Telios Collaborative

Tom McLaughlin (Mr. Mac) has been an award-winning instructor of World Religions at multiple colleges and high schools as well as the teacher of other religious studies courses at the high school level. He is the facilitator of workshops, retreats, and classes through his Telios Collaborative. He is also a writer, spiritual mentor, life coach, and consultant. He loves stories, countless kinds of stories: personal stories, myths, legends, fictional, historical. He loves tales spoken, written, and performed. He loves telling stories through the written and spoken word. Tom has worked with adults and youth since earning a BA in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1985. After serving as an Air Force officer, he worked myriad not-so satisfying jobs before returning to graduate school. His MA from Marylhurst University focused on Spiritual Traditions and Ethics, and his thesis unpacked the relationship between exploring and telling personal stories and being an authentic human being. He has traveled extensively throughout the United States (45 and counting) and Europe, and also ventured to Japan, Peru, Mexico, and Canada. He’s an avid hiker, a lover of movies, and a voracious reader, particularly of fiction. He and his wife Rebecca live and work at our Telios Farm near Portland, Oregon.

To make classes as relevant as possible, we will create an environment in which you feel safe enough to bravely explore and further shape your individual religious or spiritual identity. I invite you, I challenge you to be brave enough to share your insights and questions. More important than memorization of facts is the deeper meaning and potential application of concepts we’ll be exploring. We will concern ourselves with justice and peace, compassion and mercy, love and understanding. What difference can the concepts we explore make in our living and loving, for a world that hungers for our contributions? Information does not become knowledge until we wrestle with the data in the depths of our mind and heart, and then applies it to our living. To that end, think critically about the course material, and seek way to apply it. Each of us has dignity simply because we exist, and everyone deserves to be treated with respect. Each person is essentially lovable, beautiful, and good because the Mystery who is Love chose to create us. Every individual has the right to learn in a safe environment, and therefore has the responsibility to create and foster that environment for one another. This means doing your best, treating others respectfully, listening and speaking at appropriate times, encouraging others, and maintaining a classroom environment that is conducive to learning. I’m glad you’re here. The adventure awaits. We walk this path together. We are embarked.

Lasallian Educator of the Year, La Salle Catholic College Preparatory, 2020-21. Sisters of Saint Mary of Oregon (SSMO) Spirit Award, Valley Catholic School, 2006.

MA Interdisciplinary Studies, Spiritual Traditions and Ethics concentration, Marylhurst University, OR BA English, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN Spiritual Director Certification Training, Urban Spirituality Center, Portland, OR Certification, Blueprint Integrative (Life) Coaching and Leadership Training Program, Ford Institute for Integrative Coaching Mindfulness Fundamentals, Mindful Schools (mindfulschools.org), online training Mindful Educator Essentials: K-12 Curriculum Training, Mindful Schools (mindfulschools.org), online training Equity Certificate Program for School Leaders, Center for Equity and Inclusion with Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR

Author of "100 Ways to Love Yourself...And Why It Matters to All of Us," available on Amazon and at other booksellers.