What does it take to flourish? Both personally and collectively, even in the midst of profound and seemingly intractable conflict? Andrew DeCort, Christian peacemaker, teacher, and author has an idea. He says the formative practices of the prayer offered by Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, what many of us know today as the “Lord’s Prayer,” can shape us into the kind of people with the groundedness and courage necessary to be peacemakers. This week on the show, we invited Andrew to discuss his new book on this prayer, “Flourishing on the Edge of Faith: Seven Practices for a New We.” He describes the seven practices that emerge from it, and the ways it challenges us to be transformed inwardly even as we practice justice externally. He also shared powerful stories from his personal life as a peacemaker, ultimately pushing him to the conviction that violence cannot save us. And he offers each of us an invitation to experience the flourishing available to us, to take up the call of peacemaking and begin to see the “new we” that is possible in our world. Whether you identify with a faith tradition or none at all (or find yourself somewhere in between), Andrew’s example of the moral courage it takes to live a life of nonviolence and peacemaking will inspire you to practice a deeper life of flourishing for yourself, and for the world. --Buy Andrew’s book, Flourishing on the Edge of FaithListen to our prior episode with Andrew, April 2022: The Check-in: How to Love Your Enemy, with Andrew DeCortRead and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify

Ten Palestinians killed in Jenin. Seven Jewish worshipers killed in Jerusalem. And more since then…What’s happening? Where are things headed, and what can we do about it?This week, we discuss the escalating violence in Israel/Palestine that has caught international attention, unpack what CIA Director William Burns means when he says it bears an “unhappy resemblance” to the Second Intifada, and what it looks like to speak honestly about the violence— and call our political leadership to do so too. In this fraught and dangerous moment, telling the truth is our urgent calling as peacemakers.   Join the Telos Learning Corps! If you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupLeave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyCarlos Rodriguez (@carloshappynpo): “Peace is the goal, justice is the way, and truth-telling is the starting place.”

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been protesting in the streets of Tel Aviv since the inauguration of the new government on December 29, voicing their concern over the government’s proposals to erode basic democratic ideals of judicial review. But ever more presently, its most extreme elements now have control over the administration of the Palestinian territories, and the nearly 5 million Palestinians who have no vote for the government but live under its management and control. This week, we unpacked the story behind these protests and the growing concerns among the Israeli public about this new government. But importantly, we ask what it will mean for the Palestinians living under occupation, and the possibility of peace in the land.Joined by Editor in Chief of +972 Magazine, Edo Konrad, and recorded in-person with our Jaffa office.__Subscribe to +972 MagazineRead and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyTelos’ A Quick Guide to Political Advocacy

What just happened in Brazil? We’re asking that question too. This week, we brought on a special guest to help put the events in Brasilia on Sunday in context, especially considering the larger trends of democratic backsliding happening across the globe. And we ask what we as peacemakers should take note of now that the new government in Israel has officially been inaugurated.Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify

It’s the holiday season! For most of us, that means the storm before the calm. So this week, we invited Telos co-founder Todd Deatherage on the call to help us slow down, reflect, and look back on some of the wins of the past few months. One way we did this was to discuss the liturgical holiday of Advent, which Christians practice during the weeks leading up to Christmas as a season of waiting and expectation. Todd shares how he approaches Advent as a peacemaker, with an eye to the particular practices he focuses on during this season.We also hear from both Todd and our newest team member, Frances, about recent trips Telos has taken to the US South. And as a special offering, we’re sharing with you the reflections of some of our recent alumni from one of these trips, who Practiced Peace by sharing their experiences with the folks in their community. Don’t forget - we’re in our end of year campaign and need your support! Donate to Telos before the end of the year. Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify

We’ve all been there: the family has finally all sat down at the Thanksgiving table, ready to enjoy a peaceful meal together when that uncle or that cousin says something outlandish and the whole table erupts or goes quiet and everything goes off the rails. In what can be some of the hardest moments with the people we love most, how do we practice peacemaking?We’ve got a very honest, and very fun conversation for you on how to navigate the challenges of peacemaking within our own families—chosen or otherwise. Between naming our boundaries and the limits of our responsibility, and walking through a technique from our friends at Resetting the Table for opening receptivity, this episode will equip you to practice peacemaking this Thanksgiving with the people with whom it can sometimes be the hardest to find peace.Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyThe Check-in: Thanksgiving Special (2021)Resetting the Table

It’s election season! Across both Israel and the US, citizens have gone to the polls in the past week to vote on the future of their nations. While the results in the US are yet to be determined at the time of posting, Israel’s results are clear—and they’re concerning for those of us who are working towards a future of mutual flourishing for Israelis and Palestinians.How will this new government approach the Occupation and Palestinian communities, both within Israel and the Palestinian territories? Who is the controversial Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has called for the “expulsion” of Palestinians in Israel? And what will it mean for the future of the US-Israel relationship? Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyListen to the “Occupied Thoughts” podcast with Lara Friedman on the election results

Last week most major news outlets were covering the death and funeral arrangements of Queen Elizabeth II. At the same time, Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico just days before the 5 year anniversary of Hurricane Maria, with hardly any headline coverage. In this episode we discuss different conversations around the death of the Queen, the legacy of British Imperialism, and what colonialism has to do with Puerto Rico. We also reflect on how to respond as peacemakers holding competing narratives around the death of an influential political figure. What does it look like to advocate for justice for those affected by the legacies of destructive political policies? How can we be a part of building a more just future, beginning with Puerto Rico and hurricane recovery efforts? To help with hurricane recovery efforts, you can donate through an organization we know and trust, ConPRmetidos: https://www.classy.org/campaign/hurricane-fiona-relief/c429954

According to new restrictions set in place by the Israeli authorities, any foreign passport holder in the West Bank, including American citizens, will have to declare to the Israeli police if they’ve developed a romantic relationship with a Palestinian within 30 days. At least until the government revised the proposed restriction just two weeks ago, after human rights organizations and international media challenged the government to offer a justification for the invasive rule. This week, we invited Jessica Montell, Executive Director of HaMoked, an organization enforcing the standards and values of international humanitarian and human rights law in the Occupied Territories, to discuss these restrictions and the recent revisions. We discussed what you need to know about the entry requirements, whether these restrictions communicate a reality already in place in Israel/Palestine, and how tightening “security” today will actually hinder the possibility of security in the long-term. We call this principle “Mutual Flourishing,” and it recognizes that the only path to a sustainable future involves working to help your neighbor flourish too. Learn more in this episode how you can support Mutual Flourishing in Israel/Palestine in response to these restrictions.__Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyLearn more about HaMoked’s work and their reporting on the requirements

After heavy rains in Jackson, Mississippi pushed the city’s water treatment plant past its breaking point, hundreds of thousands of residents were left without running water for days. This water crisis isn’t Jackson’s first however—it’s part of a much larger history of neglect, disinvestment, and race. What’s ahead for Mississippi’s capital city, and what can we do to support it? We invited Bishop Ronnie Crudup, Telos board member and core member of the Jackson, MS community, to help us understand the broader context of the crisis and the hope he has for his hometown.Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyLearn more about New Horizon Church International, Bishop Crudup’s Church

This week, we welcome Yvonne Holden as the newest member of the Telos Team! She is joining us as the Director of U.S. Programming and we are so excited for you to meet her.After getting to know Yvonne, the team dives into a conversation on a recent controversy sparked after New Orleans attorney Wynton Yates posted a TikTok that went viral about an Airbnb listing advertised as an “1830s slave cabin.”  Yates argued “The history of slavery in this country is constantly denied, and now it’s being mocked by being turned into a luxurious vacation spot.” Learn more about the Whitney Plantation MuseumRead and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify

President Biden wrapped up his tour in the Middle East, and our team is still trying to make sense of the visit. There was lots of talk about democracy, freedom, and security in equal measure (eerily reminiscent of our call for "freedom, security, and dignity in equal measure"), but no mention of the underlying realities of occupation, or of the US’ profound influence to push for peace. It was Orwellian in the extreme. This week, Todd, Greg, Jack, and Sarah discuss the visit, and why this kind of status quo diplomacy actually doesn't serve anyone in the region.Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify

What is the US’ role in the Middle East? In May, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh was killed while reporting in Jenin in the West Bank. The US finally released a statement last week both “urging accountability” for her death and saying that it cannot be determined who killed her—but if it was the Israeli military, which independent news agencies and the UN have concluded, it would surely be an accident. How can so much be held in one statement? We discuss the statement, how it expands or contracts space for peace, and the US government’s broader strategy in the region as President Biden visits with Middle Eastern leaders in Israel, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia this week. Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyResources mentioned: On The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, US State Department Press StatementUN OHCHR Statement

Happy Juneteenth! Today marks the second year that Juneteenth, a day celebrating the effective end of slavery in the United States, will be commemorated as a federal holiday. And it's a day to celebrate! To mark the occasion, we brought on our friend and expert Yvonne Holden, Director of Visitor Experience and Operations at the Whitney Plantation outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, which is one of the only plantation museums in the country to focus on the lives of the enslaved. Yvonne helps us understand the history behind the holiday, and the larger story of what the day stands for—both on the very day in 1865 when the enslaved community in Galveston, TX first learned of their freedom, and today, when the history and legacy of institutionalized slavery aren't always told. Yvonne also invites us into the ways we can celebrate Juneteenth today, both through education and the opportunity to practice joy in the midst of our implication. Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyResources mentioned: Learn more about The Whitney PlantationLearn more about Telos' trip to the US SouthOn Juneteenth, Annette Gordon-Reed

At the age of 13, Ishmael Beah was recruited to fight in a bloody civil war in Sierra Leone as a child soldier, forever reshaping the story of his life. Against all odds, he survived and came to the US as a refugee. But not everyone in the US was ready for his story, or for the realities of the world he came from. So he began to write, sharing his story in his memoir, A Long Way Gone, detailing the horrors, triumphs, and hopes of his life as a survivor. Today, Ishmael continues to write award winning books, works with the UN as a Goodwill Ambassador, and enlightens us with his incredible insight into the human condition, an insight he says could've only been fashioned by the fires of war.In this episode, we hear some of Ishmael's remarkable story, reminding us that people are almost never who we think they might be at first glance. He challenges us to listen for the story behind the story we perceive on the surface. As Ishmael says, listening to understand is the start of peacemaking.Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingSubscribe to the Telos Newsletter for more news analysis and peacemaking resources: http://eepurl.com/cG1LGHFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Resources from this episode:A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah

Palestinian American Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed on May 11th while reporting on Israeli raids in the Palestinian West Bank city of Jenin. Eyewitnesses and video and audio evidence point toward the shots coming from Israeli forces, a claim that Israeli authorities at least initially disputed. And over the weekend, multiple communities in the US were terrorized by mass shootings including in Buffalo, NY, and Laguna Woods, CA.We discuss how peacemakers should respond to these incidents, the importance of listening to understand and amplifying the voices that we see being marginalized, and more. Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify

How can you humanize the “other” if you never walk alongside them? David Bailey grew up in relationship with those on the margins of society. But it wasn’t until he moved into an under-resourced community that he began to more fully understand the ways that race, geographic segregation, and poverty intersect to create realities that are difficult to escape. It was through this proximity that he began to build authentic relationships with his neighbors, transforming how he advocates for healing and justice in his city and across the country.Today, David is a public theologian, the founder and Chief Visionary Office of Arrabon, and a culture-maker focused on building reconciling communities. He shares with us why his faith compels him to always love his ‘enemy,’ and offers practical help for how to humanize those we naturally want to see as irredeemable. David’s work embodies one of the foundational principles of peacemaking: relationships across lines of difference fuel transformation. Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingSubscribe to the Telos Newsletter for more news analysis and peacemaking resources: http://eepurl.com/cG1LGHFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!--Resources from this episode:Learn more about ArrabonFollow Arrabon on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

This week on The Check-in, we tried something new: a live episode!A few weeks ago, we gathered the Hosts from our Telos Table program, which builds the peacemaking movement locally in cities across North America, for a weekend of training and connection. We discussed the ways communication can divide, but also the ways it can be used to counteract violence and build pathways to peace.We then had a very special evening hearing from international peacemaker and founding director of the Neighbor-Love Movement, Andrew DeCort (PhD). Andrew blew us away with his vision for what it looks like to “love the other.” He discussed the ways in which “when we love the enemy, we become the enemy,” and how grief and lament are essential to the work of peacemaking.Despite the technical challenges, we think this conversation is one you do not want to miss.Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyResources:Learn more about the Neighbor-Love MovementChristopher Bollas, “Being A Character”Elisabeth Külber Ross, “On Grief and Grieving”Learn more about the Telos Table Host program

Last weekend, Israeli police raided Al-Aqsa mosque, injuring hundreds at Islam's third holiest site, and inflaming tensions during a tense moment in Israel/Palestine as Ramadan, Passover, and Easter converge.Tensions have continued to rise, and we discuss our prediction for where things might go in the next few weeks, as well as how we can cut through the noise to promote a framework of human rights and mutual flourishing in the region.Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyResources shared:My Neighbourhood, by Just Vision

This week, we turn our eyes back to Israel/Palestine, where a spate of attacks which killed around a dozen Israelis have tensions heightened leading into the holidays. We also discuss the recent gathering of nations who signed the Abraham Accords with Israel in the Negev, including a visit from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. What does the summit have to say about the Palestinian issue?*Note: We recorded this show the afternoon before the attack in Dizengoff Square, near where Jack and Carly live in Jaffa. Carly shares an honest reflection on the event at the top of the show. Read and share the Principles and Practices of PeacemakingFollow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifyResources shared:Infamous photo from the Negev Peace SummitNegev Coexistence ForumBoy cartwheeling outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem