ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Episode 13: Honoring by Name
Release Movement
At the end of Episode 12, Winston made a promise: to show what it looks like to honor, by name, specifically and out loud, what a pattern built in you before you ask it to stand down. This episode keeps that promise.
Winston sets the record straight on how his discharge speech came to be, from a reading assigned weeks before the Effingham retreat, to a blank page on the porch, to the nerve-wracking moment he first let someone else read it.
Spiritual director Sibyl Towner returns with the story of handing The Springs to its next generation of leaders: speaking words of release before she could fully live them, and letting those words ask her a question. Then Winston names, one by one, what his loyal soldier built, and invites you to do the same.
In This Episode
- Why honoring is "re-membering": gathering the fragments of a life and saying thank you before ever saying goodbye.
- From the page to a witness: the vertical and horizontal "shape of the cross," and why honoring eventually needs a village, even a village of one.
- Sibyl Towner on releasing a place she helped build, the grandparent's posture of letting go, and the words that asked her, "Are you going to live me out or die me out?"
- Why specific naming matters: the difference between "thanks for everything" and naming what a pattern actually built.
- Winston's loyal soldier honored by name, with two lines from the discharge speech he wrote on the porch.
- A three-part practice for the week: name the need, name what it built, and let someone hear it.
- Why honoring comes before grieving, and grieving before releasing.
Featured Poems
Hundreds of poems available at https://myreuniontour.com/my-reflections
- Tour Day 987: "Re-Member" (opening)
- Tour Day 997: "Honor" (closing)
Mentioned in This Episode
- Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, by Richard Rohr
- Sibyl Towner, spiritual director and co-author of oneLife Maps (heard in Episode 4)
- The Springs Retreat center, Indiana
- Erica Vinson Stearns (heard in Episode 12)
Resources & Links
- My Reunion Tour program → https://myreuniontour.com/the-journey
- Schedule a conversation with Winston → https://chatwithwinston.com
- My Reflections (poems + photos) → https://myreuniontour.com/my-reflections
- Subscribe → Audible • Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Amazon Music
- Search for "Begin Again with Winston Faircloth" in your favorite podcast streaming app
If This Episode Resonated
If today's conversation stirred something in you — visit https://chatwithwinston.com. Schedule a chat with Winston. An honest discussion about where you are right now.
And if today's episode resonated — share this episode with them.
You're right where you're supposed to be.
About Begin Again
Begin Again is a companion to the My Reunion Tour program — a faith-based journey for people in the second half of life who sense that the identity they've been carrying no longer fits. Each episode moves through one of four movements of the soul: Remember. Recognize. Release. Reunite. Season One's sixty stories of perseverance and starting over remain in the feed. There is no wrong place to start.
