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With & For / Dr. Pam King

With & For / Dr. Pam King

By: Dr. Pam King
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 With & For explores the depths of psychological science and spiritual wisdom to offer practical guidance towards spiritual health, wholeness, and a life of thriving. Hosted by developmental psychologist Dr. Pam King. Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Science Social Sciences Spirituality
Episodes
  • Why Morality Matters: Gratitude, Loyalty, and Hope, with Dr. Mona Siddiqui

    Why Morality Matters: Gratitude, Loyalty, and Hope, with Dr. Mona Siddiqui
    May 12 2025
    You can’t be moral on your own. That’s a radical idea in this time of moral outrage, but thriving in public life requires a sense of mutual accountability, belonging, and hospitality for each other.Mona Siddiqui is a professor of religion and society, an author, commentator, and public intellectual, and she suggests that the virtues of loyalty, gratitude, hospitality, and hope can lead us through the common struggle of being human together, living forward into a thriving life of public faith and renewed moral imagination.As Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies, Assistant Principal for Religion and Society, and Dean international for the Middle-East at the University of Edinburgh, she is an international beacon of hope that we might find restoration, hospitality, and flourishing in our world of struggle. Working through questions of loyalty, responsibility, belonging, gratitude, robust faith, and what we owe each other, we can find abundant resources for thriving and spiritual health.In this conversation with Mona Siddiqui, we discuss:What is a moral life?The connection between faith, spirituality, and living a moral life of responsibility and integrityThe difference between cultivating virtuous character and doing justiceHow to thrive in a pluralistic society marked by constant struggle and conflictThe promise of gratitude and hospitality in a life of thrivingAnd how to pursue a hopeful, forward-looking approach to restoration in the wake of harm, loss, pain, and suffering.Episode Highlights"Our moral life only becomes alive when we are in a relationship—you can't be moral on your own.""Life is all about searching. Life is all about introspection. Life is all about reflection.""The good life is hard; it's not about ease, but about living with accountability and responsibility.""Hospitality isn't just welcoming—it's negotiating belonging, loyalty, and a sense of shared life.""Gratitude can liberate, but it can also create hierarchies and transactional indebtedness.""Hope is not naive optimism—without hope, how do you live, build relationships, or carry forward at all?"Helpful Links and ResourcesFollow Mona on X (Twitter) at @monasiddiqui7*Christians, Muslims, and Jesus,* by Mona SiddiquiHuman Struggle, Christian and Muslim Perspectives, by Mona SiddiquiA Theology of Gratitude: Christian and Muslim Perspectives, by Mona SiddiquiMy Way: A Muslim Woman’s Journey by Mona SiddiquiThe Moral Maze, BBC Radio 4Show NotesMona Siddiqui’s personal background in Islamic jurisprudence and public theology“I got into Islamic jurisprudence because of personal connection and intellectual curiosity.”Navigating public discourse post-9/11 as a non-white, non-Christian scholarImportance of pluralism and living within diverse identities"I need to create a space that appeals to a wider audience—not just about what I think."Growing up with intellectual freedom in a traditional Islamic householdHow faith upbringing seeds lifelong moral introspection"You are always answering to yourself—you know when you have not lived rightly."Developing comparative theology through seminars with Christian scholarsOverlapping themes between Islamic and Christian thought on the good lifeThe significance of accountability over blanket forgiveness"Belonging is crucial to being a good citizen—you can’t flourish alone."Exploration of loyalty: loyalty to people vs loyalty to principlesCivic loyalty and critical engagement with the state“Because I feel loyal to my country, I should also be its critic.”The role of prayer in cultivating internal moral awarenessReflection on virtues: gratitude, loyalty, hopeThe dark sides of gratitude and loyalty in institutionsParenting with a focus on integrity, accountability, and faithfulness“Live so that whatever you say in public, you can say at home—and vice versa.”Emphasis on public engagement: speaking clearly, making complex ideas accessible"Radio became a gift—people want complex ideas made simple and meaningful."Remaining hopeful despite the culture of outrage and cynicismYoung people’s resilience and persistent hopefulnessHospitality as a fundamental ethic for creating trust and belongingStruggle as a normative, transformative experience that shapes flourishing"Thriving is not just freedom—it’s centering, writing, speaking, and deep human connection."The importance of relationships in thriving and flourishing“Most of us realize—relationships are the hardest, but the most rewarding.”Redefining gratitude: avoiding transactional gratitude, cultivating authentic gratefulnessStruggle cultivates introspection, resilience, creativity, and a deeper moral lifePam King’s Key TakeawaysI can’t be moral on my own. But my decisions are my own. In the end, living with integrity means living with virtue.Personal and public flourishing are deeply connected to our lives of faith and spirituality; and all of us need to bring the depths of our personal spiritual ...
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Live Like You Mean It: Emotional and Cognitive Wellness, with Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang

    Live Like You Mean It: Emotional and Cognitive Wellness, with Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang
    Apr 28 2025
    Applying neuroscience and psychology to education and formation, pioneering researcher Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang draws connections between emotions, relationships, brains, stories, meaning, and purpose to shed light on how we learn, grow, and thrive.Her research on the brain shows how we’re woven together in an intricate and glorious network of life, and when we synthesize the neurological, the psychological, the physical, and the social, we’re able to come to a deeper and more impactful understanding of human development and flourishing.From the intricacies of adolescent brain development to the emotional and spiritual scaffolding of a meaningful life, she explains how transcendent thinking, story, and emotional engagement fuel identity formation and long-term flourishing. Drawing from cutting-edge research and humanistic insight, she explores how young people co-create their worlds and how adults can support them in becoming adaptive, wise, and agentic.In this conversation with Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, we discuss:The value of integrating neuroscience with educational, emotional, and moral developmentThe strange and glorious case of the adolescent brain—how we mature, learn how to think, feel, and exercise our agency, and strive to become wiseThe emotional and relational nature of education and moral development—expressed in nurturing conversation between caring adults and youthThe importance of agency, intentionality, and transcendent thinking in human thrivingNeural plasticity and the capacity to change our brains throughout our lifespanAnd, the big picture of thriving, that brings together our mental life, neurobiology, and other physical processes—with relationships, community, and society at large.Episode Highlights"Thriving is really about living like you mean it.""We co-construct one another’s lived experiences by the virtue of being there together.""You learn how to have an instinct—it’s not something you’re just born with.""Transcendent thinking literally grows the adolescent brain.""Meaning-making is an abstraction, a transcendent story we construct to bring coherence to our lives."Show NotesThriving as dynamic, purposeful engagementEmotional experiences shaping brain developmentCo-construction of identity in social relationshipsAdolescence as a time of neurodevelopmental remodelingHow transcendent thinking fosters brain growth over timeAdolescents’ drive for deeper moral and ethical narrativesMeaning-making as a tool for personal and societal transformationLinking personal experience with historical and social narrativesDefault mode network and its role in reflection and creativityFrom instinct to insight—how the brain learns to feelThe relationship between emotional health and physical well-beingGut-brain connection, serotonin, and embodied cognitionTranscendence as a cognitive-emotional developmental milestoneInfluence of media, anxiety, and political division on adolescent mindsBrain-based evidence of narrative engagement growing identityLearning to align present feelings with long-term purposeBrain science dismantling the myth of "subjective = unimportant"Agency, presence, and intentionality in thrivingIntegration of neuroscience with humanistic and applied methodsRole of narrative in therapy, art, education, and spiritualityHow adolescents learn to feel, not just what to thinkCulturally-rooted belief systems shaping neural responsesThe importance of reflection, introspection, and deep conversationAdolescents’ innate capacity for moral concern and big-picture thinkingLearning through story: case studies in adolescent empathyReclaiming agency from external cultural and tech influencesIdentity as a lifelong, evolving narrative—not a fixed outcomeGrowth as intentional reflection, not cognitive accelerationSpiritual wellness as iterative construction of meaning and valuesParenting and mentoring for deep reflective growthAdaptive wisdom: balancing immediacy with long-term visionSigns of flourishing: self-liking, relationship quality, agencyImportance of diverse experiences and safe, supportive relationshipsAdults thriving through neuroplasticity and meaning-makingThe lifelong role of story and belief in shaping purposeCognitive engagement and values-based direction over passive successEmotional safety and time as prerequisites for transcendenceListening, asking why, and welcoming the unknown as virtues of thrivingPam King’s Key TakeawaysBrain science isn’t better or worse than other perspectives on human life, but it offers incredible insight for how we grow and thrive.Stories and narratives are the essential threads that hold our lives together; how you think and the story you’re telling yourself matters for your thriving.Education isn’t just a cognitive process. Our emotions and our bodies and our sense of connection and safety in relationships play a central role in learning.Spiritual health connects how our transcendent thinking informs our ...
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Living Artfully: Creativity, Attention, and Making Art, with Makoto Fujimura

    Living Artfully: Creativity, Attention, and Making Art, with Makoto Fujimura
    Apr 14 2025
    "Beholding is a countercultural act—it requires us to stop, to receive, and to fully see.” — Makoto Fujimura"Slow art is an invitation to linger, to notice, and to let the world unfold before us." — Makoto FujimuraYou are a beautiful masterpiece. But the practice of living artfully comes slowly, often through brokenness, weakness, or failure. Contemporary artist Makoto Fujimura integrates traditional Japanese styles with abstract expressionism and Christian theology, to explore the beauty that can emerge from the ashes pain and suffering. Both his art and his writing call us to behold the gift of creation, participate in its redemption, accentuating the cracks and fractures in our lives, so that grace might abound.Makoto Fujimura—renowned artist, writer, and theologian—joins Dr. Pam King to explore the deep connections between art, faith, and flourishing. Fujimura shares how his Japanese heritage and study of traditional Nihonga painting have shaped his understanding of creativity as a sacred act. Through themes of brokenness, beauty, and slow art, he challenges us to rethink success, embrace imperfection, and create from a place of love and abundance. Whether you're an artist, a person of faith, or someone seeking meaning in a hurried world, this conversation will invite you to slow down, behold, and embrace the mystery and beauty of life.Mako Fujimura integrates his artmaking, theology, and culture care advocacy into a beautiful expression of thriving and spiritual health. Through his breathtaking expressionist style, distinctively Japanese methods, and his rooted Christian convictions, he’s bringing beauty into being, and inviting us to do the same.In this conversation with Mako Fujimura, we discuss:What art is, what creativity means, and the human capacity for making beautyHow we can live artfully through imperfection, brokenness, trauma, and sufferingHow the practice of a gift economy can lead to mutual thrivingThe slow art of pausing, stopping, and beholding that contributes to our mental and spiritual healthAnd the connection between knowledge and love in a life of creativity and artmaking.Helpful Links and ResourcesFollow Makoto Fujimura on X @iamfujimuraView Mako’s art at makotofujimura.comMakoto Fujimura’s WritingsMakoto Fujimura’s BooksNihonga Art and its TraditionsRefractions: A Journey of Art, Faith, & CultureCulture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common LifeSilence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of SufferingArt and Faith: A Theology of MakingEpisode Highlights"Art is fundamentally what human beings create—it is our capacity to make, and in making, we come to know.""Beholding is a countercultural act—it requires us to stop, to receive, and to fully see.”"We worship a wounded, glorified human being—our brokenness is not something to escape but something to offer.""Creativity is not about self-expression alone—it is about giving yourself away in love.""Slow art is an invitation to linger, to notice, and to let the world unfold before us."Show NotesMakoto Fujimura discusses the intersection of art, faith, and flourishingThe importance of beholding in a fast-paced worldHow brokenness and imperfection reveal deeper beautyNihonga painting and the wisdom of traditional Japanese artCreativity as an act of love and gift-givingThe Art of BeholdingWhy slowing down is essential for creativity and spiritual growthThe practice of beholding as a way of seeing the world more deeplyHow art invites us to be present and pay attentionThe connection between contemplation, creativity, and flourishing"Beholding is a countercultural act—it requires us to stop, to receive, and to fully see."Creativity, Faith, and Human FlourishingHow art and faith are intertwined in human thrivingThe spiritual discipline of making and creatingWhy true knowledge is connected to love and experience"Art is fundamentally what human beings create—it is our capacity to make, and in making, we come to know."How community fosters creativity and growthBrokenness, Beauty, and the Theology of MakingThe Japanese tradition of Kintsugi and embracing imperfectionHow Jesus’ wounds and resurrection shape our view of brokennessThe gift economy vs. the transactional economy in art"We worship a wounded, glorified human being—our brokenness is not something to escape but something to offer."Learning to see beauty in what is discarded or overlookedThe Practice of Slow ArtWhy slowing down is essential for deep engagement with artHow layers in Nihonga painting reveal new depths over time"Slow art is an invitation to linger, to notice, and to let the world unfold before us."How slowing down fosters healing and deeper connectionThe role of patience and attentiveness in both art and lifeLiving a Creative and Generous LifeHow to cultivate creativity in daily life, even outside traditional artsThe role of community in sustaining creative workWhy generosity and self-giving are essential to true creativity"Creativity...
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    1 hr and 3 mins
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