In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the power of music, the problem of pain, where we go to deal with suffering, the communal experience of lament, the cisterns we choose over the fountains of living water, showing up for the ones we love, and whether beer is in fact meant to be served cold.

What We’re Reading:

• The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton

• The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri

• The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Other Mentions:

• Jeremiah 2:13
• REBC Episode 9 “The Gilded Six Bits”
• REBC Episode 2 “A Lesson Before Dying”

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss an abundance of rabbits, the power of myth, how the telling of stories shapes us, the value of ennobling tales, whether this book is actually for children, and an unfortunate excess of rollicking.

What We’re Reading:

• The Divided Soul by Heidi White

• The Unselected Journals of Emma Lion by Beth Brower

• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Other Mentions:

• Psalm 104

Next episode we will be discussing Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this special New Year episode, Jordan and Brendan examine the poems “Alive Together” by Liesel Mueller and “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” by Gerard Manley Hopkins. They discuss what it means to marvel, the power of providence, the possibility of “missing out”, struggling to be who we are called to be, the paradox of oneness with Christ, the lilting magic of sprung rhythm, and the playfulness of God.

What We’re Reading:

• Train Dreams by Denis Johnson

• Time of the Child by Niall Williams

• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

• The Rise & Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman

Other Mentions:

• Poetry 180 by Billy Collins

• Jordan’s poets: Mary Oliver, Jane Kenyon, Ted Kooser, Li Young Lee, Denise Levertov, Jim Harrison
• Brendan’s poets: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Emily Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Richard Wilbur

George Macdonald - “The New Name” (from Unspoken Sermons)