Our podcast aims to “spark the Spirit within you” and what you will hear in this conversation with Anne Snyder is a person whose spirit is on fire for something bigger than herself. What an inspired and inspiring time we had with Anne Snyder–we can’t wait for you to listen! From her vulnerable sharing of her own formation story to her reflection on why institutions matter today and how we can become whole people, Anne offers us so much to be hopeful for. In addition to her wise and thoughtful articulation of these ideas, Anne also shares inspiring stories of the everyday heroes she’s encountered who humbly bring people together, working to be “agents of repair” in their institutions, their neighborhoods, and on their front porches. 

Enjoy this dynamic conversation, share with others, and keep the conversation going! Thanks for listening.

Quotations

“Love, to be, to have integrity, has to suffer with.” (12:34)

“If we can name some of the deeper principles at work in a healthy organization that save people and provide a bridge in times of displacement and loss, maybe that's where we need to begin in the century of so much institutional distrust. (15:01)

“Institutions are the bridge for us between individual self-actualization and contribution and understanding our role within something larger.” (19:56)

“We awaken to the deepest truth of things always in dialogue, and institutions are the containers that allow us to experience that dialogue, even when it's discordant.” (21:21)

“I long to be welcomed into an alternative reality through words and bread and hugs, and tears and shared prayers.” (49:00)

We discuss:

• Anne’s formation story (12:00)
• Why institutions bring important gifts in these challenging times (14:53)
• The deeper stream of change and growth available to us (19:30)
• What it means to to be a whole human (23:30)
• Positive change through institutionalists with a revolutionary impulse (29:50)
• Every day, people “suffer their way to serve our world and keep our democracy alive” (37:18)
• How institutions can be life-giving and uniting (38:00)
• The mystery of God plays out in the mix people, neighborhoods and churches (45:05)
• Anne’s current formation lies in the tensions of being a “weaver of people.” (48:03)
• Being a woman in a public and the role of the feminine spirit in the world (52:28)

About Anne Snyder

Anne Snyder is the editor in chief of Comment Magazine and oversees Comment’s partner project Breaking Ground. She's the host of the podcast The Whole Person Evolution and co-editor of Breaking Ground: Charting Our Future in a Pandemic Year that came out in January of 2022. Her book, The Fabric of Character: A Wise Giver’s Guide to Renewing our Social and Moral Landscape was published in 2019.

Before leading Comment, she directed the Philanthropy Round Table Character Initiative, a program seeking to help foundations and business leaders strengthen the “middle ring” of morally formative institutions. In addition to regular pieces for Comment, Anne has also published in The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, and Bittersweet Monthly, and her writings are available at her site, Souls and Silos.

Show Notes

Anne Snyder is editor in chief of Comment Magazine

Anne Snyder is the author of The Fabric of Character: A Wise Giver’s Guide to Renewing our Social and Moral Landscape (2019) and co-editor of Breaking Ground: Charting Our Future in a Pandemic Year (2022). 

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