Old news. Bad news. Fake news. Sometimes you want to shut down and get no news at all! I aim to change that by focusing on good people doing good works. I visit with artists, educators, civic & spiritual leaders, musicians, business owners, students, volunteers, and everyday citizens who are using their creativity, resources, and talents to bring hope, happiness, and goodness to their corner of the world.
Episodes
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
Find the Good News Journal - Entry 1 - The Laughing Buddha w/Oran Parker
In this Find the Good News Journal Entry I take you on my morning prayer and meditation walk to the Maplewood Commons in Sulphur, Louisiana. I talk about the past year of Good News, where goodness comes from, attending Julia O'Carroll's Tea at Walden journaling workshop, forgiveness, resentment, what the best version of me looks like, and what the road to my best self is paved with. I touch on Christianity, Buddhism, and where my spiritual life falls on that spectrum. This is what Find the Good News looks like when I'm talking to you instead of my guests. I hope that this journal entry will be of value to someone on their way.
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SUPPORT FIND THE GOOD NEWS ON PATREON >> www.Patreon.com/FindTheGoodNews
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FIND THE GOOD NEWS IS PRODUCED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com
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Wednesday Sep 25, 2019
Ep. 58 - The Poured Heart Ft. Chance Savant - Find the Good News with Oran Parker
Wednesday Sep 25, 2019
Wednesday Sep 25, 2019
Openness. Truth. Honesty. The best stories are made up of these things, and I think that’s the holy trinity of what makes Find the Good News so unique. Each guest has come in here with their openness, truth, and honesty, and for those affiliated with programs, groups, businesses, or non-profits, their truth is tightly wound within the essence of their affiliation. I don’t say this lightly. I’ve seen it over-and-over again with individuals that have come to the Right Round Table. I witnessed it again when Chance Savant—a representative of NAMI Southwest Louisiana—came to visit me on Find the Good News. When I made my initial list of organizations to invite on the show, NAMI was at the top. As can often be the case, the plans we make are superseded by the natural momentum that forms when time and actions march on. Chance coming in to talk about NAMI—almost one year later—reminded me that making space for something to happen, increases the odds of its occurrence. NAMI Southwest Louisiana is an incredible resource for individuals and families that live with mental illness, providing information, resources, and peer-lead groups. For some with a mental illness, NAMI Southwest Louisiana can often offer assistance with housing and some medications. Most importantly, NAMI Southwest Louisiana creates a safe space for people with mental illness to be heard. Being heard, as Chance shared, is often the first step on the road to living a whole and happy life. While we did talk about NAMI, it was Chance’s personal testimony that opened the shutters and let the light in. This young man took me to periods in his life where depression and anxiety firmly gripped his day-to-day. On this journey, he showed me the healthy way out, the value of presence, deep listening, and reminded me of the healing power of personal sharing. He opened his heart to me, and to you, and in pouring out his truth, his words can bring solace to others. This is the great medicine telling our stories. This is the healing hope of finding and sharing the good news.
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SUPPORT FIND THE GOOD NEWS ON PATREON >> www.Patreon.com/FindTheGoodNews
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FOR MORE INFO ABOUT CHANCE SAVANT & NAMI SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA >> https://www.facebook.com/chance.savant.3 or https://www.namiswla.org/
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CALL THE NAMI SWLA WARM LINE >> 337-433-2500
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FIND THE GOOD NEWS IS PRODUCED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com
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WHISTLE STOP DANCESPORT >> Call (337) 515-7577
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BRIMSTONE MUSEUM >> www.brimstonemuseum.org or Call (337) 527-0357
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Wednesday Sep 18, 2019
Wednesday Sep 18, 2019
Ever since I started producing Find the Good News, I've wanted to do an episode that was explicitly about fathers and their sons. One thing I've never tried to do with this show is to force my energy in a specific direction. I have found that allowing guests to flow through naturally has allowed this signal to become what it's supposed to be, whatever that means. It's still a mystery. Recently, a series of auspicious circumstances placed me in the right place at the right time to hear the most lovely music being emitted by the flittering phalanges of Jack Harrell at Stellar Bean in Lake Charles, and there at a nearby table was Jack's father, Richard, who happened to be an old friend of mine from high school that I'd not spoken to in many years. As luck would have it, Jack and my son were in the Sulphur High School Marching Band together. Suddenly, it all clicked. I started having all of these visual memories of Richard sitting in the stands. I assumed he was there to watch the game, but as I thought on it further, I realized I'd seen him after the games as well, waiting for the marching band to do their after-game performance. If you're a band parent, you know how much these performances mean to the kids. All of that came rushing into my mind, all the nodes connected, and I knew I'd found my father and son. Our conversation went exactly as I'd hoped. We talk about love, the challenges of raising a good human being in this world, and the way a relationship between parent and child evolves over time. Richard and Jack were literally as far apart as two terrestrial beings could be, and somehow they ended up together in this relationship that continues to unfold in new ways every single day. I learned that relationships are going to change, especially those between a parent and their child, but change doesn't mean it has to grow cold. What I learned is that love makes you willing to be there when the change occurs, and it prepares you to bend when the flux occurs. Jack may be the one who plays the piano, but it's their relationship that helped birth the music. If you're a parent or considering becoming one, listen to this father and son visit and share with me, and make sure you stick around… because Jack brought his piano to the Good News studio, and that means you're in store for a musical treat.
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SUPPORT FIND THE GOOD NEWS ON PATREON >> www.Patreon.com/FindTheGoodNews
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FOR MORE INFO ABOUT RICHARD and JACK HARRELL >> https://www.facebook.com/Retr0pian0-111539696901593/
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FIND THE GOOD NEWS IS PRODUCED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com
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FRESH FUEL >> www.TheFreshFuel.com or www.facebook.com/thefreshfuel
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WHISTLE STOP DANCESPORT >> Call (337) 515-7577
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BRIMSTONE MUSEUM >> www.brimstonemuseum.org or Call (337) 527-0357
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Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
It’s not easy for me to avert my gaze when I see someone in needs, especially the homeless or food impoverished. If you’ve listened to this show, then you know that images of the hungry affected me deeply when I was a little boy, and those photos haunt the hallways of my mind every single day. Still, being haunted by something doesn’t always motivate one to take action. I won’t lie to you and say that I’ve always helped or given, no matter how heavy my heart may have felt. Perhaps this is why I am humbled when I meet people who have said yes when the call to serve is placed on their heart, who go do the work even if circumstances aren’t favorable for them to do so. This is what I saw with my own eyes when I visited with Kelli Stawecki at the Waters Edge food pantry in Lake Charles, Louisiana for this Road Trip edition of Find the Good News. Like many, I had heard about the Waters Edge food pantry, understanding that they were serving the needs of the food impoverished and homeless in Southwest Louisiana, but what I didn’t grasp was the swelling number of homeless and impoverished in our area. While headlines boast an economic boom, there are families and individuals that cannot provide the basic needs for their children, or for themselves. While the needs increase, and resources decrease, Kelli Stawecki and the volunteers at the Waters Edge food pantry continue to arrive and serve food and supplies to those in need, but their hearts are bigger than even that. By allowing me to come and film, Kelli invited me into the presence of what I can only call the Loving Heart of God, burning hot with compassion. Many times throughout the day, I simply stood stunned by the waves of mercy I witnessed, and the eyes of gratitude that looked back from those being served. I felt the great blanket of equanimity in this space, and on the faces of each servant, I saw smiles, true joy. Kelli Stawecki and the volunteers at Waters Edge may be offering full bellies for those that enter the doors of their converted sanctuary, but if the love that expanded in my heart was any indication, then I believe those being served leave filled with something that of immeasurable value. They learn that they are seen and loved, that their existence matters. They are reminded that humanity is still good, no matter how hard the world may seem. This is the Good News I have been seeking, and I have found it yet again in Kelli Stawecki and the good people at Waters Edge.
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SUPPORT FIND THE GOOD NEWS ON PATREON >> www.Patreon.com/FindTheGoodNews
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FOR MORE INFO ABOUT KELLI STAWECKI & WATERS EDGE >>https://www.facebook.com/kelli.stawecki or https://www.facebook.com/watersedgelc/
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FIND THE GOOD NEWS IS PRODUCED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com
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SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
•••••••••••••
FRESH FUEL >> www.TheFreshFuel.com or www.facebook.com/thefreshfuel
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WHISTLE STOP DANCESPORT >> Call (337) 515-7577
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BRIMSTONE MUSEUM >> www.brimstonemuseum.org or Call (337) 527-0357
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Tuesday Sep 10, 2019
LIVE - FIND THE GOOD NEWS - FT. THE HORROR AND HOPS PODCAST
Tuesday Sep 10, 2019
Tuesday Sep 10, 2019
HOSTED BY Oran Parker & Morgan Allain (The Inkling Girl)
In this episode of Find the Good News we go LIVE with Kevin Lambert, Thunder John, and Kevin Johnson of the Horror and Hops Podcast, a show about good horror movies, great beers, and even better friends. They talk about the origins of their show, their favorite scary movies, and their upcoming LIVE event at Crying Eagle on September, Friday the 13th, 2019!
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EVENT FEATURES:
6-10pm at Crying Eagle Brewing Co. in Lake Charles, Louisiana
No Cover / Free Event (Buy Your Own Beer at Crying Eagle)
LIVE podcast before and after the screening of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Listen to the Horror and Hops Podcast on all the best podcast platforms.
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SUPPORT FIND THE GOOD NEWS ON PATREON >> www.Patreon.com/FindTheGoodNews
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FOR MORE INFO ABOUT HORROR AND HOPS PODCAST & THEIR EVENT >> https://www.facebook.com/horrorandhopspodcast/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/229013261349674/
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FIND THE GOOD NEWS IS PRODUCED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com
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Wednesday Sep 04, 2019
Ep. 55 - The Lawnmower Ft. Jengi Miller - Find the Good News with Oran Parker
Wednesday Sep 04, 2019
Wednesday Sep 04, 2019
Like you, I’ve looked at a lot of artwork in my life. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and more often than not each work’s beauty is relevant to the particular eye of the beholder. We see it, process it, gauge it, place it somewhere on our value spectrum, often within the first moments of exposure. What most pieces don’t reveal to us is the story of the artist, the textures of their life. This is the treasure I received when I sat down to visit with Jengi Miller, artist & owner of Louise E. Anna Creations located inside Flock of Five Art Emporium in Sulphur, Louisiana. Jengi is an artist, a creator, that gives old and discarded objects a second life through creative adornments, modifications, pairing, and painting techniques. Not unlike Jengi, many of these possessions have stories of their own, and if they could talk they would likely weave tales of joy, sorrow, love, and loss. Unlike the art she creates, Jengi can share her story, giving new meaning to the passion she puts into her work. Hers is a story of impermanence, change, and rebirth, building a new person on the framework of an old life. It’s a story of a life, death, living with the memories of what came before, embracing all of the pains those memories bring and transmuting them into the energy to shape something new. Jengi Miller has taken the parts and pieces of her life, snipping and tossing what didn’t fit, added new things that did, and created a version of herself that is healthier, happier, and able to greet each tomorrow with eagerness and genuine joy. Jengi hasn’t forgotten her losses and pains. She honors them through her transformative artwork, in the rebuilding and repurposing of lost and disregarded things. Perhaps we all carry around old objects inside ourselves, things we’re hanging onto that are only taking up space in our minds and hearts, weighing heavy on our spirits. Maybe, like Jengi, we can find a way to transform them, enshrine them with love, and give new meaning to our lives in the process.
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SUPPORT FIND THE GOOD NEWS ON PATREON >> www.Patreon.com/FindTheGoodNews
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FOR MORE INFO ABOUT JENGI MILLER & LOUISE E. ANNE CREATIONS BY JENGI >>https://www.facebook.com/jengi.miller or https://www.facebook.com/louiseeannacreationsbyjengi/
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FIND THE GOOD NEWS IS PRODUCED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com
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SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
•••••••••••••
FRESH FUEL >> www.TheFreshFuel.com or www.facebook.com/thefreshfuel
•••••••••••••
WHISTLE STOP DANCESPORT >> Call (337) 515-7577
•••••••••••••
BRIMSTONE MUSEUM >> www.brimstonemuseum.org or Call (337) 527-0357
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