“I’m not sending my mother a mother’s day card,” Elisabeth admits during this week’s episode as she and Merianna discuss the social construct of Mother’s Day and its detrimental impact on a woman. Why should we feel indebted or obligated to celebrate if our mothers have caused us harm? We shouldn’t, so don’t.

Links:

• Unmothers Day — Elisabeth Kauffman, author
• What's Behind America's Maternal Death Rate? : NPR
• 5 ways the Church doesn’t understand those struggling to be mothers – Baptist News Global
• Uncovering Spiritual Abuse: Having an Opinion - Merianna Neely Harrelson
• Goodreads | The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists
• About the Mother Wound
• Why I hate Mother’s Day - Salon.com
• The Forgotten Mothers of the Bible | Sojourners
• The Birth of a Mother - The New York Times

Elisabeth and Merianna explore the realities, myths, and fictions of women's roles in society.

Links:

• 'The Handmaid's Tale': Margaret Atwood has a cameo in pilot episode - Business Insider
• A Handmaid’s Tale Most Watched Series Premier Ever
• Isn't It Relevant That the Star of The Handmaid's Tale Belongs to a Secretive, Allegedly Oppressive Religion? 
• Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds - The New Yorker
• You're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you - The Oatmeal
• Eye of Horus - Wikipedia
• Amazon.com: Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype eBook: Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés: Kindle Store
• Witches and how they are silenced – Heather Marsh

What is Wicca? Are Wiccans really witches? Why do communities of faith condemn other religious expressions as heresy? Elisabeth and Merianna explore these questions together on the minister and mystic.

Links:

• Bibliography of Madeleine L'Engle
• Tarot Mythology: The Surprising Origins of the World’s Most Misunderstood Cards | Collectors Weekly
• Amazon.com: Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America eBook: Margot Adler: Kindle Store
• What is Wicca?
• The Wild Unknown
• Witches Tarot: Ellen Dugan, Mark Evans: 8601404806667: Amazon.com: Books
• The Truth About Yoga | Today's Christian Woman

Elisabeth and Merianna take a step back to define spiritual abuse and why talking about spiritual abuse is so important. They discuss the signs of spiritual abuse and how these signs impact relationships, work, and how one sees the world.

Links:

• Ep. 241: "Some Corgi Movement" - Roderick on the Line - Merlin Mann
• What is Spiritual Abuse? - Merianna Neely Harrelson — Spiritual abuse is the misuse of power by religious leaders or authorities to manipulate and coerce unquestioned adherence to a particular dogma for that spiritual leader’s own gain. This unquestioned adherence is often obtained through a pattern of conditioning. This conditioning can take the form of repeated dogmatic statements, repeated rituals, but is always used to the end of universal conformity.

Elisabeth and Merianna talk about the courage and bravery it takes to step out of the community you’ve always known into the unknown. They talk about how the juxtaposition of insider/outsider works in literature, in movies, and in TV shows. They encourage anyone who’s thinking about stepping out to go for it!

Links:

• The Dynamics of Power, Inclusion, and Exclusion
• Lois Lowry
• Margaret Atwood -
• The Office (US) - Dwight shuns Andy - YouTube
• The Office: Dwight on being shunned - YouTube
• Shunning – The Ultimate Rejection | Psychology Today
• She's All That (1999) - IMDb
• The Village (2004 film) - Wikipedia

Merianna tells her story of growing up in a conservative evangelical post-split baptist church. She tells about her inklings towards ministry and how difficult it was to express a call to ministry to the community of faith she grew up in because they didn't believe women were called to be ministers. She reflects on how she got the courage to step into the unknown and become a pastor and preacher in the baptist church.

Links:

• True Love Waits - LifeWay
• About - Joshua Harris
• Elisabeth Elliot
• Southern Baptist Convention
• Lady in Waiting: Becoming God's Best While Waiting for Mr. Right, Expanded Edition: Jackie Kendall, Debby Jones: 9780768423105: Amazon.com: Books
• The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women - Kindle edition by Jessica Valenti. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
• Jesus Girls: True Tales of Growing Up Female and Evangelical (Experiences in Evangelicalism): Hannah Faith Notess: 9781606085417: Amazon.com: Books
• The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Authentic Girls with Courage and Confidence - Kindle edition by Rachel Simmons. Health, Fitness & Dieting Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Elisabeth tells her story of growing up as a preacher's kid, being a part of a church plant, and how her journey led her away from the church. She talks about the power of community to include and welcome after her experience of communities who exclude and oppress. More importantly, she talks about the brave move of stepping into the unknown and how it was in the unknown that she began to know herself.

Links:

• Wesleyanism - Wikipedia
• The Dynamics of Power, Inclusion, and Exclusion
• The Us vs. Them Mentality: How Group Thinking Can Irrationally Divide Us — The human mind has a tendency to categorize people into social groups. And often these social groups can create an “Us vs. Them” mentality toward people who may be different than us in some way, whether it’s race, gender, age, nationality, culture, religion, or socioeconomic status.
• The Election Of 'Us' vs. 'Them' | The Huffington Post
• Home - Asbury Hills Camp and Retreat Center
• The Conflation of Public and Private Identity | Psychology Today
• The US military is investigating a secret Facebook group that spread naked pictures of service women - The Verge

Elisabeth and Merianna reveal that they have much more in common than just an interesting in reading, writing, and publishing. They talk about how difficult it is to tell you story when your story has hurt and pain in it, but how important stories are for healing.

Links:

• Elisabeth Kauffman, author
• Merianna Neely Harrelson - Pastor and publisher
• What is the meaning of deep, unspoken connections with people? — Sometimes we have an intuitive connection with people without even saying a word. This can be a deja-vu, when you feel like you know someone and the connection is more like a reunion. However, with these connections it is very important to determine if the other person reciprocates. You can sense that you are kindred spirits but this must go further than just potential. For good friendships to work, someone's loving, respectful behavior towards you must back up the sense of connection. If the connection is real, but not actualized, keep moving towards nurturing supportive people. If the connection is mutual, these are precious friendships that can endure through hard times and good.
• 8 Ways to Really Connect With Each Other | Psychology Today