This week, journalist Sally Quinn joins the show to talk about her search for God as an agnostic, finding meaning in suffering and embracing the transformational power of love.
Find more from Sally at OnFaith.co, a community of clergy, journalists, believers, seekers, and everyone in between.
Show Notes
Finding Magic (Opening) – Sally Quinn shares her story of growing up in the American South and talks about her introduction to alternative forms of spiritual practice in the bible belt. She reflects on how an early encounter with suffering as a child changed her view of religion and describes her journey as an adult to better understand God.
“I use the word ‘magic’ for God because we are all looking for the transcendence and the divine – we are looking for magic, you can call it whatever you like.” – Sally Quinn
Defined by Love (15:20) – Raghu and Sally talk about finding a quality of love that can transcend the difficulties and the suffering in the world. Sally reflects on the love cultivated between her and her late husband Ben Bradlee, a fellow journalist who rose to prominence during the Watergate and Pentagon Papers scandals.
How to Live (24:00) – We hear Sally’s harrowing encounter in Vietnam at the height of the war. She shares the lessons around the dangers of the ego and the importance of love that she learned from her time in the war-torn country.
“My experience in Vietnam changed me, as a reporter and as a person. As a reporter, it expanded my world – enhancing my perceptions and observations. As a person, it focused my attention on the importance of morality in politics and in my life. How to live became much more of a factor in my thinking, more than it ever had before.” – Sally Quinn
For more conversation about the intersection of spirituality and politics in the Vietnam Era listen to Raghu’s conversation with Danny Goldberg on Ep.194 of the Mindrolling Podcast.
Meaning in Suffering (33:40) – Raghu and Sally talk about the role of suffering and how we can grow through suffering when we stop running from it.
