Life & Faith

You’re 30 and feeling meh about life. Bridie Jabour, The Guardian’s opinion editor, knows your pain. ------ On New Year’s Day, 2020, Bridie Jabour, The Guardian’s opinion editor, published a column about millennial malaise: being in your 30s and somewhat dissatisfied with your situation in life.  She’d attended a few dinners where women around her age were facing varied challenges: relationship breakdown, fertility issues, being a parent, starting a new job. Though everyone’s situation was unique, “they all seemed to be kind of melancholy and questioning it all,” Bridie said. Bridie’s column sampled some of the experiences of her generation. It went viral overnight, racking up 600,000 views in a normally sleepy summer period. She received interview requests from New York, India, South America, as well as country Queensland.  She seemed to have touched a nerve for millennials facing a unique set of economic and social circumstances: precarious work, delay in having children, soaring house prices putting home o

The wrestle with busyness, productivity, balance, and tech easily becomes the story of our lives. --- “I don't like work-life balance. I think that it implies that work is a different thing from life. And I think that if we're doing work right, it's a part of life.” Dr Jenny George cares deeply about people’s well-being at work. She is CEO of Converge International, which provides Employee Assistance Programs among other things.  And Daniel Sih, as a productivity coach, pastor, and former physiotherapist, is all about helping busy people make space in their lives. He’s the author of Spacemaker: How to Unplug, Unwind and Think Clearly in the Digital Age. Work/life balance, digital Sabbath, tech addiction, time management, working from home, inbox zero … these things have a profound impact on how we experience our lives day-to-day. Join Simon Smart and Natasha Moore for a conversation about what mental and spiritual health looks like in our high-pressure, hyperconnected moment. “Actually we'll never get everyth

Michael Wear talks about faith, politics and having Barack Obama as a boss.  ------ Michael Wear worked in the Obama White House for 3 ½ years in the office of Faith Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships before heading out and leading religious outreach on President Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012 and then directed religious affairs for the president’s second inaugural. He is an expert on the place of faith in public life, and maintains a hopefulness that Christianity still has a deep well of resources to bring to bear on the pressing challenges of contemporary life--even being a unifying force. Michael is an optimist and believes the resources of Christian faith can be, not just a private belief system, but in fact a significant contributor to the common good. ------ Michael’s book about this period of his life is Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House about the Future of Faith in America.

The plight of the Tamil family from Biloela makes us ask: could we do refugee politics differently? ------ The story of the medical evacuation of four-year-old Tharnicaa Murugappan to a Perth hospital from detention on Christmas Island has struck a nerve in the Australian community. Tharnicaa, her sister Kopika, and their parents Priya and Nades are facing deportation to Sri Lanka after Priya and Nades were found not to be genuine refugees.  The family’s plight has shone a spotlight on Australia’s deliberately harsh policies of detaining asylum seekers. But their former community in Biloela, central Queensland, is campaigning that the family be allowed to stay in Australia. Politicians and personalities from across the political spectrum have also joined the cause. It seems that this Tamil family are helping Australians reimagine the kind of welcome the nation might offer to vulnerable people.  This Refugee Week, we bring you an interview with Mark and Luke Glanville, two brothers who’ve written a book called

How do you raise kids who see the world’s problems, and believe they can do something about it? ---  “I guess I'm concerned that kids are becoming depressed and overwhelmed by the big problems that they see in the world. And I think if we just leave it at that, they will grow up with a worldview that says, ‘The world's a wreck. There's nothing I can do in it. I might as well just watch Netflix.’ Whereas I think if we give kids an opportunity to respond to the problems in the world when they're young, they will develop a worldview that says, ‘Oh, there's a problem in the world. There's something I can do about that.’” Susy Lee has a background in psychology, theology, aid and development, peace and conflict, children’s and family ministry, and … computer science. Across her various jobs and studies, she’s been preoccupied with the question: how do you make the world better?  She’s convinced that how we parent has an awful lot to do with it. In her new book, Raising Kids Who Care: Practical conversations for ex

A former Yale professor on the clever but morally clueless students pursuing an elite education.  ------ In 2014, William Deresiewicz’s book Excellent Sheep: The miseducation of the American elite and the way to a meaningful life became an instant best-seller. The former Yale professor called out the way that elite American universities produced “excellent sheep”: clever, highly credentialled, and conscientious young people who were nonetheless stumped about the meaning of life. Instead, they funnelled themselves into high-paying jobs in law, finance, medicine, consulting, or tech.    In this fascinating discussion, Deresiewicz talks about the way that words like “soul” have a gravity that non-religious language can’t replicate, why a good education is necessarily going to ask existential questions about “love and time and God and everything”, and how he annoyed Canadian psychologist and popular science writer Steven Pinker with talk about university as a time to “build your self”. As the Australian federal g

Mike and Steve Baird grew up as sons of prominent Australian politician Bruce Baird. Both recently moved from corporate roles into the not-for-profit sector. ------ Mike Baird had a successful career in banking before going into politics – eventually  becoming the 44th Premier of NSW. He returned  to banking after ten years in politics but recently moved to become CEO of HammondCare – a large Christian charity that provides dementia and aged care along with palliative care. Their mission – to improve the quality of life for people in need. Mike’s younger brother Steve was also had a successful career in the corporate world, and has made a significant shift to International Justice Mission Australia - part of the largest anti-slavery organisation in the world.  This week we hear from the brothers, Mike and Steve--what it was like growing up together, the people and experiences that have shaped them most and why they moved from the corporate world into the not-for-profit sector. What motivates them both in lead

Think “scientific” and “creative” are opposites? Physicist Tom McLeish begs to disagree. --- “We forget, in science, that what we call the scientific method is really only the method for a tiny bit of science. It's the only bit of science that there can be a method for, which is testing out and checking our hypotheses when we've got them. The really crucial step in science is to get good ideas going in the first place, to have great new insights, to imagine whole new structures of the world, or fungus on the trees, or black holes, or whatever it might be. Now, there really is no method for having great, innovative, scientific, imaginative, creative ideas. So where do they come from?” Tom McLeish is a physicist and author, and talks about science more enthusiastically than anyone else you’ll ever meet. His current title is Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of York - and “natural philosophy” is far from the only unusual term he likes to use when talking about science.  His latest book is The Poe

“As a junior doctor I went to Ethiopia to work with my aunt in the desert area, and we were just wandering around the desert with camels, treating people under trees and shrubs and things in 50-degree heat … You’d have to sleep with a guard with a gun because the hyenas get quite close, so every now and then you’d get woken up with a gunshot and this hyena yelping off in the distance. And then a bit later that night a camel was bellowing just a few metres away from my head and gives birth, and I get splattered with all this amniotic fluid.” Andrew Browning has spent more than 17 years in Africa as a missionary doctor. As a medical student, he spent time working with Rwandan refugees fleeing the genocide; as a junior doctor, he joined Catherine Hamlin at the Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia, dedicating his life to helping women who are suffering from debilitating childbirth injuries.  In this episode of Life & Faith, Andrew explains how he could give up a lucrative, comfortable life as a doctor at home in Aust

In the latest book from the CPX team, Mark Stephens asks: why is it so hard to think well? --- “Pretty much, this book is a recount of all of the ways that I’ve failed at thinking. So it’s really a confession from start to finish, because we’re all susceptible to this.” Thinking is one of the most basic and obvious things we do - but that doesn’t mean we do it well. Mark Stephens says it’s actually quite hard, and that thinking about thinking is uncomfortable … but that it’s very much worth doing.  His brand new book The End of Thinking? is the latest release in the Re:considering series. In this conversation with Simon and Natasha, Mark helps us navigate the topic of thinking: from terms like the Dunning-Kruger effect, steelmanning, and ultracrepidarianism to why we should care about it in the first place - and what kind of person it will make you. --- Get your copy of The End of Thinking? here

Makoto Fujimura and the healing power of art and faith --------  Acclaimed artist Mako Fujimura talks to about the connection between beauty, art and faith. A particular emphasis is on the Japanese tradition of Kintsugi which repairs broken bowls, reassembling them with lacquer and then covering that in gold. The whole idea is that it takes broken things and not only restores them but makes them more beautiful than the original. Beauty out of brokenness is the idea - which has profound resonance with Fujimura’s understanding of his Christian faith and echoes his own experience in dealing with trauma and loss. ---- Links: Makoto Fujimura Art & Faith: A theology of Making. https://www.waterfall-gallery.com/makoto-fujimura https://makotofujimura.com/

Why do Austen’s novels inspire an almost religious fervour? --- “There’s no one to touch Jane when you’re in a tight spot,” declares a character in the Kipling short story “The Janeites”, in which a group of soldiers in the trenches of World War I bond over their shared love of Austen. Today, Austen fandom approaches levels of devotion unrivalled by almost any other author. At the same time, her six novels are often dismissed as “chick lit”. In this episode, Simon agrees (with some reluctance) to finally read Pride and Prejudice - and is surprised by what he finds. Natasha speaks with Katrina Clifford, Dean of Academics at Robert Menzies College and a scholar of eighteenth-century literature, about why so many people over the last two centuries have been so obsessed with Austen. From Mormon or Amish adaptations to the handful of surviving prayers we have from Jane’s pen; from Austen’s male historical mega-fans (Churchill, Tolkien) to the BBC’s famous lake scene; this conversation has something for everyone -

If Jesus offers wisdom for how to live, how necessary is the “Son of God” stuff? --- “I do think Jesus is a much more challenging figure than he is often presented to be. And a lot of the challenges he presents I think Christians find it quite hard to really look square in the eye.” Julian Baggini is a philosopher, an atheist, and the author most recently of The Godless Gospel: Was Jesus A Great Moral Teacher? It’s the latest contribution to a centuries-long effort to discover what’s left of Jesus of Nazareth if you subtract the miracles and “God talk”.  Jonathan Pennington is a New Testament scholar at Southern Seminary in Kentucky, and his book Jesus the Great Philosopher also places Jesus within a tradition of offering wisdom for life. However, he thinks that ultimately, you can’t separate the moral teaching of Jesus from the Easter story of his crucifixion and resurrection. His argument is that Jesus is more than a philosopher - but not less than one.  “When you study philosophy, you recognise the best ph

An aerospace engineer and an astrogeologist discuss the whether and why of space exploration. --------- "For all these wonderful technologies, for all these incredible achievements that you see – rockets that can be reused, drones that can fly long missions, every discovery by the Hubble or the Kepler – there’s this realisation that when all the really, really good stuff comes along, I’m going to be dead." When James Garth was a young, budding aerospace engineer, he came across an ad in his copy of Aviation Week that read: "In 200 years, space flight will be routine. You, however, will be dead." It was an existential-angst-inducing moment. But it hasn’t kept him from being constantly excited about the work he gets to do now. "My main job is to make sure the wings don’t fall off – if the wings fall off, it’s a bad day, and if the wing stays on, it’s a good day," James says. He’s not being flippant – the wings of an aircraft, he explains, are designed to not fall off, of course, but only just. "Aerospace is a r

In light of the chaos surrounding the U.S. presidential election we ask John Stackhouse and Nathan Campbell to reflect on the place of Religion in Public Life ----------- The story of the politicising of faith in the U.S. has a long backstory. Some would say the storming the Capitol building in Washington was the culmination of a complex narrative that has roots in the backlash against 1960s libertarianism and the subsequent alliance between conservative religion and conservative politics. That is a fascinating story in itself. But what is the place of faith in politics and public life? Do national flags and Christian faith go well together? What legitimacy do Christian believers have when engaging in politics? Theologian John Stackhouse Jnr sheds some light on the North American context and CPX Associate and Australian Pastor and blogger, Nathan Campbell, offers his perspective on this complex and fraught discussion.       

The CPX team debrief on their latest reads, TV binges, and podcast discoveries. --- It may not surprise you to know that the nerds at CPX spend a lot of time inhaling the books, movies, podcasts, and binge-worthy TV series that shape and reflect our particular cultural moment - and debriefing on them around the proverbial office water cooler.  This week on Life & Faith, Simon, Natasha, and Justine hit record on that conversation.  Covered in this episode:  Priestdaddy: the 2017 memoir by Patricia Lockwood, “poet laureate of Twitter”, whose father - a Catholic priest, via a loophole in the usual rules about celibacy - is a larger-than-life figure … like everyone else in her family, it seems. Hilarious and also disturbing, on growing up religious and continuing to love complicated people whose faith you no longer share. The Stand: a new 9-episode miniseries based on the 1978 Stephen King novel, available to watch on Amazon Prime, this dark fantasy/post-apocalyptic tale rejects the greys in favour of good ol

The most famous witch hunt in history – and how it speaks to our moment. ---  “There were always personal issues at stake in Salem and, I think, in all witchcraft trials. We can talk about larger-scale issues like economic change or political conflicts, but witchcraft accusations always started out of conflicts between individuals.” Donald Trump may declare his impeachment(s) “the greatest witch hunt in American history”, but that dubious honour has long been accorded to the panic that took hold of the New England community of Salem, Massachusetts, back in 1692. Catherine Brekus, who is Charles Warren Professor of the History of Religion in America at Harvard Divinity School, takes us back to that iconic episode to help us understand the perfect storm of historical factors that caused it. She talks about what leads a close-knit community to turn against each other - and draws some uncomfortable parallels with our own moment, from conspiracy theories to the demonisation of opponents, especially women. "I reall

British writer Francis Spufford talks about heartbreak and loss, hope and eternity, in his latest novel, Light Perpetual. --------- In November 1944, a German V2 missile obliterated a Woolworths store in South London, killing 168 people. Fifteen of that number were children under 11 years old. For 13 years Francis Spufford has, on his way to work each day, walked past a plaque commemorating the event. He says he has been increasingly haunted by the lives those children didn’t get to live.   In Light Perpetual Spufford summons five lives out of the dust and ruin of that 1944 calamity and breathes life into them, giving Jo and Valerie and Alec and Ben and Vernon a future they didn’t get to live. This is a story of paths chosen or not taken, the joys and wounds that time gifts and inflicts. The story is a complex weaving of divergent time periods and characters who live unspectacular but always intriguing lives. There is murder and mental illness, heartbreak and loss of various kinds, as well as a meditation and

Acclaimed author Susannah McFarlane on meeting her birth mother and then, to her great dismay, God.  — The EJ12 Girl Hero series, the EJ Spy School Series, D-Bot Squad, Boy vs Beast, Go Girl!, and Zac Power. For decades, Susannah McFarlane has been the author, publisher, and driving force behind some of Australia’s most popular children’s books. In her 50s, Susannah met her birth mother for the first time but discovered - to her shock - that she was a Pentecostal Christian. A staunch atheist, Susannah tried to argue her mother out of belief, but in researching the historical claims of Christianity, found herself converted - reluctantly - to the faith instead. In this episode of Life & Faith, we hear about Susannah’s reunion with her mother, the fallout - and also the joys - of coming to faith, and how this spinner of remarkable tales makes sense of the way her own story fits into the Christian story. — EXPLORE Heartlines: The year I met my other mother, co-authored with Robin Leuba The story of your life,

Do you have a soul? What is soul/a soul/the soul? We talk as though it’s a real thing: you can sell your soul, search your soul, keep body and soul together, not tell a soul, be the life and soul of the party, find something good for the soul or else soul-destroying. But do people still believe in the soul? And why? In this episode of Life & Faith, Simon Smart, Natasha Moore, and Justine Toh debrief about the new Pixar movie Soul. A school chaplain describes what happened when she asked her students if they believe in the soul, God, miracles, ghosts, or angels. And J. Richard Middleton, Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary, argues that the Bible doesn’t say what most people (including Christians) think it says about what it means to have - or be - a soul.