Commons Church Podcast

“....Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination” –Immanuel KantTwo years ago, we had a blast doing a series like this...and we think you did too.So, we’re bringing happiness back.In part, because this is a practice of community. To share stories. To make meaning. To brighten faces. But also because it’s a practice of imagination. To shape futures. To inspire choices. To chart new pathways.Life has a way of making us feel limited at times, as though the patterns and options we have are set. As an alternative, Christian faith challenges us over and over again to use our imaginations to make, and move, and hope with abandon.So join us as we collect several voices to tell us what makes them happy. You might just find yourself feeling lighter because they did. ★ Support this podcast ★

“....Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination” –Immanuel KantTwo years ago, we had a blast doing a series like this...and we think you did too.So, we’re bringing happiness back.In part, because this is a practice of community. To share stories. To make meaning. To brighten faces. But also because it’s a practice of imagination. To shape futures. To inspire choices. To chart new pathways.Life has a way of making us feel limited at times, as though the patterns and options we have are set. As an alternative, Christian faith challenges us over and over again to use our imaginations to make, and move, and hope with abandon.So join us as we collect several voices to tell us what makes them happy. You might just find yourself feeling lighter because they did. ★ Support this podcast ★

“....Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination” –Immanuel KantTwo years ago, we had a blast doing a series like this...and we think you did too.So, we’re bringing happiness back.In part, because this is a practice of community. To share stories. To make meaning. To brighten faces. But also because it’s a practice of imagination. To shape futures. To inspire choices. To chart new pathways.Life has a way of making us feel limited at times, as though the patterns and options we have are set. As an alternative, Christian faith challenges us over and over again to use our imaginations to make, and move, and hope with abandon.So join us as we collect several voices to tell us what makes them happy. You might just find yourself feeling lighter because they did. ★ Support this podcast ★

“....Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination” –Immanuel KantTwo years ago, we had a blast doing a series like this...and we think you did too.So, we’re bringing happiness back.In part, because this is a practice of community. To share stories. To make meaning. To brighten faces. But also because it’s a practice of imagination. To shape futures. To inspire choices. To chart new pathways.Life has a way of making us feel limited at times, as though the patterns and options we have are set. As an alternative, Christian faith challenges us over and over again to use our imaginations to make, and move, and hope with abandon.So join us as we collect several voices to tell us what makes them happy. You might just find yourself feeling lighter because they did. ★ Support this podcast ★

This one is about Anthony Bloom***The Christian tradition has always recognized certain individuals as playing an important role in its formation and development. These people are often singled out - their stories recorded - their contributions remembered. From Paul to Ignatius, and from Julian of Norwich to Teresa of Calcutta, we call them saints. Saints are often memorialized by the places they’re from, by the disciplines or fields they worked in, or by the times they lived. Their holiness directly tied to the ways they shaped people and communities and institutions. And one of the things we recognize here at Commons is that we rely on a chorus of saintly mystics, scholars, and innovators to inform who we are. People whose courage and wisdom shape us as a local, 21st-century expression of the Church. So join us as we name our patron saints. As we explore their stories. As we celebrate the ways they guide us  ★ Support this podcast ★

This one is about Mary Oliver***The Christian tradition has always recognized certain individuals as playing an important role in its formation and development. These people are often singled out - their stories recorded - their contributions remembered. From Paul to Ignatius, and from Julian of Norwich to Teresa of Calcutta, we call them saints. Saints are often memorialized by the places they’re from, by the disciplines or fields they worked in, or by the times they lived. Their holiness directly tied to the ways they shaped people and communities and institutions. And one of the things we recognize here at Commons is that we rely on a chorus of saintly mystics, scholars, and innovators to inform who we are. People whose courage and wisdom shape us as a local, 21st-century expression of the Church. So join us as we name our patron saints. As we explore their stories. As we celebrate the ways they guide us  ★ Support this podcast ★

This one is about Amy-Jill Levine***The Christian tradition has always recognized certain individuals as playing an important role in its formation and development. These people are often singled out - their stories recorded - their contributions remembered. From Paul to Ignatius, and from Julian of Norwich to Teresa of Calcutta, we call them saints. Saints are often memorialized by the places they’re from, by the disciplines or fields they worked in, or by the times they lived. Their holiness directly tied to the ways they shaped people and communities and institutions. And one of the things we recognize here at Commons is that we rely on a chorus of saintly mystics, scholars, and innovators to inform who we are. People whose courage and wisdom shape us as a local, 21st-century expression of the Church. So join us as we name our patron saints. As we explore their stories. As we celebrate the ways they guide us  ★ Support this podcast ★

This one is about Rene Girard***The Christian tradition has always recognized certain individuals as playing an important role in its formation and development. These people are often singled out - their stories recorded - their contributions remembered. From Paul to Ignatius, and from Julian of Norwich to Teresa of Calcutta, we call them saints. Saints are often memorialized by the places they’re from, by the disciplines or fields they worked in, or by the times they lived. Their holiness directly tied to the ways they shaped people and communities and institutions. And one of the things we recognize here at Commons is that we rely on a chorus of saintly mystics, scholars, and innovators to inform who we are. People whose courage and wisdom shape us as a local, 21st-century expression of the Church. So join us as we name our patron saints. As we explore their stories. As we celebrate the ways they guide us  ★ Support this podcast ★

Exodus 33-40***There are claims that Exodus is the essential book in the Bible. It's where we meet God by name, learn to trust a God who hears the cries of the oppressed, and experience awe for a God who guides wanderers.We can relate to Exodus. We wonder about who God is, we wonder about who God helps, and we know the feeling of waiting and wandering.It's a universal experience not to know the way forward but to press on anyway. Two steps ahead, one step back. Up a ladder, down a snake.Jesus' life follows in Moses' footsteps, making Exodus important for Christians. It's the story of liberation, and the way it defines freedom isn't something you can scribble on a sign.Exodus freedom is learned on a long walk with others newly set free alongside you, figuring out life and divinity as you march toward the promise of home. ★ Support this podcast ★