The Crushing Disappointment of Middle Age
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Release Date: 02/22/2024
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
A few weeks ago, former President Donald Trump made the assertion, from the Presidential debate stage, that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating citizens' pets. This was his attempt to underscore the need for immigration reform by using debunked conspiracy theories to incite fear. He received this pet-eating information from "people" who he did not name and, though the story was revealed to be completely unfounded and false, his running mate J.D. Vance continued promulgating the rumor after the debate. Since that time, Springfield has experienced bomb threats and school...
info_outline Counting the CostGold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
This week, Loren and Amber discuss the cost of following Christ, especially when one's cherished way of life might be at stake. Is it wrong to defend our rights as Americans or to fight to keep the privileges we've always enjoyed? Is it wrong to allow others to infringe on those rights and privileges? What makes us truly Christian and truly patriotic? As we dig deeper into Christian Nationalism and the Doctrine of Dominionism, we're finding some profound theological questions popping up, ones that challenge our notions of "right" and "wrong" when it comes to God, politics, and love of...
info_outline Christian Nationalism and the Doctrine of Dominionism (Take 2)Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Welcome to Season 14 of the show in which recurring favorite, Loren Romeus, and I take another -- more informed, more loving, and fairer -- stab at the exploration of Christian nationalism and the doctrine of dominionism which is enjoying a resurgence in America. On today's episode, we define our terms and explain why we think this is a conversation worth having again. Our relationship to power, safety, and control informs how we see the world, God, and ourselves. And the way we see all of that informs the way we show up and how we influence. Join us as we dig a little deeper for the...
info_outline Honoring Others with Our PowerGold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
What happens when we use our power and authority to honor others, especially those on the margins? What is possible when we serve the "we" instead of the "I?" Join me in conversation today with Loren Romeus as we discuss stories in which we've been called to steward our power for the sake of those who have less power.
info_outline How Does God Steward Power?Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
It stands to reason that Christians would want to model their leadership styles/stewardship of power after the example of Jesus. Yet, the One who taught us to wash feet, to use our power in service of others, to sacrifice the "I" for the sake of the "we" is often disregarded in churches, Christian homes and communities. Why do Christians resist the example of Christ? What can we learn from God's own stewardship of power? Join me in conversation today with Loren Romeus as we explore these questions and more.
info_outline Servant LeadershipGold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
We all agree that servant leadership is the kind of leadership style that values the goodness and well being of all people within an organization. It's the goal, the aspiration, and the gold standard of leadership styles. Yet, we rarely see it sustained. We most often default to styles of leadership which are not in service of all. Why is this? What is it about servant leadership that is so difficult for us to sustain in the real world? Join me in conversation with Loren Romeus as we explore these questions and more.
info_outline What is the Purpose of Power?Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
God gave humans limited power -- over self, the earth, and one another. What is the purpose of this power? What did God have in mind for its use and what can we know about how God sees its misuse? Christian dominionism is a popular teaching, growing more popular as our nation is further polarized across a number of issues. Did God give us power so that we could extend God's power on the earth? If so, what does that look like and what does it NOT look like? Join me in conversation with Loren Romeus as we explore these questions and more.
info_outline The God of PowerGold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Join me today in conversation with a favorite guest, Loren Romeus, as we begin Season 13. This season is all about power/authority/dominion and how it intersects with American Christianity. What is the purpose of power? How does God steward power and provide an example for us? What is with the rise of Christian dominionism teachings and how do they fit in with the teachings of Christ? These are just a few of the questions we'll be exploring together as we try to make sense of our current cultural moment. On today's episode we introduce ourselves and tell the story of what sparked this...
info_outline Pain and the PlanGold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Philosopher and theologian Cornel West posits that the condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak. That resonates, doesn’t it? What is our suffering saying to us? What truth is it offering? Far be it from me to attempt to explain why things couldn’t have been different or how a good and omniscient God works with suffering. Theologians and philosophers and farmers and housewives have been pondering these questions since the dawn of time, and I have nothing novel to offer the debate on the problem of pain. However, what I’m learning is that, if we can risk allowing our suffering to...
info_outline God and SensualityGold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
After decades of this self-abandonment in the name of holiness, I am disappointed with the results. I really thought that if I prayed enough, read my Bible enough, and worked on my marriage enough, I would be made healed and whole. When I survey the damage done by piling all this rock between me – all of me, including my beautiful body and my wild life force – and the Light that is Christ, I shudder. Like most folks schooled in this crazy mixture of modern, Western, Cartesian dualism and ancient Christianity, I feel disembodied. I feel separated from my sensuality, my fleshiness and,...
info_outlineI turn 43 in a few weeks and, I must admit, I’m feeling some kinda way about life. It’s widely known that middle age folk experience weirdness for about ten years between the ages of 30-ish and 50-ish. Mid-life crises have long been the go-to fodder for movies, books, songs, and TV series. Stereotypes abound – women scrambling for facial injections and men for sports cars. Everyone sadly grasping for the youth they can never recover and simultaneously dreading the downhill roll toward death that will characterize the rest of our lives.
Yes, the picture America paints for mid-life is quite bleak, even if it is sometimes comical.
But we don’t often get below the clichés to deal with what’s beneath this bleak picture, at least not as a collective people. We may do personal work, like finally beginning therapy or carving out space for a new hobby. We may even embrace physical aging and discipline ourselves to learn new things. These are all common aging practices we celebrate in our overly individualistic culture.
Yet what we emphatically resist doing, as a society, is naming the elephant in the room. The word we seem afraid to speak out loud, but which also keeps us up at night, is the one thing we like to avoid recognizing together – disappointment. No one talks aloud about the crushing disappointment of mid-life.