,
and we just ask you to be witheach listener, andrea, myself,
lord, in the ways that weexperience our senses.
Lord, help us to slow down,help us to see you, lord, to
(36:38):
hear you like those sheep, andto know, lord, that you are good
, that you are the good shepherd.
And so we ask for yourshepherding, lord, into our
senses and embodying that.
We ask these things in Christ'sname, amen.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Amen.
Thank you, Aaron.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Thank you.
Welcome back to the Becoming Whole podcast.
We are in our second week ofpursuing our Pursuing Goodness
miniseries to start the new year, and today we're going to be
discussing reclaiming our senses.
My name is Aaron Taggart, I'mone of our men's spiritual
(00:22):
coaches and our unwantedintensive guide at Regen, and I
am joined today by the amazingAndrea Smithberger, host of the
Sacred by Design podcast and oneof our women's spiritual
coaches at Regen.
Welcome in, andrea.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Thank you, Aaron.
The awesome Aaron and amazingAndrea Are people ready?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Ready or not, here we go Super excited for this
conversation today, so let's goahead and jump in here.
As we talk about reclaiming oursenses, john 10 came to mind
that we read about this enemythat you and me and and, frankly
, everyone listening has, thathe is out to steal, kill and
(01:12):
destroy all the good in our life.
And that's such a small versein that passage, but the
implications are so weighty,aren't they?
Yeah, yeah.
And he's coming for our senses.
Yeah, he is coming for oursenses in so many ways.
(01:32):
He has already, especially forthose who wrestle with unwanted
sexual behavior he's alreadyattacked and tried to steal and
destroy the goodness of oursenses.
Not to steal and destroy thegoodness of our senses.
And there's a quote from CSLewis that I really love.
I think that goes really wellwith this, and CS Lewis says
(01:56):
that badness is only spoiledgoodness and that there must be
something good first before itcan be spoiled.
Oh yeah, wow, good first,before it can be spoiled.
Oh yeah, wow Right, I mean, theenemy cannot, he can't create,
(02:17):
so he can only take what alreadyexists and try to kind of turn
it on its head or turn itagainst us, or yeah, that's how
he kind of comes at us.
Yeah, what's stirring in youright now?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, right away, I think of our listeners and that
maybe the idea of inherentgoodness doesn't feel right for
them, that maybe they've beendisqualified from it.
So, as we are pursuing goodness, we're pursuing something that
is already part of who we are.
And if we're pursuing goodness,let's acknowledge the way that
(02:53):
Satan pursues our goodnessthrough our senses.
And so Satan wants to rob youof your sense of taste.
He does.
He wants to destroy your senseof touch, and he probably
already has.
He's coming for your sight.
Satan is after our senses.
We are created as sensualbeings, and that is a good thing
(03:16):
.
That is part of our goodness,and so that has been spoiled.
Whether it's trauma, whetherit's exposure to pornography,
whether it's a pattern andaddiction with pornography and
masturbation, whether it'sinfidelity, some sort of hurt
has spoiled that goodness andSatan's after it.
(03:37):
Songs can become a trigger.
Right Cologne can become atrigger.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
He's coming for it.
Yeah, yeah, and I think that'san important part of this too.
Is that right?
Sensuality is really about thesenses, and yet the enemy has
kind of brought thisover-eroticized sense to
sensuality.
So when we hear the wordsensual or sensuality, so many
of us automatically go to kindof the sexual, and that is part
(04:12):
of sensual.
Don't get me wrong.
But I think the way that theenemy works here to kind of
steal, kill and destroy, is thathe almost kind of tries to
reorder things in a way whereit's like the sexual becomes
more important, or, you know, hejust kind of thwarts the
goodness.
That kind of even leads to someof the good sexuality.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, yeah.
And he, you know, coming toclaim our senses.
He can make a touch feel likeoff limits because it's dirty,
so sexuality, he can make atouch feel like off limits
because it's dirty, so sexuality.
This good, beautiful design forsexuality is attacked, even
through something that we thinkis so basic to our design as
(04:57):
human beings.
So it's good to be aware,really good to be aware.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, really good to be aware.
Yeah, in genesis, one after godmakes man and woman, he calls
this new creation very good.
And I, and I love, I love that,like he doesn't call the sun
and the stars very good, hedoesn't call, you know, earth
and and the water and the spacevery good, he makes man and
(05:29):
woman and he calls man and womanvery good.
And so again back to just withthe sensuality and our senses
being a part of that, that weare created very good in God's
eyes and there are things thathe really wants us to experience
pleasure and delight in.
(05:50):
And I think that you know itreally highlights it.
Yeah, it just highlights thatdesire he has for that delight
and pleasure, like he.
He created us that way in onpurpose.
Like he created us that way onpurpose.
What does this passage kind ofstir in you, andrea, when we
(06:13):
think about the ways that youknow he has created us?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Well, I love that we're going to the very
beginning, because there's nodenying our goodness, because
there's no denying our goodnessand when we go to the very
beginning, we see and learnabout our God, who is creative,
who loves color and texture andpattern and taste.
I mean, have you seen a giraffe?
Our God is creative and he'splayful and it's all good and he
(06:42):
calls it all good and heblesses our senses through
creation, which is his initialgift.
So, to look, to notice, to beaware of everything that he's
given us around us, and then tohear how, when he created his
very first son and daughter andcalled us very good that is the
(07:07):
starting point, that's the meatof this conversation is, okay,
we know what Satan's coming for,but why is he coming for it?
Oh, because from square one,from the very first moment of
any of our beings being a being,we are good.
Our God calls us good.
Yeah, we can't forget that.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, and you know, there's nothing we've done,
there's nothing that Adam andEve had done at that point.
And God says this is very good.
(07:53):
Yeah, yeah, right, it's notlike they had to.
They didn't even try, like theydidn't achieve anything.
They hadn't done anything.
Yeah, like he.
Just he creates man and woman.
And I almost just kind of getthis picture of him leaning back
and just like, oh, that is verygood.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
If God were you awesome, he'd be like there it
is.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah, exactly, this is awesome, yeah, and it just
like stewing on that a littlebit, you know.
I mean, I think God also it'snot just them as a physical, as
a as a physical being, I thinkit's also what he has in store
for them, his intention for themright To, to multiply, to
(08:35):
cultivate, to name to, to becaretakers of the garden, you
know, all of these thingsthey're kind of tasked with.
There's also really some somedeep enjoyment in that and I'm
starting to think about them inthe garden and the, the
different plants and animals andtrees and colors and and all of
(08:57):
these things.
I mean it must have just beennot sensory overload, because
you know they like everythingwas very good, right so, and but
just the scent, like I just geta picture of them so captivated
in in all of the things thatthey're seeing and smelling the
movement through the air, thecrawling of the animals, the,
(09:20):
it's every single one of oursenses.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
And the thing is, is that satan, even from the get-go
, slithers in right and heattacks Adam and Eve's senses
and he tastes this differentthing, hear this different story
, consider this differently.
And I feel like for ourlisteners, for these men and
women who struggle with unwantedsexual behavior, we're so quick
(09:54):
to shut down.
Our addictions and our habitscome from a place of maybe
distracting, avoiding, numbingout, and then, all of a sudden,
our reflex is to then shut down,to put the blinders on, to
shroud ourselves verydifferently.
But God never says coveryourself and close your eyes and
cover your ears.
(10:14):
He asks where are you?
He asks who told you that?
Who told you that?
And I feel like those questionscan be really good, as we're
considering pursuing ourgoodness, reclaiming our senses,
(10:34):
to say huh, where am I?
Where am I right now?
And who told me that I'm dirty?
Who told me that I will onlyamount to this?
Who told me that men are onlythis, that women are only that?
Who told me that?
And I feel like wrestling andsitting with those questions
some is a really great way to belike and also remembering how
(10:57):
very good you are meant to beand you are, that that can be a
power move in your unwantedsexual behavior and
understanding and also movingdifferently.
(11:21):
Yeah, unpack that a little bitmore.
The power move.
I like, yeah, it seems sostrategic, right, with John
10.10 saying okay, we know thatSatan comes to steal, kill and
destroy.
All right, he comes to, but hedoes not always get to.
(11:42):
And he does not always get towhen we understand, God says I'm
very good.
When we understand this punk iscoming to kill, steal and
destroy, but I am very good andI have eyes that see, ears that
hear, a mouth that tastes, anose that smells, a body that
moves and feels.
(12:02):
What can I do differently?
Well, I can ask where am I,when am I right now?
And like even my voice.
I feel like J-string are sogood at this right, this
curiosity and kindness, that youelevate your voice instead of
being like, well, here you areagain, here we go again, this is
who you are, and instead ofbeing like, oof, where are you?
(12:25):
Where are you?
Who told you that?
That is, that's a power move.
Satan comes, but he doesn'talways get get to, especially
when we slow down and rememberand ask some questions yeah,
yeah, that's so good and evenlike, even getting us just to
think less of like being verygood.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
You know, like I'm just I, you know he kind of
tolerates me, you know, or youknow, I think you know that's
real.
You know, I know I've felt thatway, you know, before my own
journey, and I know, you know somany probably, you know,
resonate with that and even thatstarts to feel like, oh, like
you know, and that's what theenemy wants, right.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
He wants us to feel so much less than everything god
has intended for us you know,yeah boo, I say boo, they got a
princess bride here I digressright there, yes, right to the
enemy.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Well, let's come back to John 10.
Yeah right, like there is somuch more, there's so much
abundance here in John 10.
It's easy just to kind of thinkabout this.
One powerful verse that youknow talks about what the enemy
(13:56):
is after.
But let's you know.
But we're talking aboutreclaiming the senses, right?
So let's pull out some reallygreat stuff here from John 10.
What is something that reallytugs at you when you read
through John 10 in light of oursenses?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Hmm, Well, I think you were even talking about it
when we were talking aboutGenesis 1 and how not sensory
overload, but how captivatingthat was.
Like we cannot even imagine, wecan't right what it would have
felt like to be surrounded by, Imean, the animals, the birdsong
(14:47):
, the trees, the aromas ofcreation at its very beginning,
and I love the message versionof that second part of John
10.10.
I came so you can have real andeternal life, more and better
life than you ever dreamed of.
Like, are you sure?
(15:09):
Are you sure that's for me?
Are you sure that's for me?
(15:32):
And God says, yeah, it is, itis for you and so for me it
brings back the questions again.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Okay, so where are you?
Where are you, Andrea?
Why are you discreditingyourself?
And what's holding you backfrom even considering that this
is for me?
What about you?
Yeah, so a couple of things,you know.
One thing that really standsout to me, too, is that this
phrase that the Lord says here Iam the good shepherd.
So there's the sense, too, thatthere's also a bad shepherd.
And if that's the case, and whoare?
Who are we allowing to shepherdus in our senses?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Right, people can't see us, so my eyes just got real
big.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, like he is the good shepherd you know, again
get us to kind of think counterto all that the Lord has
intended with our sensuality andour senses and the way we
experience them and the joy andthe light.
And also, you know, as I lookin here too and it's easy to
(16:31):
come across it, the sheep hearmy voice.
So there's the I would say, thesense of hearing right and
sound, and that they know him byhis voice and so in a way it's
just, you know, kind of elevatesthis hearing, like in this past
time.
And the sheep also have eyes.
They need to be able to seewhere they're going right.
So this good shepherd isleading them.
The sheep are seeing and they'rehearing his voice.
(16:52):
The sheep are seeing andthey're hearing his, his voice,
and they know in that instancethat all is all as well.
They will follow that shepherdbecause they know they can trust
him, because they have seenwhere he takes them and they
know that his voice leads theminto into life, where the where
(17:12):
that bad shepherd isn't leadingthe sheep right, I mean, he
doesn't even come in through thegate, he jumps over the fence,
he poses a threat to the sheep,and so I think that's some of
the things that come up for me,just thinking about the senses
and even just those images hereof the sheep, and it also, you
know that begins to bring up,too for me, psalm 23.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Oof yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Right, like some really beautiful imagery there,
but again being this kind ofidea of like a sheet being made
to lie down in a green pasture,right, knowing again that this
green path you're taking this inthe sites that you know talks
about still water.
So you can picture these thingsand I'm a I'm a backpacker, so
I love like nature and comingupon, like you know, coming down
(18:02):
kind of into a valley, you know, after maybe we've summited or
wherever that might be, alongour kind of path, and then just
seeing this meadow and thiswilderness and the wind blowing
through these wildflowers andthe trees and hearing those
things and the sound of a brookor that mountain, mountain water
(18:23):
stream, you know I start to getthese kind of images of this
you know just being made to bestill and lie down in in a
setting kind of like that.
You know everything's safe.
You can just take in the senses, you know what can you take in?
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yes, the imagination is really good here, more than
we ever dreamed.
And here's the imagination.
I love the part of Psalm 23,.
You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies,
with clients.
I will be like all right, let'sset the table.
What color is that tablecloth?
(19:07):
What flowers have to be there?
Is there wine?
Are there lemons?
Is it a dessert table?
You know what is it that feedsyour senses?
Set that table and know thatthat is what the Lord is wanting
to set with you and to play inyour imagination a little bit
that way of well, I love this,or this makes me feel good, or I
(19:31):
remember loving this.
That's a sweet way to set thetable and be caught up in this
abundance that the Lord wants tooffer us.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Yeah, and it's hard to think and not think of a
table and just all of the,something like maybe
Thanksgiving or just like all ofthis, this beautiful spread,
all of the something like maybethanksgiving or just like all
just this beautiful spread, allof the, the smells.
Louis giglio has a book calleddon't give the enemy a seat at
your table, and it's about psalm23 and he even goes as far as
he talks about like the table.
It, our reservation at thattable is the most expensive
(20:10):
reservation that we'll ever havebecause of Jesus.
Yeah, and if he's willing to gothat far so that we can
experience the delight and thejoy, the table, the smells, the
sights, the taste, there'sreally something to that.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
So how do you settle into that, Settle in at that
table?
You pursue your goodnessthrough your senses.
Matter matters to the Lord andthat's evident through Jesus
walking this earth wearingsandals, scratchy robes, talking
with friends, breaking bread,eating bread, making wine, and
(20:56):
he legitimizes our senses in areally profound and detailed way
.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jay Stringer says that everyday, if we pay attention, god
solicits us to simpleexperiences of sensuality.
Right, simple, like you know,are you?
But are you seeing it?
(21:24):
Are you hearing it?
Are you tasting it?
Are you hearing it?
Are you tasting it?
Are you living it?
Right, he's also.
He goes on to say essentialityis about opening our bodies to
being present, aroused andinfluenced by the world around
us.
If we do not feel wonder and Ilove that word wonder at the
(21:45):
flight of a hummingbird and Idon't know if you ever had one
buzz by you and just this islike the, I can't even mimic, I
know the sound, it's justincredible.
Yeah, this, this buzz, andthey're so stinking fast, but
they can, they just pause almostlike in midair, and we get to
(22:06):
see that and and hear that,right, but so if we can't, if we
can't feel a wonder of theflight of a hummingbird or an
eagle, he says, or at the scentof mint, how will we even begin
to feel the stunning sensualityof sex or our sexuality?
And so, again, just this ideaof these kind of simple everyday
(22:32):
experience.
We have them every single dayand it's almost like we can
sleepwalk, like we can be maybepresent, but not fully present,
not really see things the waythey are or the way they're
meant to be, and so there's likethis kind of shadow between us,
(22:54):
and you know what's reallythere.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Yeah, so this is where we've got to talk about
how you do this in real life.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Because, I mean, jay ushered us right in.
So thank you Jay, thank youAaron, but I have a lot of kids
so I watch a lot of animatedfeatures and right away I think
of Inside Out and just likethose core memories.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Right.
And so if you haven't seen it,maybe you should see it.
People, but the idea of thecore memory, to me I feel like
the practice of grounding.
Last night my family, we werehaving a conversation about joy.
I have kids, five kids rangingin age from 22 to 11.
And the conversation was loudand quiet and it was a lot, and
(23:43):
I planted my feet on the ground.
Is that step one of grounding?
And you go through each one ofyour senses and I'm not going to
get teary, I'm not going to doit.
I might, but I'm not OkayLooking around at the faces at
the table and noticing each oneof my kids and how different
they look, and the light on theChristmas tree behind John, and
(24:05):
then touch, feeling Winnie, mydog, her head resting on my lap
because I feel like she couldsense that I was taking it all
in and she's crazy, but she's agood little empath.
Smelling the candles we havethe Advent candles burning,
hearing their voices, Tasting Imade Rocky Road Christmas fudge.
(24:28):
What?
That's a whole other thing.
But so I locked in and thiscore memory through grounding
was planting my feet and goingwhat can I see right now?
What am I tasting right now?
What do I hear?
What am I smelling?
What am I hearing?
Each one of your senses, justone thing.
(24:48):
But taking the time to plantyour feet and go through your
senses is tomorrow can look liketomorrow.
We don't even know.
Yesterday's gone.
We have fright now.
So, in a moment of beauty, in amoment of chaos, in a moment of
struggle, in a moment of oh,this is really good, I'm feeling
(25:10):
really good.
What a gift to plant your feetright there and engage your
senses and pursue your goodnessright there.
So grounding is huge.
Practically Do you do it?
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Yeah, I do, and it also it's something I do with
clients, sometimes as well.
Have you ever done that?
Oh yeah, five four, three, two,one yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Yeah, and so those of you listening aren't aware of
that.
It's naming five things thatyou can see, kind of right,
wherever you're at.
If you're outside, if you're inan office, you know it doesn't
matter, like, wherever you're at, what are five things that you
see?
Four things that you can touchright, three things that you can
(25:53):
hear, two things that you cansmell and one thing that you can
taste and for for me that'scoffee right now could taste
that.
But so, just again, it's thisthere's something about doing
that and the grounding that justslows you down, that helps you
get present with your ownphysical body, your being to be
(26:13):
able to see and to name.
And I think that's why I likegrounding so much is because I
think, just as a culture and aspeople, I just think we are so
prone the hustle and bustle andgo and do more and go from this
thing to the next thing.
I used to live in Washington DCand you know we moved out, you
(26:37):
know into Maryland and this, thepace of life is night and day
and what that's done, I think,just for me in particular, but I
know my wife and family as well.
But the slowing down reallycreates that opportunity and, as
you were talking about thetable and your family and just
(26:58):
thinking like how present thosethings can be when the table
forces us to slow down, you know, thinking again about just like
the that, that that thereservation price, the table,
like there's something so sweetabout the slowing down, right
(27:18):
Cause right back in the Psalm23,.
You know that we're made to liedown, to slow down, to take in,
to look around, and I thinkthat's.
I think that's really beautifuland I think that's really
beautiful and I think that'shelpful.
You had also mentionedsomething about body, skin.
Do you want to talk a littlebit about that?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, I'm even thinking about whoever's
listening right now, that, asErin or I said the word goodness
and that it does apply to youIf maybe your heart tightened a
little bit or there was asqueezing in your belly or your
fists got real tight.
A body scan is an opportunityto pay attention to what you're
feeling and where you're feelingit.
I will, with clients and myselfand my family, draw out it
looks like a gingerbread manoutline, right, it's just very
simple arms, legs and a head.
(28:13):
And if something's coming up,where are you feeling that shame
, where are you feeling thattension?
And then get in and label it onthe little body outline and not
only that, but even give itsome color.
Like this is a deep red or ajagged line to show that it and
(28:34):
give it some words like this isprickly.
This is very flooding.
Kurt Thompson says you got toname it, to tame it.
When you can put words to wearon your body, you're feeling and
sensing things.
What a gift to yourself to beable to engage your senses and
your words, to reclaim.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
I love that, yeah, so important, yeah, just being
that heightened awareness ofwhat's going on in our body and
again, just, I think,experiencing the goodness of
senses and and when, when, yeah,when, maybe, when maybe there
is that kind of trigger but wedon't experience the sense the
(29:15):
way maybe we want to.
We see something that makes usthink of something else, or a
wound or trauma or what you saidearlier, a smell.
We smell something and itbrings back memories and that's
real, but I think that it's, youknow, that happens when we
allow ourselves again to slowdown and do something like you
(29:38):
know a body scan, you know which, you know something that we can
, you know, do you know, incoaching or you know, with, with
some kind of guidance from fromsomebody else, to help us kind
of draw back kind of intoourselves and into our bodies,
right, I think another reallygreat way is play.
I'm a father of four and mykids always want to do, you know
(30:03):
, some sort of game or whichnormally you know is like
monster, where I chase themaround the house, and so there's
the yells and the screaming andthe giggling and you know, feel
the floor and different things,right, and so even in something
like play, like play is is soimportant.
And Stuart Brown wrote a bookcalled play how it shapes the
(30:25):
brain, opens the imagination andinvigorates the soul how it
shapes the brain, opens theimagination and invigorates the
soul.
And he says that when we stopplaying, we start dying.
Right, when we stop playing, westart dying.
And and to me that's just,there's so much power in that
(30:48):
because, again, just even thatdescription of running around
with the kids and that type ofthing and you know, I know at
some point they'll be 22 and outof the house and I'm not, you
know, I don't have theopportunity to play monster, you
know, whatever else that theywant to play, right, but there
is just something that happens,like when we experienced that,
like their delight and thedelight in just the connection
(31:11):
and, uh, and those differentthings in golf, like I love golf
, like I you know I would jointhe PGA if I could.
I play every single day, I loveit, I love being outside and it
is like one of my primary, whenit's warm out, one of my primary
ways of self-care.
And so, as we talk about theimportance of how we do some of
(31:32):
these, self-care is so important, especially when it comes to
our senses and so being outsideand a number of different
courses that I've gotten to play, but the, you know the sway and
the flag on the green blowing,there's just so much to take in
(32:09):
and golf is one of those gamesthat it's played over several
hours, so it is a slow game.
It just allows the promotion oftaking in.
You know something like that.
So I think play is reallyimportant when it comes to
self-care, when it comes to oursenses and there's, we just show
(32:29):
, it just changes how we can,how we show up and how we can
engage the world and and reallysee and appreciate, you know,
what, what the Lord's made andwhat he calls good, that we can
experience that.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Yeah, golf is so not fun to me or fun, I'd rather hit
pickleball, just because it'sand I don't know the rules, the
kitchen, all that ball-y, but itis so fun to just and it's
quick.
But there's so many differentforms of play, telestrations
like a board game, silent, let'sgo oh yeah, yeah, there's so
(33:12):
many games, right.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
I mean this is like you know we could go on and on
about all the different types ofgames, right, the different
senses that, the different gameskind of.
You know maybe tap, maybe tapinto.
But all that to say, you knowplay, grounding, you know just
that, really taking things in,you know body scanning, all
really important ways to toreally slow down.
(33:35):
I think that's the big takeawayfor me, it's just the slowing
down, the need to slow down toget kind of back into our bodies
.
You know that we don't down toget kind of back into our bodies
.
You know that we don't justlive in this kind of out-of-body
experience, like we have thesebeautiful bodies that God says
are very good and wants us toexperience the fullness of that
(33:55):
goodness.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah, and you know for what Aaron and I are saying?
We believe it and we are livingthis and we're trying every day
and I pray.
I hope that this conversation,these ideas, these practical
tips are an invitation for aholy interruption, for what
(34:17):
feels like a cycle, what feelspredictable, what feels like a
cycle, what feels predictablethat there's an abundance that's
beyond the predictable.
That we are inviting you to,because of what the Lord has
invited us to.
We say yes to that seat at thetable.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Yeah, amen to that.
Well, listen, as we get readyto wrap up, some of the things
we talked about today again,some of these things we do
through coaching we talked abouttoday again, some of these
things we do through coachingand definitely encourage anyone
listening who struggles withtheir senses or thinking that
they're good, or those types ofthings, to, you know, maybe, you
know, reach out for a coachingsession.
(34:54):
You know we do.
You know free initialconsultations and we'll see
where it goes from there, youknow.
But that comes to mind for sure, as just a really great way to
kind of step into this in a safeway, to begin to maybe work
towards getting back to, youknow, that embodiment of the
(35:14):
good and of the senses as wetalk about reclaiming them.
So, andre, I'm going to giveyou the final word and then I
want to pray us out.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Final word, oof.
There's a lot of pressure onthat one, but I feel like we are
created on purpose, withpurpose, and our senses are a
delightful and amazing way toengage in our goodness.
And so we have put togetherthis scripture sandwich of John
10, genesis 1 through 3, andwrapping up with John 10 again,
(35:48):
and we hope that you feast on it, and we hope that these
practical tips yes, of grounding, body scan play are wonderful
invitations to consider pursuinggoodness because, my goodness,
you are worthy, worthy, worthygoodness because, my goodness,
you are worthy, worthy, worthy,yeah, come on.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Well, abba, father, we just thank you for this
opportunity to hear from you,lord, about our senses, how
you've designed us, lord, howyou've intended us to experience
our sensuality, lord, that it'sfrom you and that it's good,
and we just ask you to be witheach listener, andrea, myself,
lord, in the ways that weexperience our senses.
Lord, help us to slow down,help us to see you, lord, to
(36:38):
hear you like those sheep, andto know, lord, that you are good
, that you are the good shepherd.
And so we ask for yourshepherding, lord, into our
senses and embodying that.
We ask these things in Christ'sname, amen.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Amen.
Thank you, Aaron.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Thank you.
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