The Blue Room podcast is back--sort of--with something new this week! I’ve been wanting to play around with audio here on Substack, the platform that hosts the Blue Room. I thought I’d give it a try using the audio from last Sunday’s sermon.

Nothing fancy in this prototype, not even an intro or outro, just the sermon audio. Let me know how it works for you!

The scripture text: Mark 4:26-34

Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

It’s the season two finale! Today, we wrap up our series of conversations about Hope: A User’s Manual.

Section six of the book is Hope Beyond Hope. If you’ve read the book, we hope this conversation will enhance that section. If you haven’t read it, the conversation stands on its own.

This section is a bit of a catch-all, wrap-up section. It’s about how we persevere amid everything or despite everything, when we’re feeling hopeful and even when we’re not.

Our guest is Tim Beal, Distinguished University Professor, Florence Harkness Professor of Religion, and Director of h.lab at Case Western Reserve University. His latest book is When Time Is Short: Finding Our Way in the Anthropocene. The book starts with the question, “what if it’s actually too late to save ourselves from the climate crisis? What then?” It’s an alarming question on its face, but Tim’s exploration of that question is robust and provocative, and ironically hopeful. Which is exactly where the final section of my book strives to land.

~

Tim’s website

Tim’s Finding Our Way in the Anthropocene Spotify playlist (brilliant idea!)

Contact MaryAnn McKibben Dana at maryannmckibbendana.net. 

Order Hope: A User’s Manual

Editor and Producer: Mel Dana

Today, we continue our series of conversations about Hope: A User’s Manual.

Section five of the book is The Practice of Hope. If you’ve read the book, we hope this conversation will enhance that section. If you haven’t read it, the conversation stands on its own.

Section five is the get-your-hands-dirty section, so what could be more fitting than a conversation about gardening with Derrick Weston! As you’ll hear, we talk about a lot more than just gardening: food, faith, race, justice… it’s a wide-ranging conversation that stands well alongside the most practical section of the book.

The Rev. Derrick Weston is Theological Education and Training Coordinator for Creation Justice Ministries (formerly the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program). Derrick is a writer, filmmaker, podcaster, speaker, and educator. He is co-host of the Food and Faith podcast and producer of Spoon, Spade, and Soul, a podcast highlighting food and land-based ministries in the Episcopal church; he produced the short film series “A Wilderness Like Eden” highlighting the work of churches engaged in food justice work. You’ll hear us talk about the black church food security network, which is featured in that film project.

Derrick is co-author of the forthcoming book The Just Kitchen: Invitations to Sustainability, Cooking, Connection, and Celebration, now available for pre-order!

Derrick’s website

And here’s my conversation with Derrick about Black Panther from season one of the pod! Parts one and two.

Contact MaryAnn McKibben Dana at maryannmckibbendana.net. 

Order Hope: A User’s Manual

Editor and Producer: Mel Dana

Today, we continue our series of conversations about Hope: A User’s Manual.

Section four of the book is Hope Travels in Story. If you’ve read the book, we hope this conversation will enhance that section. If you haven’t read it, the conversation stands on its own.

Today, MaryAnn’s guest is Patrice Gopo. Patrice is an award-winning essayist and the author of books for adults and children. Her essay collection, All the Colors We Will See, was Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Her debut picture book, All the Places We Call Home, was inspired by one of the essays in her collection. As the child of Jamaican immigrants who was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Patrice often writes about racial identity formation, immigration experiences, and the beauty of living a multifaceted life. Her essays have appeared in a variety of publications, including Catapult, Charlotte Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, and AFAR Magazine. Her essay “That Autumn” received a notable mention in the Best American Essays 2020 and earned a National City and Regional Magazine Association award for best essay, criticism, and commentary. In addition to other honors, Patrice is the recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council Artist Fellowship and a Sustainable Arts Foundation Award. When she’s not writing, Patrice hosts the podcast Picture Books Are for Grown-Ups Too! because she believes in the power of stories to help build connections between people. Patrice lives with her family in North Carolina, where she enjoys walks just after dawn and thinks a perfect day ends with ice cream. Please visit www.patricegopo.com to learn more.

Contact MaryAnn McKibben Dana at maryannmckibbendana.net. 

Order Hope: A User’s Manual

Editor and Producer: Mel Dana

Today, we interrupt our regular season with a bonus episode! Sandhya Jha is someone I’ve known through various professional networks, and I’m an avid reader of Sandhya’s wonderful Thursday newsletter, called Joy in Social Justice. I love their work and wanted you to get to know Sandhya as well. We talk about Sandhya’s approach to anti-racism and anti-oppression work, how we find hope in the struggle, and the vital work of getting in touch with the stories of our ancestors, whether familial, cultural, or spiritual, so that we can be good ancestors for future generations.

Sandhya Jha (they/them) is an anti-oppression consultant who especially  loves helping organizations get Diversity/Equity/Inclusion teams off the ground. Sandhya is the founder and former executive director of the Oakland Peace Center, a collective of 40 organizations working to create equity, access, and dignity as the means of creating peace in Oakland and the Bay Area. An ordained pastor with a master’s in public policy, Sandhya is comfortable in the pulpit, on the picket line, or hanging out with friends and friends-to-be over a good cup of tea and a good story. Sandhya’s fifth book with Chalice Press, Rebels, Despots, and Saints, was just released recently.

Website: sandhyajha.com

Order a copy of Rebels, Despots & Saints on this link: https://chalicepress.com/products/rebels-despots-saints

Joy in Social Justice newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/44fa84c53738/racial-justice

Their Wildest Dreams podcast: https://anchor.fm/sandhya-r-jha

Contact MaryAnn McKibben Dana at maryannmckibbendana.net. 

Order Hope: A User’s Manual

Editor and Producer: Mel Dana

Today, we continue our series of conversations about Hope: A User’s Manual.

Section three of the book is Hope Lives in the Body. If you’ve read the book, we hope this conversation will enhance that section. If you haven’t read it, the conversation stands on its own.

Today, MaryAnn’s guest is the Rev. Lynn Horan, an interfaith theologian and leadership consultant specializing in women’s leadership development in both spiritual and secular contexts. 

She is currently a doctoral fellow through Antioch University's PhD Program in Leadership and Change, exploring embodied leadership and the gendered construction of professional boundaries.  Her current research on female clergy attrition will be featured at the Global Center for Religious Research's International Conference on Religious Trauma. Her work on embodied social change will be published in an upcoming book Leadership at the spiritual edge: Emerging and non-western concepts of leadership and spirituality, published by Routledge Studies in Leadership Research.  

For more information on Lynn's research and publications, please visit www.lynnhoran.com. The Presbyterians Today article that was referenced in the conversation can be found here.

Contact MaryAnn McKibben Dana at maryannmckibbendana.net. 

Order Hope: A User’s Manual

Editor and Producer: Mel Dana

Today, we continue our series of conversations about Hope: A User’s Manual.

Section two of the book is What Hope Is. If you’ve read the book, we hope this conversation will enhance that section. If you haven’t read it, the conversation stands on its own.

Today, MaryAnn’s guest is Marilyn Finch Williams, LCSW, Psychotherapist, Neurofeedback Practitioner and Founder of the MEDIAN Center for Resilience and Brain Training… and MaryAnn’s own coach/therapist!

Marilyn has degrees in International Relations and Social Work and began her career working with families of terrorist victims at the Department of State.

She has been a Certified Enneagram Teacher in the Narrative Tradition since 1994; has studied extensively with Helen Palmer, David Daniels, MD and Richard Rohr, OFM, among others. She has been an Individual and Family Therapist for over 30 years, with primary training in multi-generational family process with Rabbi Edwin H. Friedman, author of “Generation to Generation-Family Process in Church and Synagogue” and “A Failure of Nerve-Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix.” Marilyn is a former adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Social Work and is a lecturer, speaker, trainer, consultant and retreat leader and provides supervision for candidates for clinical licensure.

Contact MaryAnn McKibben Dana at maryannmckibbendana.net. 

Order Hope: A User’s Manual

Editor and Producer: Mel Dana and Caroline Dana

Welcome to season two! Today, we begin a series of conversations that stand alongside the sections of Hope: A User’s Manual.

Section one of the book is What Hope Is Not. If you’ve read the book, we hope this conversation will enhance that section. If you haven’t read it, the conversation stands on its own.

Today, MaryAnn speaks with Marthame Sanders. Marthame is an Atlanta-based podcaster, producer, musician, improviser, and consultant. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Chicago and has served in ministry as international mission staff, youth director, and solo pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He is the producer and creative force behind aijcast, a podcast at the intersection of art, inspiration, and justice, currently in its 21st season.

Contact MaryAnn McKibben Dana at maryannmckibbendana.net. Follow Marthame’s work at www.mudeif.com.

Order Hope: A User’s ManualEditor and Producer: Mel Dana and Caroline Dana