Nicole and Mariah delve into a spirit-filled series as we meditate on what love means to us, with the help of some of our favourite books! This week, we share our thoughts on a read we love - All About Love by bell hooks. We come full circle as bell invites us to "give love words" and to refine our understanding of what it means to love, realising that faulty definitions may prevent us from loving well. We go deep into the fear of being alone and how love itself is borne of peaceful solitude. Mariah shares about St Teresa of Avila's yearning for closeness with the Beloved and how vulnerability allows us to access places of authenticity. We grapple with our own angels, ala Jacob and learn that desire itself is not a bad thing. Rather, the desire and longing in our hearts for intimacy is something beautiful that can bring forth abundant grace. So yes, 4 episodes later, we may not know "all about love" but we have learned and relearned what we do know (and not) about this thing called love!

Nicole and Mariah delve into a spirit-filled series as we meditate on what love means to us, with the help of some of our favourite books! This week, we share our thoughts on a read we love - Love by Jeanette Winterson. We explore the difficulties of faith echoed with Jeanette's relationship with faith as she finds that the "overarching story about God is love". There is beauty in her struggles as she invites us to navigate the losses in our lives as specific and tender. She reminds us that to be known by name is a truly beautiful thing as it belies an intimacy and closeness not unlike our relationship with God. She breaks open the concept of love where "love demands expression" and reminds us that love will "not stay silent" but is actively lived out in our everyday decisions to love those around us fiercely and boldly. 

Nicole and Mariah delve into a spirit-filled series as we meditate on what love means to us, with the help of some of our favourite books! This week, we share our thoughts on a read we love - The Inner Voice of Love by Henri Nouwen. We get into the humanity of Nouwen who shares his struggles with loving so beautifully and authentically. We swap our favourite quotes from this series of journal entries in which Nouwen gently leads us from the source of love to the ongoing pilgrimage we are collectively on and finally to the courage to keep loving. We return to the First Love and how it is this Love that informs our ability to love those around us, with a love that is at once secure and reckless. We learn that conversion is an ongoing process that involves an intimate participation with the Lord and that the true act of courage today is to choose to love and to keep on loving. 

Nothing says 2022 like the act of creation! We delve deep into the intersection of faith and creativity as we invite Eric and Desmond, established poets whose inspiration comes from the Creator Himself! Co-editors of A Given Grace Anthology, they were inspired to celebrate the beauty of the creative spirit and to provide a platform for poets to explore the topic of faith. We discuss how our faith informs our creative practice, the spaces in which we allow grace to enter and work in and how we draw strength and inspiration from the Divine Author. Eric and Desmond read some of their luminous works and invite us into a sacred space of contemplation where we transcend our human reality to glimpse the glory of the Divine. 

Nicole and Clara share life on the Advent season of the podcast as we journey the next 4 weeks together towards Christmas. In this week's episode, we go deep into "the manger". Nicole emerges from her Advent retreat (momentarily) to profess her new found love for candles and how the light of Christ burns brightly in the person of the child Jesus in the manger. Clara ponders on the poverty Jesus inhabited and how He desires to be with us in the struggle and messiness of our lives. We discover that we are all called to "come, all ye faithful" even if we don't feel fully ready for Christmas and learn to centre our gaze on the real meaning of Christmas - Christ Himself nestled in the manger. Let us also come and adore Him and allow Him to enter into our hearts. Truly, He is the ever-present Messiah, God is with us! Merry Christmas to you and see you in 2022 :)