Rainbows and Unicorns? Not Today, Thank You: Staying Present to Suffering in Pandemic Time
Season 2, Episode 235, Apr 09, 2020, 08:01 AM
We don’t do suffering well. Kate Bowler’s perspectives, captured in an interview published in the New York Times, is our point of departure.
Our show pushes back against the unexamined, often unconscious ways that we frame public questions using political or economic modes of thinking. We aim to be part of a growing movement of people who are critical of the narrowness of political and economic categories, and who want to revive a vision of human flourishing that is grounded in the wisdoms of theological and moral philosophical tradition. We see these habits and ways of thinking as being pre-political, and foundational to a healthy and civil shared life in families, communities, economies, and polities.
In short, we want to create a community that is grounded in curiosity, going deep, and shining light.
Let us know your thoughts and reflections on our Facebook Page: @whatingods.
Here are timecodes to help you navigate through today’s show:
02:54 What is the pandemic revealing about America’s soul? Is it an American trait to consider ourselves exempt from suffering, or is feeling invulnerable the luxury of the privileged, who are now learning what others in America have known all along?
06:40 The strength or weakness of a system is revealed in a crisis. What are we learning about America in this crisis?
09:04 How is positivity a national obsession? What is immature in this obsession? Why is the recognition of suffering, the acknowledgement of suffering, good news?
16:11 “I’m on the edge. Someone out there, just please show me love.” Is this what prayer is?
18:30 How do we be Easter people in this time, without being shallow and facile?
20:58 What music will carry you through this time?