Beginning with the famous "Invisible Gorilla" study by Daniel Simons, Vince suggests a prayer practice for experiencing transcendence in the midst of our exhausting, pressure-heavy lives, which can feel simultaneously instinctual AND extremely hard (or strange) against the backdrop of Modern Life.
Read MoreConcluding our discussion of the modern experience of crushing, constant guilt, Hayley and Vince move us to the topic of grace: a close-relative of forgiveness, but also distinct in important ways.
Read MoreHayley and Vince continue this month's discussion of the modern experience of constant, nagging guilt, and in particular how healthy spirituality and community might help us address guilt in our relationships.
Read MoreOn the weekend of Indigenous Peoples Day, we unpack a couple of resources that help us encounter the Bible from a First Nations' perspective.
Read MoreOne tension it feels we must hold to live life well is (on one side) pursuing ideals, and (on the other side) choosing to embrace what is true right now and maybe can't be ideal. Hayley and Kyle discuss how to do that well without losing our minds or succumbing to cynicism.
Read MoreVince wonders if Anthony Anderson & Kenya Barris' hilarious, smart, and courageous TV show Blackish leverages the popularity of the "family sitcom" genre to challenge the status quo in much the same way St. Paul leveraged the popularity of the ancient "household code" genre of writing to challenge the status quo of his day. Perhaps this can instruct us about how to think about our own households and families. (TRANSCRIPT ONLY)
Read MoreA memorable lyric from Les Miserables reflects that, “At the end of the day you're another day older. And that's all you can say for the life of the poor. It's a struggle, it's a war.” Whether Pre-Revolution France, the 1st Century Greco-Roman culture of St. Paul's time, or Modern American cities like Chicago, what can be done about the fact that the Rat Race most negatively impacts the marginalized of society? (TRANSCRIPT ONLY)
Read MoreItalian actor/director Roberto Benigni's hilarious and powerful Academy Award acceptance from the 1999 Oscars offers, we think, a picture of a famous encouragement from St. Paul about tapping into God's ability to see beyond the rat race experience of life.
Read MoreWhether the Greco-Roman rat race of 1st century Colossae, or the modern American rat race of today, human beings have always been (and maybe always will be) surrounded by messaging and social pressure that is high-anxiety & soul-sucking. Maybe a way to regularly escape this messaging and pressure is one of the biggest benefits of following Jesus...
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