Eastern Mennonite University Podcast

Two Truths and Three Lies About Hope and Humanity
ACE Festival Keynote featuring Douglas Abrams, one of the authors of The Book of Hope, EMU’s 2023-24 Common Read. 

In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope? New York Times-bestselling author Doug Abrams will examine this most sought-after and least-understood element of human nature. He will explore the importance of hope in our lives and how to cultivate it personally and collectively when we need it most. Through sharing little-known truths and confronting the widespread lies about the future of humanity, Doug invites the listener to see hope not as a passive or weak response, but as an act of resistance that challenges the status quo. The talk will draw on his work writing The Book of Hope with Jane Goodall, as well as his collaborations with the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Stephen Hawking, Nelson Mandela, Bryan Stevenson, and many other leading spiritual teachers, activists, and scientists.
Doug Abrams is a multiple New York Times-bestselling author, as well as an editor, literary agent, and film producer. He is the founder and president of Idea Architects, a creative book and media agency helping visionaries create a wiser, healthier, and more just world. 

He co-wrote The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World with the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu which inspired the film MISSION: JOY, now on Netflix. Doug served as the interviewer in the film as well as an Executive Producer. Doug also co-authored The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times with Jane Goodall. (The Book of Hope is EMU’s Common Read selection for 2023-24.) He has also written many other bestselling non-fiction books and has written two novels, The Lost Diary of Don Juan and Eye of the Whale, which together have been translated into over thirty languages. 

Books and films he has developed have been credited with convincing then-President Bill Clinton to stop the genocide in Kosovo (THE BRIDGE BETRAYED), for launching the modern anti-slavery movement (DISPOSABLE PEOPLE), for helping to expand a mass incarceration reform movement (JUST MERCY, a book by Bryan Stevenson and film starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx), and for helping to address our environmental crisis (THE FUTURE WE CHOOSE, TWO WORLDS, which inspired a near future grounded sci-fi feature film being developed with the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions for Netflix).

Join us for “Devotions in Motion” – led by Sarah Mount-Elewononi, we will experience the scriptures through symbolic gestures in a meaningful way. Just what you need to re-center for the end of the semester. Ezekiel 36:24-28

Dr. Ned Parker will be on campus April 16-17 as a candidate for the position of Ass’t Professor of Preaching and Worship and Seminary Chaplain. Please join us to hear Dr. Parker speak on Luke 24:13-35.

“God, Our Mother” – Tim Reardon spoke; John 16:16-23

“Fulfilled in Weakness” – Jesus’ nonviolence unto the last challenges earthly powers’ dependence on coercion and violence to maintain a sense of secure order. In the resurrection, God affirms Jesus’ life of noncoercion as in keeping with the flows of power and authority in God’s kingdom. Yet, with the resurrection as a basis of belief, we are left with a relatively “weak” basis for grasping truth or engaging the powers. Could this weakness, too, be for our good? Dr. Jacob Cook was our speaker. Mark 16:1-8

Join us for a time of meditation and reflection on Holy Week, as we contemplate Jesus’ work of redemption and love for us.

Love & Duty in the Final Chapter: Experiences of Home-based Caring for Family Elders
Carol Grace Hurst, PhD, LCSW
Associate Professor of Social Work
Eastern Mennonite University

Dr. Hurst presents results of a qualitative inquiry exploring home based caregiving experiences for family elders. Elders with complex health challenges are often assumed to need institutional care. The ways that family members respond to the dilemma of the need for caregiving involves unique problem solving within family systems. To remain at home, someone else must become a caregiver and invest significant love, labor, money, and time in the intensifying needs of the elder. Despite an historic focus on burden in caregiving literature, this study sought to explore caregivers’ meaning-making of both challenges and joys inherent to accompanying a loved one during their final chapter.

Dr. Hurst serves as Associate Professor of Social Work at EMU. She holds PhD and MSW degrees from the School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Dr. Hurst’s years in clinical practice have focused on children, youth, and families. She believes in the power of attachment, love, and deep spirituality to anchor resilience in families. Dr. Hurst’s scholarship endeavors have focused on family caregiving from two stages of the life cycle: early childhood and the elder years. Her research and writing collaborations have focused on breastfeeding, care giving, and clinical supervision.

Jesus had a habit of serving others. Join us to hear Rev. Sarah Bailey talk about how we recognize that we, as Jesus’ followers, are called to serve – but how often do we make it a part of our daily, regular habits of living? With God’s help, service can become a holy habit for us, a part of our everyday life. Matt. 5:40-48

Join us to hear Rev. Maren Hange share about racial and social justice and her experiences in Charlottesville Clergy Collective. She is Minister of Formation and Soul Care for Virginia Mennonite Conference.

“Receiving, Accepting, and Adapting to Ourselves and One Another” Rev. Karl McKinney, LMC Intercultural Leadership minister will be speaking from John 15:12-17. How do we follow Messiah in the ways that we treat ourselves and each other every day?