In this first episode of Beauty, Brokenness, and the Cross, we explore some of the themes of this course, especially around meaning-making in the face of trauma or heartache. You will hear a creative non-fiction story Dr. Sawyer wrote many moons ago. Music is from Epidemic Sound.

[04:35] This is a real law and affects people like my friend who had an undesired abortion at 6 weeks.

[06:07] The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy, and Women's Work by Kathleen Norris.

[06:35] From Norris's poem, "Ascension": "Now the new mother, that leaky vessel, / begins to nurse her child, / beginning the long good-bye."  

[06:44] Quote on page 86 of The Quotidian Mysteries.

[09:15] If you would prefer to read the story yourself, find the PDF here. Then jump ahead to [23:45]. This is an unpublished essay Dr. Sawyer wrote to commemorate the retirement of one of her beloved writing professors. 

[10:15] You know this "socially-aware seminary" well.

[11:10] I had heard Damien Jurado play "Silver Ball" at the Fremont Abbey. The track was released many years later. I remembered the lyrics a little wrong: "Time does not heal." 

[18:17] "Affirm the shittiness": when I prayed this prayer, I had been reading Paul Tillich's Courage to Be, where there was a lot of language of affirming. Does it make sense now? Who knows. But it made a lot of sense to my 24-year-old self.

[19:53] This was a character from John Updike's Roger's Version, who spent a lot of time thinking about Tertullian and his obsession with Jesus' body.