Between Two Worlds

Can You Trust Your Magnets? Saudamini Tambay is back to talk about how religion can often impact our closest relationships. She opens up about her mom's history with Muslims growing up in Northern India and the bad blood that can create life-long notions of the "other." She is not alone in this, and Saudamini and Scott unpack how best to bring humanity back to those stereotypes. 

Other Topics Discussed:

-Saudamini's thought on the pressure Christians put on God, as opposed to taking responsibility for your own moral choices, and how Saudamini looks to her therapist, friends, and yoga for sense of grounded-ness not a god.

-The magnet style of finding truth. Scott's thought on the danger of building your sense of self and truth from multiple sources (or magnets in this case) and how Christianity isn't just a narrative worth following. It's a relationship. Akin to Scott's relationship with his wife.

Questions for the Community:

Message Us:

You can e-mail (https://[email protected]/) us your questions directly 

or follow us on Instagram or facebook (@betweentwoworldspodcast) and become part of the conversation.  

Also find us on YouTube: (BetweenTwoWorlds - YouTube)

Original Release: 3/19/21

The Power of Stories with Amsterdam Designer Saudamini Tambay. Saudamini is a designer based in Amsterdam who grew up all over India embracing all religions, from a Catholic school to Hindu traditions at home to being in a relationship with someone from a Muslim background. She believes that we are all trying to tell the same story but in different ways.

In this episode with Scott, she explores being raised in India yet living out a western experience of the world. She shares how the stories from Indian mythology stuck with her and how they could inform someone's view of the world. Scott and Saudamini unpack how stories can lead to action through the role models in the story but what remains unclear is how that leads to worship and a religion.

Other Topics Discussed:

 Saudamini's upbringing in India that felt very Westernized with the freedom to be who you want to be. She identifies as a Hindu, but doesn't do much with the Hindu faith. Dating a Muslim man and pushback from Indian parents (39 min). The pressure not to convert to a different religion from parents and society and skepticism within Indian society of other religions.

 The Power of Stories: Scott and Saudamini unpack the stories they remember from their childhood. The story of Ram and Sita. And the story of David and Goliath. How modern interpretations change the way we hear these stories. And what it is like to hear these potentially patriarchal stories as a woman (32min)? 

 How arranged marriages work and how it's different in middle class India.

 Scott on why he believes in a higher power. Person to look toward to help us better ourselves. Faith gives us the ability to understand humanity, life, ourselves, and how to act rightly. Finding self compassion in the eyes of a Creator.

Questions for the Community:

-What stories were you told as a child and how did that impact your view of the world?

-Should we still keep the traditions and narratives of religions in a secular society?

-Who would you be if you didn't have the concept of God?

Message Us:

You can e-mail (https://[email protected]/) us your questions directly

or follow us on Instagram or facebook (@betweentwoworldspodcast) and become part of the conversation.

Also find us on YouTube: (BetweenTwoWorlds - YouTube)

Original Release: 3/5/21

This is mostly for Mike Johnson, but I am sure a lot of you are in the same boat. You are like why for the past six months has Scott only re-released old episodes... good question. I try to answer that here. Doing a bit of cleaning everyone. Bare with me. New content is coming!

Welcome to a Trout Family Christmas Special!

This is an audio production of "If You Are Missing Baby Jesus" by Jean Gietzen. My family and I used to make these Christmas recordings when we were little. My mom would pick a Christmas story for us to read and then assign us different parts in the story, whether it was playing the piano, repeating lines after she said them, or just wishing people Merry Christmas at the end. For us as a family, this tradition helped us remember that Christmas is not just about us getting presents, but it's about Jesus's birth. My parents would send these recordings on cassette tapes to friends and family all over the US every year. As we got older, we stopped doing the recordings, so I thought it was about time we brought it back.

You are in for a treat. 

I hope this story reminds you of the meaning behind Christmas and how this can be a time to serve others not just receive presents.

Cast:

Narrator--Scott Trout

Mother-- Patricia Van Engelen

Father--- Matthijs Van Engelen

Older Daughter-- Carlijn Van Engelen (age 7)

Younger Daughter-- Ella Van Engelen (age 5)

Other Mother-- Briana Trout

Crying Child--- Naomi Trout (age 1)

Song Credits:

Mandolin and Lead Vocals-- Eva Trout

Other Singers-- Brian Trout; Connie Trout; Casey Trout; Ben Trout; Nate Trout; Trevor Trout; Katie Trout

Closing Remarks-- Liliana Trout (age 3) and James Trout (age 2)

Hadeel and Scott are back for a third episode, and this time she turns the question onto Scott. "So where are you in regards to women in the church....". Insert -gulp- here.  Scott goes into some of the tension he lives in as a Christian in a 21st century context where talk of gender roles and submission can potentially feel like a hate crime. At the same time, he wrestles with the tension of how the Bible describes a gendered world and outlines roles for men and women. This was not an easy conversation; mainly, because of the discomfort with a post modern narrative that a "straight, white, male" like Scott should not have any say in what women can or cannot do. 

So what is God's design for men and women? Can God be trusted if he has different roles for them in the church and in relationships? Or is this all one big rouse from the patriarchy?

Topics Discussed:

And Hadeel's Last Words:

*We should note that the term sex vs gender are used interchangeably in the episode although they don't necessary have the same weight or meaning for some. We are by no means experts on these topics. Just two Christians trying to figure things out.*

Questions for the Community:

Find Hadeel at:

@hadeelmc

Listen to her Podcast: Real With Hadeel

Message Us:

You can e-mail (https://[email protected]/) us your questions directly

or follow us on Instagram or facebook (@betweentwoworldspodcast) and become part of the conversation.

Also find us on YouTube: (BetweenTwoWorlds - YouTube)

Hadeel is back with Scott to discuss race and the narratives we live with without even knowing it. Her faith in the Christian God pushes her to engage in the hard conversations and confront the biases she might have. She also calls out the Christian Church to acknowledge its past and be a part of the process of racial reconciliation. 

Topics Discussed:

Questions for the Community:

Find Hadeel at:

@hadeelmc

Listen to her Podcast: Real With Hadeel

Message Us:

You can e-mail (https://[email protected]/) us your questions directly

or follow us on Instagram or facebook (@betweentwoworldspodcast) and become part of the conversation.

Also find us on YouTube: (BetweenTwoWorlds - YouTube)

Change Management Specialist for an international company, Third Culture Kid, and American in Amsterdam, Hadeel McCall shares about how she can relate to being between two worlds on multiple fronts. Her dad was an American missionary serving in Jordan, and her mom is one of the .1% of Jordanians who are Palestinian Evangelical Christians, so she grew up half Arab in a post 9/11 America. This sensibility has helped her relate to others who lived in that tension too. Who find themselves not fully belonging wherever they live. But she has an answer to that homeless feeling. 

Other Topics Discussed:

Questions for the Community:

Find Hadeel at:

@hadeelmc

Listen to her Podcast: Real With Hadeel 

Message Us:

You can e-mail (https://[email protected]/) us your questions directly

or follow us on Instagram or facebook (@betweentwoworldspodcast) and become part of the conversation.

Also find us on YouTube: (BetweenTwoWorlds - YouTube)

Saudamini Tambay is back to talk about how religion can often impact our closest relationships. She opens up about her mom's history with Muslims growing up in Northern India and the bad blood that can create life-long notions of the "other." She is not alone in this, and Saudamini and Scott unpack how best to bring humanity back to those stereotypes. They also unpack what it is like to date someone of another religious background and the pressure to marry from traditional societies. Lastly, Scott lays out an image that describes the post-modern search for truth involving magnets: we often find meaning by the people we surround ourselves with, but how do we know that our magnets are trustworthy. 

Other Topics Discussed:

Curveballs and improv games that Scott throws at people.

Why the Trouts chose the name Naomi for their daughter. And the other names, Scott wanted to use.

Saudamini's thought on the pressure Christians put on God, as opposed to taking responsibility for your own moral choices, and how Saudamini looks to her therapist, friends, and yoga for sense of grounded-ness not a god.

Scott's thought on the danger of building your sense of self and truth from multiple sources (or magnets in this case) and how Christianity isn't just a narrative worth following. It's a relationship. Akin to Scott's relationship with his wife.

Saudamini gives Scott advice on how to raise a girl, including an un-scary definition of feminism: simply treating men and women equally. Which is not what she experienced growing up in India outside her own family.

And lastly, Scott tries to convince Saudamini why the wedding is actually important, by describing the inauguration of Joe Biden and the rides at Disney Land that you can't get off of without significant harm. His point is you need that public proclamation to herald a new relationship and those rides are actually more fulfilling because they are not easy to exit.

Questions for the Community:

-Who is in your circle of magnets? How do you know that they trustworthy?

-If religion is the willingness to surrender to something greater than you, what do you surrender to?

-How have you experienced different gender roles? And what advice would you give Scott for parenting his daughter?

Message Us:

You can e-mail (https://[email protected]/) us your questions directly 

or follow us on Instagram or facebook (@betweentwoworldspodcast) and become part of the conversation.  

Also find us on YouTube: (BetweenTwoWorlds - YouTube)

In this ScoTho, Scott unpacks his impressions of the book The Handmaid's Tale. Specifically in how it confronted his Christian faith and made him wonder if the Christianity in the book that became the basis for an oppressive, patriarchal theocracy is a true byproduct of the Christian faith he believes in or a twisted version of it. The book is confronting as you see a conservative Christian overtaking of America and the regressive government they put in place often using Biblical ideas to back up their policies. Many argue that Christianity is indeed patriarchal and has been used throughout history to put women in a subservient position to men, thus this book seems like an appropriate conversation starter the merits and implications of the Christian faith applied to society. 

If you have read The Handmaid's Tale, let us know your thoughts. What did Scott miss and what did he get right in his analysis of the Christianity found in the book vs the Christianity he believes in.

Message Us:

You can e-mail (https://[email protected]/) us your questions directly

or follow us on Instagram or facebook (@betweentwoworldspodcast) and become part of the conversation.

Also find us on YouTube: (BetweenTwoWorlds - YouTube)

Saudamini Tambay is a designer based in Amsterdam who grew up all over India embracing all religions, from a Catholic school to Hindu traditions at home to being in a relationship with someone from a Muslim background. She believes that we are all trying to tell the same story but in different ways.

In this episode with Scott, she explores being raised in India yet living out a western experience of the world. She shares how the stories from Indian mythology stuck with her and how they could inform someone's view of the world. Scott and Saudamini unpack how stories can lead to action through the role models in the story but what remains unclear is how that leads to worship and a religion.

Other Topics Discussed:

(3min) Babies and how intense their stomachs are. As well as how to raise kids as critical thinkers well seeped in a certain tradition (58min). 

(10 min) Living as Expats in Amsterdam and how to make the city your home. Including doing as the locals do, even if that means taking a freezing dip in the Dutch North Sea as Saudamini did, or having a baby as Scott did.

(13min) Saudamini's upbringing in India that felt very Westernized with the freedom to be who you want to be. She identifies as a Hindu, but doesn't do much with the Hindu faith. Dating a Muslim man and pushback from Indian parents (39 min). The pressure not to convert to a different religion from parents and society and skepticism within Indian society of other religions.

(15 min) The Power of Stories: Scott and Saudamini unpack the stories they remember from their childhood. The story of Ram and Sita. And the story of David and Goliath. How modern interpretations change the way we hear these stories. And what it is like to hear these potentially patriarchal stories as a woman (32min)? 

(40 min) How arranged marriages work and how it's different in middle class India.

(49-53 min) Scott on why he believes in a higher power. Person to look toward to help us better ourselves. Faith gives us the ability to understand humanity, life, ourselves, and how to act rightly. Finding self compassion in the eyes of a Creator.

Questions for the Community:

-What stories were you told as a child and how did that impact your view of the world?

-Should we still keep the traditions and narratives of religions in a secular society?

-Who would you be if you didn't have the concept of God?

Message Us:

You can e-mail (https://[email protected]/) us your questions directly

or follow us on Instagram or facebook (@betweentwoworldspodcast) and become part of the conversation.

Also find us on YouTube: (BetweenTwoWorlds - YouTube)