Faith in a Fresh Vibe

Rohadi Nagassar

A podcast on decolonizing and deconstructing Christianity. Hosted by author/speaker/pastor, Rohadi. Recorded on Treaty 7 Territory in Calgary, Alberta, Canada read less
Religion & SpiritualityReligion & Spirituality
Health & FitnessHealth & Fitness
ChristianityChristianity
SpiritualitySpirituality
Mental HealthMental Health

Episodes

#78 – Beyond Ethnic Loneliness with Prasanta Verma
Mar 6 2024
#78 – Beyond Ethnic Loneliness with Prasanta Verma
Prasanta Verma’s debut book, Beyond Ethnic Loneliness, is the topic for our conversation. If you’re not white then you have at some point or another, maybe even recently, have fielded the question, “so what are you?” or “where are you really from?” Trying to fit into community often means assimilating, or giving up a piece of yourself in order to find belonging. That posture leaves folks on the margins unseen, in a space of loneliness, and often causing loss of cultural identity. We talk about these realities and offer some solutions of what’s beyond–how to live out our whole selves. Episode Summary Importance of Truth and Storytelling: We engage the importance and significance of sharing personal stories, especially among marginalized communities. This is seen as essential for fostering understanding and challenging societal norms.Diverse Perspectives on Belonging: Belonging is complex and how it differs for individuals based on factors like race, ethnicity, and personal experiences . We highlight the need for diverse narratives that reject a single, homogenized perspective.Generational Shifts and Hope: Our conversations touches upon generational shifts and attitudes towards social issues that express hope for progress. Despite recognizing ongoing challenges, there’s optimism about the potential for positive change, particularly among younger generations.Emphasis on Connection and Community: How do we get there? Connection, empathy, and community-building. We highlight the role of shared experiences and supportive networks in fostering a sense of belonging and personal growth. (more…)
#74 – On Family, Ethnicity & the Sacred Work of Belonging with Tasha Jun
Jan 11 2024
#74 – On Family, Ethnicity & the Sacred Work of Belonging with Tasha Jun
Season 10 continues with a season of authors and their (mostly new) books. Rohadi invites author Tasha Jun to the show to chat about, Tell me the Dream Again. Reflections on Family, Ethnicity & the Sacred Work of Belonging. This episode discusses themes from her book including: The Why behind, Tell me the dream again, and how writing projects span decades to produce.On dissociation and assimilation for BIPOC/Asian folks. We discuss when a racialized person thinks they fit, and when the veil comes down.What to do with feelings associated with assimilation. A talk about embodied characteristics of fitting in.Food as a way to reconnect to your roots and ancestors.Dismantling individualization of finding one’s self. (Yes, I bring up Brene Brown again.)Naming the grief with finding your community, but realizing what you’ve been missing for so long. Ways to bridge the gap when it comes to reclaiming yourself, your people and your culture.Why finding belong is sacred work. Find Tasha’s book available wherever books are sold. Visit Tasha’s website, her Substack, and connect with her on Instagram and Facebook. A little about “Tell me the dream again.” Tasha Jun has always been caught between worlds: American and Korean, faith and doubt, family devotion and fierce independence. As a Korean American, she wandered between seemingly opposing worlds, struggling to find a voice to speak and a firm place for her feet to land. The world taught Tasha that her Korean normal was a barrier to belonging—that assimilation was the only way she would ever be truly accepted. But if that were true, did that mean God had made a mistake in knitting her together? Tell Me the Dream Again is a memoir-in-essays exploring what it means to be biracial in America today;the joy and healing that comes with embracing every part of who we are, and;how our identity in Christ is tightly woven with the unique colors, scents, and culture he’s given us. We are not outsiders to God. When we let all the details of ourselves unfold—when we embrace who we were divinely knit together to be—this is when we’ll fully experience his perfect love.
#73 – Expanding Theological Imagination with Matt Downey and Rohadi
Nov 23 2023
#73 – Expanding Theological Imagination with Matt Downey and Rohadi
I (Rohadi) have had the pleasure to endorse a number of books in 2023 and that includes Go Wide. Reimagining the Landscape of Theology. If we take seriously the notion of decolonizing and deconstructing Christianity, that journey needs signposts along the way to help guide us to a more life giving faith. This book by Matte Downey is going to help, and this podcast episode is a teaser of what’s inside. Here’s my endorsement: “Downey develops an expansive and relational hermeneutic adept for a more liberative and inclusive posture in our modern world. This wider theological imagination is indeed “dangerous”, as Downey concludes, because it subverts hegemonic power systems that describe a far too narrow view of who God is.” A little more about Go Wide: What happens when we sidestep the notions of hierarchy and verticality in how we think about God, the world, and all things theological? How does emphasizing the expansiveness and breadth of God affect how we read the Bible and engage with topics such as salvation and the church? Using the lens of latitude, Martha (Matte) Elias Downey reframes familiar biblical stories and reimagines theological concepts, purposefully circumventing the oppressive, top-down dynamics of hierarchy. This book encompasses a broad range of theology by combining biblical interpretation, systematic theology, practical theology, and a selection of personal anecdotes. Here is an accessible and inclusive foray into theology for anyone interested in a fresh take on an ancient course of study. I have a PhD in dramatic theology and spend my time pondering the meanings of stories and texts, seeking wisdom in unexpected places, learning to ask better questions, labouring over my words, taking photographs of every little thing, feeling all the feelings, and drinking copious amounts of chai. This is where I share what I’m learning, thinking about, and seeing in the world. Nothing is final. All is in process. Find her at https://mattedowney.wordpress.com/ and on Instagram. Find Rohadi at www.rohadi.com and on Instagram. Please rate the podcast wherever you’re listening!
#67 – Nkem Ndefo on Embodying Change in Organizations and Individuals
Aug 30 2023
#67 – Nkem Ndefo on Embodying Change in Organizations and Individuals
The final Episode of Season 9, a season on mental health, embodiment, and in this episode we throw in change and some DEI (diversity equity and inclusion) as well. Recorded on Treaty 7 territory in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Change is hard, and harder still when it involves institutions filled with individuals who don’t want to change. In this eye-opening and juicy conversation, Nkem Ndefo, founder of Lumos Transforms, joins Rohadi to discuss the pathways to embodying change. Change for both the self, and for organizations looking to become more equitable and inclusive spaces for all to work and thrive. I think in some ways it resilience has been weaponized. And as I’ve been teaching and working with people over the many years, I’ve seen a lot of people recoil from the word because it’s been weaponized against folks in a very neoliberal context, in that we don’t acknowledge the system’s culpability in creating conditions of adversity. Instead, we look only at the individual and that unit, and we say that the individual must be more resilient, you must be strong, flexible to endure, whatever is going on, and that any resilience you build will then be extracted from you for greater production and consumption. – Nkem Episode Summary Intro to this episode. 0:00Introduction to the show. 3:11Reciprocity and collaboration in leading organizational and individual change. 8:24The difficulty of existing in the liminal spaces that need to change. 15:08The way resiliency has been weaponized and how to reclaim it. 21:25The importance of naming systemic problems. 30:55How do we bring awareness to embodiment? 37:14How do we build resilience in the face of privilege and fragility? 43:43 (more…)