Drew Jackson on Touch the Earth, Poetry as a Lifesaver, and the Importance of Lucille Clifton

“In Touch the Earth, Drew Jackson’s poetry offers a word-weary world a new language of engagement, disruption, and insight. As with all great poetry, the words are spare, but the literary images loom large, creating indelible impressions on the reader. Like echoes that reverberate long after the first sound, the poems stay with you, they dance with your spirit. After reading the poem ‘Shake the Dust,’ I am still considering a much broader definition of power, one no longer confined to the monarchs, governments, and oppressors but with a conscience as sticky as cling wrap that refuses to allow its …

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Tracy Cochran on the Art of Presence, Mistakes as Practice, & the Grief of Awakening

“This is a wonderful, wise, and tender book. Its elegant and gifted storytelling will change you.” — Jack Kornfield Tracy Cochran is a writer, meditation teacher, and editorial director of Parabola, an acclaimed quarterly magazine that draws on the world’s cultural and wisdom traditions to explore the questions that all humans share. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Psychology Today, O Magazine, and New York Magazine to name a few. Her latest publication is her book Presence: The Art of Being at Home in Yourself. In our conversation Tracy and I talk about owning the gifts and …

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Brian McLaren on Life After Doom, Patient Urgency, & Complexifying Hope

“As rich and thoughtful as all of Brian McLaren’s work, but with a particular urgency!” — Bill McKibben Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is a core faculty member and Dean of Faculty for the Center for Action and Contemplation and hosts the podcast, Learning How to See. Brian has written numerous books that you should read, and right now I recommend …

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