My name is Jody Whelden. I am so pleased you are visiting.
“The heart’s wisdom is the outpost to the world. The heart registers each moment, integrates your needs and knows the direction of next steps. You are the round-trip bridge between you and Source. Blessings for the journey.”
Greetings! Thanks for visiting. My focus these days is writing my fiction coming of age novel, doing speaking and short written commentary on everyday spiritual living. Here is my update…
FICTION – I am in the third revision of my coming-of-age novel about a 16 year-old girl on the New Hampshire Coast. Hoping for it to be ready in Spring 2023. However, books-in-process have their own plans and they don’t tell you ahead of time.
NON-FICTION – I have put aside my Heart-Wisdom, Spirituality and Illness (aka Spirituality of Illness book). The more I did revisions the more it kept changing. That is because I have kept changing – so rapidly that all the premises I started out with have fallen by the wayside. Trying to fit my new awarenesses into the old skin of the original book proved impossible. So, the manuscript is being bound and stored on my bookshelf as finished. Even with all the book’s vulnerabilities which keep it from being published, I hold it close as a treasured record of my work in hospital chaplaincy over 15 years.
COMMENTARY ON EVERYDAY SPIRITUAL TOPICS IN THE 21ST CENTURY – I enjoy doing short commentary, the effect of so many ministerial columns over the years I think. Some will show up here in my blog and in online publications (I hope!). I do not have a regular schedule yet, but they will be posted here and sent out to my mailing list. Use the contact page here to ask me to put you on the email mailing of blogs.
OTHER: On request, I speak on 21st Century Spirituality. I put my art up for sale on cards on Zazzle. I love being an officiant for weddings and memorial services. See menu for the contact sheet to get a message to me.
May humanity continue to increase its love for goodness, truth and beauty.
Love, Jody
Wisconsin, 2022-23
Stopping by the Side of the Road: A Tale of Dying
This is a poignant tale of a special encounter that touches the heart and brings peace to the process of dying. Created from the heart by Jody Whelden, Unitarian Universalist minister, whose mission it is to create peace within and with others, Stopping by the Side of the Road gently offers comfort and peace to those experiencing death their own or that of loved ones. A thoughtful gift and compelling narrative. Beautifully illustrated by Ann Thomas.
Fiction Young Adult Book Coming Next Year –
Fiction – Coming of Age Novel set on NH Seacoast As sunset begins, a lone person rides the ocean waves in a small-motorized boat. At sixteen, Emma finds refuge from her manipulative mother by taking to the sea. However, a surprise storm overtakes her and she must fight for her life. Somehow, she gets to shore. This baffling survival awakens Emma to a mysterious source of inner strength. Even though she is astonished by the experience, Emma reverts to old habits of denial and dismisses what happened as a fluke. But, the door to her inner gifts has been opened. Try as she might to ignore the experiences, unusual insights emerge in event after event. Emma’s denial leads to worse and worse consequences. New and old friends help Emma face her inner demons and stunning family secrets. But, she alone can claim her gifts to unwrap the dilemmas of her life. Issues of diversity, racial equality and evolutionary spiritual shifts in humanity are the backdrop for this 21st Century coming-of-age story.
Now doing WEDDINGS and MEMORIAL SERVICES
Spiritual but not religious. Find out more.
We are One Art Series
Contact Jody for more information.
