Blog - Brian McLaren

Faith After Doubt: Podcast with Faith Without Fear Podcast

November 23, 2020

I think you'll enjoy this 27-minute conversation -

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-25-faith-after-doubt-with-brian-mclaren-part-1/id1479129666?i=1000499584985

Part 2 coming soon!

by Brian McLaren

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My New Book – What You Should Know!

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November 19, 2020

I'm thrilled to announce that Faith After Doubt will release on January 5 -- in hardcover, e-book, and audio formats. You can preorder now.

If you'd like to give a signed copy of the book as a Christmas/holiday gift, you can go to this site after you've preordered the book, and we'll provide you with 1) a signed bookplate to insert in the book when it arrives and 2) a note you can print out to give on Christmas morning (or whenever you exchange gifts). Here's where you can sign up.

Faith After Doubt is for you if you have doubts about God, Christianity, the Bible, Jesus, church, or religion in general.

If you don't have doubts of any kind -- even secretly, Faith After Doubt isn't for you. But it may be a good gift for you to share with one of your kids, grandkids, friends, relatives, or coworkers who do struggle with doubt. Your pastor may even find it helpful, because it presents a four-stage approach to faith development that not only makes room for doubt -- it sees doubt as essential to a growing and healthy faith.

This may be my most helpful book for seminarians to read ... to help them prepare themselves to guide and support future parishioners who struggle with doubt.

Science, politics, history, archeology, bad experiences with religious leaders and communities ... there are so many good reasons for doubts to arise in the minds and hearts of honest, sensitive people today. I wrote Faith After Doubt to help you honestly face your doubts and know -- you don't have to hide or pretend.

PS - Here's the starred review from Publisher's Weekly.

by Brian McLaren

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A New Online Resource

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November 19, 2020

If you've read my short e-book Why Don't They Get It? (Overcoming Bias in Others - and Yourself), I think you'll find this companion resource to be helpful as well: The Second Pandemic: Authoritarianism and Your Future.

Here's a brief excerpt that explains the title:

The first pandemic, COVID-19, is caused by a virus that spreads primarily through breath from person to person. It usually infects the lungs, but can quickly spread throughout the entire body, causing multiple organs to fail and leading to death.

This second pandemic also spreads primarily through breath, breath in the form of words. Spoken words together with the residue of words on paper and screen carry this pandemic from ear and eye to brain. From the brain, this infection controls the entire body, and through each host body, it reaches out to control more and more.

Large group gatherings — rallies, for example — are prime methods for both pandemics to spread.

The first pandemic of COVID-19 may cause fever, discomfort, and weakness, sometimes leading to long-term debilitation and death.

The second pandemic can also be fatal, but before it kills, it fills its host with a feeling of power, supremacy, invincibility, euphoria, and belonging. Simply put, when people catch this pandemic, it feels like the most wonderful, meaningful, and fulfilling experience that has ever happened to them.

The name of the second pandemic is authoritarianism.

You can download the e-book here.

by Brian McLaren

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What I Shared on Election Eve …

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November 4, 2020

I was invited to share at a special election eve vigil the other night, which you can watch here:

https://vimeo.com/475165495?fbclid=IwAR09hjoj0xAS63gtwTK1huuPMaGcqWu4a6MFeUokgIpYCrjstl7iwNEMLbc

Here's a summary of what I was trying to say ...

The Rhetoric That Frees Us

Blessed are the peacemakers, Jesus said. If we want to take the exit ramp from the broad path that leads to violence and follow the narrow road that leads to peace, we will need to develop the skills of peacemaking.

Here are four of those skills that I have been learning over the years, often by taking three steps forward and two steps back ...

1. The skill of differing graciously.

When we hear people say something false or harmful, it's tempting to say, "You're wrong!" or "You're stupid," which just adds to stress and causes people to dig in their heels even more in self-defense. It's also tempting to just remain silent, which, in a sense, gives tacit permission for the harm and disinformation to continue. So instead, try something like this: "Wow. I see that differently." We learn to define ourselves without making our neighbor defensive. We learn to speak our truth, never staying silent in the face of misinformation or harmful messages. We avoid toxic silence and toxic reactions by saying, "Wow. I see that differently."

2. The skill of offering comfort.

When people are under stress, they behave badly, so one of the ways we can relieve stress is by offering comfort. We can do so by naming people's stress and pain and offering empathy and understanding. If we do the opposite by saying, "Don't be negative! Have hope! Be strong!" we may actually add to our neighbor's stress and make it harder for our neighbor to be positive, hopeful, and strong. So we can say things like this: "We're all carrying a lot right now. This is a hard time. I know you're hurting. I can imagine how hard this is for you." That kind of empathy lifts burdens and helps people act from their better self.

3. The skill of mourning and lament.

Many of us are carrying deep grief over real and threatened losses. Yet few of us find a safe place to tenderly speak of those losses. We can help others by going first - by setting the stage with our own sharing of loss. We someone asks, "How are you doing?" we can say, "I'm feeling a sense of loss today." Often, your neighbor will ask you to share more, and you can name real or threatened losses: "I feel a loss of innocence, I feel we're losing our norms of honesty and decency, I am afraid we're going to lose our democracy." After you share, you can then say, "How about you? Are you feeling anything similar?" Your act of creating conversational space for mourning and lament will reduce the mental stress and isolation for both you and your neighbor, leaving you both less vulnerable to becoming hateful and violent and more able to make peace.

4. The skill of support and reaffirmation.

A friend and I were discussing politics and it turned into an argument. Frankly, it was ugly. When we met up a few weeks later, he said, "Every day since our argument, I have woken up feeling terrible about how I yelled at you. You're my friend, and I really value your friendship. I'm sorry." Those words, "I really value our friendship" were like a healing balm. We might think expressions of support like that go without saying, but they are important and needed. "I know we voted differently, but I really value you as my neighbor/coworker/cousin/friend" - imagine if millions of people say those words in the coming days. It will contribute to a more peaceful world, especially when we imagine the potential impact of opposite words.

"Blessed are the peacemakers"doesn't mean being passive, failing to speak truth, failing to name loss, or pretending everything is fine when it isn't -- in the name of "civility."

"Blessed are the peacemakers" means "Blessed are those who develop the skills that make for peace."

May you and I be among the blessed movement of God's peacemakers.

by Brian McLaren

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For today …

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November 4, 2020

None of us knows what this day will hold. To prepare ourselves - I offer this musical meditation from Ana Levandoski to start your day with prayer ...

https://youtu.be/9Fd2vHbcnv0

https://alanalevandoski.hearnow.com/mercy-now

https://www.alanalevandoski.com/sundaysongandrumination/a-song-to-pray-with-mercy-now

And then - this song of resilience and hope by Andy Gullahorn.