As one of the millions of women who has endured an abortion, Jody Clemens is equipped to speak passionately about whether abortion is really healthcare, as so many these days contend. In this interview, she illuminates how she arrived at the decision to end the life of her child, along with her shattering regret.

Jody also shares how she found freedom after years of hiding her deep, dark secret. No matter what side of this issue you fall on, you’ll find fresh insight through Jody’s haunting yet hope-filled journey.

• Rachel’s Vineyard: https://www.rachelsvineyard.org/
• And Then There Were None: https://abortionworker.com/
• Forgiven and Set Free North Dakota: https://forgivenandsetfreend.com/
• Women’s Care Center (local pregnancy resource and free ultrasounds): 
• https://www.womenscarecenter.org/fargo-north-dakota
• Does God Forgive Abortion? podcast, hosted by Brittany Poppe, co-facilitator of the Forgiven and Set Free Healing retreats: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/does-god-forgive-abortion-abortion-forgiveness-redemption/id1668717310

“Beauty can save the world.”

It’s a phrase that has been uttered in recent decades by various writers. But what exactly does this mean? Can beauty be quantified? Can we agree on what is beautiful? And if so, can it save the world? How?

In this episode, we touch on the three transcendentals of truth, beauty, and goodness. Though all are important factors in drawing us to the Faith, some have predicted that beauty is the one most needed today—and will win over our hearts in the end. We explore all this with Fr. Luke Meyer, pastor of Sts. Anne & Joachim Church in Fargo, North Dakota, including how beauty led him into the priesthood.

Show notes:

• We referenced this document on beauty; from Pope Benedict XVI’s meeting with artists in the Sistine Chapel in 2009: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2009/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20091121_artisti.html

• This book was also noted: “A Severe Mercy”: https://a.co/d/8oEVUIQ

On July 14, 2023, the community of Fargo, North Dakota, experienced what some have called the city’s 911 equivalent— an ambush of police officers who stopped to assist at a midday fender-bender. The frightening incident left one young officer dead and three others critically injured, but the shooter's plan to drive onward to the well-populated Fargo Street Fair was diverted.

Did evil have the last word on that tragic day, when a shooter who’d been observing the scene raised the scope on his gun to his eye? Or was another force, perhaps a divine one, also actively present?

In this episode, mothers-in-law of two of the four officers involved—including one who was injured and another who took down the shooter—reflect on where they sensed God’s presence that day. 

The column I wrote following the shooting: https://www.inforum.com/opinion/columns/letter-miracle-on-25th-street-reveals-the-divine-hand

The body camera footage of Zach Robinson taking down the shooter: https://www.inforum.com/news/fargo/watch-body-camera-video-from-fargo-officer-who-killed-police-shooter-averted-possible-mass-shooting

A song Heidi mentioned that helped her:  https://youtu.be/WXvp9HrHhDI?si=liD8QZG2GIQV-hrM

The surrender novena Heidi mentioned, which her and her husband prayed on the way to Fargo: https://hallow.com/blog/how-to-pray-the-surrender-novena/

The Divine Mercy chaplet Heidi mentioned: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet

Roxane’s website: https://www.roxanesalonen.com

In this episode, Roxane chats with Lutheran Pastor Devlyn Brooks about his faith and career journeys, and how they eventually merged, with the goal of answering whether these two spheres can rest comfortably together.

Plain Talk, Episode #273 (Dec. 2021): Is America’s Religious Decline Good or Bad? https://www.inforum.com/opinion/columns/plain-talk-why-is-religion-declining-in-america

Roxane’s column that followed: https://www.inforum.com/opinion/columns/salonen-does-faith-mean-loss-of-freedom

Roxane’s website: https://www.roxanesalonen.com

She’s been interviewing people for decades now, turning those discussions into newspaper articles.

Now, Roxane Salonen, faith writer, brings her conversations with guests to the podcast realm, taking on topics we’re told to avoid—religion and (occasionally) politics.

Stop by for fresh episodes the first and third Fridays of the month, or anytime in between, to hear from guests as they ponder our earthly journey in light of eternity.  

You can read more of Roxane's work here: https://www.inforum.com/roxane-b-salonen