On the Way Podcast

Religion, faith backgrounds and belief systems can be the source of mental health wounding that manifest in unexpected ways. Sometimes we can think we are talking about beliefs and yet be unaware that someone’s experience of faith is hooked into a deep pain, making some conversations and teachings an attack on their humanity. We welcome The Rev’d Andrew Cooper to the podcast to share his own story and reflections in a conversation that is not so much an exposition on religious trauma as it is an opening of a critical discussion about its effects and how we are to build safer communities that honour the dignity of every human being. The Rev’d Andrew Cooper is a Parish Priest in Brisbane. He recently returned from the Scottish Episcopal Church which he describes as a blessed experience of complete affirmation and acknowledgment of personhood as a gay man and priest. He is very grateful to the Centre for Prophetic Imagination in Minnesota and the ongoing training in Spiritual Direction and Social Transformation which has helped him find his voice and enter the pathway of healing. Content warning: This conversation includes references to causes and symptoms of religious trauma. If anything in this conversation causes distress, support is available through the following providers. Lifeline: Call 13 11 14 anytime for confidential telephone crisis support. Beyond Blue: Call 1300 22 4636 https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/get-immediate-support Open Doors Youth Service: support to young people with diverse genders, sex and sexualities.  https://www.opendoors.net.au/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We make healing connections with others through our vulnerability and shared stories. The last three years have meant that across the globe humanity has shared an experience of difficulty, doubt and change, making Barbara Brown Taylor's book, "Learning to Walk in the Dark" of great value for our time. When the only way to the new day is through the darkness, it is beautiful to be reminded that the light is at work well before we are aware of its presence. Using the imagery of twilight, we talk about the way faith is demonstrated in the kind of perseverance that is able to greet the promise of dawn, putting one foot in front of the other and finding something to love in each new day. Barbara Brown Taylor is an author of many best selling books and a spiritual teacher and guide much beloved by this podcast, but also by so many in the world who have found comfort and healing in the beauty and wisdom of her words. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What changes when we have eyes that see God everywhere? As we recognise the divinity that flows through all things, intimately present in all of creation, we experience the sacred revealed in the wonder of nature as much as in human lives. Karen Armstrong, author and global scholar of religious history, joins the podcast to explore the place of the natural world in religious traditions. While we remain culturally programmed toward dominance and possession, Karen helps us explore how we might instead develop a posture of "endless respect" toward all creation, and what that could mean for for the community of life on this planet and for the way we practise our faith.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There may be no simple answers in life, but what if there were a map? Dr Alexander John Shaia returns to the podcast to share the pattern he sees at the heart of the sacred texts of the four Gospels; a way that can guide us on a journey of growth, transformation and love. Alexander describes through this conversation how each Gospel is written in response to one of life's four great questions. It was as an anthropologist that he first discovered the universal ways that humans tell their story, but it was in the Gospels that Alexander found a living guide to wisdom, courage, joy and service that enables us to see our lives as part of the pattern centred in a mystical relationship with the cosmic Christ.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the enmeshment with colonisation and patriarchy, a history of violence and abuse, corruption, greed or just simply a lack of evidence of transformation amongst those who claim to speak for the faith, there can appear to be many good reasons not to stay Christian. Brian McLaren returns to the podcast to honestly name the reasons why so many are asking themselves this question and to consider the equally compelling and deep call to remain ‘on the way’.  This conversation offers safety and permission to ask the “un-askable questions” that may help us to have the courage to become the most loving versions of ourselves, both individually and communally, and live into the fullness of our humanity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christianity is most commonly associated with resistance to change, but in times of great social evolution the Church is also drawn by all that would lead to a richer expression of humanity and greater integrity in relationships. In this special edition recorded ahead of the meeting of the General Synod of the Anglican Church in Australia, The Rev’d Dr Wayne Brighton joins the podcast to talk about his own evolution as an evangelical moving from a place of welcoming rainbow Christians to a position inclusive and affirming of those diverse in gender and sexuality. While some would seek to draw lines that exclude, Wayne describes his experience of following the Christ who is the great boundary crosser, leading us to become a church that is known for the way its members love one another. The Rev'd Dr Wayne Brighton is Rector of Holy Covenant Anglican Church in Canberra and currently a member of the General Synod’s Mission and Ministry Commission.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Willie Jennings: Transforming Desire What do we want? What sort of conditioning has shaped our wanting? Dr Willie Jennings joins the podcast to explore how our desire has been shaped by the idea of "whiteness"; a way of being in the world that at its heart is about the vision of the self-sufficient man; self-possessed, in control, the master of all he surveys. This identity has its roots in the colonising history which sought to shape the "new world" in ways that were understandable and controllable, creating a way of being and meaning making that became intertwined with the mission and self-understanding of the Church. Willie suggests that as we respond to the pressing question, “Where does it hurt?” we will be able to reconnect with our own embodied lives, grounded in place, and deeply connected by the Spirit to the well-being of one another. Dr Peter Kline who joins the podcast team for this episode is the Academic Dean and lecturer in Systematic Theology at St Francis Theological College in Brisbane. Dr Willie James Jennings is a theologian, author and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University. His most recent book is “After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it mean to be a contemplative? Does it bring up for you an image of a silent monk in a cell, or a solitary individual on a mountaintop or something aspirational- far removed from your everyday life? The Rev’d Dr Barbara Holmes joins the podcast to challenge our beliefs about what contemplation is, revealing the limitations of a Euro-centric view that misses the many different portals to the contemplative experience. She describes how even a crisis and great suffering can be a way that people together find an entry to a space of transformation and connection with others and the divine source of our being. Barbara Holmes is a scholar of African American spirituality and mysticism who teaches how God’s communal presence can inspire imagination and wisdom, especially in times of crisis. Her latest book is “Crisis Contemplation: Healing the Wounded Village.”  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So often we think of our inner life as somehow separate to our outer life. Parker J. Palmer joins the podcast, talking about the importance of the integration between our inner and outer worlds and the expression of non-violent living that grows from this hidden wholeness. The lack of a nurtured inner life, he contends, leads us to violence, individualism and disconnection, and Parker brings eight decades of life experience to the question of what we do with our suffering and how we can find our way back to one another and our truest selves. Parker J. Palmer is a writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He is founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal and the author of ten books: Healing the Heart of Democracy, The Heart of Higher Education (with Arthur Zajonc), The Courage to Teach, A Hidden Wholeness, Let Your Life Speak, The Active Life, To Know As We Are Known, The Company of Strangers, The Promise of Paradox, and On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inspired by the Ubuntu philosophy “I am who I am because we are who we are”, Jacqui Lewis writes and teaches through stories from her own life that inspire and challenge us to not give up on love. She describes our current experience as “hot mess times” in a world divided by politics, race, intolerance, fear, and rancour, but doubles down on empathy, compassion, and forgiveness as the way of transformation. Jacqui joins the podcast for a generous and warm-hearted conversation that helps us have the courage to be vulnerable even as we resist all that which dehumanises and divides us from one another.   The Rev’d Dr Jacqui Lewis is a public theologian and author of several books including her most recent, Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World. Jacqui is the first African American and the first woman to serve as a senior minister in the Collegiate Church, New York.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.