The Invitation

Feb 22 2025 101 ep. 45 mins 263
The Invitation Podcast artwork

The Invitation podcast is a 'little retreat' to help you hear and respond to the God's invitation to a deeper relationship with him. Each episode is a guided prayer and meditation led by Josh Banner, a certified spiritual director.

  Religion & Spirituality
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Rediscovering Belonging: Reflections on Contemplation, Justice, and Community No. 100

Feb 22 2025 18 mins  
In this hundredth episode, I share the completion of my doctoral dissertation, reflecting on the impact of global and national issues on our well-being. Drawing inspiration from Willie James Jennings, I explore the concept of a new reality in belonging and its significance in our polarized world. As an introvert and Enneagram 4, I discuss the challenges of making video podcasts and

Year End Giving! - A 2024 Update & Meditation on Creative, Maladjusted, Non-Conforming Faith

Dec 22 2024 34 mins  
In this episode discuss my journey with The Invitation, the challenges and goodness of 2024, especially as I finish my doctorate! To wrap up the year I share four sacred sayings that have helped me, a reading from Dr. King, Paul Kingsnorth, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and Howard Thurman. This update serves as a meditation exploring themes of justice, contemplative listening, and openne

Apatheia

Nov 06 2024 5 mins  
"Lord, teach me to care and not to care." It's been awhile since I needed to process with music. Found sounds here just outside my studio on a windy day. Here's our original release: https://ordinaryneighbors.bandcamp.com/album/the-necessary-dark

From Victims to Witnesses - Forum on Spiritual Direction No. 98

May 31 2024 44 mins  
In this episode six members of the School of Contemplative Listening respond to our conviction that spiritual direction can solve (almost) all the world's problems. This is an episode in our onrunning Forum on Spiritual Direction series. As we propose contemplative listening at the vital intersection of contemplation and justice, we are getting into the deeper terrain of existence

Our Deep Need for Listening - Forum on Spiritual Direction w/ Cami Beecroft Mann No. 97

May 21 2024 67 mins  
We all need help. We can all offer each other help. Cami has taught me so much about these things! This episode is a conversation Josh had with SOCL co-director, Cami Beecroft Mann in 2021. We consider this episode a prequel to the Forum on Spiritual Direction where Josh and Cami discuss the conviction that spiritual direction can solve (almost) all the world’s problems. Downlo

On Becoming a Human Being Fully Alive - Makoto Fujimura No. 96

Apr 10 2024 62 mins  
Josh talks with painter, author, arts advocate Makoto Fujimura about the connections between creativity and prayer. To introduce Makoto Josh offers a reflection on Makoto as a 'worldly mystic,' how he offers for us in his paintings and writings ways to rediscover our own sacred yet earthly existence. The video referenced "Mako Fujimura's Golden Sea": https://youtu.be/2B7_8w_FzPw

Getting Honest with God & Belonging to Myself w/ Kristi Hepp No. 95

Mar 27 2024 77 mins  
Josh talks with Kristi Hepp about her new record "In Between the Gardens." This is the third episode that maps Josh's history with Oklahoma City where Kristi originally hails from. The focus question of this episode is the focus question of Kristi's record, what is a human being fully alive? In this episode, we discuss whether we could make a record that Kristi would want to listen

Suffering & The Mystical Body of Christ w/ Charlie Hall No. 94

Mar 12 2024 79 mins  
What do we do with suffering? Why would we want to cooperate with the pain? How can suffering be helpful? There are many reasons to be concerned with the way organized religion handles these very vulnerable questions. In this episode, I talk with worship leader Charlie Hall, an old friend about these things. That we can engage such vulnerabilities after so much time--this bears w

The Jesus Prayer & the Philokalia w/ Brock Bingaman No. 93

Feb 26 2024 75 mins  
This is a conversation I had with Brock Bingaman, pastor of All Saints Community Church in Oklahoma City, on the Jesus Prayer and a book he co-edited on the Philokalia. Brock is an old friend I was glad to reconnect with for this conversation. Maybe breath prayer could be especially helpful for your Lenten journey this year? Books recommended in this episode: The Philokalia: A Cl

Screwing Around With Our Dependencies in Lent No. 92

Feb 12 2024 33 mins  
This episode is a meditation on screwing with our dependencies in Lent. In the language of the Twelve Steps of addiction recovery: we are powerless over our drug of choice, and our lives as we know them are unmanageable. The purpose of Lent is to subvert our addictions that we might become more dependent upon the love of God. But we cannot do this easily. We cannot force our way t