Holy Holy Podcast - The Holy Holy Podcast: Recent Episodes
Holy Holy Podcast
Rev. Kat Banakis hosts an interfaith ethics show on the wisdom of faith traditions in leading a good life.
University of Chicago sociologist Dr. Linda Waite, end of life medical Dr. Jennifer Brokaw, Rabbi Andrea London, Emmy award winner Rev. Julian DeShazier, and Imam Malik Mujahid contribute to a conversation on the impacts, costs, and needs of caregiving and care-receiving at the end of life.
Childcare is a cost not just to individuals and families but also to our society as a whole. Sessy Nyman of Everthrive Illinois outlines the most pressing contemporary issues. Rabbi Lauren Henderson and Changiz Geula of the Chicago Bahá’í Community respond from their traditions. All music provided by Poddington Bear.
Viator House of Hospitality in Chicago’s northwest suburbs provides a bridge for undocumented minors who turn 18 while awaiting their asylum hearing. Rabbi Lauren Henderson and Changiz Geula of the Chicago Bahá’í Community offer insight from their traditions on immigration, migration, and refugees. All music provided by Poddington Bear.
St. Leonard’s Ministries supports Chicago citizens returning from incarceration. Program Director Christopher Roach shares his own story of life after incarceration. Panelists Rabbi Ike Serotta, Pastor David Watkins, and Imam Abdul-Malik Ryan envision a new future. All music provided by Poddington Bear.
Carrie Thomas executive director of the Chicago Jobs Council outlines some of Chicago's greatest workforce challenges glossed over by record low unemployment. Rabbi Ike Serotta, Pastor David Watkins, and Imam Abdul-Malik Ryan respond. All music provided by Poddington Bear.
Is there such a thing as a balanced life? Should we even try for one? Join us for a conversation with Cali Yost, Quentin Mumphrey, Leena Suleiman, and Max Weiss.
As we approach the end of the calendar year, most of us will be flooded with requests for year end donations, but what difference does donating make to the world around us or for ourselves?Our conversation features Kashif Shaikh Executive Director of the Pillars Fund and David King, Karen Lake Buttrey Director, Lake Institute on Faith & Giving and Assistant Professor, Philanthropic Studies at the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Our panel includes Rabbi Bruce Elder of Congregation Hakafa; Dr. Kimberly Lymore of St. Sabina's; and Karen Danielson of the Mosque Foundation.
In this year of uncivil discourse, Rev. Jennifer Butler of Faith in Public Life discusses what religious education taught her about conversing with the other.
In this week of remembering religious minorities, namely the pilgrims in England, here is a treat of panelist Karen Danielson speaking with NPR's Rachel Martin on her conversion to Islam:
http://www.npr.org/2013/06/09/189917833/making-the-switch-an-american-womans-journey-to-islam
This all-star episode features Rev. Jennifer Butler of Faith inPublic Life and chair of the President's advisory council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships; Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar; Rabbi Bruce Elder of Congregation Hakafa; Dr. Kimberly Lymore of St. Sabina's; and Karen Danielson of the Mosque Foundation.
Children growing up in religiously observant homes often have multiple or hyphenated identities
How do you graciously accept someone you haven't chosen or might not choose for your child's partner?
How do you raise a kind child? Veteran parents Steve and Betsy Peterson, Mary McLaughlin, Kiran Ansari Rasul, Max Weiss, and Matt Fitzgerald weigh in.
As many of us live far from our parents, how then do we honor them at a distance? Kiran Ansari Rasul on honoring her mother back in Pakistan offers insight.
Psychologist Cheryl Rampage on the relative golden period between when kids are 30-50-ish and parents are 55-75-ish when the younger generation is settled and older aren't yet old old.
Honoring your parents is one thing while they are alive, but how do we honor their memory and do our best to live up to that? Kiran Ansari Rasul offers one way.
Mary McLaughlin went home to run her family business once her children were grown. Then she moved down the street from her adult children. Listen in on her story and the wisdom of psychologist Cheryl Rampage in the dynamics between parents and their adult children as the world changes. Our interfaith panel includes Max Weiss, Kiran Ansari Rasul, and Matt Fitzgerald.
Hey, friends. As we approach Labor Day, I thought it might be helpful for re-post a piece I wrote 6 years ago this time of year for an organization and newsletter now run by Auburn Seminary. I'm in a different situation today than I was when I wrote this. I'm amply employed, and I actually just preached a sermon on Sabbath, but in doing a piece on careers it's only right to also talk about the search for work.
From Labor Day, 2010...
As we approach Labor Day 2010, I, like 9.5% of Americans, am unemployed. All 2,9165,622 of us are actively looking for work, so that number does not include those who are underemployed or have stopped looking for work. I am not looking forward to going to church on Labor Day for fear that I will have to endure yet another sermon about how we shouldn't let our work take over our lives; how we all need Sabbath, yada yada yada. For the unemployed person, a rather unwelcome Sabbath awaits every day, and it's enormously stressful. Chosen Sabbath is lovely; situational Sabbath not-so-much.
So I thought for this blog that I'd lay out the concerns I'd like to hear addressed in a sermon and then see what Biblical stories and responses we can come up with that offer succor during this time. I hope that this can be a dialogue.
- Living in the midst of not knowing is really hard. I feel like the poet in Psalm 74,
ìThere is no longer any prophet,
and there is no one among us who
knows how long.
How long, O God
do you hold back your hand;
why do you keep your hand in your bosom?î
I could adjust to an outcome (i.e. You will have a job but not until November) if only I knew what that outcome was. But we donít and canít know that outcome. We canít know what our new normal will be; only what our current situation is.
Possible response A: The Christian tradition has something to say to living in the midst of insecurity. The Old Testament is filled with the stories of people who wandered or were exiled from their preferred lives and did not know how long their time of uncertainty would last. We are built on having to make Jerusalem in the heart because the physical community of Jerusalem was something intangibly far off.
Possible response B: In the New Testament we are introduced to the concept of living this life in between the already and the not yet, between when Jesus walked the earth and when Christ returns. And what we are taught is that a sense of stability is arrived not from knowing the exact nature of the outcome but that (1) Christ walks with us in the insecurity, (2) we find comfort with one another, and (3) in service to others.
What else????
- Our jobs provide identity and community in a way that is not altogether bad. We have somewhere to go in the morning. Ideally we can feel good about what we do while weíre there. We work with other people, and, over time, build relationships with our colleagues. They are the people at hand, the people weíve been given to love in our midst. I find that I miss the meaning offered by work and the community both.
Itís not so much that I think of myself any less a worthy child-of-God being a no-income individual but rather that I miss having the tasks and the community of a job. Itís nice to be reminded from the pulpit that all Iím called to do is to be myself, a child before God. But more than that, I want something tangible in Christianity that acknowledges the benefits of work.
Possible response A: There is nothing unfaithful or unbiblical about wanting to work. The vast majority of figures in the Bible worked. They worked in agriculture and trades and law and government and medicine. Paul worked as a tent maker throughout his ministry and evangelism. One does not become holier by not working. Sure, taken to an extreme where work/money/business become idols themselves is a problem. Working itself, though, is consistent with the ancestors of the faith.
Possible response B: It is harder to build structure and community where it doesnít automatically exist, but we worship a God who parted the red sea and turned water into wine and made a motley crew of outcasts into the forefathers of Christianity. We are created by a God who creates. Perhaps the prayer in the midst of unemployment is how to make structure and community in the wilderness, trusting that God can do just that.
What else, friends? What other stories and concepts are there? I know that there are many ways that Christianity offers succor to the job-seeker. What shall we offer?
Journalist Jacoba Urist's parents supported her interests in writing from an early age, even when those interests were unconventional. Here's how she translates that into her own parenting.
Marci Alboher of Encore.org on what longer lifespans mean for how we approach higher education and professional training.
Guest contributors include Jacoba Urist, Marci Alboher, Rabbi Max Weiss, and Leena Suleiman. Artists Laurie Frick, Greg Dunn, and Nathan Sawaya are profiled.
The next episode of the Holy Holy Podcast is on the meandering path of careers. To whet your appetite, here is one of our guests, Marci Alboher on what she has learned about career journeys in her work with Encore.org.
In our conversation on being single in America, Dr. Linda Waite talked about singlehood as well as marriage. Our conversation veered into how married people invest differently in one another than do those who are less formally partnered.
Dr. Linda Waite of the University of Chicago and the National Social Life, Health, and Aging project on how couples in high-quality marriages help one another and provide care as time goes by.
Malik Mujahid on learning about unhappy mother/daughter relationships and its impact on caregiving at the end of life.
University of Chicago sociologist Dr. Linda Waite, end of life medical Dr. Jennifer Brokaw, Rabbi Andrea London, Emmy award winner Rev. Julian DeShazier, and Imam Malik Mujahid contribute to a conversation on the impacts, costs, and needs of caregiving and care-receiving at the end of life.
Next week's episode is on caregiving at the end of life -- both receiving and giving care. To help get us in that space of care-giving and receiving, probate attorney Stefan Mozer discusses animal considerations at the end of life.
Peg Birk on the powerful role that a relationship with God can take in the absence of a partner
Just in time for father's day, here's a brief conversation on the unique role that fathers play in the lives of their (single) daughters. Thanks, dads.
In honor of this weekend's Tony Award, a Holier Bit on the role of self-appointed matchmakers in mosque communities.
This conversation on being a single adult in America features Peg Birk, University of Chicago sociologist Linda Waite, Rabbi Andrea London, Emmy award winner Rev. Julian DeShazier, and Imam Malik Mujahid
In this intimate conversation, Suzanne Wagner, who has long lived with cancer, and Dr. Scott Eggener, a surgeon specializing in cancer at the University of Chicago, discuss their experiences with the disease. Rabbi Andrea London, Rev. Julian DeShazier, and Imam Malik Mujahid are our panelists.
What are the key legal documents to have in place for end of life planning? Probate lawyer Stefan Mozer knows only too well.
Hey, Holy Holy Podcast listeners! I know we’ve been on hiatus, but we’re about to be back and in full force. You voted, and we listened. Episodes on Being Single, Cancer, and Caregiving/care-receiving at the end of life are in final editing and will be released soon. Stay tuned!
Plus, I need your help for people we should interview for shows in development about Political Engagement, the Myth of Balance, the Meandering Path of Careers, and How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Jerks. Real-life people with good stories, academics, and applied professionals welcome. Email me at revkatbanakis@gmail.com with any suggestions. Peace and thanks.
Norwestern palliative care doctor Linda Emanuel, Rabbi Andrea London, Emmy award winner Rev. Julian DeShazier, and Imam Malik Mujahid are guests in this discussion on what it means to have a good death.