The Long Letter

Episode 23: On Pollock, Snaza, Swope, Retaliation, and Whatever

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 20:00:00 -0700

Yeah, it's been awhile since I've published an episode and I'm a little rusty. Having said that, try to follow along as I look behind the scenes of a local political kerfuffle and try to tease out the different pieces to see if there's more that can be understood about small town politics.

Episode 22: Syringes, Swope, and Punitive Public Health Policy

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 23:00:00 -0700

Ever wonder how an ordinance becomes a law? Well, join me on this fantastic journey through the seedy underbelly of public policy creation. In my longest episode ever, try to relax while I walk you through no less than 6 public meetings about a dubious ordinance of unknown origins and justification that seems hand-designed by some dark entity intent on destroying Gather Church and, with any luck, just may succeed in finding a reason to arrest Cole Meckle.

I'm kidding. It's Swope. He's peddling an ordinance under "accountability" again and, yes, it appears solely directed at Gather.

Episode 21: Grace Can Lead Us Home - Conclusion

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 18:00:00 -0800

Well, it's certainly been a minute but I'm finally wrapping up the series on the book Grace Can Lead Us Home. Listen in as I talk about abundance, beauty, and how we measure success.

Episode 20: Grace Can Lead Us Home Ch 7 - Addiction and Recovery

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 20:00:00 -0800

Want to find out what happened when scientists in the 70's provided cocaine laced water to rats in a cage? Or maybe you would like to better understand addiction and the factors that contribute to its cause? Listen in as I discuss the topic of addiction and recovery from the book Grace Can Lead Us Home - A Christian Call To End Homelessness.

Episode 19: Samantha Davis

Sun, 29 Oct 2023 13:00:00 -0700

Listen in as I talk with Samantha Davis about her struggles with addiction, having her children taken away, doing the work to get them back, and all of the people and services that enabled her to find recovery and a purpose helping others that find themselves in a similar situation. Or in her own words: "I want to use all of this hard stuff to do something good."

Episode 18: Jennifer Adkison

Sat, 02 Sep 2023 19:00:00 -0700

Listen in as Jenna shares her experience with navigating her mental health care and how that would later inform her calling to help others who are struggling. This episode has it all: un-diagnosed mental health conditions, inappropriate laughter, unintentional innuendo, the death of a beloved uncle, and more inappropriate laughing. It's amazing we got through this one at all.

Episode 17: Grace Can Lead Us Home - Substance Use and Overdose

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 14:00:00 -0700

In this episode, I continue to discuss the book Grace Can Lead Us Home and I'm joined by my guests Lily Lo and Gillian Davis who both serve in Gather's Meds First clinic. The conversation details on the difficulty of providing treatment for addiction, how fentanyl turned everything upside down, and why harm reduction matters to a community.

Episode 16: Grace Can Lead Us Home Ch 5 - Mental Health

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 08:00:00 -0700

Listen in as we discuss the difficulties of navigating the thorny issues of mental health and housing as we continue our discussion on Grace Can Lead Us Home. This episode features Daylen Gonzales and Kat Meckle, who share their experiences in working in behavioral and mental health services. Meanwhile, I'm terrible to Nate on several occasions and we liberally exercise the censor button.

Episode 15: Grace Can Lead Us Home Ch 4 - Community and Solidarity

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 17:00:00 -0700

In this episode, we discuss the themes of community and solidarity in regards to encampments, race, gender, LGBTQ+, and more, with special guests Troy Westergard and Patty Howard. Listen in as Nate gets me monologging twice, I hit the wrong sound effect on the board yet it still works out, and I apologize to Brenda for something stupid I said 20 years ago. Just a whole lot going on in this episode.

Episode 14: Grace Can Lead Us Home Ch 3 - Isolation and Connection

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 10:00:00 -0700

This episode covers chapter three of Grace Can Lead Us Home. We discuss the topics of isolation, connection, trauma informed care, and more. Listen in as I wrongly assert the author of ending a sentence with a preposition, which Judd has the best beard (or worst), and how we can use trauma informed care when dealing with those in opposition to us, or even ourselves!

Episode 13: Grace Can Lead Us Home Ch 2

Sat, 27 May 2023 14:00:00 -0700

This episode tackles chapter two in Grace Can Lead Us Home and it's all about housing. In this discussion, Nate Judd and I look at some statistics regarding our local housing issues, merit based vs housing first models, pet peeves of a Christian sort, and at one point I highlight the theological concept of being a douchebag.

Episode 12: Grace Can Lead Us Home Ch 1

Wed, 03 May 2023 07:00:00 -0700

Listen in as Nate Judd and I blame his wife Kayla for our month long absence. In this episode we discuss chapter one of Grace Can Lead Us Home: A Christian Call to End Homelessness. This chapter is on Seeing and Being Seen.

Episode 11: Sean Swope Needs Our Help

Sun, 23 Apr 2023 19:00:00 -0700

Listen in as I review an interview between Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope and Chad Taylor, owner and publisher of The Chronicle, as an example of political discourse that is chock full of misdirection, anecdata, and outright misinformation and falsehoods.

Episode 10: Grace Can Lead Us Home - Introduction

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 07:00:00 -0700

The Long Letter celebrates its 10th episode by changing it up a little beginning with a new series on Kevin Nye's book Grace Can Lead Us Home: A Christian Call To End Homelessness. Even more exciting, I'll be joined by Nate Judd as he co-hosts this series with me. Listen in as we discuss the introduction to the book and touch on all of the topics it contains: homelessness, addiction, mental health, and more.

Episode 9: Maria Petty

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -0800

Listen in as I talk with Maria Petty, a mother of four who tragically lost her 16 year old son to fentanyl and is making it her mission to educate others about the difficulties of parenting in an unsafe world. This episode is the longest yet and it deals with extremely difficult topics such as addiction, parenting, trauma, chronic pain, education, faith, and more.

Episode 8: Cole Meckle Pt 2

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 07:00:00 -0800

"I'm not saying that the people in need of these services are rabid racoons... what I'm saying is that we are not Elf" - Mitch Guthrie

Ever wish you could listen in as Cole and I preach at each other about Gather's provided services all the while using terrible animal analogies while Allyson tells us from the back of the room that we need to keep all this in the final cut? Well, there's that and more in this sprawling interview about all sorts of things.

Special thanks to:
Cole Meckle for sharing
Gather Church for the use of their facilities
Allyson Arras for assisting

Episode 7: Cole Meckle Pt 1

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 15:00:00 -0800

Cole Meckle sits down with me in this episode (part 1 of 2) to discuss the programs and services Gather Church provides as well as looking back at what has been accomplished this past year.

Special thanks to:
Cole Meckle for sharing
Gather Church for the use of their facilities
Allyson Arras for assisting

Episode 6: Chad Holmes

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 09:00:00 -0800

Listen in as my guest, Chad Holmes, discusses how a raid on his house in Boston led him to fly to the PNW... only to land in jail anyways. Chad tells his story of addiction, community, recovery, and getting baptized in the Skookumchuck. Learn why it's now his mission to help others overcome addiction in a changing landscape.

Special thanks to:
Gather Church
Chad Holmes for sharing his story
Allyson Arras as the "Assistant to the Podcast Producer"

Episode 5: Leah Rader

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 11:00:00 -0800

Listen in as I talk with Leah Rader about addiction, the loss of her newborn, living without electricity for over a year, a tragic murder-suicide, and most importantly, life after addiction and loss.

Special thanks to:
Gather Church for the use of their conference room
Leah Rader for sharing her story
Allyson Arras as the "Assistant to the Podcast Producer"
Brooke Reder for being an Emotional Support Human

Episode 4: The Christmas Eve Episode

Sat, 24 Dec 2022 16:00:00 -0800

This episode is just me talking by myself like that's normal and whatever. Updates on my future plans for the podcast and content. Perhaps you're looking for a good book to curl up with this dreary winter? Listen in as I share The Love That Is God by Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt.

Episode 3: Steve's Story

Mon, 12 Dec 2022 08:00:00 -0800

How does a wayward pastor's kid find himself stationed in Germany, dealing with a bad acid trip, during the Vietnam war? Listen in as I talk with my guest Steve Brown on finding God, living with chronic pain, care giving, and how a Frito can remind us that it's not all bad.

Special thanks to:
Gather Church for the use of their conference room
Steve Brown for sharing his story
Allyson Arras as the "Assistant to the Podcast Producer"

Episode 2: Charles' Story

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 10:00:00 -0800

Listen in as my guest Charles Ray and I discuss alcoholism, ruminative thinking, safe communities, and housing... all the while bonding over being curmudgeonly.

Special thanks to:
Gather Church for the use of their conference room
Charles Ray for sharing his story
Allyson Arras as "Assistant to the Podcast Producer"

Episode 1: Brooke's Story

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 10:00:00 -0800

How do you save a life marked by an abusive childhood, domestic violence, drug addiction, and homelessness? Listen as Brooke Reder tells her story of surrogate families, a place to call home, finding safety, and our shared humanity.

Special thanks to:
Gather Church for the use of their conference room
Brooke Reder for sharing her story
Allyson Arras as "Assistant to the Podcast Producer"