In this podcast, Katie Skurga talks about discovering our humanity in the image of God, shame and behavior, grace and identity, paradox and spiritual and emotional maturity, freedom, and intrinsic authority.

But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him In!  

That is the gospel of Jesus on a cross; that no matter the circles drawn to shut people out, Love draws bigger circles, Love says, “We all belong, we become!”

Karen Swallow Prior is a Reader, Writer, and Professor. In that order, which was discussed in this conversation along with the power of language, the Word becoming flesh, the connection of imagination with logic and reason, empathy, trauma, the theodicy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and love being the center of our conversations. Karen also shares about getting hit by a literal bus and how she grew in her understanding that her life is in God’s hands.

I am looking back now on these past years and am amazed by His love for me. He likes me and wants nothing from me other than friendship.

“Jesus has pitched His tent in our flesh… If I didn’t believe that Jesus, Father and Holy Spirit is inside every person on the whole earth, I would not open my mouth… But we are bearing witness to something that is real.”

I remember the first time I heard the term ‘deconstruction.’ While I grasped the metaphor, the word didn’t resonate with me.

I’ve certainly done some spiritual deconstructing in my life, but I am inclined to use a descriptor more in line with ‘reconstruction.’ This is partly because I’m a ‘glass half full’ guy; at least, I want to be. But also, my spiritual journey has been less about what I tore down, and more about what replaced it.