Listeners' Reflections
This is your place to publicly comment on the topics and issues addressed in Speaking of Faith programs. React in a personal way, and put into words what this program meant to you.
Submit Your Reflection about "The New Monastics."
Very Interesting (August, 2008)
Very encouraging to hear about things like this going on within the USA. I mean the very country, that I feel has got to be possibly the scariest place on the planet, from where I stand anyway. Hooray!! at last… people in a constitutional republic with all the democratic liberties afforded to it, exercising their political birth rights in a way that is not abusive to the rest of us.
Tracy Coles
London, UK (Listens to SOF OnDemand)
It's More Than Vision (June 17, 2007)
Having spent 13 years in two intentional communities (Church of the Redeemer in Houston and Sojourners), I was interested in a new vision. I was amazed to hear the same vision as if it was new. Church of the Redeemer was large and in the 60s and 70s, networked with other intentional communities throughout the country, many Catholic. What you do not address is why many of these communities failed (to include religious communities). The vision is great but how does the vision fit practically into our society, the times, our humanity, our weaknesses and needs, and our ability to care and commit to each other. In the end, my experience was extreme burnout and loss of vision because of the personal toll. Vision is great but the reality needs to be addressed; the hard part was not giving up our lives, control, and material possessions — it was surviving.
Gayle Turner
Washington, DC (Listens to SOF OnDemand)
Showing Our Children the Way (May 31, 2007)
I have listened to Speaking of Faith programs regularly for two years now, and I have always come away with something inspiring or challenging to carry with me on my spiritual journey. I agree with much of the praise Shane received from other listeners and so I feel that I wouldn't add much more to the conversation to reiterate in that vein.
I offer this as I question what is an appropriate way to teach my children "the way." As a mother of two, I felt very concerned for the safety of the middle school student who was hit over the head with a club as he and Shane walked through the neighborhood. Ultimately, the child witnessed an adult, who is ready to accept bodily injury in order to love his neighbors, confront some violent teens. My question: Was the child ready to accept possible injury? I don't think I would have done the same in Shane's place with a child at my side, and I don't think I could in good conscience advise my children to take such a stand at that young age.
Chloe Meyers
Lansing, MI (WUOM, 91.7 FM)
Thanks! (May 23, 2007)
Thank you so much for this, perhaps the best SOF hour I've heard yet. I am so grateful that you continue to bring these voices to the air, for many of us to hear. As is obvious from the comments posted regarding this program, Shane has delivered his message of truth, and many of us are listening carefully. Thanks, Krista. You continue to surprise and amaze us with these conversations!
Bill Mueller
Milwaukee, WI (WUWM, 89.7 FM)
Unedited Version of Interview (May 22, 2007)
I think the unedited conversation is wonderful. Please continue to offer this option.
Jeff Wolf
St. Louis, MO (KWMU, 93.7 FM)
I Second That (May 22, 2007)
As a previous listener (Bob Bray) said, the program "Blew Me Away"; I felt the same way. It's the best Speaking of Faith program I have ever heard. To hear Shane speaking so simply and honestly about what it really means to follow Jesus lifted my spirits for the entire day and I keep telling everyone else about it. Like the Christian communities in Acts, and the small Christian communities that blossom in poor countries where there is no minister to guide them but just simple people reflecting upon the Word of God and then trying to follow in service to others, these New Monastics will surely be the groups that bring about the kingdom of Christ. May they multiply in the future.
Mary Jude Jun
St. Louis, MO (KWMU, 93.7 FM)
I'm No Young Monastic (May 22, 2007)
I heard a lot of interesting and inspiring things this week on SOF, but I must say, at the end my primary feeling was annoyance. All this talk of "young people" this and "young people" that. All the wonderful things "young people" are doing — self discovery, community building, revolutionary change, spiritual journeying — as if only "young people" can or will do such things.
I am not 20 or 30 or even 40 anymore. So, am I disqualified for all that good stuff of discovery and good work? Or am I supposed to have moved beyond it, on to even greater things? And what might those be? What is greater than what these "young monastics" are doing? Need one be young, and need one be living in a separate and intentionally constructed community to do that? What if in my middle class, middle age life I am right there in the middle of discovery, community, and revolutionary creation — inventing myself and discovering others, making connections and working to make a better world? And supposing I am doing it right here in a suburban American life: husband, child, cat, dog, house, yard, job, bills, groceries, menopause? I can feel new, feel enlightened, connected, discovered. I can do this as who I am and where I am.
I don't want to be young again. I want full credit for every year, every minute I have lived. I am glad for the time I have lived and like to believe my life has been an accomplishment even if I never had the opportunity or freedom to go places beyond what "ordinary" life has presented me with or do things that others will remark on as extraordinary. I do seek a monastic life, but I am not willing to give up an ordinary life. So I strive to live in the world without being of it. I don't believe I need to retreat to a house full of people who have selected each other for a special life and special work. I don't need to go off by myself to a woodland cabin on a pond to discover realities of existence. I, like Henry David Thoreau, do not wish to find when it comes time to die that I have not fully lived, but I need to work with the life I have been presented, with all the physical and economic constraints of reality even as I strive to let the infinite of the spiritual free me to live unconstrained.
I appreciate those who, given the opportunity, go beyond the ordinary and are able to make bigger and better differences in the world than most of us do. But I refuse to feel small or unworthy or selfish in wanting my own home and family life. I am luckier than most in that I could have made myself opportunities to go places beyond my home and do unordinary things. But I didn't. My life didn't work out that way. Partly because at age 19 and 20 I was re-learning how to walk and talk and be a person. That is what life presented me with when I fell down stairs, and it was very educational and eventually also enlightening. Walking and talking are very difficult things to do, and it is amazing how many people can do them. And many people showed me through that time what it is to love and to care.
Then life presented me with a man to love, and an opportunity to marry. I took the opportunity and found myself with a husband rather older than myself who when it came to intentional communities of people out to change the world had been there and done that. But the man I love and live with has maintained those beliefs in community, simplicity, social responsibility, and revolution, and so do I. And after 25 years we are still living those beliefs. We live by them, every day, at home. I often think of what the boy AIDS activist in Africa said (I am sorry I don't remember his name): "Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are, in the time you have." That is the real challenge in most real lives. I can walk out my door, smile at my neighbor, take in her trash cans, tidy up my street, listen to loneliness, volunteer at the local prison. And then I want to come home and kiss my husband, cultivate my garden, watch TV with my son, discuss school and life and the news, laugh at silly things, sing songs and write poems. I can be aware of what I purchase and consume, where it came from, what resources were used to produce it and get it to me, who was involved in its manufacture and marketing. And I can love and enjoy my life. I can strive to live gently on the Earth and move lightly over it. I can live an ordinary life and do so with no regrets.
Tina Stanton
Rutledge, PA (WHYY, 91.0 FM)
The Mystery of Faith (May 22, 2007)
This story brings life to the mystery of faith: Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. Listening this past Sunday left this thought: Christ has come again, again. It is a gift to have heard so clearly how Jesus is alive and with us here and now through the new monastics at the Simple Way in North Philly.
Tim Morin
Shorewood, MN (KNOW, 91.1 FM)
Blew Me Away (May 21, 2007)
Sunday's show on the "The New Monastics" literally blew me away. I was just so totally impressed, even amazed, both by Shane Claiborne's philosophy of life and by Krista's cross-dialogue questions. It was almost an epiphany moment for me — listening to this wonderful back and forth. I certainly hope for a chance to hear more of this kind of wonderful philosophy from such an obviously dedicated young person. It gives me great new hope for world of my children and grandchildren. It truly bespeaks my understanding of the real teaching of Jesus, unaffected by the many, many decades of often-diverse versions of various religious proselytizing and catechizing of new recruits. Amazingly, it does so without the often contradictory messages of religions that seem to need to demonize "the non-believer" (in what I believe, of course).
Bob Bray
Yardley, PA (WHYY, 91.0 FM)
Paying Witness (May 21, 2007)
Aloha mai. I enjoy your program, and today most especially because your speaker, Shane Claiborne, was deeply inspiring in a straightforward way. He gave Christianity it's most reverent and compelling face, one that I've almost lost hope of ever witnessing. What he does and how he has committed to his walk of faith made my heart sing, and gave me a real lift this afternoon on my drive home. Many important thoughts were shared, very inspirational. Ms. Tippett, I got a more human sense of you through this show as well. A real bit of grace was shared today. Mahalo a nui loa, thank you very much.
I've got a great idea for a show. It would be all about our beloved Lili'uokalani — our Mahatma Gandhi within the Hawaiian community. She died long ago, but still greatly inspires so many of us here to continue to work for justice.
Meleanna Meyer
Kailua, HI (KIPO, 89.3 FM)
On the Craving of the Young for Authenticity in Faith (May 21, 2007)
I work with children in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which you have featured on your show some years ago. The founders, Sofia Cavalletti and Gianna Gobbi, found that the children were not engaged in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but were deeply struck when presented with the words of scripture, unadorned, and then invited to reflect on it. Their faith is ardent, but it cannot survive on a diet of platitudes, no matter how well-intended. As Sofia says, "Only the richest food for the youngest."
In listening to Shane, I heard resonances of that, and remembered back to my own idealistic years in college, when I and some acquaintances entered into communal living for a while. I believe that young people crave the idealistic, the authentic, the passionate, the active faith. That's why they don't come to church until they have their own children. Shane makes us wonder, "What are our churches, really? What have we made of Christianity?"
Suzanne Haraburd
River Forest, IL (WBEZ, 91.5 FM)
Atheist Amazed (May 20, 2007)
As an atheist, I find it unfortunate that moral standards and doing good are almost always confined to a religious context. That aside, I applaud Mr. Claiborne for what he does. If only there were more selfless people like him making the world a better place, one good deed at a time. What an amazing man!
Herbert Boks
Ann Arbor, MI (WUOM, 91.7 FM)
Choked Up (May 20, 2007)
I'm listening to this program on the radio and checking out the website at the same time. Shane's words have stopped me in my tracks. What beautiful, simplistic wisdom. When he said, "recovering evangelical," I first laughed, than had to choke back a ton of emotion. He nailed it. And he's giving a fantastic example of what, I think, Christ really meant for us to be. I'm totally blown away.
Laurie Holst
Corvallis, OR (KOPB, 550 AM)
7-8 AM (May 20, 2007)
The interview with Shane Claiborne blew me away. I found myself crying as I was getting ready to go to a graduation while listening to the show. I have been hungering for something of spiritual potency for so long and everything I've come across has only been tiny pieces to my walk of love. This interview may have changed my life. Thank you.
Sarah Wray
King of Prussia, PA (WHYY, 91.0 FM)
New Hope of the World (May 20, 2007)
Nancy and I have been listening to SOF for almost a year; I would place the New Monastics with Shane Claiborne in the top 5! A wonderful concept, a wonderful group of people. This is what living is all about — not spending my time preparing to have eternal life. We need to tear down the gated communities called churches, consider the "good" and "evil" in the world and wing it. After 80 years of life, and for the last 40 years of it, I have slowly become unchurched. All I can do now is to be a cheerleader for this movement. With the inspiration of people like Jesus, Martin Luther King, Ms. Day et .al., the new monastics are the new hope of the world.
Haldane Marts
Greenville, PA (WYSU, 88.5 FM)
A Spirit of Infinite Love (May 20, 2007)
It was incredibly heartening and positive to hear of young Christians returning to the true historical roots of the movement begun by a radical thinker informed by a spirit of infinite love, a blue collar Jewish teacher named Jesus. I wish I had been exposed to the ideas and concepts of Shane Claiborne when I was younger. Blessings to him and his compatriots. Keep up the good work!
Elizabeth Freeman
Wilmington, NC (WHQR, 91.3 FM)
Young People Do Understand (May 20, 2007)
We heard this on the way to church this morning and Shane reaffirmed for me that there are young people who "get it," who understand that Jesus wants His followers out and about not inside and hidden. He calmed me and excited me. We must go about His work steadily.
Kate Hein
Rochester, IL (WUIS, 91.9 FM)
Connecting My Church (May 20, 2007)
I really enjoy your program. I am a Lutheran deaconess living on the edge of mainstream Christianity. Thank you so much for "The New Monastics"! They are close to home for me. I am familiar with New Jerusalem Now! I would like my home church to connect with the New Monastics in some way. I will start with buying the book! Someone I would love to hear you interview is Robert Bell. He wrote Sex God. Have you read this? WoW! He is the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids Michigan. Thank you for all you do to open our spirits up to one another. I know it helps us love one another or not.
Sr. Ramona Cecille
Philadelphia, PA (WHYY, 91.0 FM)
Numonastics (May 20, 2007)
Thanks so much for your show on the New Monastics (at first I thought they spelled their name "numonastics" [as in "numinous" as used by Carl Jung]) (-: I salute Shane Claiborne's ideas and efforts, and I also salute your attempts to bring greater awareness and understanding of spirituality to the public. Keep up the good work!
Katherine Scranton
Clarkesville, GA (WPPR, 88.3 FM)
A Saying from Christ (May 20, 2007)
The story of the husband and wife trying unsuccessfully to have a child then taking in the pregnant homeless woman who later became the nurse who cared for the wife who ended up with MS reminded of the the phrase I think of Christ uttering: "See I make all things new." Thank you for the show.
Brian Kearney
Oak Forest, IL (WBEZ, 91.5 FM)
No Coincidence (May 20, 2007)
It is so terribly encouraging that God has drawn so many people together in a work. It is inspiring, and so reassuring that the unique voice of the Spirit in each Christian will lead us into renewal, not just of our hearts, but of the world. That many secular people care deeply about the same issues is also so powerful, no coincidence…
Jen Kindler
Happy Valley, HI (KIPO, 89.3 FM)
Thirsty (May 20, 2007)
I look forward to listening to Speaking of Faith every Sunday morning, as I cook breakfast for my four young children. We are an expat American family living in Switzerland. Our command of the German language is not strong enough for us to attend church here. In the States we were very involved in our church and its charitable programs (Habitat for Humanity, cooking for homeless shelters, and the like). This fantastic, enriching church community is something my whole family dearly misses. Speaking of Faith helps me stay connected to my faith — it reminds me of my core values that sometimes feel so dormant, so far from weekly organized religion. Your ecumenical and even-handed look at faiths and ideas from all over the world is absolutely inspiring. Your guests so wise, your conversations captivate me. Thank you so much for the work you put into making this show. It is much appreciated by those of us thirsty for a religious community.
Jennifer Brule'
Zurich, Switzerland (NPR Worldwide)
Relating Shane's Work to My Group (May 19, 2007)
With tearful eyes and heavy heart, I was so inspired and encouraged listening to your program with Shane Claiborne. It was one NPR program I did not enjoy turning off. My own philosophy is very similar, as is the philosophy and work of my group, the Saco Valley Green Group. We honor Mother Earth and all our brethren, the creation we are gifted to share our habitats with. We work showing films and arranging speakers who plant seeds of healthy change, not terminator seeds from what I consider a diabolic corporation, Monsanto. We understand that using violence to curtail violence is antithetical to the teachings of not only Jesus, but other wise souls who I pray are guiding us from this path of self destruction.
Thank you so much for this program that enabled me to not only listen to Shane, but share his name and contact with many others who understand the work ahead to continue the new paradigms in human evolution. J.R. Hyland writes many poignant and healing articles about faith, love, and mercy. And, willtuttle.com is another site that offers us a most healing and profound path to enlightenment.
Laura Aaron Slitt
Bartlett, NH (WEVJ, 99.5 FM)
Such Simplicity (May 18, 2007)
Thanks for such a wonderful interview with one of the freshest Christian voices in our day. It's rare to hear such simplicity and depth in a person, as one does with Shane.
Mike Winkler
Sioux Falls, SD (Listens to SOF Podcast)
Left Me Rather Excited… (May 18, 2007)
Thanks for the story on Shane, the Simple Way, etc. My wife and I are participating in a School for Conversion this summer and this made me all the more excited. There is a lot of hope in this tribe of Jesus followers and it gives hope to the church and to me.
Mark Swanson
Sioux Falls, SD (Listens to SOF Podcast)
Thanks (May 18, 2007)
I simply wanted to say thanks for offering these alternative points of view and the people who live them. I've been so inspired by programs like this and "After Katrina." The ways your guests see life has resonated and connected with my own views, which have never been validated much by the "typical" middle-class churches I've attended. I look forward to hearing more programs like this in the future.
Mark Zimmerman
Plano, TX (Listens to SOF Podcast)
Inspiration (May 17, 2007)
To hear Shane Claiborne speak of his faith and his work is to be revitalized in caring. He brings back the memory of those such as Martin Luther King and Gandhi and reminds us that although people may die, ideas and spirit live on. The idea of nonviolence and the futility of meeting violence with violence is one that must be repeated over and over again through generations. One day it will be as accepted as self evident to all reasonable people.
Sandra Frazier
Berlin, MD (WSDL, 90.7 FM)
Book Recommendation (May 17, 2007)
Thank you for finding and recommending The Irresistible Revolution on your Web site. I first learned of the book several months ago in Jim Wallis' Sojourners magazine. I bought a dozen copies and gave them to the college-bound youth at our church. It was casting bread upon the waters, I know, but I was so impressed by the book, which I think will resonate with young people in our western part of North Carolina. Obviously, I recommend it also!
Donald Saunders
Blowing Rock, NC (WFAE, 90.7 FM)
Guest Recommendation (May 17, 2007)
I would like to see you interview Fr. John F. Kavanaugh SJ, the author of Following Christ in a Consumer Society. He advocates a return to Gospel values, much like I assume Shane Claiborne does (I will be listening to that podcast tomorrow). Thanks and keep up the great work you are doing!
Michael Widner
Fort Myers, FL (Listens to SOF Podcast)
