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In this inaugural episode of the Mystic Cave I greet my new listeners, spiritual seekers who, like me, find themselves on the other side of conventional religion. It may feel like a daunting journey into the unknown. But we're not alone ... and it's such a rich and verdant terrain. This podcast is all about exploring that terrain.

I launch the series with a personal reflection about putting the church behind me. It's a piece I wrote for the Alexandra Writers' Centre's 40th Anniversary Anthology (2021). We can't possibly find new life until we go back and bury our dead.

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: mysticcaveman53@gmail.com

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

This is the start of my memoir about life in the church, titled, "Lost Rites: Leaving Church Land." I wrote the memoir to try to understand why, after a lifetime in the church, almost forty of those years as a parish priest, when I left, I was done. The story starts here, with an unsettling epiphany smack in the middle of a worship service.

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: mysticcaveman53@gmail.com

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022

Click here to send me a text message (include your contact info if you want a reply).

I begin my story with my memorable ordination as a deacon. It was a strange experience, being "raised up" to become a lowly servant. Even then, the contradictions abounded. Not like my early experience of church, where it was all about safety and security and, above all, belonging. My childhood in North Vancouver was idyllic, and my family provided a place to learn to manage the tension of being both a willful Leo and a lamblike middle child. The stage was being set for my formation ... as a future minister.

Credits:
1st Interlude: bicycle tires on dirt road or gravel by Garuda1982 / License: Attribution
Music Credit: "Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2021
Photo Credit: Chad Dudley

Links:
Web Site: https://www.brianepearson.ca
Face Book Group: "The Mystic Cave"
Email: mysticcaveman53@gmail.com

Personal Links
My web site (where you can sign up for my blog): https://www.brianepearson.ca
My email address: mysticcaveman53@gmail.com

Series Music Credit
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison, performed by Colin James, from the album, Limelight, 2005; licensed under SOCAN 2022