ALSSI News
January 2026
Hello!
The good news is we’re almost through January! (Don’t let the door hit you on the way out…)
The even better news is, ALSSI Season 11 kicks off in just 5 days!
Get ready to join us for conversations about Big Ideas. As always, we’ll continue to need your voicemails, and we look forward to your contributions to our ongoing Substack chat as this season’s discussions unfold and spark a few big ideas of your own!
Reminder that if you’re a paid subscriber, you always have access to these chats. If you’re a donor but don’t give through Substack and you want to participate, drop us an email and we’ll gladly hook you up. If you can’t contribute now, we don’t want you to miss out! Drop us an email for a comp subscription, no explanation required. Thanks for your support!
Calendar:
2/03 Season 11 begins! 🥳
Ep. 249—Big Ideas | Belief—In this episode, we discuss Belief. Is there a bigger idea for Latter-day Saints?
2/05 Say More 1 (Cynthia)
2/06 Friday Live Chat (Belief)
2/10 Ep. 250—What About Sin?—In this episode, we share listener voicemails for a deep dive on the concept of Sin
2/12 Worthy Stuff (Susan)
2/13 Live Chat (What About Sin?)
2/17 Ep. 251—What Do You Say?—In this episode, C&S play ALSSI’s new card game of questions, answers, and conversation
2/24 Ep. 252—Reclaiming Your Voice | A Conversation with Katie Ludlow Rich
2/26 Newsletter
Whew! That looks like a long list for such a short month! Jot down anything you don’t want to miss. As always, our Friday Live Chats don’t require registration—the Zoom link will drop in the regular chat a few minutes before the meeting begins at 10:00 am Mtn.
Meanwhile, you may have seen this on our social media this week:
On Feb 17 we will intro a new segment for the podcast: What Do You Say? (You have plenty of time to get acquainted with NPR’s Wild Card podcast between now and then, if you’re curious. That’s where we got the idea!)
We’ve been asking women What Do You Know? for 6 years … now we want to hear what women have to say about their lives and experiences in response to a variety of personal prompts.
We have decks of card with questions under the headings Beliefs, Insights, and Memories. Guests will pick a card and we’ll pose the question which they can answer, pass, or turn back on us. The conversations should be wide-ranging and fun! With this game we hope we can add many more voices to our podcast. Our plan is for these conversations to replace our regular Embracing Your Journey episodes in Season 11. Stay tuned!
“When I’m speaking about the path of the ordinary mystic, I am speaking very much about being present with what is, whatever that may be—not turning from it or trying to explain it or couch it in some kind of theological language. It’s a kind of naked experience of reality.
“When I say yes to what is, it feels like a space opens up around whatever the experience is that’s vast enough to contain it, whether it’s difficult or glorious or absolutely mundane—but the mundane as a portal to the sublime.
“The yes has this magical quality of peeling back the protective layers that we can’t help but put between ourselves and the heart of the universe, which is love.”
—Mirabai Starr
ALSRI Book Club—
Our next book club meeting is scheduled:
April 16, 2026
7:00 pm Mountain
Register to receive Zoom link by clicking here
We both love-LOVED this book, and we hope you will too. Get started reading now, and plan to join the discussion!
Anything we missed? 🤷♀️
Hope not, but if we did, you know where to find us! Can’t wait to be back with new conversations next week. Meanwhile, thanks for being part of this community!
Warmly,
Cynthia and Susan
& The ALSSI Team
“Here’s my prediction: As we propagate the world with wild mystics, the citadels of hate will naturally crumble and fall.”
—Mirabai Starr
Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life as Sacred Ground