- 2 days ago
CTP (S4E173) From Desert Years To Deep Faith
Exploring more of the fascinating intersection of Activism, Community Engagement, Faith / Religion, Human Nature, Politics, Social Issues, and beyond.
We talk with Zenia Ioannidis about rebuilding a life when success collapses and the “desert” feeling returns, from panic and shame to steady spiritual practice. We follow how a season of homelessness and prayer chaplaincy training turns into Crowned in Faith, a children’s book and music series built to make faith practical.
• growing up Greek American across Germany, Greece, Boston, then relocating to Miami
• breaking with family expectations while protecting a scholarship and working full time
• building a career in design and creative direction before the market crash
• hitting panic attacks and finding a road back to God through healing work
• developing a teaching practice and creating a personal healing modality
• watching COVID disrupt seminars, income, and community trust
• facing “overqualified” barriers, job-search dead ends, and a homeless shelter stay
• using prayer chaplaincy and “unshaming” to reframe identity and purpose
• writing Crowned in Faith for kids using Christ consciousness principles
• explaining the 12 principles and why early faith questions matter
• adding coloring pages, questions, and songs to make learning interactive
• creating music with AI tools under tight constraints
Exploring more of the fascinating intersection of Activism, Community Engagement, Faith / Religion, Human Nature, Politics, Social Issues, and beyond.
We talk with Zenia Ioannidis about rebuilding a life when success collapses and the “desert” feeling returns, from panic and shame to steady spiritual practice. We follow how a season of homelessness and prayer chaplaincy training turns into Crowned in Faith, a children’s book and music series built to make faith practical.
• growing up Greek American across Germany, Greece, Boston, then relocating to Miami
• breaking with family expectations while protecting a scholarship and working full time
• building a career in design and creative direction before the market crash
• hitting panic attacks and finding a road back to God through healing work
• developing a teaching practice and creating a personal healing modality
• watching COVID disrupt seminars, income, and community trust
• facing “overqualified” barriers, job-search dead ends, and a homeless shelter stay
• using prayer chaplaincy and “unshaming” to reframe identity and purpose
• writing Crowned in Faith for kids using Christ consciousness principles
• explaining the 12 principles and why early faith questions matter
• adding coloring pages, questions, and songs to make learning interactive
• creating music with AI tools under tight constraints
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, welcome to another episode of Perstitutionalist Podcast.
00:06I am your host, Joseph M. Leonard.
00:09That's L-E-N-A-R-D.
00:12It looks French.
00:13It's not.
00:14It's Leonard without an O.
00:17Thank you for tuning in, as Graham Norton used to say, on his show.
00:24Let's get on with the show!
00:26Hello, everyone.
00:28This is going to be a quick cheat intro segment.
00:33I'm going to be lazy.
00:35I've got so many guest recordings built up.
00:39I'm going to get lazy and cheat on some Saturdays.
00:43I don't have to dream up a monologue topic this way.
00:47So, and I'm also not going to say what guest will be appearing because I'm going to be lazy and
00:55cheat
00:55and use this same intro several Saturdays to intro a guest show.
01:03So, as Graham Norton used to say, let's get on with the show!
01:09Surprise interview!
01:11Take care, Cop Plus!
01:15Hello, everybody!
01:16Normally, I would say joining me today and the guest's name, but I'm not even going to attempt.
01:25I already screwed it up before starting record.
01:29So, joining me today is who?
01:32Who are you?
01:36Tanya Ionides.
01:38Ah, okay.
01:39Okay, I just want you to know, Joseph, that every time I start a podcast, it's like,
01:46before we start, can we just get your name right?
01:49It's always that first discussion.
01:51Of course.
01:52Absolutely.
01:53And I don't even want to, now I know how to spell it.
01:58Oh, that's so funny.
02:00Or do I?
02:01I got L-O, that's an I that begins your life.
02:06Right.
02:06You know, it's so funny because you wouldn't start with a lowercase L when you're talking
02:13about an A.
02:13Correct.
02:15But people say to me, is it Loanides?
02:18They always, you know.
02:20It looks like it would be an L, yes.
02:24It looks like it would be an L, but it's a 9.
02:26Now it makes more sense the way you're saying it.
02:30And now I've corrected it on my sheet of paper, so when I edit the episode, it'll be on the
02:39bottom of the screen, spelled correctly at least.
02:45Well, that is perfect because I have to tell you, it actually means Johnson.
02:51Oh?
02:53It's a very common Greek name.
02:57And it means Johnson.
02:59And you know what?
03:00Okay.
03:00Well, I've got it.
03:01If I was smarter, I would have done it, Johanides, and then.
03:04Yeah.
03:05Well, I, of course, have to insert the obvious joke.
03:09It's all Greek to me.
03:11It is.
03:12Mike.
03:13It is.
03:13Mike.
03:14The obvious joke.
03:15I can't let it go.
03:19At any rate, you reached out a conversation that stays lived, not lectured.
03:30I like the way you worded that.
03:33And you went on to say for years, you used to say your life was a walk in the desert.
03:39So, but before we get to that, and then we'll get to your books eventually and mention your
03:45music, too.
03:47Yeah.
03:47Where were you born and raised?
03:49Where are you now?
03:50Those sorts of things.
03:52Okay.
03:52So, I'm Greek American.
03:54I was born in Germany because my parents were working in Germany, Stuttgart, to be exact.
04:02It was Zoonite.
04:03Yeah.
04:05Yeah.
04:05So, I was born in Stuttgart.
04:07And then when I was just a few months baby, they brought me to Greece.
04:11And as it was customary at the time, the parents left the children with the grandparents and then
04:17they went to Germany.
04:18So, I grew up with my grandparents.
04:21And it was a very big thing.
04:24In those days.
04:25Anyway.
04:26So, eventually, you know, I grew up overlooking Mount Olympus, like, you know, up front.
04:32It's like, it sounds like a...
04:35What a view.
04:36What a view is right.
04:37You know, people think that, oh my God, that sounds so whatever.
04:43But it was a small village.
04:44Very nice.
04:45And eventually, we immigrated to Germany.
04:50I mean, to the United States in Boston.
04:52And that's where I went to school.
04:54And, you know, college, et cetera, et cetera.
04:57So, and then I moved back to Greece.
05:01And I was there for many years until after COVID.
05:05And then I moved here.
05:08Where is Miami?
05:10Okay.
05:10Where is here?
05:11I moved back to the States and I decided I have, I was done with the cold and the snow.
05:18No, I don't want that.
05:19You know, it's like, we care, but we're from a distance now.
05:24Okay.
05:24So, I had a very good life.
05:29I studied hotel and food management, right?
05:32My parents did not want me to go to college.
05:36And even though I had a full tuition scholarship at BU, I had to leave home to make use of
05:43it.
05:43Yeah.
05:44Oh, hold on.
05:45Got to interject another joke.
05:47Okay.
05:48It's obvious, right?
05:49Go to BU rather than BO.
05:52Ba-dum-bum.
05:53Right?
05:54Sorry.
05:54Just the way my dumb brain works.
05:58Go on.
05:59Okay.
06:00Okay.
06:01So, I was very disillusioned, very upset, very betrayed, et cetera, et cetera.
06:07So, I decided I was going to reject everything they taught me.
06:13And I was going to reevaluate everything.
06:15And religion was part of what they taught me.
06:17And I reevaluated religion at the time.
06:20You know, I grew up Greek Orthodox, obviously.
06:22And I decided that God was a balancing force in nature.
06:27So, now I'm on my own, working full-time, going to school full-time, trying to keep up
06:32my grades, because it's a scholarship.
06:34You need to have good grades.
06:36So, as you can imagine, life was very hard.
06:39So, and I, of course, was without a family.
06:41So, it's a very school environment.
06:43It's all about family and people talking about family all the time, visiting family, going,
06:48you know, and you have nowhere to go, basically.
06:51So, my life started becoming, I started feeling that my life wasn't walking the desert,
06:57you know, the never-ending, keep going, keep going, never a place to rest, never a place
07:02to sit down.
07:04It was a very harsh environment.
07:07It went on, you know, but I'm a go-getter.
07:10So, I finished Boston University.
07:13I went a year in the theater studies program.
07:17And then I moved on and became a graphic designer.
07:25So, I moved to Greece.
07:27I started working as a graphic designer, moved on to become art director, moved on to become
07:32creative director.
07:33And I was working on very fancy projects.
07:36I've worked on some of the best magazines in Greece, some very good ad companies, advertising
07:43agencies.
07:43We had clients like Palmolive and Citibank, you know, and of course, I started doing user
07:50interface and user experience design, mobile apps, point of sale systems, and all these
07:59very sophisticated things.
08:02And in 2009, I couldn't get a job if I wanted to anymore because the market crashed.
08:09And then, of course, you've done so many sophisticated things.
08:12People don't have that kind of stuff.
08:14And they would say, oh, no, no, no, you'd be bored here.
08:17You know, we don't know.
08:18Right.
08:18They fear.
08:19They use the you're overqualified.
08:22Usually, what that means is we don't want to pay you what you're worth to do what we want
08:27you to.
08:28Exactly.
08:30Exactly.
08:32Yeah.
08:32So, but I was very successful, obviously, in terms of what I was doing.
08:39But at the same time, I was crying myself to sleep every day.
08:44And in 2007, a friend of mine said to me, you know, in 2007, I was already on medication,
08:51you know, because, you know, panic attacks and everything.
08:56And life was very big desert.
08:59OK, so a friend of mine said, you know, that my husband took this seminar and it's very
09:03good, really helps people.
09:05It's taught in English.
09:06You should be doing very well with that if you took it, you know, because you speak the
09:10language so well.
09:11So I went.
09:12Now, mind you, I'm the kind of person that traveled, you know, all over.
09:17Zig Ziglar, Robert Kiyosaki, you know, you name it.
09:22I traveled throughout the world, basically, to attend seminars.
09:26England, Prague, Budapest, you know, I traveled the world.
09:30So now I go to the seminar and it's a metaphysical seminar.
09:36Spiritual healing, blah, blah, blah.
09:38A lot of Jesus Christ.
09:42And I was so down and out on it in my life that I didn't care.
09:50I was like, if this helps, I'll do it.
09:52You know, it's but what happened was eventually I came around to God and spirituality and it
10:00was a road back.
10:01Let's put it that way.
10:02I went from thinking that God was a bouncing force.
10:06So you went on your own way, had your own exodus.
10:10Yes.
10:10You were wandering in the desert and found your way out.
10:14So to use that metaphor, although I like to joke, I'm, I'm a Mensa member.
10:22I'm way too clever for metaphors.
10:24I use meta sixes, but I'm pump anyway.
10:30Well, that's very nice.
10:32Okay.
10:32So I am right.
10:33I'm coming around back to God now.
10:36Okay.
10:40And I had stability.
10:42You know, my life became the before and after the healing work.
10:46Okay.
10:47So the pills helped me that I didn't cry myself to sleep, but I couldn't, you know, I hadn't
10:53solved the problem.
10:53You had to really do actual work to solve the problem.
10:56So now I, things changed within six months.
11:00People were telling me, is that you?
11:02Because it looks like you did something to your face.
11:05Are you, did you do like plastic surgery?
11:08Like, no.
11:09And say, well, it's you, but it's not you.
11:11Like this cloud just left you.
11:14And, um, it was, it was a very peculiar situation anyway.
11:19So I felt calm.
11:20I felt, you know, and things of course improved and kept improving in 2009.
11:24I became a teacher.
11:26Um, and when I was let go from my job in 2009, in August,
11:31I was already doing very well healing work wise.
11:35So it was a very easy transition in the fall of 2009.
11:40I became a teacher and the rest is history.
11:43You know, I progressed to become the teacher of teachers, et cetera, et cetera.
11:46And by 2015, after I've been adding all these knowledge from all these seminars,
11:51I went around, you know what I mean?
11:53I decided that I had developed my own modality and that, um, the seminars that I enhanced and
12:01created, you know, it became a new system.
12:05So I created my own academy.
12:07So I was progressing along.
12:10All right.
12:10I had a very good life.
12:12I traveled to Orlando to take the seminars from Richard Bandler for NLP.
12:17I went to Germany, uh, from the, um, uh, Hicketer, uh, Hicketer, uh, the person who holds
12:27the Hicketer copyrights for Schuss-Lessaults.
12:30You know, he's the world renowned, um, naturopath to do facial diagnosis.
12:36So I'm into alternate healing.
12:38I study, uh, Greek, ancient Greek medicine, but simultaneously you take anatomy, pathology
12:45and all those other lessons, nutrition, and then you do the energetic stuff as well.
12:50So now I'm completing this very, very fancy system and my life is perfect.
12:56I'm traveling to China to teach.
12:58I teach online.
12:59I have a very good life.
13:01And then COVID comes.
13:04Okay.
13:04Okay.
13:05So whatever I had built just died.
13:09Happened to a lot of people.
13:11It's happened to a lot of people.
13:13You're right.
13:14Okay.
13:14And then when it went back, because Greece had a very strict, uh, policy regarding COVID.
13:21It was one of the strictest countries.
13:23And, um, when people got out of that, they were not.
13:28Well, for a long time, because some of them thought it was all a hoax and that we should
13:36pay no mind to it.
13:37And other people were afraid of the shadow and thought they would get sick just by looking
13:42at people.
13:43And now you could put them in one room and have a seminar because some of them wanted only online.
13:47Other people wanted only in person, but you know, six feet apart and whatever feet apart and all these
13:54other situations.
13:55And there's not a room big enough for all of this to house all this craziness and it couldn't work.
14:02You know, I just couldn't work.
14:05So I left off my savings for, for several years by 2023, you know, the savings ended and Greece
14:15now is very poor.
14:16I mean, it had problems before and COVID just about finished everybody.
14:21And, you know, I wasn't relying on Greece for my income anyway, but when the Chinese person got sick
14:31and when the other, you know, things disappeared, I had to move.
14:35So I moved to Miami and I thought, okay, no big, you know, no big deal.
14:39I'll get a job.
14:40Everything will be fine.
14:43Well, I didn't work out exactly like that.
14:48Didn't work out exactly like that.
14:51So I couldn't really get a job because, you know, I would go, for instance, on LinkedIn and the people
14:57say, well, people like you don't really come on LinkedIn.
14:59Well, where do they come?
15:00You know, you know, and of course being overqualified, whatever, whatever.
15:08And, um, I found myself in a homeless shelter and there they said to me, oh my God, we've never
15:17had a person
15:17like you.
15:18We don't really have anything for you.
15:21We only have entry level stuff.
15:23So I stayed there for a few months just to get my bearings.
15:27And then of course, found some job and I got out and that was that.
15:31But during that time, I decided, um, I asked the church for help, obviously.
15:39And they, uh, offered me a free training for their prayer chaplaincy program.
15:48And I said, okay, I've done complicated things.
15:51This should be easy.
15:52Just sit and listen and you pray for them.
15:55You know, that's how hard can that be?
15:57Right.
15:57That's so much more.
16:00So on the last day of training, the coordinator says, now think what you can do with this training.
16:06Now, that particular training was about Christ consciousness.
16:10And the whole premise of the seminar was how to unshame, unshame you.
16:17And of course, at that time I was having so much shame for not being able to take care of
16:21myself.
16:23You know, with all the skills and with all the training and experience that I had.
16:29Yeah.
16:29Sometimes bad things happen to good people.
16:33Right.
16:33You know, that question always comes up.
16:36Why does God allow these things?
16:39Well, this is a fallen world.
16:42He doesn't, we are given free will.
16:45Well, he doesn't meddle in 8 billion people's lives every minute of every day.
16:51Sometimes things happen.
16:54Exactly.
16:54While he's kind of busy over there, you got to worry about yourself.
17:01Exactly.
17:02So in the moment when the Reverend Raul asked about, you know, think what you can do with
17:09this training, I thought, why don't I write a book for children about Christ consciousness?
17:18And I thought I was going to write a book.
17:21And as I started writing, I've done a lot of babysitting.
17:25So I said, as I started writing, I put in there all my, sorry, all my thoughts and all
17:37my training and all my experience from, um, from my healing days, because as a healer, you
17:47face a lot of people that are broken.
17:49And the idea is that they have issues, but at that time, if they're 55, 65, whatever age
17:56they are, uh, they're set in their ways.
18:00Number one, they have to do a lot of forgiveness, a lot of effort and to change is a major
18:09project
18:11because there's far too many things that they've invested mentally and there's just too much
18:16trauma and I'm, you know, things that they could forgive or not forgiving or whatever
18:21it is.
18:22So the idea is, I thought, you know, I've done a lot of babysitting and, um, it would be
18:29easier, um, if, um, it would be easier if I just started with the kids because the kids
18:37they're very open to, to reading this material, you know, storybooks in general.
18:42So the one book became, sorry.
18:47For the benefit of the transcript and those listening on audio only, the title of the book
18:54you're holding up is what?
18:56Crowned in Faith.
18:58Crowned in Faith.
18:59Yes, I can see that.
19:00All right.
19:01So the book is 92 pages long because I started thinking I was going to write a book and then
19:08I wrote one book for each principle.
19:11Okay.
19:12Because there's 12 principles.
19:14So the idea is I wanted to give kids an example of what faith is because that's faith
19:20is the first principle.
19:22So, um, Christ selected each of his disciples because obviously they're kind people and believed
19:30in God and wanted to serve, right?
19:32But they each had a quality or principle that he admired and Peter, for instance, be trusted
19:39God, which means he had faith and Andrew had strength and wisdom, you know, James had wisdom,
19:47et cetera, et cetera.
19:47So we have faith, strength, wisdom, love, power, imagination, understanding, will, and order, and then zeal, elimination, to let go,
19:57and life.
19:58Those are the 12 principles of Christ consciousness.
20:01So he selected each one because they had that quality or principle and all together, these
20:0712 principles make up what is Christ consciousness.
20:11And that means that when you work on each one of these things inside you and you fulfill whatever
20:20it is you need to fulfill for each one of them, you reach Christ consciousness, meaning
20:25you become your best self.
20:27Christ was already perfect in that sense.
20:30He was the most, when he was living.
20:33Okay.
20:34He was the only one that was.
20:36The rest of us, a billion people, are human, frail, flawed, and imperfect.
20:43Exactly.
20:44But he already, you know, he represents that.
20:47And that's the ideal that we work towards in the sense that we have to question when things
20:53come up and say, what would Jesus do, you know, and act according to that.
20:57Okay.
20:58So the idea is I wanted to put practical stuff in the book, like what is faith?
21:04How is faith?
21:06You know, how does it work in the playground?
21:08How does it work with your friends?
21:09How does it work in your family?
21:11When you're helping others, when you're learning new things, you know, when you're alone by yourself
21:16in your room and it's nighttime, you know, helping the community, how do you build faith in the
21:24community and things of that nature?
21:25Because when I was 13, I was wondering, why do you, we believe in God, right?
21:31So I was taking a poll outside the church, asking everybody, why do you believe in God?
21:39And for most people, it's, well, because my parents wanted me to, my parents raised me to.
21:50But yeah, you ask that question point blank and what you usually get indeed back is blank stare.
21:59Right.
22:00Well, the men were very kind.
22:02They would say something along, you know, what you said, tradition.
22:05This is how I was born.
22:07This is what my parents are.
22:09And this is who I am.
22:10And that's it.
22:10I, you know, and the women were very offended.
22:14Oh, I mean, as a rule, right?
22:18Like the women were highly offended.
22:21Which is usually a sign of, I don't have an answer.
22:24So I'm going to just be offended.
22:27Right.
22:29Yes.
22:30As a deflection mechanism.
22:33Exactly.
22:34Exactly.
22:34So my father got wind of it, you know, that I was talking to people outside the church.
22:39So, you know, one day after church, he says to me, why are you talking to people outside the church?
22:46What's going on?
22:47You know, because you're supposed to be inside the church, listening to the liturgy.
22:52You're not supposed to be outside, you know, chit-chatting.
22:56And I said to him, I thought, oh, my God, he's going to be so excited, right?
23:00I said, oh, dad, blah, blah, blah.
23:03It was, I don't know what he expected.
23:06He did not expect that.
23:07He got very, you know, that huge surprise on his face.
23:12And he just slapped me.
23:14And he said, stop talking to married men outside the church.
23:18Oh, that was kind of the bottom line concern.
23:23Yeah.
23:24Well, you know.
23:24I could see that would be an issue.
23:27Yeah.
23:29So really, so really the wives put him up to it.
23:34Well, I don't know who put it up to me.
23:37He was, he was very strict.
23:39So nobody put him up to it.
23:41As soon as he heard that I was doing that, I'm sure.
23:45Because see, what happens is you have to understand.
23:47It sounds like a very harsh thing.
23:48You have to understand that I was 13.
23:55I looked like a young miss.
23:56I was developed, you know.
23:58And of course, in his mind, he's thinking, you give these men proximity.
24:04Yeah.
24:04Access to you.
24:06Things are going to happen, you know.
24:08And he was terrified, you know.
24:10So in Greece, we say he had his eyes 14.
24:14You know, he had 14 eyes around his head.
24:16But anyway, so when I started writing these books, I wanted kids not to have to face that question at
24:2413.
24:25Because it's a lot of, you know, it didn't make sense to me.
24:28We had liturgies and incense and all these chants and all this, you know, Christian language.
24:35But I didn't really get it.
24:36Why is faith important?
24:37Why do people believe?
24:39Yeah, I see what, yeah.
24:42The sooner you introduce someone in the early walk, the better off they're going to be in their later walk,
24:52is what I'm saying here.
24:53Exactly, exactly.
24:55And of course, I tried to make it as practical as possible.
25:00And once I created the book, I said, oh, but kids, number one, they love to color, you know.
25:09So why don't I create some coloring pages?
25:12So it's not just.
25:15And then I said, you know, when you read something to the kids at story time, they have a million
25:21questions.
25:21And usually they stump the parents or their babysitter, you know, because they are so profound in their understanding, you
25:29know.
25:29They will ask the darndest questions.
25:33Okay.
25:33Now, I usually like to say a guest name several times.
25:37So let's.
25:38Zegna, Zegna, Zegna.
25:40These books are all in your name, yes?
25:44Zegna Ionides.
25:46But hey, listen, you can find them on Amazon just by going crowned in faith.
25:51Okay.
25:53So I make it easier.
25:55Yeah.
25:55Let's move on.
25:56We were talking music.
25:58And hopefully you're going to be able to share a video form of one of your songs with me that
26:05I will in post try to add in.
26:08So we're hoping one of your songs will be.
26:12And there definitely will be one of my songs.
26:16I'll be tacking on one of my songs.
26:20But so do the songs relate to the books in a way?
26:26Exactly.
26:27Exactly.
26:28That's the logical thing and the obvious question.
26:32So expound on that.
26:34Yeah.
26:35Right.
26:35So the books, the coloring books, right?
26:39If you read the book, there's questions.
26:42There's 66 questions in the coloring book.
26:46It's called a quest book.
26:48And they have 66 pages to color and 66 questions to answer.
26:53So it's very interactive.
26:55So they can read a little bit of the book and do, you know, the questions and do the coloring
27:00and it becomes a project.
27:02There's the teacher in you.
27:04You're giving them homework.
27:05You're giving them homework.
27:07Yeah.
27:07Well, it's more like fun play.
27:14So the idea was that the other thing that they love to do is sing and dance.
27:19And I said, okay.
27:22Now, just to give you an idea, right?
27:26Each book has obviously its own apostle and then it has its own color.
27:34Indigo blue is for faith because it's the darkest part of the night is indigo blue, like deep blue, right
27:40before the light comes out.
27:42And faith is similar to that in the sense that you have to believe before you see the light.
27:48In other words, you have to believe before you have the proof.
27:52And also there's certain symbols associated with each principle.
27:57And the symbols associated with faith are the dove, the fish, the anchor, the star, and the cross, obviously the
28:05biggest one, and the crown.
28:07Because when you choose to believe in God, you download, I should say, or you draw in the grace of
28:20God through the crown of your head, which is the top of your head.
28:23And you are filled with his grace.
28:26So the idea is you choose to be crowned in faith.
28:30And this is the flagship song.
28:33And I need to share my screen in order to do it because otherwise it will play.
28:38Oh, you have to give me access.
28:42I wasn't going to do that, but we'll try it.
28:45We'll see.
28:46First time for everything.
28:48There you go.
28:49Here goes the experiment.
28:51We'll see what happens.
28:56I have shared my screen on my show before.
29:00I've never allowed a guest to try it.
29:03So we'll see what happens.
29:05Can you hear?
29:07Yes.
29:08I pray and I shine.
29:09Keep God in view.
29:11My faith grows strong and my dreams come true.
29:14Faith is our song and it makes us strong.
29:18Filled with God's love, we will sing along.
29:21With every laugh, with every smile.
29:25We feel his joy.
29:27Oh, yeah.
29:38Oh, it's getting a bit muffled.
29:45Yeah.
29:46Try to send it to me via WeTransfer or Dropbox or something like that.
29:53It's just the link.
29:54I will send you the link.
29:55Okay.
29:56I'll be able to download it.
29:59Well, actually, it's a YouTube video that you can just play it.
30:04Okay.
30:05I have software.
30:08I will try to screen grab it and save it so I'll be able to then edit it in.
30:15Okay.
30:15Again, we're experimenting here.
30:18So we'll see if it's there.
30:20It'll be there.
30:21If it's not, it didn't go well.
30:24I'm sure it'll go very fine.
30:27I'm sure it'll go very fine.
30:28So the idea is that I try to create songs like the Crowned Faith is a rock song, but there
30:36is Caribbean themes and reggae themes and Disney style themes and Broadway productions, country styles, and all different types of
30:45music.
30:46To give the kids also, you know, a lesson in musicology.
30:52Uh-huh.
30:53Uh-huh.
30:54Okay.
30:54But they're all fun, upbeat, sing-alongs, and, of course, they tie into each book.
31:02That's good.
31:03Yeah.
31:04So.
31:04I do.
31:06I used to write.
31:07My dad was Ted Leonard Jr.
31:10He had the Polka Kings band.
31:13They had a three-record deal.
31:15I wrote and record music.
31:17I never got a record deal.
31:19All my equipment's been sold off since.
31:22But now that I'm home on disability and the time on my hands, I write and record also through Suno.
31:29How do you create these tunes?
31:33Well, the lyrics I write myself.
31:37Uh-huh.
31:37But the songs, obviously, the music, I used AI.
31:42Okay.
31:43Yeah.
31:44Because don't forget, this is the homeless version.
31:47Oh, ha, ha, ha.
31:49Okay.
31:50Because what happens is, you know, you have to understand that I was creating this in a place where it
31:57was very volatile.
31:58It was, you know, you didn't have a desk to sit.
32:01You didn't have internet lights out at a certain time, et cetera, et cetera.
32:04So I was running to the library with the rest of the homeless people.
32:07And it was so funny because I would walk into the library and I would sit, look around at, you
32:14know, and the chairs would be taken.
32:17So one person to a table, obviously, and then you have to sit down at some place.
32:22And as soon as I would sit down, the way I presented myself and the way I looked with my
32:27laptop and everything, they would get up and go because they thought I was a real person, like not a
32:33homeless person.
32:34So I had a legitimate reason to be there and they were just, you know, sitting.
32:41Lawyering.
32:42Yeah.
32:44So it was so funny because I was discussing it with a counselor and, yeah, because I said, you know,
32:49I have to actually choose who I'm going to displace.
32:54Because it happened all the time, a hundred percent.
32:58Like I would sit down and, you know, people would just leave.
33:02Okay.
33:04Go ahead.
33:04So now I am creating these and I had a life that was, you know, a walk in the desert.
33:13Then I started the healing work and the desert disappeared.
33:15But when I came here and I couldn't find work, the desert came back.
33:20You know what I mean?
33:21And when I was writing these books, I realized that the desert wasn't out there.
33:27My life wasn't a walk in the desert.
33:29The desert was in me.
33:34You, as the saying goes, wherever you go, there you are.
33:40Your baggage is always going to follow you.
33:45You may think you're going to a new place and getting a new start, but everything you had in your
33:53past comes with you.
33:55It's difficult to shake that.
33:57All right.
33:58Let's start to wrap things up.
34:01Do you have a website for people to find you?
34:05Actually, they can find my books on Amazon, Crowned in Faith.
34:08They can look for YouTube, Crowned in Faith series for the songs.
34:14They're available on all music platforms.
34:17Like if you just go Crowned in Faith in any music platform, you'll find them.
34:20But Crowned in Faith series for the YouTube channel and Crowned in Faith for Amazon.
34:28I will be creating a website for the, you know, for the books, but not yet.
34:37Okay.
34:38Not yet.
34:38You know, I need a couple of more weeks to speak up.
34:43So that's where they can find it.
34:45And soon the books will be available in all, you know, bookstores and wholesale, et cetera, et cetera.
34:52Okay.
34:53Well, thank you for coming by Xenia.
34:55The last name is?
34:58Iunides.
34:59Iunides.
35:00Okay.
35:01No, I, I, since the word need is in there, I was, my brain started trying to go for a,
35:12my, aren't you needy joke or something like that.
35:15Sorry.
35:16Again, just the way my OCD brain works.
35:21That is so funny.
35:26At any rate, we met the pod match.
35:30So yeah, send me that link on the pod match system.
35:34And I'll try to grab it down from YouTube and tack it on if I can.
35:40So if, if it's there, it went well.
35:43If it's not there, I had problems.
35:46But, and there will be a couple of my own songs tacked on to the end there too.
35:52Okay.
35:53So thank you again for coming on.
35:55It was great having you here.
35:56Thank you, Joseph.
35:58It was a pleasure to be here.
35:59Thank you very, very much.
36:09Hope, hope is great.
36:12We need more hope.
36:16But it in itself is not a strategy.
36:21Shall be known by fruits.
36:26Action God demands of you and me.
36:34Hope is a whisper, a pretty thought.
36:37A warm blanket when battles are fought.
36:40But a whisper won't win, no, not a single fight.
36:43Gotta stand up and shout with all of your might.
36:47Yeah.
36:49Hope is fine.
36:51It's a lovely thing.
36:55But hope is not a strategy.
36:58No, it ain't a strategy.
37:01You gotta move your feet.
37:03Gotta feel that beat.
37:05Hope is not a strategy.
37:10For you and for me.
37:15Talk is cheap.
37:17A dime a dozen phrase.
37:19Pretty words spin through all of your days.
37:22But action speaks louder, thunderous sound.
37:25When your boots hit the ground, no turning around.
37:28We can dream big dreams, paint pictures in our head.
37:31But if we just sit still, we might as well be dead.
37:35The fruits of our labor are what the world will see.
37:38Not just what we wish for.
37:41But what we choose to be.
37:46Cause hope is not a strategy.
37:49No, it ain't a strategy.
37:53You gotta move your feet.
37:55Gotta feel that beat.
37:56Hope is not us.
38:21In the dust of my own mess, you still call my name.
38:28The air, hands shaking, heart unsteady.
38:31You don't look away.
38:34You stand in the middle of it all, closer than my fear
38:41I was lost in the crowd, and you drew me near
38:47And every walk falls down, when you step into the room
38:53Every lie goes quiet, when I hear you move
39:00My soul leans in, my knees give way
39:06I know who you are, I know what stays
39:14God among us, God among us
39:20You are here, you are here
39:26God among us, God among us
39:33Oh, comes a light right here
39:37You are here
39:39You are here
39:42You are here
39:48You touch the broken table, you touch the bent and bruised
39:55The morning finds the ashes, and they bloom for you
40:01You hold the names I can't say, you carry what I hide
40:08When I'm too weak to stand up, you keep me alive
40:14And every walk falls down, when you step into the room
40:20Every lie goes quiet, when I hear you move
40:27My soul leans in, my knees give way
40:33I know who you are, I know what stays
40:40God among us, God among us
40:46You are here
40:48You are here
40:49You are here
40:53God among us, God among us
40:59Hope comes alive right here
41:03You are here
41:05You are here
41:08You are here
41:15Savior in the shadows
41:17King with nail-scarred hands
41:21You don't run from my ruins
41:24You rebuild the land
41:27Here in the ache
41:30Here in the blaze
41:33I lift my voice
41:36I lift my voice
41:38And I keep saying
41:40God among us
41:44God among us
41:47You are here
41:48You are here
41:50You are here
41:51You are here
41:54God among us
41:57God among us
42:00Hope comes alive
42:02Right here
42:04You are here
42:05You are here
42:09You are here
42:12You are here
42:32Does God still speak today?
42:39He is in everything
42:42In every way
42:47In the growing trees
42:51In every bird that chirps
42:55Dewdrops glistening
42:57Whispering in every breeze
43:02Those are his works
43:06Real question is
43:09Are you listening?
43:16Does God still speak today?
43:21I hear it in the trees
43:23In every bird that chirps
43:27In every bird that chirps
43:28In the things you let me see
43:32Dewdrops glistening
43:34On the leaves at dawn
43:37Those are his works to me
43:42All day long
43:46When I look and listen
43:48You are here
43:52You are never far
43:53Every little living thing
43:56Says who you are
44:00He is in everything
44:02He is in everything
44:06He is in everything
44:10He is in every way
44:10He is in every way
44:14I am
44:15In every breeze
44:16And every heart
44:19That waves
44:20In every heart
44:22He is in everything
44:25He is in everything
44:28He is in everything
44:28He is in everything
44:44Now you are here right now
44:46When I look and listen
44:48You are never far
44:51Every little living thing
44:55Says who you are
44:57He is in everything
45:01He is in everything
45:04He is in every way
45:08He is in every way
45:12In every breeze that moves
45:15In every heart that awaits
45:18He is in everything
45:23He is in everything
45:28Open my eyes again
45:31Teach my soul to see
45:35The holy and the simple
45:38The wonder and the leaf
45:43If I ask you where
45:46You answer with my words
45:49In the work of your hands
45:54In the whole wide earth
45:59He is in everything
46:02He is in everything
46:06He is in everything
46:10He is in every way
46:10He is in every way
46:14In every breeze that moves
46:17In every heart that awaits
46:20He is in every way
46:25He is in everything
46:28He is in everything
46:32He is in everything
46:35Sometimes, as it may be in metaphors
46:40As riddles, in rhyme
46:43He is speaking
46:47Are we still listening
46:50In these fallen times?
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47:33God bless
47:34Love you all