On the Way Podcast

Often we hear colonialism spoken of as something that happened in the past. At other times in public discourse the term attracts heated resistance and the voices of the colonised are frequently not heard. If colonialism is not just the past but remains in the air we breathe, we can miss the ongoing effects in areas of diverse as class, economy, gender relationships and race. Dr Kwok Pui-lan joins the podcast to bring a global perspective to how colonialism is at play in political, religious and domestic relationships of power and in the legacy of social harm and intergenerational trauma. This means that colonialism is a current dynamic to which we need to be alive and alert if we are to work towards the healing of relationships through the ways of peace and justice. Dr. Kwok Pui-lan is a Scholar at Episcopal Divinity School, past president of the American Academy of Religion and has authored and edited numerous books on Asian and Asian American feminist theology, biblical interpretation, and postcolonial criticism.

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There are plenty of reasons right now that we may feel inclined to despair. The news brings to us all the violence of the world and a sense that the all we have known is fundamentally changing. Dom, Sue and Peter gather for this 'check in' conversation on how we are adjusting to the shifting of the powers in the world and the unmasking of systems that have been for some time working against life and the flourishing of all. How do we find ways to navigate this time in life-affirming ways resting on a spiritual foundation that insists on the love and dignity of all in the midst of crisis? This conversation is a reminder of the power of community and of the love that holds us, and which faith reminds us, will have the last word.
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What soil did you come from? There is no self-made person and perhaps this is a lesson that emerges with greater clarity in the garden than in many of the other spaces and ways we live and work. Our sacred texts are rooted in agrarian cultures and the Gospels are full of Jesus' stories of green and growing things, yet we often hear a Christianity preached that seems more comfortable with the spiritual world than our embodied lives.
Jeff Chu left his job as a magazine writer and found himself at Princeton Theological Seminary's "Farminary"-a working farm where students learn to cultivate the earth while examining life's biggest questions. In his book "Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand" Jeff writes about how such rhythms of death and life, growth, decay and regeneration can be our greatest teachers, revealing the grace of our interdependence and the love at the heart of everything. Jeff joins the podcast for this live conversation during his recent visit to Australia.
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What if reconciliation is resistance? John Na'em Snobar, a Palestinian Christian and former Australian Diplomat, joins the podcast to speak from his lived experience both in diplomatic circles and on the ground in Israel/ Palestine of how speaking the truth is, in itself, a nonviolent response. John speaks of the whole truth as that which names antisemitism as a centuries-old vile and violent hatred, along with its complex impact in the region, and shares his story to shed light on the current plight of Palestinians in Gaza.
John Na'em Snobar is a former Australian Diplomat and the Director of Advocacy for Palestinian Christians in Australia. He also is the grandson of the first Palestinian Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem. In the tradition of Christian liberation theologies, John shines a light of hope on the steadfast refusal to dehumanise even enemies in living out nonviolent resistance and working for peace with justice.
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To be human is to find oneself bound to multiple things that are conflictual yet at the same time compelling. The interplay of desire and morality creates one such 'double bind'. It is possible to follow desire and disregard the claims of morality in such a way that you can ruin your life. Equally it is possible to devote oneself to morality and disregard the voice of desire and ruin your life. Desire is fundamentally central to being human, forming in unique ways in each of us, and we are also responsible fundamentally for others in the choices we make. Dr Peter Kline rejoins the podcast for a conversation that explores the unresolvable tensions of the human condition, why the idea of balance is so unhelpful and how freedom and joy can be found within the anxieties and complexities that attend every human life.
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