Big Fish, Little Pod

Is God personal or impersonal? Is God a dynamic, specific person that we can form a relationship with or is God more of a universal power that permeates all things? Different spiritual traditions present God in different forms with different characteristics and even different pastimes. Is one of these traditions right? Do they contradict each other? Can we believe in more than one without seeming hypocritical ourselves?

How are we supposed to lean into the Bible when it seems full of ancient stories that don't always translate easily to modern ears. How is the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac supposed to speak to our day to day life as spiritual seekers in 2020? Is there any way to find meaning in a story we can't relate to?

When something in our life goes wrong, feels off, causes a disturbance, we often find ourselves reaching for our spiritual practice. This is great news - except why did it take a disruption to serve as the catalyst? Why does the inspiration for growth come when something has gone wrong? Why don't we feel as motivated to engage in our practice when things are going smoothly?

Reflecting on the unlikely friendship between Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia, Bob and Amy discuss our current culture of divisiveness in this country. How do you foster friendship with someone whose beliefs offend you? Does offering a hand in friendship somehow condone their behavior? Aren't we, as spiritually-minded people, supposed to offer friendship even to our enemies?

As we grow older, many of us go through a deconstruction of our childhood faith. Do I still believe? Does this practice make sense in my current life? As we navigate this process, there is a temptation to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Yet, just because some practices and beliefs don't work for you doesn't mean you have to forfeit the ones that do. Spirituality is not all or nothing. "People have been crafting their faith since the very beginning and you have always had permission to do the same."

Sometimes, after decades of struggling, we wake up one morning and the issue that has been tormenting us is suddenly gone. How does that happen? Is it a miracle? A paradigm shift? Our life will forever be split into two parts: before and after this one life-altering day. Bob describes a day like that, brought on by a simple prayer from a friend.

What is sin? Is it an archaic social construct used as a tool to control the masses? Can it be reframed as a set of guardrails that can actually help guide us towards our goals? Is it even worth talking about? This week, reluctantly, Bob talks about his ideas of sin.

Do the stories we learned in Sunday School have any relevance in our lives today? Filled with clearly defined heroes and villains, these Bible stories seem to reflect childish cartoons more than the messy, nuanced challenges of real life. Is this the fault of the stories themselves, the teachers, or our own interpretation? Bob and Amy discuss how easy it is to lose faith in our childhood religion when the answers it offers no longer seem relevant.

Sometimes it feels like the only thing we can see at the end of our path is a dead-end. But what if that same roadblock looks like a shortcut to someone else? This week, Amy shares a simple story that gave her big insights.

Why do we find it easy to appreciate diversity in nature, but uncomfortable to embrace diversity in people?  When we picture ourselves in the Good Samaritan parable, it's usually as the Samaritan, overcoming bias in order to help someone in need. Yet, many of us are now being confronted by the truth that we have watched our black brothers and sisters suffer as we walked by on the other side of the road. How do we embrace this new and uncomfortable understanding about ourselves and our society?