About this episode

Walt and Joel discuss the concept of divine encounters and how seemingly random moments can have profound impacts on our lives.

What if every person you meet, every fleeting moment, every heartbreak, every kindness, is not random at all but divine? In this powerful conversation, Walt and Joel pull back the curtain on what they call divine encounters and reveal how the smallest moments can reshape an entire life. Early on, Walt poses the core question behind the whole episode: Are some encounters truly divine, or is every encounter divine if we let it be? Joel answers not with theory, but with stories. Joel shares a lunch-time encounter with an elderly man in recovery for 50 years. At first, Joel admits he was just trying to eat in peace. Then the man says something strange: “I’m not going to fall in the Grand Canyon today because I’m not at the damn Grand Canyon.” It sounds like nonsense until he connects it to relapse: if you don’t want to relapse, don’t go near the edge. Don’t go to the places, people, and situations that pull you toward it. A “random” old man at lunch becomes a spiritual and practical teacher in five minutes. Walt reflects on his own powerful encounter with Joel: an interview in 2012, when Joel was guest number 12 on a brand-new podcast. Walt recalls thinking it was just “one good…

People in this episode

Host: Walt Thiessen

Guest: Joel

Topics covered

• divine encounters
• life-changing moments
• spirituality
• friendship
• personal growth

Keywords

• divine encounters
• spiritual teacher
• life-changing
• friendship
• personal growth

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: LOA Today

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