Existential Happy Hour Micah J. Murray

I want to start a rumor about a place in Minnesota where the people know salvation not by confession or creed but by tomatoes and dirt and the light of the sun and the rhythms of the moon. I want to tell you a story about a village where people of all ages live in relationship with each other, and with the earth and with the river and with the trees. But before you can understand the story of this Village, first I need to tell you about the Gospel of Everything.https://minnesotaecovillage.org

Deck the halls and make the yuletide gay, my friends! It's time once again for a special holiday edition of the show. A Very Existential Christmas weaves together poems, prayers, and stories in a unique exploration of Christmas without God. We begin by deconstructing the myth of Santa Claus before a brief commercial break and then come back for a poem, a short sermon I preached one advent Sunday back when I was still a Christian, another poem/prayer, and then a bit of theology about expe...

In this episode I talk with Jarrod K. Anderson about nature, death, and the universe. Jarrod is a storyteller, poet, and creator of the wildly popular nature podcast The Cryptonaturalist. I found Jarrod through his online poems and his book Field Guide to the Haunted Forest (which is worth purchasing for the title alone.) The language he uses to make meaning in a meaningless universe resonates deeply with me. I consider him a kindred soul. In this winding conversation we talk about creativity...

When I was a good Christian, I spent a lot of time thinking and talking about my worldview. It was an important part of identity-formation in my Evangelical faith communities. In this episode we revisit the idea of worldview, and talk about the evolution I have experienced as I have sought what is real. We begin with excerpts out of my own Personal Statement of Faith (from when I was a good Christian) before diving into an exploration of what it means to orient my life toward the universe thr...

Pausing at the end of a hot and lonely summer to talk about making meaning, making content, and falling in love with a planet that is bursting into flames.

I catch up with my friend Emily Maynard, a fellow surviver of religious bullshit who is now working to help other people live free and meaningful lives. We talk about growing up in American fundamentalism and purity culture, why therapy matters, what we mean when we talk about God, and the everlasting bullshit of the Gospel Coalition, and why people are leaving toxic Churches. We also talk about how to have support as you move through deconstructing beliefs, how to talk to family when your fa...