that time I did a podcast about my life in the Lord’s Recovery Cult

and the sacred stories that followed

I have a friend. His name is Ben. Ben has a podcast. Ben invited me to be a guest. I talked about my life in a cult. The episode dropped. This is a what happened next.

What followed was an outpouring. My inbox filled with messages—some from people I knew, others from names I only vaguely recognized, and many more from strangers altogether. Each note carried the weight of a story, and every story traced back to the same place. The Lord’s Recovery.

Some wrote as people who had already left. Others wrote as those standing on the trembling edge of leaving. And in every word, I was reminded, again and again, how much harm this place has inflicted. Each day I learn more of what happened behind those walls, and each day it breaks my heart anew.

But what rises strongest in me is not only grief. It’s pride.

Because leaving take unimaginable courage. To walk away from the only world you’ve known, to face the silence after relationships fracture or disappear, to accept the heavy price of freedom—it’s a road few can understand unless they’ve walked it. And yet so many of you are walking it.

To those who have reached out: I see you. I am proud of you. Keep going. The struggle is real, but so is the life on the other side of it.

One more thing, I am not just a writer. Yes, I have the tools of the craft, but what I am most deeply is a storyteller. Stories are sacred. They carry power. They carry truth. They carry us.

It is one of the greatest honors of my life to listen to stories and to hold them up so that they might resonate in the world. So if you have a story you’re ready to tell—whether openly or in anonymity—I welcome you to reach out. I would be glad to help you give it shape, to offer it space, and to amplify not only where you’ve been, but also where you are now.

Because stories are how we survive. And sometimes, they are also how we begin again.

You can find the episode HERE, as well as all the other usual platforms.