Top 7 Podcasts

Inspired by my last blogpost, I would like to share some of the top Podcasts that have my attention right now.  There are so many podcasts out there, professional and amateur, that it is hard to sift through them.  I would like to share some with you that will be worth a listen, in my estimation.  Though I have tried many more, these 7 are the ones to which I continually return.

MORE IMPORTANTLY: I am looking for more good Podcasts to follow.  My hope is that as you read this list, you will say--"Ryan just has to listen to ______.  He will love it."  Please share the podcasts that you are into.  I would love to check them out!

I listen to Podcasts when I exercise and just around the house.  The following 7 are all engaging.  Some are just for entertainment.  I have chosen all of them to learn more about the world, and to expand my own horizons.

7.  60-Second Space; 6. 60-Second Science; 5. 60-Second Mind 
I lump these together to keep this blogpost brief.  Scientific American sponsors and creates these podcasts.  They are all about 1 minute long and they give condensed information about recent discoveries in scientific research.  Though it sounds esoteric, the topics are chosen to be interesting, engaging and practical.  There is a whole series of these 60-Second podcasts.  My three favorite are above, and each deals with science and technologies relating to the topic in the title.  There is also an earth science podcast and a technology podcast, and there may be others.  Want to learn something?  Do you lead a really busy life?  Take 60 seconds out of your day and lend an ear.  We live in amazing times.  Average Duration of Each Episode: 60 seconds

4. This American Life
National Public Radio produces this podcast.  Each week, the writers, reporters and staff of This American Life choose a theme and then bring stories that explore that theme to listeners.  I would label this a "human interest" podcast.  Ranging from art, literature, history, biography, fiction, comedy, journalism and so much more...contributors share all sorts of perspectives on life---particularly life in America.  The podcast is entertaining and educational.  Every episode has something you will relate to, or at least something you will feel passionately about.  Average Duration of Episode: 1 hour

3. The Partially Examined Life
I was a philosophy major.  I love philosophy still.  After trying out several philosophy podcasts, this is the one that I listen to all the time.  Each episode is a discussion of a particular philosopher's or thinker's works (usually a selection, not the whole body of work).  The participants of the discussion are all amateur philosophers (with day-jobs), but they are all very well educated and bright.  Normally, there are three or four guys who discuss the ideas, although sometimes they have guests on--every now and again the actual thinker they are discussing (unless they are discussing the work of a dead person, of course).  Although I sometimes disagree with comments made by the panelists, I learn tons.  In fact, I enjoy the podcast more for how I am challenged by some of the comments, reactions and ideas of the panelists.  This is a very engaging podcast.  It is like sitting down in a comfortable chair and discussing important ideas with a group of friends.  Average Duration of an Episode: 1 to 2 hours  (it is worth every minute of it).

2. On Being
Also from National Public Radio, On Being is hosted by Krista Tippet out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This podcast is about faith and life.  Each episode Krista has a conversation (much fuller than a mere interview!) with an important figure in the world.  It could be an author, a poet, a scientist, a religious leader--any interesting person!  Krista explores the work and spirituality of each guest, and together they try to plumb the depths of the question "What does it mean to be human?"  These podcasts are touching and soul-enriching.  Each episode will give you a new perspective on life...and a new perspective on yourself.  Don't miss this one!!!  Average Duration of an Episode: 1 hour  [podcasters also have the option of listening to the "uncut" conversations...these are longer, but they are worth it!]

1. Car Talk
Also from National Public Radio, this show is hosted by Click and Clack, two Italian-American car mechanics who went to MIT.  These guys are smart, but they are even funnier.  If you want a fun podcast, you need to try this one.  Even if you don't like cars or care about cars, you will enjoy this show.  Click and Clack take calls from people who have car troubles and they diagnose the car's problem on the air.  Along the way, they end up digging into people's lives and discussing all sorts of issues like relationships and spirituality and philosophy.  I have been listening to CarTalk since 2006, and it never gets old!  Just hearing the hosts' distinctive voices--and laughs--immediately brightens my day, and gives me hope for this world.  This is so much more than a car show.  But I have also learned a lot about automobiles--and physics/mechanics.  Average Duration of an Episode: 1 hour...totally not long enough.

So, there it is.  My top seven podcasts.
What else should I be listening to?
Let me know.

Meanwhile, happy listening!

Books that Changed My Life

Apparently, there is a blogger's bandwagon on which I have heretofore failed to jump.  I understand that it is now in vogue to share a list of the top 10 books of one's life.  I have enjoyed thinking back, and searching my book shelves to decide which books make the cut of such a list.  The hard part, for me, was not finding just ten, but rather finding as many as ten!  I have read countless books, for school and for fun, and yet there are only a few that have been so transformative that I would fain put them on a serious top ten list.  Just as in life we only find a handful of truest friends, so too, only a few books really affect us deeply and profoundly...changing the course of our thought and life.

Before we get down to business, however, I must make a disclaimer.  The Bible does not appear on this list.  I think it unfair to place the Bible on this list, since it is the most effective book in my life.  The Book is so rich, varied and expansive, and the Book is so transforms me--comforting, challenging, correcting, supporting and guiding me--that it is truly beyond any category, particularly the category of literature.  The Bible then, properly exists before and behind this list, above it and throughout it.  There is no story like the story of God and God's people.

One final note: this list is NOT in random order.  The list is a countdown to the most profound book in my life, and thus #1, the end of the list, is the most impactful book upon my life.

10.  Bunnicula by James Howe, et. al.
Although this book is neither a classic, nor a giant in the world of literature, it made a huge impact on me. Bunnicula is a series of books (7 now, but when I was in grade school there was only 4 or 5) about a vampire rabbit, whose evil designs are thwarted by a house cat and pet dog.  Chester is the quixotic cat, redoubtable, if excitable and misinformed.  Harold, the dog, is his unwitting (well, oblivious, really) partner.  Adventures ensue as Chester and Harold try to uncover the mystery of Bunnicula, and work to save their unsuspecting human owners.  I read these books as a child, and so I do not remember and cannot speak for their quality in writing.  However, these books got me to enjoy reading.  The book is full of adventure, humor, character and plot.  I would not be the avid reader I am without Bunnicula, and the misadventures of Chester the cat.

9.  Spider-man, Storm and Power Man Battle Smokescreen!  (Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.)
I love reading comic books and graphic novels, and not just those telling the exploits of Spider-man.  This comic is what started everything off for me.  This special, promotional issue serves as a public service announcement for kids against the ills of smoking.  When I was in early grade school, I read this comic...and the rest is history.  After this, I began collecting Spider-man comics, and to this day, Spider-man is my favorite comic book character.

8.  The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
I read this fairly recently--while I was in seminary.  Although life took me through high school English, to Philosophy in college and on through the humanities, I have always been interested in science.  Brian Greene writes in such a way that armchair scientists are able to sink their teeth into some of the most amazing discoveries in astrophysics and cosmology, and come away with a sense of awe for God's creation unfolding around us.  If you want to know about that creation, and you love science (but don't get it)--try this book out!  This (and other titles by Greene) are an entertaining one-stop-shop for amateur thinkers.

7.  Imzadi by Peter David (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
I believe I read this book in high school, though it may have been middle school.  As you may know, I love Star Trek.  And although I have read many Star Trek novels over the years, this one stands out. At heart, it is a love story...and I display, from time to time, romantic tendencies.  This book opened new worlds to me as I read about how life interrupts love and how love can evolve over time, and about regret and second chances.  As will all science fiction, the advancements in technology only serve to highlight humanity.  I learned a lot of humanity from this book.  And it is good Star Trek.

6.  The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche
I read a lot of Nietzsche at Augustana College, in my philosophy studies.  I even did a senior seminar on Nietzsche works when I was a sophomore.  I believe he is given a bad rap, particularly for his seemingly anti-Christian sentiments.  In any event, this work of his is particularly meaningful for me.  In it, Nietzsche looks back to ancient Greek culture to learn about lessons for humanity today.  It taught me that the art and stories of the past can teach us important lessons.  In particular, this book taught me how art can be a window into culture and thought.  His distinction between Dionysian and Apollinarian art is widely applicable to life as helpful categories.  This book challenged me to think about our culture, and appreciate art.

5.  The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock is, perhaps, the most well-known and -loved character in all of western literature.  We admire his genius and try to imitate it.  Sherlock is larger-than-life, and yet very real defects in his character bring him alive to us and make him relatable.  The relationship between Watson and Holmes is also an inspiration.  I believe that we all long for such friendships in our lives.  These stories are engaging and inspiring.  Most of all, the adventures of Sherlock and Watson are fun.

4.  The Lutheran Book of Worship (ELCA Hymnal)
Hymnals form us in faith; they are instructors.  In and through them we learn scripture, theology, prayer and song.  Hymnals knit us together in community, as we join our voices into one voice.  When I was too young to remember, I am told that I loved to be in worship and hated having to go to the nursery or to Sunday School.  I wanted to be in the sanctuary with all of the adults.  As soon as I could read, I was using this book to guide my worship.  In fact, I was motivated to learn to read just so that I could follow along with all the other people.  Later, once I discovered a copy of the LBW at home, I would sit and read through it.  From these readings, I gained a love for liturgy--for the different ways people can come together and praise God.  This book taught me how to pray and to worship.  This book was a primer for the deep theology I would later study in college and in seminary.  I still love sitting down to plan and write worship services.  I still love singing and praying and praising.  If I had not discovered this book in my own home, I may not have become a pastor or a theologian.  I love the "new" red hymnal, but I began my journey of faith with the ol' green book.

3.  Upbuilding Discourses in Various Spirits by Soren Kierkegaard
If you know me, you know my love of Kierkegaard.  As I was sitting down to make this list of books, it was difficult not to list 10 of Kierkegaard's works!!!  I compromised by choosing two--this one and the next one.  Kierkegaard is my spiritual and theological mentor.  His words describing God and the life of a Christian are immensely helpful.  In this book, a collection of separately published discourses, Kierkegaard interprets Bible passages in such a way that one can see the relevance and importance of God's Word for our lives today.  His categories are groundbreaking and his dialectical reasoning is both instructive and invaluable.  What does it mean to follow Jesus Christ--in practical terms?  Oh, read this book.  Kierkegaard is a difficult author to read, however, if you can get through his verbosity, it is worth it.  His theology is profitable, edifying and unbelievably up-building.

2.  The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition for Upbuilding and Awakening by Anti-Climacus (Soren Kierkegaard)
Of Kierkegaard's works, this is (in my humble opinion) his best and most useful.  In it, he takes on the topic of sin.  In short, he explains how and why despair is sin, and it is the only mortal sin--the only sin that can keep us from God's love, salvation and eternal life.  Ultimately, he shows how faith (faith in Jesus Christ) fights and can conquer despair--and how each individual participates in and with that faith.  This book made me fall in love with Kierkegaard, a relationship that continues to grow and that has, indeed, changed the way I think about God, life and everything.  This book awoke me from sleep and lifted me up.    

1.  Dune by Frank Herbert
Dune was the first book on my list, and it is hands-down the #1 book I have read.  This novel changed my life.  And the other 15+ books in the series helped.  Herbert created a rich and expansive universe in this book.  In reading it, my horizons and perspective were expanded immeasurably.  Dune treats a wide-ranging spate of issues and facets of humanity and how they function in our lives: society, history, ecology, religion, mysticism, power, politics, love, loyalty, destiny, endurance, determination, duty, justice, the future of humanity--generally speaking, what it means to be a human being in a complex universe full of unknowns.  This is the only book I have read over a half a dozen times.  If you fail to read all of the other books on this list, at least read this one.

Happy reading, friends!

Good Gossip

Some psychologists and social scientists theorize that gossip is an evolutionary trait in humans.  In other words, gossip plays some helpful role in the survival of human beings.  Therefore, there are times when gossip is healthy and beneficial.  When used properly, done responsibly, gossip is good.

Primates, like gorillas, spend a lot of time grooming each other.  Picture a train of apes picking nits, lice or fleas out of their neighbor's back hair.  This tendency not only contributes to hygiene, but also helps bond apes together into community.  Those that groom together, stay together.

"The nice part about living in a small town 

is that when you don't know what you are doing, 

someone else does."  -Unknown

When humans were hairier, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that we, too, participated in communal grooming.  Nit-picking, which no doubt began purely as a hygienic regimen, had the added benefit of forming human community.  As we sat there, vulnerable, grooming one another, trust flourished and matured.  As we lost our body hair, the need for picking nits passed.  At the same time, language was advancing, and became the basis for community.  Grooming turned into gossip.  Imagine a circle of humans picking each other's brains, sharing experiences and emotions, hopes and plans.  Gossip is the way that humans help each other with mental and emotion hygiene, the way we clean and clear our minds and hearts of things that are bothering us.  Gossip is one way that we build and maintain community.  Sharing intimate details of our inner lives with others requires trust and intimacy.  Sharing opinions and beliefs help communities to reach consensus on issues and solutions to problems.  When gossip helps us process our own thoughts and emotions, when gossip helps build communities of trust, then gossip is good.

"If any man seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue

...this man's religion is in vain."  

-Bible (James 1:26)

I often share my frustrations about life and people with my family and friends.  I only share these frustrations when I know that my words and feelings won't go any farther than that one conversation. But venting about my frustrations allows me to get over it...and to get over myself.  When I am annoyed or discontent, I sometimes forget that I have the power within myself to overcome those feelings with joy.  I forget that I am in charge of how I act and can let go of feelings and situations that bring me down.  Sometimes I just need to get it out so that I can move on--I don't need anyone else to do anything to solve my problem for me.  I don't need the world to change; I just need a change in perspective; I just need to purge my own emotional baggage.  Gossip is good when it can help me do that.  This form of gossip only works, though, when you know that your words will die with the person to whom you tell them.

"If there is anything more annoying in the world 

than having people talk about you, 

it is certainly having no one talk about you."  

-Oscar Wilde

At church, perhaps the most common form of healthy gossip concerns the physical and emotional well-being of others.  We talk about people who are sick and in the hospital.  We talk about how so-and-so was irritable or disgruntled the other day about something.  We talk about our own physical ailments, sometimes trying to one-up each other in the comparison of ills--especially when the aches and pains are a result of age.  When we gossip about people's health, we must do so out of a spirit of caring.  Gossip about another's health is good when we listen in compassion or ask after people because we care what is going on in their life.  Receiving and sharing such information empowers us to mobilize the whole community in prayer and service.  When we know, we can pray; and prayer works.  When we know, we can help and support the one who is ill, and their loved ones.  Gossip is good when it allows us to keep compassionate contact with others.

"We are all guilty of sin, error, and moments of sheer stupidity; 

none of us should be casting stones.  

The occasional arced pebble might be overlooked."  

-Richelle E. Goodrich

The most common form of gossip is that concerning the sins and mistakes and failures of others.  Gossip is at its worst when we talk about others in judgement.  And yet, even this gossip--if handled well and performed carefully--can be good and healthy.  One task of community is to regulate behavior.  In order to keep the community intact, we need certain rules and social expectations.  These social contracts enable us to stick together, maintain conditions that allow trust to exist, provide means to resolve conflict, and protect the individual (their rights and autonomy).  When I sin, I may not realize it.  When I sin, I may just sweep it under the rug, idly refusing to repent and change myself for the better.  But knowing that others see my actions and are affected by my behavior, then I am motivated to learn where I have done wrong, and I am compelled to repent and change my ways.  Gossip can be a mechanism that can strengthen community by regulating or limiting unhealthy behavior in individuals.  Christians have a duty to guide one another.  We have a responsibility to hold each other accountable to the Law and the Gospel.  Gossip can help----but only if it is done very carefully!!!

"Often people that criticize your life are

 usually the same people that don't know the price you paid 

to get where you are today.  True friends see the full picture of your soul."  

-Shannon L. Alder

Because it is so easy for gossip to simply become judgement.  Gossip can just as easily destroy community and divide people, as it can build community and unite individuals.  One careless comment about another person can sour a web of relationships, turning the linguistic grooming into guerrilla warfare.

"The wise will hide your follies and help you learn,

but the wicked ones will gossip about it with scoundrels."

-Aniruddha Sastikar

When it comes to gossip about sin or bad behavior or offense, the only person you should be gossiping with is the one who has sinned or behaved badly or offended you.  Because, in that case, the only people being bitten by fleas are the two of you.  Groom each other first.  Get rid of the fleas you share between you before you spread those fleas to others in the community.  Don't turn people agains the one who has sinned, get the one who has sinned to turn around.

"It is presumptuous to draw conclusions about a person
from what one has heard."  

-Jude Morgan

Evolution has provided us with gossip.  When done right--with the right people, in the right way, and for the right reasons--gossip can contribute to social and inter-personal well-being.  But if gossip only makes you sin, if gossip only drives you apart from someone, then cut it out.

Gossip is for grooming.
Gossip is not for dodging or judging or getting ahead or getting even.
Pick the nit, not the person.
Don't become the louse, let gossip be guided by love.

Work It Out Between the Two of You

"If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.  If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.  But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector."  (Matthew 18:15-17)

Put any two people together, in any kind of relationship long enough, and one will hurt or offend the other.  The two will disagree on something, it is inevitable.  It is human nature.  It is life.  Thanks be to God that Jesus knows us, and gives us the teaching above, which is so practical for our daily lives.

Many Bibles put section headings or titles on various parts of scripture.  The Lutheran Study Bible entitles this passage, "Reproving Another Who Sins."  Most entitle this section of Jesus' teaching, "Disciplining Members of the Church."  Indeed, the passage above provides a simple and healthy process for governing interpersonal conflict.  However, a better section title might be, "Work it Out Between the Two of You."

When you look at the context of the passage, it is clear that Jesus' intent is not to teach us how to discipline one another, but rather to teach us how to work things out, how to be reconciled to one another.  Before we write someone off, we are to actively try to work things out three times, before we treat them as an outsider.  (Notice, however, that even once they are an outsider--gentile or tax collector--we are still to hope for their repentance and return to the community.  Jesus spent a lot of time with Gentiles and tax collectors...he healed them, talked to them, listened, ate with them, and worked with them.  The irony!  Treat them as Gentiles and tax collectors means befriend them!  The Christian never shuns or despises the outsider, but loves even the enemy.)

When Jesus lays out this system of conflict management, he just finished sharing the Parable of the Lost Sheep.  In that parable, the shepherd leaves his 99 sheep to recover the 1 that was lost.  Before that, the disciples asked Jesus, "who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"  Jesus responded by showing them a child, and said that the young child--vulnerable, humble, with no status in society--is the greatest.  And, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."  Those who frustrate and offend us because they act childish or infantile...those are the ones we are to welcome....

The purpose of Matthew 18:15-17 is not discipline, but rather reconciliation.  The only goal is that the two (offended and offender) repair the relationship between them.

If someone offends you, go to that one...
Go to that one, and do not gossip.
When reconciliation is the goal, the first person who should hear your grievance is God.  Then, the only human being who should hear the story of how you were offended is the one who offended you. This goes against human nature.  When we are offended, we want to tell everyone but the one who caused the offense.  We want others to support us and to see how wrong the other is.  We want someone to punish the other person.  But Jesus gives us this commandment so that we seek reconciliation, not discipline!  So, to do that, we have to go to the offender first.

Go to that one, and do not wait for them to come to you.
When reconciliation is the goal, the responsibility of reconciliation is placed on the one who is offended.  This goes against human nature.  When we are offended, we want the offender to come to us, groveling for forgiveness!  We wait for an apology.  And only then are we willing to consider forgiveness and reconciliation--maybe.  But if you want what Jesus wants (what God wills), then you will not wait for the offender to come crawling back, ashamed and repentant.  No, if you want what God wills, you will leave your 99 friends who have your back, and you will go look for that 1 who offended, so that you can regain that one.

Go to that one, again and again.
When reconciliation is the goal, the Christian never gives up entirely.  After we have followed the whole process (1. go to that one; 2. go to that one with one or two witnesses; 3. go to that one with the whole church), then the ball is in the offender's court.  At that point, we need not actively pursue reconciliation, but we continue to wait for it.  It is no longer our responsibility, but the responsibility of the offender to seek reconciliation at that point.  But we hope for it.  We look for it in holy expectation.  In Matthew, after Jesus has explained the whole process of "Working it Out Between the Two of You," Peter asks him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins agains me, how often should I forgive?  As many as seven times?"  Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times."  In other words, forgiveness is always an option.  Reconciliation is always and forever the goal.  This goes against human nature.  When we are offended, and we have made the attempt to reconcile at least once or twice, we feel that our duty to our fellow human being is done.  'They don't want reconciliation?  Fine, then I am done,' we say.  Or we forgive the offender, and they just keep running over us---offending us in the same way over and over again, never changing.  And so we decide to get wise, saying, 'They won't fool me again.  I am done.'  But Jesus explains that we are never done...if we want what God wants.  We will foolishly forgive, again and again, because reconciliation is the goal.  Nothing else on earth is more important...if we want what God wants.  And if we don't want what God wants, then we have become to Jesus a Gentile and a tax collector.  Even then, to be forgiven, we must forgive.

What a hard teaching!  And yet it is elegant in its simplicity.  It is practical.  It works.  It can be applied to any relationship.  It has so many applications in our daily life.  Yet, it takes love and discipline (that is, it takes faith) to do what Jesus here commands.

This is what God does...
If it is good enough for God, then it is good enough for me.  When I sin against the Father, God does not go to Jesus to sneer and gripe about me.  God does not turn his back, not even after forgiving seven times.  God does not go to Satan and say, "Devil, take him."  When I sin against the Father, God comes to me.  We work it out, me and God.  And what matters to God is not that God is right, but that we find a way to keep the love between us.

When we are in community with others, we hurt people.  But thanks be to God that hurt can be overcome with love, sin can be overcome with grace.  It is not just our mission...it is our hope.  Amen.