Amy F. Davis Abdallah is a professor, writer, speaker, and creator of rituals. Her latest book is Meaning in the Moment: How Rituals Help Us Move Through Joy, Pain, and Everything in Between. Starting with the foundation that rituals are a core, and underexplored, part of Christian practice, she draws from theology, psychology, and personal experiences in creating rituals for herself and others. In this episode, Amy and Jonathan Rogers talk about the difference between communicating meaning and communicating information. They talk about the ways we ritualize without knowing it. And Jonathan asks Amy whether she has rituals around her own writing life.

<a href="https://www.amydavisa.com/">Amy F. Davis Abdallah </a>is a professor, writer, speaker, and creator of rituals. Her latest book is <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/meaning-in-the-moment-how-rituals-help-us-move-through-joy-pain-and-everything-in-between-amy-f-davis-abdallah/19692230?ean=9781587435812">Meaning in the Moment: How Rituals Help Us Move Through Joy, Pain, and Everything in Between</a>. Starting with the foundation that rituals are a core, and underexplored, part of Christian practice, she draws from theology, psychology, and personal experiences in creating rituals for herself and others. In this episode, Amy and Jonathan Rogers talk about the difference between communicating meaning and communicating information. They talk about the ways we ritualize without knowing it. And Jonathan asks Amy whether she has rituals around her own writing life.

Conversations with writers about writing, hosted by Jonathan Rogers.

The Habit

The Habit Podcast

Amy F. Davis Abdallah loves ritual.

Dr. Warren Kinghorn is a psychiatrist and theologian at Duke University, where he holds joint appointments at Duke Divinity School and the Duke University Medical Center. Warren’s work focuses on the intersection of theology, mental health, and human flourishing—and he brings an integrated, humane perspective to questions that too often get reduced to biology or technique.

His new book is Wayfaring: A Christian Approach to Mental Health Care. In this episode, Warren Kinghorn and Jonathan Rogers discuss how the metaphor of the human being as a machine has shaped mental health care—and what is gained by reclaiming the older metaphor of the human as wayfarer; they talk about the ways that Thomas Aquinas’s teleological vision of human behavior opens up a richer account of freedom, agency, and virtue; and they talk about the possibility that the meaning of life is an active participation in blessing.

This episode, brought to you by The Habit's Writer Development Cohorts, first ran in 2025.

Dr. Warren Kinghorn is a psychiatrist and theologian at Duke University, where he holds joint appointments at Duke Divinity School and the Duke University Medical Center. Warren&rsquo;s work focuses on the intersection of theology, mental health, and human flourishing&mdash;and he brings an integrated, humane perspective to questions that too often get reduced to biology or technique.
His new book is <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/wayfaring-a-christian-approach-to-mental-health-care-warren-kinghorn/21003371?ean=9780802882240&amp;next=t">Wayfaring: A Christian Approach to Mental Health Care</a>. In this episode, Warren Kinghorn and Jonathan Rogers discuss how the metaphor of the human being as a machine has shaped mental health care&mdash;and what is gained by reclaiming the older metaphor of the&nbsp;human as wayfarer; they talk about the ways that Thomas Aquinas&rsquo;s teleological vision of human behavior opens up a richer account of freedom, agency, and virtue; and they talk about the possibility that the meaning of life is an active participation in blessing.
This episode, brought to you by The Habit's <a href="https://Thehabit.co/cohorts">Writer Development Cohorts</a>, first ran in 2025.

Warren Kinghorn Doesn't Think You're a Machine. (from the Archives)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/d699cc26-51ff-4875-9bdb-aa4e006494dd/clips/453e6a6e-5b1a-4569-bc5c-b47100d18456/transcript

Russ Ramsey is a gifted storyteller and a trusted guide in the world of art. He is the author of Rembrandt is in the Wind and Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us About The Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive. In this episode from October 2024, Russ and Jonathan Rogers talk about sunflowers, the sublime, and the connection between suffering and wonder. 

This episode is sponsored by The Habit's Writer Development Cohorts.

Russ Ramsey is a gifted storyteller and a trusted guide in the world of art. He is the author of <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/rembrandt-is-in-the-wind-learning-to-love-art-through-the-eyes-of-faith-russ-ramsey/ade085eb02f9047f?ean=9780310129721&amp;next=t">Rembrandt is in the Wind</a> and <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/van-gogh-has-a-broken-heart-what-art-teaches-us-about-the-wonder-and-struggle-of-being-alive-russ-ramsey/21291915?ean=9780310155577">Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us About The Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive</a>. In this episode from October 2024, Russ and Jonathan Rogers talk about sunflowers, the sublime, and the connection between suffering and wonder.&nbsp;
This episode is sponsored by The Habit's <a href="https://Thehabit.co/cohorts">Writer Development Cohorts.</a>

Russ Ramsey on Van Gogh and Friends (from the Archives)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/d699cc26-51ff-4875-9bdb-aa4e006494dd/clips/9944d315-7b4a-4019-b85a-b46a00a56c0b/transcript

Sarah Clarkson is a writer whose work centers on beauty and grief, story and quiet. She has written of herself, “I’m trying to write well about my own sorrow, and my own encounters with the beauty that defied my darkness and drew me into a life of creativity, quiet, and wonder.” She studied theology at Oxford University. She is the author or co-author of six books, most recently Reclaiming Quiet: Cultivating a Life of Holy Attention, which she wrote to answer her own questions about what it means to have a quiet mind in a fallen, screen-driven world. In this episode, Sarah and Jonathan Rogers discuss a better definition of quiet, the importance of physical presence, the dangers of screens, and the value of boredom.

This episode is sponsored by The Habit's Writer Development Cohorts, a small-group intensive for fiction and nonfiction writers. Apply at TheHabit.co/cohorts.

 

<a href="https://sarahclarkson.com/">Sarah Clarkson</a> is a writer whose work centers on beauty and grief, story and quiet. She has written of herself, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to write well about my own sorrow, and my own encounters with the beauty that defied my darkness and drew me into a life of creativity, quiet, and wonder.&rdquo; She studied theology at Oxford University. She is the author or co-author of six books, most recently <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/reclaiming-quiet-cultivating-a-life-of-holy-attention-sarah-clarkson/21230974?ean=9781540900524">Reclaiming Quiet: Cultivating a Life of Holy Attention</a>, which she wrote to answer her own questions about what it means to have a quiet mind in a fallen, screen-driven world. In this episode, Sarah and Jonathan Rogers discuss a better definition of quiet, the importance of physical presence, the dangers of screens, and the value of boredom.
This episode is sponsored by The Habit's Writer Development Cohorts, a small-group intensive for fiction and nonfiction writers. Apply at <a href="thehabit.co/cohorts">TheHabit.co/cohorts</a>.
&nbsp;

Sarah Clarkson Gets Quiet. (from the Archives)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/d699cc26-51ff-4875-9bdb-aa4e006494dd/clips/0349cc29-bdfd-42be-baf9-b46300b1c621/transcript

Amy F. Davis Abdallah loves ritual.

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