Mid-faith Crisis

This week we talk about the spirituality of shopping. We discuss the rise of lockdown shopping and the idea of the messiah purchase - that one purchase which is going to solve all your problems. And which never does. Also, Joe is spectacularly grumpy and fidgety, we discuss hot issues like ‘is Worthing better than Hawai?’ and we have the latest, final episode of the Lee Abbey saga. Don’t worry, next week’s podcast will be brilliant. Apparently.

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• Prie dieu

How do we make sense of Lent this year? To help us we have a great interview with our friend Lacy Finn Borgo. She talks about allowing hope to bloom, about naming our losses, why the Christian life is cruciform and why smashing a plate might help. Also we’ve hit a snag about Lee Abbey, Joe seems to have given up doing good introductions for Lent and Nick is talking a load of old collops.

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Joe has hit clay bottom and is recharging about as effectively as an old Nokia phone. We talk about the difficulty of waiting and how holy ground doesn’t look like what we think it does. Also, the burning question - can you leave a review of heaven on TripAdvisor?

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• Lee Abbey: Midfaith Crisis Week
• Nick's Punditry on the BBC
• Lawyer appears as cat
• Pandas in the snow
• W.H. Vanstone, The Stature of Waiting

After a brief sick leave we’re back, and considering if it’s OK to still enjoy the kinds of Christian practices we have rejected. Is it hypocrisy? Or an admission of failure? Or is it that we’re approaching the same point from a different perspective? All this plus West Side Story and St George of Wham.

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Nick’s had a spiritually challenging experience at the chemist. So is it OK to complain? How would Jesus complain about bad service? Also we discuss denying ourselves, how our lives are a training programme for Christlikeness, and the importance of making your prayers absolutely clear to God. All this, plus possibly the worst opening of any podcast ever.

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When does the mid-faith crisis end? Or is it ever, really, finished? We look at the idea of not so much moving on, but more finding a new place of stability in mid-faith, and how to recognise the sings that you might be in a new, more positive place. Also Joe is doing a workout and Nick gets weirdly enthusiastic about some grapes.

• Brian MacLaren, Faith After Doubt
• The 3,000 Step Workout
• Vittoria Grapes, Waitrose
• The Naked Pastor: Ex-evangelical

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We’re back! We reflect on the treasure we found in 2020, and, more importantly, think about our guiding themes or words for 2021. Also, as Nick points out, there’s a lot of God around, so we talk about encountering the divine in everyday life and how that is going to inform the podcast going forward. Let us know your themes for 2021!

• Episode 98: Your new year’s theme
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It's our final episode of the year. Nick has been self-isolating, Joe is uncharacteristically unChristmassy. We pick up on some feedback, explore how we can connect with the core message of Christmas, and reflect on how we can bring a bit of comfort and joy to people this Christmas. And if you do nothing else, go to the end for a lovely blessing and a beautiful song. All this, plus a vital question about poinsettias. Happy Christmas everyone!

• Revealed: British have the sexiest accents
• Episode 98: Your new year’s theme
• Christmas: Truth, Tradition and Total Baubles - CCT Lecture
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More on Nick’s book and we discuss why Christians assume that Christmas trees, holly, ivy and general greenery are somehow pagan. Would Christmas olive trees feel they were more spiritual? Are flower arrangers really engaging in an ancient Christian practice? Also, we explore compulsive certainty, whether you can have a Christianity that doesn’t believe in the supernatural, and the crucial question of the day: where does eggnog come from?

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• Snowball
• Göbleki Tepe
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We interrupt our series on Nick’s book because we’ve got an interview with Brian Draper about Advent. After a brief discussion of Jesus themed merchandise and a quick couple of Advent facts Brian talks about being open and present to this season and how this is our chance to have an advent like absolutely no other. Reflecting on his own experience of Covid, he suggests that we have a God who invites us to embrace darkness, not to escape it.

• The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk Online
• Flyzeye: A Grim Nativity Poem
• Episode 105: Soulful Nature - An Interview with Brian Draper
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BUY THE BOOK

• St Andrew’s Bookshop
• Eden
• Bookshop.org
• Hive
• Re-Vived
• Amazon