We're back! Joe has returned from Mexico and Nick has returned from an unfortunate act of wire-cutting. We catch up on how things are going with our themes, discuss how life (and theology) keeps adding complexity, and think about how we respond to fear when, inevitably, it arrives. Also we talk a little more about the need to embrace uncertainty, and the importance of telling yourself some good stories. Meanwhile does Nick have a poltergeist or just a very clean rodent? And what is a squidgy goat?

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Turquoise-browed motmot
• Witness, Nick Page & Eddie Lyle
• Mid-faith Crisis Themes
• Beatrix Potter
• Evenings at the microscope
• Temperance (virtue) - Wikipedia
• Paul McGee How Not to Worry Podcast 1
• The Power of Regret, Daniel H. Pink

With Joe away in Mexico we have an interview with Bekah Legg. She talks about the work of Restored with the victims of domestic abuse, and shares a little of her own story of loss and grief.

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Restored
• DR Congo conflict: Mobile phones, coltan and the fighting - BBC News

It's our annual themes episode! We talk about our themes for the year, and reflect on how last year's themes worked out. And Joe has received an encouraging birthday card. Church notice: we're taking a brief break, so the next podcast will be in two week's time.

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Episode 279: Focus and … er… something else
• Sort Your Life Out

We discuss how culture shapes art, and especially, how the culture of the time affects the Bible. How do the cultural norms and assumptions affect the text? Can we give power to the powerless within the story? And what about our own cultural lenses? We touch on creating our own sacred texts and ask the crucial question: can we still watch Carry On Films? Also Nick has had a dream. A very worrying dream, as it happens.

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Milton Jones
• Carry On Films
• ‘Notoriously cruel’: should we cancel Picasso? Collectors, artists, critics and curators decide
• Road Dahl - statement
• The Taming of the Shrew
• The Merchant of Venice
• Baruch son of Neriah

Or not. Because in this episode we delve into some follow-up to last episode's interview with Danielle Strickland. How can we address some of the deep, ingrained attitudes which affect all of us? What does this mean for ideas of femininity and masculinity? And how do we respond to loss of power and prestige without lashing out? Also the boys have had a business meeting in a place called Upham. No, really.

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• Nick's Blog

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Brushmakers Arms, Upham
• Rebecca Solnit - Meditations in an Emergency
• Rebecca Solnit, Men Explain Things to Me
• Catherine Cowell, Finding God's Feminine Side: and working out how we lost it in the first place
• Rylan: How to Be a Man

This week, Joe interviews author and speaker Danielle Strickland, about patriarchy – the male-centring and male-ordering of the world. They discuss the challenges of calling it out, the heretical concept of the male-ness of God, and the way in which patriarchal thinking and theology affects the world and the church. Most importantly, they talk about some practical things we can all do to make a difference.

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Danielle Strickland - Website
• The Other Side of Hope
• Better Together: How Women and Men Can Heal the Divide and Work Together to Transform the Future
• The Liberating Truth - How Jesus Empowers Women
• baremarriage.com
• Christians for biblical equality
• Deep and Wide Academy

More on metaphors. We talk more about the idea of Jesus as 'Lord', and discuss how changes in culture, society or even technology might change our understanding of long-standing human metaphors. Also we talk about ritual and sacraments and how so many of them are simply heightened versions of everyday human activities. Meanwhile, Nick's preaching has some unexpectedly dramatic consequences and Joe thinks everyone should wear a tiara.

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man
• Sacraments of the Catholic Church
• Sacrament
• Japanese tea ceremony

Happy Candlemas to one and all. In this episode we talk a lot about baptism: what is it, where did it come from and does it still matter? And did Nick really write a book on it without realising? Also we have more on the neurodiverse approaches to church, we touch on different ways of understanding justice, and we think about whether laying down your life for others means denying who you truly are. Finally, we have a worship song about Worthing and we launch the mystical experience helpline.

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• Nick's Blog

Mentioned in this episode:

• Candlemas
• Erin Burdett, With All Your Mind: Autism and the Church
• 'I want to love God with all my mind, but as an autistic Christian, my brain works differently to yours'
• Brains faggots
• Tapioca
• Is it Worthing? - song