The extending piece of being a person of welcome… offers a more substantial sense of belonging than if we were to only consume. - Sarah Westfall

My humanity needs space for nothingness. It needs to become settled once again… so that sometime in the future again, I can exhale and give again. - Sarah Westfall

In this episode, Matt has a conversation with Sarah Westfall. Sarah is a full-time writer, speaker, and podcast host whose work delves into the complexities of communal life. She is the author of The Way of Belonging: Reimagining Who You Are and How We Relate and writes regularly on her Substack, Human Together. Her podcast has the same name and the amazing tagline: a podcast for people who agree it is not good to be alone (but secretly wonder whether it might be easier).

We have a great conversation about why humans long to belong, how helping others belong is a creative act, and also a great discussion about all things writing!

Books & Links

Sarah’s Website

Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation by Cindy S. Lee

The Way of Belonging

“To live a creative life, we do have to make a choice to live in courage, to be willing to be vulnerable and to put ourselves out there.”

In this episode Matt has a conversation with Stephen Roach. Stephen is host of the Makers and Mystics podcast and founder of The Breath and The Clay creative arts organization. Stephen travels as a keynote speaker and event curator conducting workshops and events centred on the exploration of creativity and the spiritual life. He has penned five volumes of poetry, an illustrated children’s book, and 2 other books including Naming The Animals: An Invitation To Creativity.

Stephen is a multi-instrumentalist with a background in ethnomusicology and film composition. His musical group, Songs of Water composes for film and television including the award-winning Australian animated short, Teacups. Stephen has contributed to the works of recording artists Ricky Skaggs, Josh Garrels, Jonathan and Melissa Helser, John Mark McMillan and others.

Matt and Stephen talk about:

* Courage and Vulnerability in the Creative Life

* Co-creative partnership between God and humanity, where God leaves room for human contribution and delight.

* The importance of sabbath, rest, and the place of contemplation and wonder.

* Embracing the process rather than obsessing over outcomes

Selected Links/Books

* Makers & Mystic Podcast

* Breath & the Clay

* On Writing by Stephen King

* The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel

* Naming the Animals: An Invitation to Creativity by Stephen Roach

"If we believe we're made in the image of God, a creator God, then that image in us is creative. It's a way of engaging with that divine spark."

In this episode, Matt has a conversation with Shari Green. Shari writes fiction and poetry for children and young adults. Her latest book, SONG OF FREEDOM, SONG OF DREAMS, is a 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award finalist. Her other novels in verse include GAME FACE, MISSING MIKE, Schneider Family Book Award winner MACY McMILLAN AND THE RAINBOW GODDESS, and ROOT BEER CANDY AND OTHER MIRACLES. Shari’s books have been included on international “best of” lists and selected for numerous provincial and state readers’-choice programs.

Much of the conversation centres on Shari’s latest, Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams which has strong themes connected to music and faith and centres around a young pianist in East Germany trying to make sense of love, duty, and the pursuit of dreams during the unsettled months of protest that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Shari and Matt talk about:

* Music/art as a way of processing difficult emotions, connecting with God, and also a vehicle and catalyst in supporting social change.

* Art and faith as a means of finding normalcy, hope, and purpose in challenging times.

* How both faith and creativity are about an openness to awe, wonder, and mystery.

Links / Books

* Shari Green’s Website

* Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams