Learning How to See with Brian McLaren

Today's episode features an audio essay from Edith Woodley on the Biblical story of Joseph, which she first knew as a child in its tidy, happily-ever-after form. Brian McLaren and Randy Woodley respond, tracing how favoritism, from Jacob’s family to colonial rule in Rwanda and Burundi, can create cycles of intergenerational trauma.

What changes when we read these ancestral stories as the stories of real, wounded people rather than as tidy morals? Tune in to consider what it means to find God in the messiness of life.

Resources:

Find the transcript for today's episode here.

Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠the Woodleys and Eloheh here⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Pick up a copy of Randy’s new book, ⁠⁠⁠⁠How Western Christianity Got It Wrong.⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Journey to Eloheh⁠⁠⁠⁠ by Randy and Edith Woodley explores how Indigenous values lead us to harmony and well-being.

Discover more about composer April Stace ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Connect with us:

Have a question you’d like Brian, Randy, or Edith to answer about this season?

Email us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcasts@cac.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Send us a voicemail: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠cac.org/voicemail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In today's episode, we look at the Genesis 12 story of Abram, in contrast to that of Joshua. Hosts Brian McLaren, Randy Woodley, and Edith Woodley explore how Abram, as an immigrant, respects the customs and values of those around him, versus Joshua's conquering narrative. The three reflect on how the Bible can be used to justify harm, or harmony, focusing on the way in which Westerners coming to the United States wielded Joshua's approach as a weapon against Native Peoples.

The episode also asks us to consider how our lens on Biblical narratives leads us to The Harmony Way, or to greater separation from each other and the land.

Resources:

Find the transcript for today's episode here.⁠

Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠the Woodleys and Eloheh here⁠⁠⁠.

Pick up a copy of Randy’s new book, ⁠⁠⁠How Western Christianity Got It Wrong.⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠Journey to Eloheh⁠⁠⁠ by Randy and Edith Woodley explores how Indigenous values lead us to harmony and well-being.

Discover more about composer April Stace ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here.⁠⁠⁠

Connect with us:

Have a question you’d like Brian, Randy, or Edith to answer about this season?

Email us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcasts@cac.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Send us a voicemail: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠cac.org/voicemail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In today's episode, we look at the Genesis 12 story of Abram’s call. Hosts Brian McLaren, Randy Woodley, and Edith Woodley explore what it means to be “blessed to be a blessing,” how generosity and hospitality can shape our identities, and how a strong sense of identity can become a gift to others rather than a reason for exclusion or domination.

The episode also asks us to consider our own character arcs. Where are we being invited to grow? What would it mean to understand what we have as something meant not only for ourselves, but for the benefit of others?

Resources:

Find the transcript for today's episode here.

Learn more about ⁠⁠the Woodleys and Eloheh here⁠⁠.

Pick up a copy of Randy’s new book, ⁠⁠How Western Christianity Got It Wrong.⁠⁠

⁠⁠Journey to Eloheh⁠⁠ by Randy and Edith Woodley explores how Indigenous values lead us to harmony and well-being.

Discover more about composer April Stace ⁠⁠⁠⁠here.⁠⁠

Connect with us:

Have a question you’d like Brian, Randy, or Edith to answer about this season?

Email us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcasts@cac.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Send us a voicemail: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠cac.org/voicemail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In today's episode, we explore the story of the Tower of Babel and turn the usual reading of it upside down. Diverse languages, in this telling, are not the curse — the tower is.

In this conversation, Brian McLaren, Randy Woodley, and Edith Woodley talk about the cost of enforced sameness — from Native American boarding schools to the quiet pressure many people feel to hide what makes them different. What does it mean for the church to keep trying to finish a tower that the Creator never wanted rebuilt?

Resources:

Find the transcript for today's episode here.

Learn more about ⁠the Woodleys and Eloheh here⁠.

Pick up a copy of Randy’s new book, ⁠How Western Christianity Got It Wrong.⁠

⁠Journey to Eloheh⁠ by Randy and Edith Woodley explores how Indigenous values lead us to harmony and well-being.

Discover more about composer April Stace ⁠⁠⁠here.⁠

Connect with us:

Have a question you’d like Brian, Randy, or Edith to answer about this season?

Email us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcasts@cac.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Send us a voicemail: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠cac.org/voicemail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Learning How to See, hosted by Brian McLaren, with guest hosts Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley and Edith Woodley.

Today, Edith reads the Biblical flood story from Genesis 6–9. She then connects this flood story to the U.S. government’s Native American boarding school system — including her own family’s history at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

Our hosts invite us to consider: what does it mean to survive a flood that was “meant to cover everything” — and didn’t?

Resources:

Find the transcript for today's episode here.

Learn more about the Woodleys and Eloheh here.

Pick up a copy of Randy’s new book, How Western Christianity Got It Wrong.

Journey to Eloheh by Randy and Edith Woodley explores how Indigenous values lead us to harmony and well-being.

Discover more about composer April Stace ⁠⁠here.

Connect with us:

Have a question you’d like Brian, Randy, or Edith to answer about this season?

Email us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcasts@cac.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Send us a voicemail: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠cac.org/voicemail⁠⁠⁠⁠