This week’s episode is a really good interview with Brian McLaren about his new book, Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart.
A few things really stood out for me. I loved how he argued that constant denial is exhausting. We often think it’s the other way – all this doom and gloom is wearing me out – but McLaren argues that, in lots of cases, once we face up to the issue, once we acknowledge the reality, then actually that can be a source of energy.
He also reminds us that our enemies are not people, but systems. The principalities and powers that Paul talks of in Ephesians 6:12. This points us back to the work on powers by Walter Wink, not to mention some of the ideas in liberation theology. I’m pretty sure that Paul was using this in a more literal way, but I find it a helpful way of reading the verse, to think about the systems which rule peoples' lives.