On Being with Krista Tippett

Kate Bowler — On Being in a Body

Sep 21, 2023

01:00:22

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Kate Bowler

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Quick takeaways

Living with cancer has transformed Kate Bowler's understanding of hope and spirituality.

Bowler emphasizes the importance of embracing the rawness and messiness of life and finding blessings in the midst of suffering.

Deep dives

The power of blessing before and afters

In this podcast episode, Kate Bowler, an associate professor of American religious history at Duke University Divinity School, shares her journey of living with cancer and how it has transformed her understanding of hope, spirituality, and what it means to be human. She reflects on the importance of embracing the rawness and messiness of life, finding blessings even in the midst of suffering, and learning to live in the present moment. Through her experiences, she offers insights into the power of touch, the value of community, and the need for vulnerability. Bowler also discusses the practice of writing blessings and how it can bring greater awareness and gratitude for the lives we actually have. This conversation challenges the notion of a linear and perfect life, and instead celebrates the imperfect and unpredictable nature of our human existence.

Chronos versus Chiro's: A Reflection on Time and Fragility

03:09

Introduction

3min

Spiritual Formation in Mennonite Communities

16min

Being in a Body: Vulnerability, Frailty, and the Shifting Perception of Time

5min

Health Journey and Perception of Time

6min

Reflections on Aging and Facing Mortality

7min

The Need for Acknowledgment and Hope

21min

Books, Podcast, and Gratitude

2min

We love the theologian Kate Bowler's allergy to every platitude and her wisdom and wit about the strange and messy fullness of what it means to be in a human body. She's best known for her 2018 book Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I've Loved) — a poetic and powerful reflection on learning at age 35 that she had Stage IV colon cancer.

From a reset on how to think about aging, to the new reality in our time of living with cancer as a chronic illness, to the telling of truths to our young, this beautiful conversation is full of the vividly whole humanity that Kate Bowler singularly embodies.

(Also, as you'll hear, if she hadn't become a theologian, she might have been a stand-up comedian.)

Krista and Kate spoke as part of the 2023 Aspen Ideas Festival.

Kate Bowler's beloved books include Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I’ve Loved) and most recently, The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. She is an associate professor at Duke Divinity School and made an early name in her field of American religious history with her 2013 book Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel. She also hosts the podcast Everything Happens.

Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

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