Anyone who describes an experience with the sacred will find themselves often struggling for words because they find the sacred is not a 'thing', nor a set of beliefs, but rather an encounter in open and vulnerable relationship which requires a far more humble and receptive form of knowing. Dr Iain McGilchrist, neuroscientist, philosopher and author, joins the podcast for a second conversation, this time in person in Australia with Dom, Sue and Peter. Those familiar with Iain's work about the two hemispheres of the brain will know that there is a connection traced between the way we attend to reality and a more utilitarian left hemisphere way of seeing and being which has become more culturally dominant in the West. The right hemisphere, Iain contends, is better equipped for perceiving the whole, appreciating paradox and engaging with the sacred. Thinking that we know it all is characteristic of the left hemisphere, robbing us of the sense of awe and wonder which makes life both beautiful and meaningful. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
So often we think of leaders as born rather than made, or at least as having some kind of specialist predisposition such as charisma or perhaps an extraverted, more dominant personality. Dr Donna Ladkin joins Dom, Peter and Sue to explore the idea that maybe leadership is much more complex and may be better understood as a lived experience rather than a checklist of traits or behaviours. While recognising that individuals do matter, this conversation explores the idea of ‘a leadership moment’ that happens when context, purpose, followers and leaders align. How a leader is perceived, but also how the context and meaning of any given moment is understood all contribute to linking these four factors that come together in the moment. This thoughtful conversation about the making of leaders is of critical importance in current global contexts, but also in our own where understanding the nature and importance of leadership is vital for healthy and thriving communities. Dr Donna Ladkin is the Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Graduate School of Management, Plymouth University, and the author of many books including “Rethinking Leadership: A new look at old leadership questions”. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What if dignity is a way of seeing that changes the kind of attention we pay to each other and to our world? Authenticity, human dignity and the courage to confront difficult truths are a common thread in the writing of Dr Beth-Sarah Wright who joins the podcast for this conversation during her recent visit to Brisbane. The Latin root of the word 'respect' is to look again. Everyone is worthy of respect, but sometimes we need to 'look again' to see beyond what we think we know about one another. Using 'dignity' as a lens has the power to shift conversation, prompting us to something different from our normal patterns and bridging the gap between what we say we believe and what we do. Beth-Sarah contends that, "Authentic people build authentic communities, creating a more just and dignified world for all." Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr Beth-Sarah Wright has over 27 years of experience in education, organisational culture and senior leadership, and is a sought after speaker for organisations as they seek to assess integrity and remain authentic to their identity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A special cross-over podcast episode between Spiritual Misfits and On the Way, recorded at 'Words For Those Who Wander' at West End Uniting Church in Brisbane. In this conversation, Will Small, Dom Fay, Sue Grimmett, and Peter Catt explore what happens when the old spiritual maps stop working and we need to become cartographers for our time. Together they wrestle with profound questions: What if we're all exiles seeking belonging? How do we build community when our frameworks for understanding are themselves lost? And what would we write on 'the map' for those who come after us? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We do everything we do in this world through our embodiment. There remains a pervasive myth that we move through this world working and creating without leaving any trace of our own lived experience upon our moving and interacting, commenting and creating. With such a mythology the dominant voices become normative, and can be associated with objective truth, obscuring the understanding and experience from the margins. In biblical scholarship, whiteness is so often unarticulated in its effect on biblical translation, that it is as if in their interpretation scholars have left no imprint of their own lived experience and perspectives. The Rev'd Dr Wil Gafney is an Episcopal Priest and Biblical scholar, specialising in a Womanist interpretation of the Bible. Womanism is an American Black women's feminist way of seeing; a lens centred in the lived experience of Black women, and especially interested in the well-being of those who are vulnerable and often exploited. In this conversation Wil speaks with Dom and Sue about the importance of attending to the multiple cultures and contexts of every text that we may be aware of dynamics of power in both the time of the text and in our own. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
After 50 years of working with leaders globally, Margaret Wheatley, argues that leadership has never been more difficult. In the face of a multicrisis of climate and human created catastrophes, Meg points to the compelling need to awaken the human spirit and create “islands of sanity”: spaces of possibility and refuge created by people's commitment to forming healthy communities to do meaningful work. Peter and Margaret recall working together in past decades and return to this conversation with Dom and Sue in this critical time when a life-affirming vision of what it means to be most fully human is more critically important than ever. Author of thirteen books including Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time and Restoring Sanity: Practices to Awaken Generosity, Creativity and Kindness, Meg Wheatley has trained countless leaders and activists. You can keep up with Meg’s work here; https://margaretwheatley.com/library/current-thinking/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Exploring a curious story that she thought might be “knotty and weird”, of two comedians from her student days who converted to Christianity and decided to become Anglican priests, journalist Lamorna Ash unearths a recurring phenomenon of a new generation discovering religion for themselves. Lamorna sets out on a journey that takes her across Britain to talk with Gen Z-ers wrestling with Christianity today. In some remarkable conversations and surprising encounters, Lamorna brings insightful perspectives to every kind of Christian expression from monastic movements to Evangelical youth festivals. The result is her new book, “Don’t Forget That We’re Here Forever: A New Generation’s Search for Religion”. The writing style is lyrical and beautiful, full of wisdom that also emerges in this first conversation with Dom, Peter and Sue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
"Sooner or later, everything falls away."With these words, author Parker J. Palmer begins his much-loved poem exploring the landscape of loss, grief and letting go. In this conversation, Parker reads the poem and reflects on the transient nature of reality and the great tapestry that holds all things together. Dom joins Parker in his living room in Madison, Wisconsin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Alongside being the title of Pádraig Ó Tuama's recently released collection of poetry, Kitchen Hymns is also an informal term referring to the hymns sung in Irish homes that weren't allowed in formal church contexts, due to their being in the Irish language rather than Latin. It is this rebellious and honest flavour of sacred expression that has been at the heart of Pádraig's work for many years, and informs his new collection of poems exploring an embodied, liberated, and deeply human life of both faith and doubt. Dom joins Pádraig in his New York apartment for this conversation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In the midst of our busy lives, we can so easily miss the sacred shining through every moment. Children are instinctively drawn to bewilderment and astonishment at the wonder of life, and yet it is a way of seeing that often fades as the rigours and responsibilities of adult life take over. Barbara Brown Taylor has been exploring the idea of reverence in her work for decades through her beloved books, such as An Altar In The World and Learning To Walk In the Dark. In this conversation, she speaks of the gifts of both reverence and irreverence in rediscovering a more attentive and alive way of being in the world. Barbara and Dom share this conversation in Atlanta, Georgia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What do we do with the weight of the past? We so often find ourselves clinging and grasping to that which has ended, getting stuck in self-loathing and judgement over that which we regret, or becoming too cautious and comfortable to step boldly beyond that which we have outgrown, leaving us struggling to live fully in the present moment and all that is emerging. In this episode, Rob Bell explores the many ways we get stuck looking in the rearview mirror and shares some liberating insights about how we can make peace with the past and create space for new life. Dom is joined by Rob in his hometown of Ojai, California. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
While we may struggle to agree on the answers to life's biggest questions, we are all united in asking them. It is this shared questioning that binds us as humans, with each of us carrying a deep ache for something greater, something sacred and something real. Drawing on the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has explored this soulful longing in much of his writing. In this episode of the podcast, Rowan speaks of this ache as being something to live into and celebrate, rather than something to resolve or close down. Rowan and Dom share this conversation in Rowan's home in Cardiff, Wales. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What if the way our brains have evolved is inhibiting us from seeing reality as it actually is?This is the groundbreaking theory of renowned neuroscientist, psychiatrist and philosopher Dr Iain McGilchrist, whose research on the two hemispheres of the brain and the different ways in which they operate sheds a great deal of light on so many of the problems we find ourselves facing today. Dom visits Iain at his home on the Isle of Skye for this conversation about how the brain works, what reality really is, and the fate of the human race. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Karl Rahner once remarked that 'the Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist', and it is in this spirit that friend of the podcast Alexander John Shaia joins Dom for a conversation about recovering the mystical way of seeing today. Recorded in Granada, Spain, this episode explores how we can come to see the stories of our tradition less as historical moments, and more as timeless truths that are alive in our midst right here and now. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Our culture constantly bombards us with products, ideas and approaches that promise to heal us, cure us, make us whole, and take away the pain of life entirely. We are led to believe that we are only one change away from the life we've always felt like we should be living, and that we need only to find the right book, program, or product to help us get there. But what if the truth is that nothing can heal us? What if nothing will work? And what if this might actually be the good news we're looking for? This is the theory behind the upcoming book from philosopher, theologian, and author Peter Rollins, who joins Dom in Belfast for a conversation about nothing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What are the biggest questions that would stay with you across your life? is there a God? Why is there something, not nothing, and what can it possibly all mean? How can we live a good life? Richard Holloway joins the podcast once again from Edinburgh to share some of his reflections on these questions which have shaped his life. In this latest book, On Reflection, Richard recruits poets, artists and the wisdom of others who have formed his thinking and draws us into a conversation on how a good life is motivated by love and kindness, and creatively finds ways, with humour and grace, to live into the paradoxes that are inherent in being human. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What cost do we pay when we remain living in self-regarding reactivity? What do we do when we find ourselves stuck, trapped by the illusory pictures we have of ourselves and unable to be a channel of life for others? Former Archbishop of Canterbury and author of many books, Dr Rowan Williams, joins Dom, Sue and Peter to explore how Eastern Christian spiritual writings can be a resource to help us better understand our own instincts and educate our reactions to the world. These teachings point to how a different way of being is possible, with greater awareness of our own compulsions and the things that can lead us away from life. As we attend to these inner impulses and reactions, we can awaken to the ways of the Spirit and able to draw from the well of life within, setting us free to take the path of our own becoming. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
There is a strong sense that the Church is in a time of transition- preparing to birth something new. John Philip Newell in his new book, The Great Search: Turning to earth and soul in the quest for healing and home, addresses this idea and speaks to the group he refers to as the Christian diaspora; those who, from both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ the church, have a sense of yearning that there must be something more. Rejoining the podcast for this timely conversation, John Philip explores the tension between the wilderness and the temple. He contests that both the prophetic and priestly voices, which these represent, are needed as we share in the labour pains for this new birth, finding and creating communities to express our deepest longings. John Philip Newell, author of many books and beloved Celtic teacher, joins Dom, Peter and Sue in this second conversation for the podcast.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Is there an ancient path that can transform lives when we find it together, giving hope and meaning? Alexander John Shaia returns to the podcast from his home in Spain to share his deep mining of the Gospel of John which he argues offer the most important, beautiful and dangerous words in Christianity. The story of Jesus in John proposed a radical joining of all- tribes, genders, slaves and free - coming in a new human experiment to sit side by side around the table. Alexander John aligns the work of Joseph Campbell around the Hero's Journey with the four paths of the Gospels, with John being the path that shows the way to the question, "How do I receive new vision and know the greater joy of union?" This Gospel proclaims that union is the deepest truth and that we should not be discouraged that old divisions keep returning. There is always work to do in returning to that union which is our deepest reality, and this Gospel shows us the way to restore the beautiful blueprint of harmony in diversity. Drawing from his work as a Jungian psychologist and his devotion to mystical Christianity, in this conversation Alexander John shines new light on this ancient text that transcends traditional understanding. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the Way Episode 107 Anne Van Gend: Restoring the Story Are we too squeamish about atonement? Anne Van Gend, priest, author and ministry educator, joins the podcast to explore how we tell and keep telling stories about ‘atonement’ in different ways; in mythology, in fantasy novels, movies and of course, in the Christian tradition. Anne argues that the central story of Christian faith – the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus- is so big and important that we need to approach it from as many angles as possible. The danger of post-reformation thinking that we can be ‘saved by having the right belief’, particularly about atonement, means that we are so easily threatened by anyone who tells the story differently. It also means that we lose the enchantment of the stories which tell the most hopeful dreams of humanity and are perhaps echoes of the best dream of all. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.