Mid-faith Crisis

How do you deal with the tough times when the old ways of praying and responding no longer work? We talk about finding God in disappointment, and understanding the presence of the divine. 'This too shall pass.' Meanwhile, Joe has pain in his ankle and Nick has some unexpectedly good hymns.

Joe and Ali Male are hosting a day for Number 6s on the Enneagram. Send an email to enquire about a place.

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We're back! And in a largely content-free episode, we reflect on our time away. Joe is thinking about construction rather than deconstruction and claims to have been attacked by a kingfisher. Nick has started blogging again and has been thinking about beauty and the difficult art of gratitude. Quote of the episode: 'I'm at peace with my plumbing.'

Church Notices

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Joe interviews Joanna Godfrey Wood about her book In Search of Stillness. What is the difference between stillness and silence? How can we find inner stillness in our lives today? What is it for and how can we use it? They also explore a little of Quaker faith and practice and touch on the importance of listening to each other as a community.

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Joe interviews Dr Ali Male who takes us through the Enneagram. Or, to put it another way, it's a conversation between a number one and a number seven, mentioning the number five and the number nine to whom they are respectively married, and pausing only to abuse a number four along the way. Some sound issues - apologies about that.

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We have some listener reaction to the interview with Lacey Finn Borgo on the feminine divine. Along the way we talk about whether the church is becoming too feminised, the importance of difficult outrage, how we recalibrate and redeem some of the old theological phrases and whether Joe will have to check his hugging technique.

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Joe talks to our friend Lacey about the feminine divine, the effect of patriarchy on faith, and how 'anger is not your enemy, bitterness is.’

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It's Joe's turn to reflect on his version of the good news. What would he change? What has been his journey so far? Is he really just an enormous butterfly. Are we all just bits of plumbing walking about? To sum up: 'It's not very satisfactory but it's just how we see stuff.'

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Half a podcast lifetime ago (episode 125 to be precise) we put forward our versions of the good news. This week we revisit them – well, Nick's version, anyway. Does he still agree with it? And how did he start with all this Jesus stuff anyway?

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It's episode 250! But there's no time for celebration, as we discuss the issue of whether the Lords Prayer needs updating. Should we start 'Our mother who art in heaven'? Is Nick really part of the oppressive patriarchal system? Also more feedback on lament, the theology of Barbie, Faurés Requiem, and the importance of dissonance.

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In this episode we discuss the role of music as a place of spiritual encounter. We touch on the need for authenticity in worship and the way in music and song connects us to each other and connects us deeper to our true selves. Also, do angels sing? Or are they into hip-hop? Meanwhile, Joe has been to Barbie, Nick is suffering from a touch of 'old' and pith has gone out of the window.

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