Faith Meets Academia
Welcome to Faith Meets Academia!
Struggling to connect your faith with everyday life, career ambitions, or academic pursuits? Hosted by a university professor and ordained minister, Dr. Adrian Reynolds, this podcast will help you translate your faith-based values into personal growth, professional development, and academic success. Faith Meets Academia emphasizes that faith and work can forge a mutually sustaining partnership.
Each episode breaks down complex academic concepts into everyday language and connects them with timeless spiritual principles for transformational learning and development. By the end of each episode, you will be equipped with practical tools to set the tone for a purposeful, productive week.
Join the journey today!
Your host, Adrian Reynolds (Ph.D.), is an ordained minister, learning coach, and assistant professor of medical education at an R1 university. He is on a mission to merge educational innovation with biblical wisdom. Dr. Reynolds brings over two decades of teaching experience across the educational continuum: from working with underserved, high school students as a state-certified instructor of Spanish to coaching students in graduate and professional degree programs in evidence-based teaching skills and the science of learning.
Dr. Reynolds’ work is located within the rapidly growing field of applied learning sciences and is driven by both socio-cognitive and sociocultural approaches to learning and teaching. His preventive model of academic coaching has been published in journals such as Medical Teacher and Clinical Teacher. He has held over 1,000 (one-on-one) academic coaching sessions with medical students, residents, fellows, and pre-med students. Dr. Reynolds has developed numerous peer-teaching programs for medical students in addition to courses in the science of learning for residents, pre-med and high school students.
Dr. Reynolds has been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ for over 10 years both nationally and internationally. He has long been recognized to seamlessly intertwine academic concepts with biblical principles: His approach to preaching and teaching the word of God is centered around growth mindset (Philippians 4:13), transformational learning (Romans 12:2), and reflective, mindful practice (Philippians 4:8, Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:97).
As a missionary ambassador, Dr. Reynolds has embarked on transformative journeys that bridge cultures and continents, bringing tangible support and hope to those in need. Most recently, in the fall of 2023, his dedication to humanitarian causes led him to Mozambique: From the bustling streets of Maputo to the serene countryside of Inharrime, through the unwavering support and sponsorship from faith-based leaders and communities, Dr. Reynolds has played a pivotal role in the allocation of humanitarian aid and educational resources, providing essential support to elevate community wellbeing.
Earlier that year, he engaged in a mission focused on cultural exchange and relationship-building in the Maputo province to better understand and address local challenges. Through these missions, Dr. Reynolds exemplifies the true essence of a missionary ambassador, integrating service, education, and faith into impactful action.
Faith Meets Academia
Episode 37 - The Power of Being Still: Finding Peace and Clarity in a Busy World
Can the simple act of being still transform your life? Discover the impact of stillness on a personal, professional, and spiritual level in this episode. As you go through the relentless pace of modern life, uncover how intentional moments of quiet and calm can deepen your connection with God, promote reflection on his blessings, and lead you to a peace that transcends understanding. By integrating stillness into your daily routine, you can tap into a wealth of clarity and serenity that paves the way to perfect peace and a renewed relationship with God.
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DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely my own and do not reflect or represent the positions, policies, or opinions of my employer, any organization or academic institution with which I am affiliated. This podcast is a personal initiative, and is not connected to my official/ formal duties and responsibilities as a university professor.
Hey friends, how's it going? Welcome back, happy Monday, welcome back. I pray that you'll have a most productive, blessed week. Thanks for joining me again for another episode of Faith Meets Academia. We are on episode 37. Episode 37 already. Can you imagine that? Wow, wow, wow, time really flies. As they say, time flies when you're having fun.
Dr. A:And this has been an absolute joy, absolute pleasure for me to be joining you, for you to be joining me a week to week to activate the power of the Holy Scriptures by translating them into practical, actionable strategies for growth in our daily personal, professional and academic lives. It's been one exciting journey and I have no regrets about starting this venture. That took me totally out of my comfort zone, but I feel like I've made significant progress, just personally, professionally, and I'm way more comfortable in this podcasting space. Right now. I see where my relationship with the Lord has gotten deeper through putting together these episodes, these episodes. It has allowed me to be more consistent in spending high quality time with God, and so, as these episodes have benefited me, based on the feedback that you've been giving, they're helping to change and transform your life as well. So thanks for being here for episode 37.
Dr. A:And this one's titled the power of being still. If you can see it and believe it, it's yours. It's yours, you can achieve it. An episode on that, it's episode 15. Check it out, Episode 15, see it to achieve it. Guided visualization for personal success. All right, so today we're going to talk about the power of being still. The power of being still. It's going to be a quick one, but it's going to be good. It's going to be good, so stick around.
Dr. A:Before I go further, however, I'd like to make this disclaimer the content of this podcast, including this episode, is for informational and educational purposes only. I am not a therapist or a physician. The information discussed should not be taken as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you are experiencing severe fear, anxiety or any other mental health challenges, it is important to seek help from a qualified healthcare professional. Do not disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking professional medical advice because of the content discussed in this or any other episode. If you are in need of immediate medical assistance, please contact a mental health professional or call your local emergency number.
Dr. A:Here's the deal. Life can sometimes feel so overwhelming, fast-paced and stressful. You know, kind of like you. Just you find yourself almost like you just keep running on empty. You know, kind of like you. Just you find yourself almost like you just keep running on empty like day in and day out, with hardly any breaks in between. But I want to encourage you today. I believe it's critically important for our own health and wellbeing to consistently find the time to be still, find a quiet place, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and reflect on all that's going well, the battles you've overcome, the victories that you've won. It's really worth it. And I'm telling you what I've experienced, not what I've read. I'm telling you what I've experienced.
Dr. A:There is no one right way or correct method for being still, for practicing this stillness. You really can't mess this up. Just take a few minutes to be still. Let's hear what David says, Psalm 46:10,. Be still and know that I am God. The more we practice being still, intentionally putting ourselves in a relaxed state of mind, the more we come to know the Lord. Again, David says, "Be still and know that I am God.
Dr. A:I mean, have you ever found yourself praying and you start to get distracted? You start thinking about whether it's the bills you have to pay or that work project that you didn't get done, helping the kids with their homework. Whatever it is, a million things just start running through your mind, when your original intent was to focus on connecting with God. Well, that tells me that maybe we need to be more intentional about first being still, and the more we practice being still is, the better we'll be able to focus on the Lord. So, friends, let me just encourage your spirits today Pray in the stillness, count your blessings in the stillness. Whether you want to call it meditation, reflection, breath counting, call it what you will, let's just call them all being still.
Dr. A:Think about God's love in the stillness. Think about his mercy in the stillness. Think about his goodness in the stillness. Think about His goodness in the stillness. Oh, I feel still. Just by talking about being still, woo Woo. In the stillness, you can find his perfect peace.
Dr. A:Philippians 4: 6 and 7. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything. By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God. I said there's peace in the stillness, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds. Through Christ Jesus, let's look at what Isaiah says in Isaiah 26:3. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.
Dr. A:Your access to that perfect peace lies in the stillness. You're not going to find that peace in the hustle and bustle and the business of everyday life. It takes being still to access that peace. Peace I leave with you, Jesus says in John 14: 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Dr. A:We find ourselves in such troubled state of mind because we haven't really taken enough time to be still. Oh, there's power in the stillness. There's power in the stillness. In the stillness you can find rest. Have you ever wondered why you wake up in the middle of the night, can't fall back asleep. You go to bed with so much on your mind that it interferes with high quality sleep. That's because all day long you've been going, going, going, going. No stillness, no rest. And I'm not talking about taking a 30 minute or a one hour nap. I'm just talking about a few minutes of just being still In the stillness. Yes, you can find rest. Still In the stillness, yes, you can find rest.
Dr. A:Jesus says St Matthew 11: 28,. Come on to me. Oh, what a great invitation. All you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You can find God's guidance in the stillness. You've got to be still in order to hear his voice, because God is not going to compete with noise, he's not going to compete with clutter. You can find, you will only find his guidance and hear his voice in the stillness.
Dr. A:David says in Psalm 32: 8, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. In the stillness family, you can find hope. David says in Psalm 42: 11, why are you cast down, o my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Oh, sometimes you've got to speak to yourself, your own soul. Hope in God.
Dr. A:David is encouraging himself in the Lord. He says hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, the help of my countenance and my God. You can find renewal in the stillness. Isaiah 40: 31. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
Dr. A:In his stillness you can connect with his presence. You can connect with the presence of the Lord in the stillness. James 4:8 says draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Oh, here's the perfect recipe for bringing you into the stillness. Philippians 4:8. Oh, if you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you know that's my all-time favorite. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate, meditate on these things.
Dr. A:Try being still today. It's not going to take a lot of time. Try being still. Let me know how it goes. Let's take time to pause, reflect and to be still in God's presence. Make this a routine practice in your everyday life. Just take five minutes in the morning to be still On your lunch break. Take another five minutes to be still Before you go to bed. Take another five minutes to be still. I mean just a total of like 15 minutes, even if it's 10 minutes out of a 24 hour period. I know we can do this. Come on, we got this, we got this. I can't wait to hear how you feel once you've experienced this. There's a large body of research that shows that taking the time to be still engaging in mindfulness practices can help to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, chronic stress and many other health battles that we fight. Again, there's no one right way to do this, just do it. I'm encouraging you to try this out, this practice of being still, based on my own personal experience. Like I've tried this and it works.
Dr. A:I wear a ring. I'm not going to tell you the name of it, I don't want to do free advertising, but I have a ring that gives me data-driven, scientific evidence of the impact of being still. So that's really just confirming what I already know through the Holy Scriptures. But you know, when you can see the numbers, it's really powerful. And this ring tracks physiological changes during my stillness practices, my meditation exercises. It tracks my heart rate. So during meditation, this ring measures reductions in my heart rate, which indicates relaxation and activation of what they call the parasympathetic nervous system, system which is responsible for promoting relaxation and recovery. This ring also tracks my heart rate variability. They call it HRV, and so a higher HRV during meditation sessions shows improvement in stress management and my response to being in a relaxed state of mind. The ring also tracks my respiratory rate, my breathing patterns and it does show a slower, more consistent rate during meditation consistent rate during meditation. And so, ever since I started to consistently engage in the stillness in meditation practices, my level of focus has improved. My sleep has improved. I try to do this every night before I go to bed and I can see changes in these numbers that are tracked by my ring, and seeing that evidence just gives me more motivation to keep engaging in the stillness.
Dr. A:For some more practical guidance on how to rest your weary mind in the stillness, you can check out episode 14. Episode 14 is titled Breathe In, stress Out Mindful Journey Through Breath Counting. Also, you can check out the article in the show notes or in the episode description for some more step-by-step practical guidance on being still Family. Enjoy the rest of your day, enjoy the rest of your week and please, in order to invite others into this space to join us on this exciting journey called Faith Meets Academia, please spread the word, spread the love, share one of the podcast episodes with a family member, a friend. We've accumulated quite a bit up to this point. Like I said, we're on episode 37. So listen, there's no pressure to listen every single episode, right, you might find some more relevant to you more than others, and that's totally fine.
Dr. A:You can access Faith Meets Academia on any major platform or wherever you get your podcasts, whether it's Audible, amazon Music, spotify, apple Podcasts, you name it, it's out there. You can also send me an email at faithmeetsacademia. That's faithmeetsacademia at gmailcom. F-a-i-t-h-m-e-e-t-s-a-c-a-d-e-m-i-a at gmailcom. Until next week, stay blessed and be still.