I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Jul 16, 2025

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Michael and Phebe close out the first half of Season Two of For the Good of the Public podcast with a benediction by Rev. Dr. Nicole Massie Martin, Chief Impact Officer at Christianity Today, Founder and Executive Director of Soulfire International Ministries and founding board member for the Center for Christianity and Public Life. Dr. Nicole talks about hope as a metric for success and the key ingredient for having a peaceful life. Hope is part of our Christian life, and she reminds us through the inspiration of Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” why it’s important to have hope in the midst of hopefulness with God’s strength. For the Good of the Public podcast will return with new episodes in September. Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Watch the video recording of this talk on YouTube!

“Hope is something that actually makes a difference in our everyday lived realities, and it is something that is cultivated in our communities. It’s cultivated in our churches. It’s cultivated by a faith in the everlasting love and salvation of Jesus Christ. And it’s actually an essential resource for public life.” -Phebe [01:34]

“Nicole is very much someone who embodies our mission, our identity as an organization. She is an incredible leader.” -Michael [02:07]

“The challenge of our faith isn’t just to have hope in good times. The challenge of our faith is how do we have hope when everything around us looks dismal, horrible, hopeless.” -Nicole [11:06]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:00] Intro

[02:54] About Rev. Nicole Massie Martin

[03:33] Habakkuk 3:17-19

[10:06] Hope in absolute chaos

[14:08] It’s our job to see the .1%

[18:50] Shaping us for the call

[26:16] Outro

REFERENCES