Commons Church Podcast

One of Jesus' key ideas was that of the kingdom of God. An imagination for the world as it could be pervades not only Jesus' teaching but all of his interactions. In fact, this is a uniquely human ability to think in sequence and to understand meaning through the lens of past, present, and future. Simply put, we live in a storied world, and one of the most important questions for any story is, "Where is it going?" 

Jesus taught from these three aspects of reality: There is a past from which we live—an explanation for the way things are. There is a way to live in the present— our responsibilities defined by the story we are a part of. 

There is a future to live toward—a hope that motivates and comforts us. 

The Good News doesn't hold together without all of these and certainly not without a strong sense of where the story is going. Our question in this series is simple—what do Jesus' parables about the future teach us about how we should live today. 

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
–Mahatma Ghandi

Doesn’t it feel like there’s a shortage of true happiness? Whether the news—or our own experience—or a string of rainy afternoons, we can find ourselves wondering why the world always seems to be frowning.

Which is why—this summer—we’re striking out in search of some real, wholesome, happy-face-emoji moments. And in this series, we’re gathering individuals and stories from our community to answer the question “What makes you happy?”

And we promise—

You won’t be able to keep from grinning when you see what makes these people light up. You’ll head into Monday with a new awareness of how brightly Grace shines in the world. And you’ll be glad you joined us as we go looking for life-well-lived.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
–Mahatma Ghandi

Doesn’t it feel like there’s a shortage of true happiness? Whether the news—or our own experience—or a string of rainy afternoons, we can find ourselves wondering why the world always seems to be frowning.

Which is why—this summer—we’re striking out in search of some real, wholesome, happy-face-emoji moments. And in this series, we’re gathering individuals and stories from our community to answer the question “What makes you happy?”

And we promise—

You won’t be able to keep from grinning when you see what makes these people light up. You’ll head into Monday with a new awareness of how brightly Grace shines in the world. And you’ll be glad you joined us as we go looking for life-well-lived.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
–Mahatma Ghandi

Doesn’t it feel like there’s a shortage of true happiness? Whether the news—or our own experience—or a string of rainy afternoons, we can find ourselves wondering why the world always seems to be frowning.

Which is why—this summer—we’re striking out in search of some real, wholesome, happy-face-emoji moments. And in this series, we’re gathering individuals and stories from our community to answer the question “What makes you happy?”

And we promise—

You won’t be able to keep from grinning when you see what makes these people light up. You’ll head into Monday with a new awareness of how brightly Grace shines in the world. And you’ll be glad you joined us as we go looking for life-well-lived.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
–Mahatma Ghandi

Doesn’t it feel like there’s a shortage of true happiness? Whether the news—or our own experience—or a string of rainy afternoons, we can find ourselves wondering why the world always seems to be frowning.

Which is why—this summer—we’re striking out in search of some real, wholesome, happy-face-emoji moments. And in this series, we’re gathering individuals and stories from our community to answer the question “What makes you happy?”

And we promise—

You won’t be able to keep from grinning when you see what makes these people light up. You’ll head into Monday with a new awareness of how brightly Grace shines in the world. And you’ll be glad you joined us as we go looking for life-well-lived.

There are times in life when either/or decisions are super important. Life-saving, even. Is this food good for me or bad? Is this relationship what I want or isn’t it? Do I believe this thing about God or don’t I?

The answers to these questions may serve us well for a time. Maybe even a long time. But there are some questions that aren’t settled with either/or answers. Contemplative thinkers even insist that an either/or posture to the world is antithetical to human life. After all, we know ourselves to be not only nice but sometimes cruel, to be not only tame but sometimes wild, to be not only strong but sometimes weak.

So what comes after an either/or spirituality? How about both/and.

Both/and draws us towards the wisdom at the heart of all creation and towards the wholeness of God’s relationship to the world.

Let’s look at a spirituality that is both loud and quiet, both strong and weak, both alone and together, both sacred and secular, both faithful and full of doubt.

There are times in life when either/or decisions are super important. Life-saving, even. Is this food good for me or bad? Is this relationship what I want or isn’t it? Do I believe this thing about God or don’t I?

The answers to these questions may serve us well for a time. Maybe even a long time. But there are some questions that aren’t settled with either/or answers. Contemplative thinkers even insist that an either/or posture to the world is antithetical to human life. After all, we know ourselves to be not only nice but sometimes cruel, to be not only tame but sometimes wild, to be not only strong but sometimes weak.

So what comes after an either/or spirituality? How about both/and.

Both/and draws us towards the wisdom at the heart of all creation and towards the wholeness of God’s relationship to the world.

Let’s look at a spirituality that is both loud and quiet, both strong and weak, both alone and together, both sacred and secular, both faithful and full of doubt.

There are times in life when either/or decisions are super important. Life-saving, even. Is this food good for me or bad? Is this relationship what I want or isn’t it? Do I believe this thing about God or don’t I?

The answers to these questions may serve us well for a time. Maybe even a long time. But there are some questions that aren’t settled with either/or answers. Contemplative thinkers even insist that an either/or posture to the world is antithetical to human life. After all, we know ourselves to be not only nice but sometimes cruel, to be not only tame but sometimes wild, to be not only strong but sometimes weak.

So what comes after an either/or spirituality? How about both/and.

Both/and draws us towards the wisdom at the heart of all creation and towards the wholeness of God’s relationship to the world.

Let’s look at a spirituality that is both loud and quiet, both strong and weak, both alone and together, both sacred and secular, both faithful and full of doubt.

There are times in life when either/or decisions are super important. Life-saving, even. Is this food good for me or bad? Is this relationship what I want or isn’t it? Do I believe this thing about God or don’t I?

The answers to these questions may serve us well for a time. Maybe even a long time. But there are some questions that aren’t settled with either/or answers. Contemplative thinkers even insist that an either/or posture to the world is antithetical to human life. After all, we know ourselves to be not only nice but sometimes cruel, to be not only tame but sometimes wild, to be not only strong but sometimes weak.

So what comes after an either/or spirituality? How about both/and.

Both/and draws us towards the wisdom at the heart of all creation and towards the wholeness of God’s relationship to the world.

Let’s look at a spirituality that is both loud and quiet, both strong and weak, both alone and together, both sacred and secular, both faithful and full of doubt.