Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Better than Normal: Orientation, Disorientation, Reorientation and the Psalms
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Better than Normal: Orientation, Disorientation, Reorientation and the Psalms
Watch this episode on YouTube here. Paid Subscribers can view the video directly in Substack.
In this episode of Psalms for the Spirit, we are joined by MaryAnn McKibben Dana ~ pastor, writer, and author of the new book Better Than Normal: Virtues for an Off-Script Life.
Get MaryAnn’s new book here
MaryAnn shares the heart behind her latest book, inspired by her journey as a parent navigating neurodiversity, and her growing awareness of how narrow definitions of “normal” can limit both individuals and communities. Together, we explore how the Psalms ~ through themes of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation ~ offer a powerful framework for making sense of life when it no longer feels predictable or clear.
This conversation invites listeners to move from certainty to curiosity, from comfort to courage, and from striving to presence. It is an honest reflection on faith, vulnerability, and the beauty of a more inclusive and compassionate way of being.
“Having gone through the disorienting experience and realizing how we might put it is that God was with us or helped guide us and never abandoned us, even when we felt like we were abandoned… if I can make it through that, I can make it through anything. And it's God's leading that will ultimately help us in this new chapter.”
Whether you feel grounded, lost, or somewhere in between, this episode offers a reminder that you are not alone ~ and that even in disorientation, there is a way through.
Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana is a writer, pastor, speaker, and ministry coach living in the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. She is author of four books, most recently Better Than Normal: Virtues for an Off-Script Life. She writes a weekly newsletter for thousands of subscribers called The Blue Room, and her writing has also appeared in multiple outlets including TIME.com and The Washington Post. She was featured on PBS’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly for her work on Sabbath and was recognized by the Presbyterian Writers Guild with the 2015-2016 David Steele Distinguished Writer Award. MaryAnn currently serves as associate pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Herndon, Virginia. She is a graduate of Rice University in Houston, Texas and received her M.Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. She is a mother of three young adults, an aspiring gardener, and an occasional ultramarathoner.
Click here to learn more about Rev. MaryAnn.
Featured Celtic Psalms Songs:
Psalm 30: You Have Turned My Sorrow
Psalm 116: I Love the Lord
Psalms for the Spirit is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe
View all episodes
By Kiran Young Wimberly
4.3
77 ratings
Watch this episode on YouTube here. Paid Subscribers can view the video directly in Substack.
In this episode of Psalms for the Spirit, we are joined by MaryAnn McKibben Dana ~ pastor, writer, and author of the new book Better Than Normal: Virtues for an Off-Script Life.
Get MaryAnn’s new book here
MaryAnn shares the heart behind her latest book, inspired by her journey as a parent navigating neurodiversity, and her growing awareness of how narrow definitions of “normal” can limit both individuals and communities. Together, we explore how the Psalms ~ through themes of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation ~ offer a powerful framework for making sense of life when it no longer feels predictable or clear.
This conversation invites listeners to move from certainty to curiosity, from comfort to courage, and from striving to presence. It is an honest reflection on faith, vulnerability, and the beauty of a more inclusive and compassionate way of being.
“Having gone through the disorienting experience and realizing how we might put it is that God was with us or helped guide us and never abandoned us, even when we felt like we were abandoned… if I can make it through that, I can make it through anything. And it's God's leading that will ultimately help us in this new chapter.”
Whether you feel grounded, lost, or somewhere in between, this episode offers a reminder that you are not alone ~ and that even in disorientation, there is a way through.
Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana is a writer, pastor, speaker, and ministry coach living in the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. She is author of four books, most recently Better Than Normal: Virtues for an Off-Script Life. She writes a weekly newsletter for thousands of subscribers called The Blue Room, and her writing has also appeared in multiple outlets including TIME.com and The Washington Post. She was featured on PBS’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly for her work on Sabbath and was recognized by the Presbyterian Writers Guild with the 2015-2016 David Steele Distinguished Writer Award. MaryAnn currently serves as associate pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Herndon, Virginia. She is a graduate of Rice University in Houston, Texas and received her M.Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. She is a mother of three young adults, an aspiring gardener, and an occasional ultramarathoner.
Click here to learn more about Rev. MaryAnn.
Featured Celtic Psalms Songs:
Psalm 30: You Have Turned My Sorrow
Psalm 116: I Love the Lord
Psalms for the Spirit is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe