How do we find a way back to one another, across shrill voices and opposing ideologies? How might we reclaim a democracy which appreciates the value of 'the other', creating community and living with tension in life-giving ways? With the recent release of the updated version of his classic book, "Healing the Heart of Democracy: the Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit", Parker Palmer rejoins the podcast to talk not just about the political landscape in the United States but how we all might take up the challenge and responsibility of a participative democracy in our local contexts. 

How do we find a way back to one another, across shrill voices and opposing ideologies? How might we reclaim a democracy which appreciates the value of 'the other', creating community and living with tension in life-giving ways? With the recent release of the updated version of his classic book, "Healing the Heart of Democracy: the Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit", Parker Palmer rejoins the podcast to talk not just about the political landscape in the United States but how we all might take up the challenge and responsibility of a participative democracy in our local contexts.

A podcast exploring the deeper mysteries of faith, meaning, and beauty.  Based at St John's Cathedral in Brisbane, the podcast invites others into conversation who are also "on the way"; seeking a transformative spirituality and inclusive faith that speaks to real issues of today. Together we seek to make meaning and articulate a Christianity that expresses the liberating and life-giving message of the Gospel in our time.

On the Way Podcast

On the Way is a podcast exploring the deeper mysteries of faith, meaning, and beauty.

St John's Cathedral

Parker Palmer:  Healing The Heart Of Democracy

On the Way Episode 107

Anne Van Gend: Restoring the Story

Are we too squeamish about atonement? Anne Van Gend, priest, author and ministry educator, joins the podcast to explore how we tell and keep telling stories about ‘atonement’ in different ways; in mythology, in fantasy novels, movies and of course, in the Christian tradition. Anne argues that the central story of Christian faith – the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus- is so big and important that we need to approach it from as many angles as possible. The danger of post-reformation thinking that we can be ‘saved by having the right belief’, particularly about atonement, means that we are so easily threatened by anyone who tells the story differently. It also means that we lose the enchantment of the stories which tell the most hopeful dreams of humanity and are perhaps echoes of the best dream of all.  

On the Way Episode 107
Anne Van Gend: Restoring the Story
Are we too squeamish about atonement? Anne Van Gend, priest, author and ministry educator, joins the podcast to explore how we tell and keep telling stories about ‘atonement’ in different ways; in mythology, in fantasy novels, movies and of course, in the Christian tradition. Anne argues that the central story of Christian faith – the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus- is so big and important that we need to approach it from as many angles as possible. The danger of post-reformation thinking that we can be ‘saved by having the right belief’, particularly about atonement, means that we are so easily threatened by anyone who tells the story differently. It also means that we lose the enchantment of the stories which tell the most hopeful dreams of humanity and are perhaps echoes of the best dream of all.

Anne Van Gend: Restoring the Story

Australian priest, teacher and author, Eleanor O’Donnell joins the podcast to talk about the way we understand power, hierarchy and divinity. How do we talk about God when that word conjures a big other, looking down from a throne in the sky directing the traffic on earth? The language instead of a God who offers power “with” rather than power “over”, draws us into sacred relationship with one another and all creation. Abundant imaginative possibilities emerge in a life lived in the presence of the God who not only names us beloved, but invites our participation in the ongoing creation. To discover this is to step into a universe of abundance where the Spirit holds all in love and grace.

Australian priest, teacher and author, Eleanor O’Donnell joins the podcast to talk about the way we understand power, hierarchy and divinity. How do we talk about God when that word conjures a big other, looking down from a throne in the sky directing the traffic on earth? The language instead of a God who offers power “with” rather than power “over”, draws us into sacred relationship with one another and all creation. Abundant imaginative possibilities emerge in a life lived in the presence of the God who not only names us beloved, but invites our participation in the ongoing creation. To discover this is to step into a universe of abundance where the Spirit holds all in love and grace.

Eleanor O'Donnell : Power & God

With the UN reporting on acts of genocide in Gaza and the ongoing violent colonisation of multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic Palestine continuing, a global understanding and response to the situation is vital.  Eight million of the 15 million Palestinians are refugees or displaced peoples, excluded from their historical homeland by Zionist leaders whose actions indicate the desire for an ethnically cleansed state. Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh joins the podcast and explains that despite the popular naming of the conflict as incredibly complex, the model is simply settler colonialism, the same motivation and mechanisms experienced by the Indigenous people of Australia. Professor Qumsiyeh is a Palestinian scientist and author, founder and Director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History and Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University. The Rev’d Dr Greg Jenks joins Dom and Sue in this important truth-telling conversation, listening and reflecting on some of the flawed narratives that dominate this conversation in the Church and the lack of political will to work for a just peace. 

With the UN reporting on acts of genocide in Gaza and the ongoing violent colonisation of multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic Palestine continuing, a global understanding and response to the situation is vital.  Eight million of the 15 million Palestinians are refugees or displaced peoples, excluded from their historical homeland by Zionist leaders whose actions indicate the desire for an ethnically cleansed state. Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh joins the podcast and explains that despite the popular naming of the conflict as incredibly complex, the model is simply settler colonialism, the same motivation and mechanisms experienced by the Indigenous people of Australia. Professor Qumsiyeh is a Palestinian scientist and author, founder and Director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History and Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University. The Rev’d Dr Greg Jenks joins Dom and Sue in this important truth-telling conversation, listening and reflecting on some of the flawed narratives that dominate this conversation in the Church and the lack of political will to work for a just peace.

Parker Palmer: Healing The Heart Of Democracy

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