Carolyn Meers offers a contemplative journey through the mystery of light across traditions, through time, into prayer. This episode includes a guided practice of holding yourself and others in the light of dawn, midday, and twilight.

At the end Caro reads Jan Richardson's blessing 'How the light comes'.

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Christmas can be wonderful...and complicated. Especially when your beliefs have shifted and you're heading into family gatherings or other contexts where not everyone understands or agrees with where you're at now. 

In this conversation, Will sits down with pastor and spiritual director Carolyn Meers and therapist Linda Pesavento to explore why Christmas amplifies these tensions, how to navigate relational minefields with integrity, and what it looks like to create new meaning while honouring what remains beautiful from your past.

Whether you're facing judgment from family, translating yourself to preserve relationships, or trying to figure out what Christmas means when the old story doesn't fit anymore, this episode offers practical wisdom, honest stories, and permission to keep yourself safe at this time of year.

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Anne Lanyon joins Will to discuss her work with the Faith Ecology Network (FEN), an interfaith network of people bridging conversations between science and religion. 

Anne shares about her formative years growing up as an Irish Catholic in rural Victoria, the work she has done for many decades at the intersection of peace, ecology and justice, and the way she hears the earth speaking a prophetic message we all need to heed. Anne and Will explore the powerful and underestimated role of wonder, and the role it can play in science, spirituality and community. 

Learn more about the Faith Ecology Network: https://www.fen.org.au

Explore the Ten Ways to Care for Biodiversity here: https://www.tenwaysbiodiversity.org

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We're living through wild times. In this episode I'm sharing how I'm holding anxiety about various AI possibilities within the season of Advent and its invitation.

I talk about attachment hacking, cognitive atrophy, and the existential questions around artificial general intelligence. But more than that, I'm trying to practice what it means to face reality with courage while staying grounded in hope, embodiment, and the ever-coming Christ.

The second half is a guided contemplative practice. An invitation to breathe, to be present in your body, and to bring your concerns to the divine one.

The episode closes with "Breath," a track I created a while ago with Jon Reichardt that seems fitting here.

Diary of a CEO episode mentioned with Tristan Harris: https://youtu.be/BFU1OCkhBwo?si=fOTYaQowSNMLg2Cm 

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Mike Hardie joins Will to share about his winding journey through various denominations and changes in faith, leading him to where he is today: helping establish a new community of faith called Oasis, part of the Uniting Church in Sydney. Mike and Will discuss how to create spaces that honour mystery alongside conviction, structure and freedom, holding space for children developing their understanding of God as well as people who have had their frameworks come undone. 

Learn more about Oasis, a new (misfit friendly) community of faith at https://www.oc.org.au

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Mikenzie Ling joins Will to explore three crucial tensions for our times:

Can we be locally grounded with a global mindset?

Can we stay physically embodied in an increasingly digital age?

Can we be both ancient and progressive?

A conversation that will spark your thinking and invite you into deeper listening.

Will mentions the work of Vanessa Andreotti: 

Hospicing Modernity https://decolonialfutures.net/hospicingmodernity/

and 'Burn out from Humans'

https://burnoutfromhumans.net/

Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.

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What do you do when you realise you haven't prayed in months, and you haven't missed it? Sally Douglas joins Will to explore what it means to 'rewild' prayer: moving beyond formulas, gendered God-language, and the Zeus-like deity many of us inherited. A conversation about trinitarian prayer, holy demanding, and finding your way back to the real when your ability to pray feels dead.

Get Sally’s new book, ‘Rewilding Prayer’ here: https://www.sallydouglas.net/rewilding-prayer

Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.

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Mitch Forbes joins Will for another Pub Theology chat. They discuss topics like Christian indignation at Halloween, the existence of evil, thoughts about death, and questions about authenticity, performance and the essential nature of human beings.

The Substack article Mitch and Will discuss regarding Authenticity: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/p/against-authenticity?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=qtmh6&triedRedirect=true

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Biblical scholar Michelle Eastwood joins Will Small to discuss her journey from growing up Lutheran, journeying through multiple denominations and shifting in the way she engages the biblical text. Drawing from her PhD research on Psalm 71 and aging women, Michelle advocates for reading the Bible as a "flawed document" that can still inspire faith, without needing to explain away its difficult passages. For anyone who still wants to read the Bible, while acknowledging its violent and troubling nature, this is a great conversation.

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Rev. Samuel Dow joins Will Small to share how he found his calling at the intersection of faith and ecology through Baroona Farm, an urban farm in Brisbane that grows food with and for refugees and asylum seekers. Will and Samuel discuss eco-theology, links between agriculture and spirituality and how to build more gentle and sustainable communities.

Follow Baroona Farm on social media: @baroonafarm

Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.

The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguide

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