Podcast Summary: Contemplify
Episode: Remembering Lerita Coleman Brown on Waiting for a Word in the Heart
Host: Paul Swanson
Guest: Dr. Lerita Coleman Brown
Date: December 20, 2025
Episode Overview
This special episode of Contemplify honors the life and wisdom of Dr. Lerita Coleman Brown, who passed away just over a week before the airing. The episode rebroadcasts a rich conversation between Paul Swanson and Dr. Brown about her book What Makes You Come Alive? A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman. Together, they explore the themes of contemplative spirituality, the influence of Howard Thurman, the power of nature, journaling as a spiritual practice, and the courage to listen for a “word in the heart.” The conversation is filled with Dr. Brown’s practical wisdom, anecdotes, and invitations to listeners to deepen their own spiritual practices.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Formation Through Adversity and Nature
- Jack Pine Seed Metaphor [03:47]
- Dr. Brown uses Howard Thurman’s meditation on the jack pine seed, which requires great heat to germinate, as a metaphor for her own spiritual awakening through adversity.
- Quote: “My life is epitomized in a jack pine seed... Needed a lot of adversity, a lot of challenge in order for me to actually produce a book like I did.” — Loretta Coleman Brown [04:37]
- Formative Elements [05:55]
- Key formative influences: time in nature, A Course in Miracles, and the practice of journaling.
2. The Practice of Journaling [07:58]
- Dr. Brown began journaling regularly in her early twenties, integrating reflections from all areas of life.
- She emphasizes journaling is a practice of self-reflection and self-knowledge, crucial to the spiritual journey.
3. Contemplative Daily Rhythms [10:39]
- Brown shares her daily contemplative routines:
- Morning Pages: A stream-of-consciousness writing practice to clear the mind.
- Quiet Time with the Presence: Sitting in stillness for about 30 minutes each day.
- Stillness and Nature: Going outdoors to “catch a bit of stillness.”
- Hourly Reminders: She sets an alert on her phone to pause and reconnect with Presence at the top of the hour.
- Minimal News Consumption: To maintain inner peace.
- Aspirations for an Evening Practice: Acknowledges the challenge of sustaining contemplation at night.
- Quote: “There’s something powerful about stillness… that sort of quiet, deep, pulsating energy of stillness is what holds all things together.” — Loretta Coleman Brown [12:15]
4. Childhood Practice: Sitting in the Wind [15:15]
- Brown describes a lifelong practice of sitting outside in the wind, experiencing its embrace as peaceful and serene.
- She draws an analogy between the wind and the Spirit (“The spirit is like the wind.. you can’t see it and you don’t know where it’s coming from or where it’s going.”).
5. The Importance of Paying Attention [19:53]
- Brown and Swanson reflect on “watching nature unfold as it will”—a grounding practice accessible to all.
- Brown laments how often the busyness of life causes people to miss the wonders around them, illustrated by students at the University of Colorado who ignored the beautiful mountains.
6. Howard Thurman’s Nature Mysticism
- Emperor Penguins & Community [21:10]
- Thurman admired emperor penguins for their cooperative parenting, seeing in them a metaphor for harmonious community.
- Thurman even painted penguins and collected penguin-themed items.
- Quote: “Anywhere he saw a harmonious connection, whether it was people or nature, it was a sign to him that there is this underlying oneness and this connection of all things.” — Loretta Coleman Brown [22:04]
- Trees and Rivers as Metaphor [23:57]
- Thurman was “born a mystic,” and his earliest contemplative practices were connected to sitting under a tree.
- The oak tree for him represented rootedness and the capacity to withstand life’s storms.
- Rivers symbolized movement toward the Source and the shaping forces of life.
- Thurman conveyed that mysticism is possible outside of cloistered communities—ordinary life can be a context for deep spiritual connection.
7. Inner Authority and Vocation
- Discerning One’s Call [33:00]
- Brown highlights Thurman’s concept of “inner authority”—clarity about what is yours to do and the freedom to say yes or no.
- Quote: “Once one understands that they are a holy child of God... they have a sense of agency, they can say yes or no to anything.” — Loretta Coleman Brown [33:15]
- Thurman waited for “a word in his heart” before responding to major decisions and was not swayed by external pressure.
- Brown notes that many avoid asking for spiritual guidance because they fear unwanted answers.
- Quote: “Most people don't want an answer, which is why they don't put the question out [to the Spirit].” — Loretta Coleman Brown [37:44]
8. Thurman and Dr. King: Sacred Synchronicities
- Thurman’s Guidance to MLK Jr. [39:35]
- After MLK Jr. was stabbed, Thurman, following a vision, counseled him to take serious time for silence and discernment.
- This pause led King to India and deeper commitment to nonviolence.
- Brown connects this story to a web of providence and the “ripple effect” of contemplative action through history.
- Quote: “It’s almost as if you don’t have to be an organizer, you don’t necessarily have to be marching to have an extraordinary influence on something.” — Loretta Coleman Brown [43:54]
9. Contemplation and Social Change [46:31]
- Thurman demonstrated the marriage of contemplation and action: the example of Dr. King kneeling in prayer at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and then turning back after listening inwardly for guidance.
- Brown asserts that activism is unsustainable without deep spiritual grounding.
10. The Concept of the Working Paper [50:26]
- Working paper: Thurman’s idea that everyone should maintain a document—a living reflection—on their purpose and sense of self. It should be revisited and revised throughout life.
- Brown shares that hers focuses on “midwifing the spirit” in others, helping them discover their own spiritual resources.
- Quote: “For Thurman, he sort of felt like you need to be thinking about why are you here and what is your purpose and how do you know who you are?” — Loretta Coleman Brown [50:54]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “He [Thurman] was a mystic who was not living in a cloister... he was living among people and using his observations of things like nature and people... to help spark ideas about the presence in others.” — Loretta Coleman Brown [28:32]
- “When we work in concert with the Spirit, I think we can take things much further along than if we're trying to do it ourselves.” — Loretta Coleman Brown [47:33]
- “Thurman said a true mystic is a person who has yielded their nerve center to God.” — Loretta Coleman Brown [54:02]
- On drink pairings: “...a good mojito... it reminds you of being outside and being alive.” — Loretta Coleman Brown [56:31]
Timestamps for Key Segments
| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|------------| | 03:09 | Dr. Brown on her childhood & adversity (“Jack pine seed”) | | 05:55 | Three mandatory works/forms of formation | | 08:13 | Journaling as spiritual practice | | 10:39 | Dr. Brown’s daily contemplative practices | | 15:15 | Practice of “sitting in the wind” | | 19:53 | Learning from nature and attention as contemplation | | 21:10 | Howard Thurman and emperor penguins | | 23:57 | Trees, rivers, and natural metaphors in spirituality | | 33:00 | Inner authority and discerning one’s role | | 39:35 | Thurman/MLK Jr. story and sacred synchronicity | | 46:31 | Contemplation and activism—Edmund Pettus Bridge | | 50:26 | On “working papers” and self-reflection | | 56:31 | Drink pairing: Mojito |
Conclusion
This episode of Contemplify is both a tribute to Dr. Lerita Coleman Brown and an exploration of Howard Thurman’s contemplative lineage. Through stories and embodied practices, Dr. Brown invites listeners to cultivate stillness, pay attention to nature, journal, and listen for their own unique calling. She models, with humility and authority, how spiritual depth sustains authentic life and social transformation.
Practical Invitation for Listeners:
- Consider spending time quietly in nature, perhaps even sitting and feeling the wind.
- Take up journaling, not as a rote discipline but as a practice of self-reflection.
- Try keeping a “working paper” to revisit your sense of calling and spiritual questions.
- When facing decisions, ask: “Is this mine to do?” Wait for that “word in the heart” before moving forward.
Dr. Brown’s legacy lives on in her writings, her stories, and the seeds of contemplation she planted in those who listen.