Restlessness is a Gift

This Christmas week, we talk a little about what we do not know and the goodness of our ignorance in our life with God.

The reflections in this series stem from my (re)launched book, The Practice of Remembering: Uncovering the Place of Memories in Our Spiritual Life.

I reference a poem by Wendell Berry, called Manifesto: Mad Farmer Liberation Front and a quote from Karl Barth that can be found in the book Watch For the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas.

Music by Robert Ebbens
Podcast art by Broadleaf Books

This week begins a limited series of reflections on Advent called “Advent Memories.”

In week 1, I offer a few thoughts about moments of wonder in my own life and how Advent is a time where we remember the wonders of the past so we can anticipate the wonders of Jesus yet to come.

The reflections stem from my (re)launched book, The Practice of Remembering: Uncovering the Place of Memories in Our Spiritual Life.

This is a reboot of my 2019 book, As I Recall, that won the 2020 Christianity Today Award of Merit in Spiritual Formation.

A new meditation will drop each week, and I believe they are wonderful companions to the book as well.

Photo by Laura Nyhuis on Unsplash

In this episode we talk with author Tasha Jun about growing up in a Korean-American family and finding belonging through faith, family, and community.

Tasha is a Korean American melancholy dreamer, wife, and mom, who grew up in a multicultural and biracial home. She's spent her life navigating liminal space. Writing has always been the way God has led her through the ache and towards the hope of shalom. Her debut book, Tell Me the Dream Again: Reflections on Family, and the Sacred Work of Belonging is available now, wherever books are sold. Find her at https://www.tashajun.com or sign up for her monthly notes at https://shalomsick.substack.com

You can find Tasha’s recent book here and you can also pre-order my re-released book, The Practice of Remembering: Uncovering the Place of Memories In Our Spiritual Life here.

Artwork by Broadleaf Books
Music by Robert Ebbens

It has been 5 months since my last podcast (almost). What happened? Where have I been?

In this episode I talk about everything from book launches, family crises, health crises, and what happens when things don’t go like we think they will.

I refer to the wonderful podcast by Katherine May in this episode - you should probably go listen to her podcast first. It is extraordinary.

Music by Robert Ebbens
Podcast Art by Broadleaf Books

NOTE: This week’s podcast features some significant language about human sexuality, sexual dysfunction, and sexual assault. Please listen with discernment.

We talk this week to author Sheila Wray Gregoire about her new book She Deserves Better: Teaching Girls To Resist Toxic Teaching on Sex, Self, and Speaking Up. (with Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach and Joanna Sawatsky). In the book, Sheila and the authors talk about empirical research regarding how the teachings of religious communities have harmed the sexual and social health of girls - but also how religious communities can be part of the solution for women and girls moving forward.

Sheila, Rebecca, and Joanna are also the authors of the best-selling book The Great Sex Rescue: The Lies You’ve Been Taught and How to Recover what God intended, featuring one of the largest research projects on sexuality and Christian faith.

Sheila Wray Gregoire is the face behind BareMarrige.com, the largest single-blogger marriage blog. She's also an award-winning author of nine booksand a sought-after speaker. With her humorous, no-nonsense approach, Sheila is passionate about changing the evangelical conversation about sex and marriage to line up with kingdom principles. She lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband. They have two adult daughters and two grandbabies.

Music: Robert Ebbens
Cover Art: Broadleaf Books

This week on the podcast I talk about how we look at former stages of our life & our faith and learn to bless what was good, but leave behind what we cannot take with us. Much of the content from today’s podcast is taken from my book The Gift of Restlessness: A Spirituality For Unsettled Seasons.

If you’d like a written version of this episode, you can find it on my blog.

Music: Robert Ebbens
Cover Art: Broadleaf Books

In this episode we talk with writer, speaker, and gastronomist Kendall Vanderslice about food - specifically, how food connects to the greater story of our life and faith. Our conversation is drawn from her most recent book, On Bread Alone: A Baker’s Reflections on Hunger, Longing, and the Goodness of God.

You can find Kendall’s writing and her previous book We Will Feast here and you can also pick up a copy of my new book The Gift of Restlessness: A Spirituality for Unsettled Seasons here.

Music: Robert Ebbens
Cover Art: Broadleaf Books

This episode celebrates LAUNCH DAY for my new book (and the namesake of this podcast), The Gift of Restlessness: A Spirituality For Unsettled Seasons. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, you can get one here and here.

In this episode we talk about how books are meant to start things, to be beginnings, and I invite all of us to explore what the Divine may be starting with us in our restless seasons.

I also mention Neil Gaiman’s book Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change the World which is simply lovely.

Music: Robert Ebbens
Cover Art: Broadleaf Books

Today we talk with author, activist, and professor Marlena Graves about our restlessness around belonging and how racism is, at the core, a spiritual formation issue.

Marlena received her M.Div. from Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, New York, where she is now the Assistant Professor of Spiritual Formation. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH.

Marlena has been on the pastoral staff at several churches, worked at non-profits, been on the residence life staff at a university, and worked for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC). Since 2015, she has been an adjunct professor at Winebrenner Seminary in the areas of discipleship and spiritual formation. She has written for a wide variety of venues like Christianity Today, RELEVANT magazine, and served as a board member for the Redbud Writers Guild.

She is the author of three books including Forty Days on Being a Nine, The Way Up Is Down, and The Gospel of Peace In A Violent World.

Her new book, Bearing God: A Christ-Formed Life In Uncharted Waters comes out on September 5, 2023 but you can pre-order here.

Music by Robert Ebbens

Next week – my new book The Gift of Restlessness launches into the world on April 25, 2023. There’s still time to pre-order and get in on some of the pre-order gifts.

Today we talk with Jeff Crosby about the restlessness of needing to feel safe and how we listen to our longings in restless times.

Jeff is an organizational leader in the world of words, ideas, and book publishing. Currently president and CEO of a trade association of publishers, he has served in various executive roles, including as vice president at Ingram Book Company, and at IVP, a publisher in the Chicago area. He combines a background in journalism, leadership studies, and business with a love of language and insight from several fields in exploring faith and spirituality in light of applied practice. He and his wife of more than forty years, Cindy, have two grown children and six grandchildren.

His book, The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longing Of Our Hearts comes out on May 23 and you can pre-order a copy here.

You can still pre-order a copy of The Gift of Restlessness - and get some free stuff - by following this link.

Cover art courtesy of Broadleaf Books
Music by Robert Ebbens