For episode 181 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon welcomes Pastor, author, and theologian Nadia Bolz-Weber.
Learn more about Nadia: nadiabolzweber.com
Lutheranism & Paradox // Sinners & Saints // Sex & Shame
Welcoming Pastor, author, and theologian, Nadia Bolz-Weber, to the Metta Hour, Sharon invites her to share her journey growing up in a fundamentalist Christian family, breaking away from religion as a young adult, before rekindling a deep personal relationship with it on her own terms. Contemplating Lutheranism’s relationship with paradox and mystery, Nadia shares how we’re all sinners and Saints at the same time. Next, they discuss her book, Shameless: A Sexual Reformation, and the origins of shame.
“I had to stumble into Lutheranism, and I really loved it as a theological system because it’s really based in paradox and mystery, not certainty and dualism” – Nadie Bolz-Weber
Ram Dass explores the many connections between sex & spirituality on Ep. 55 of Here & Now
Forgiveness, Victimization, & Loving Yourself (23:00)
What does it mean to forgive ourselves? Exploring the nuances of forgiveness, Sharon and Nadia illuminate how when we are not in a forgiving place, we end up putting the blinders on to the beautiful and loving parts of our relationships because we feel it is a betrayal to the part of us that has been hurt. Extrapolating this lens into the realm of self-care, they share the importance of forgiving yourself and loving yourself in totality, rather than playing the victim and further perpetuating negative cycles.
“It’s important to do our own work. Sometimes my insistence that the other person is 100% at fault, my unwillingness to let that go, and the passion I have about that, and the story I have about that, are very much fueled by the fact that 90% was theirs and 10% was me—and it’s the shame about my 10% that actually drives the passion about insisting they were 100% at fault.” – Nadia Bolz-Weber
Nadia Bolz-Weber & Raghu share about grace & forgiveness, on Ep. 264 of Mindrolling
Cancel Culture, Social Media, & Transformation (42:00)
Can we allow people to change and transform for the better without holding them to past mistakes? Speaking about the lack of forgiveness in cancel culture, Nadia shares how we can drop the cruelty and allow the compassionate and understanding process of human transformation to naturally unfold. Through this lens, they discuss how to skillfully identify and navigate ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ emotional states.
“The performative cruelty that happens on social media—digging up something that you find that somebody said or did 10 or 15 years ago, and then calling them to account, and having a standard that there’s no way to apologize in a perfect way, there’s no way to prove they’ve changed—it’s so cruel. If we are people on a spiritual path, do we not believe in human transformation?” – Nadie Bolz-Weber
Trudy Goodman & Jack Kornfield explore the art of forgiveness, in Ep. 139 of Heart Wisdom
