Fiction That Forms Us: Stories that Inspire Us and Practices that Help Us Change
The need we have for story to shape us and not simply gratify us has inspired me to help shape the perspective Christians have toward fiction through conversation linking fictional stories we read to our spiritual formation and transformation into Christlikeness. What if we thought about and read fiction differently? What if instead of using it simply as either a means of escape from reality or to gratify ourselves with a good story we let it change us from the inside out? Story can impact our spiritual journey if we let it. That’s what Fiction that Forms Us is all about. We see fiction as valuable, not just in its artistic form but also in its function in our world and lives. If we are open, fiction can be not only formational but also transformational. It can inspire, beckon, and lead us to transformation.
Episodes
How do we become more receptive and responsive to the work of the Spirit within our lives? In her first novel, Sensible Shoes, from the series of the same name, Sharon Garlough Brown takes her characters on a journey of practicing various spiritual disciplines. In this episode, I talk to author Sharon Garlough Brown about the spiritual disciplines of lament and confession within the Ignatian Examen. The spiritual practice is one of...
How do we overcome vices that the world teaches us to idolize? In her first novel, Sensible Shoes, from the series of the same name, Sharon Garlough Brown takes the reader through the growth journey of four characters, whose lives become interwoven throughout the novel as they embark on a sacred journey with God and each other. In this episode, I talk with author Sharon Garlough Brown about her novel, where we discuss the spiritual...
How can reading be a spiritual practice, and why is reading Kristin Lavransdatter a good choice for this practice? Learn more on this episode, where Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson and I continue our discussion on Kristin Lavransdatter in the trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter and how reading about her spiritual journey affords us an opportunity to study and come to terms with our own.
At the end of your life, how would you feel if God had nearly always allowed you to follow your will? In the womb-to-tomb trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter, Kristin has this experience, which for her is one of sorrow that ultimately leads her to surrender. In this episode, I talk with professor and author Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson about Kristin’s spiritual journey over a lifetime.
How can taking inventory of our spiritual life help us regard the character flaws of others with sensitivity and forgiveness? Learn more on this episode, where we discuss how Jane Eyre’s suffering affords her an introspection that helps shape her thoughts and actions. There are practices we can do to aid our spiritual introspection that will help cultivate the fruits of compassion and forgiveness in our lives like it did in Jane&ap...
If you grew up unloved and unwanted, how difficult would it be to show love, grace, and forgiveness to those who don’t reciprocate? Jane, in the book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, shows us how.
What can the unspeakable horrors of a concentration camp teach us about theodicy? Learn more on this episode where guest A. S. (“Pete”) Peterson, author, artistic director of Rabbit Room Theatre, and producer at Lamb & Flag Studios, and host Kristy Lahoda discuss The Hiding Place and Betsie and Corrie ten Booms’ responses to the unspeakable evil they experienced at the Ravensbrück concentration camp and how they, as part of the...
What if you were called to retell someone’s harrowing, God-soaked story? On this episode, learn how A. S. (“Pete”) Peterson, author and playwright, artistic director of Rabbit Room Theatre, and producer at Lamb & Flag Studios, was called to do just that. Pete and host Kristy Lahoda discuss the breadcrumb trail that led to his play adaptation turned cinematic stage production of Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place.
Despite overwhelming need, why was the most important work in all of human history done without hurry? Learn more on this episode, where Dr. Chris Hall, recently retired Renovaré president and former Director of Academic Spiritual Formation and Distinguished Professor of Theology at Eastern University, and host Kristy Lahoda discuss Marge Gunderson, in the film Fargo, directed and produced by the Coen brothers. Marge, far from bein...
What can film noir teach us about the Biblical theme of light? Learn more on this episode, where Dr. Chris Hall, recently retired Renovaré president and former Director of Academic Spiritual Formation and Distinguished Professor of Theology at Eastern University, and host Kristy Lahoda discuss police chief Marge Gunderson in the film Fargo, directed and produced by the Coen brothers. Marge’s home life is one of stability that carri...
How can we remain faithful to the message God gives us as we practice our craft? Learn more on this episode with Amy Baik Lee, member artist of The Anselm Society and a founding member of The Cultivating Project, and host Kristy Lahoda as they discuss artist Asher Lev, in the novel My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. Asher learns that through his hands he has the power for both good and evil. Through the suffering he experiences, ...
What if our gifting and faith tradition are at odds? Learn more on this episode, where Amy Baik Lee, member artist of The Anselm Society and a founding member of The Cultivating Project, and host Kristy Lahoda discuss how Asher Lev, in the novel My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok, stayed true to both his art and his faith and sought a third way, a way fraught with anguish but filled with truth born from love.
What can sitting in silence, solitude, and stillness teach us, and what does our body have to do with spiritual formation? Learn more on this episode, where Dr. Mimi Dixon, Renovaré Institute teacher and retired Presbyterian Pastor, and host Kristy Lahoda discuss how to remain calm and pay attention like Maisie Dobbs, in the book Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, in the midst of life’s storms so that we can follow Jesus as he ru...
What can we learn from the layers of hardships—our own and those of others—we encounter? Find out on this episode, where Dr. Mimi Dixon, Renovaré Institute teacher and retired Presbyterian Pastor, and host Kristy Lahoda discuss how Maisie Dobbs, in the book Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, learned to pay attention to everything and everyone around her while she worked on a case, which enabled her to not only better understand s...
What do virtual reality, obsessive devotion, and a billionaire have to do with spiritual formation? Join Meshach Kanyion, Senior Pastor at Church of the Savior United Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, and host Kristy Lahoda as they continue their discussion on the book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and how we can become more Christlike through the spiritual discipline of study.
Is there anything we can learn from a video game? What about a book about a video game? Find out on this episode, where Meshach Kanyion, Senior Pastor at Church of the Savior United Methodist Church, and host Kristy Lahoda discuss how Wade Watts in the book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline learned that getting to know someone beyond the surface is helpful for understanding the world through their eyes.
How can welcoming the parts of us that aren’t like Jesus help us become more Christlike? Isn’t this a paradox? Find out on this episode, where author Helena Sorensen and host Kristy Lahoda discuss how to welcome what is part of us in the current moment and allow it to teach us. Join them as they discuss how Pennsylvania detective Mare Sheehan, in the HBO series Mare of Easttown written by Brad Ingelsby, learned to do this rather th...
What can we learn from a woman who reaches the limit of herself after compartmentalizing everything, believing she can and should take care of everyone since everyone expects her to be the hero? Find out on this episode, where author Helena Sorensen and host Kristy Lahoda discuss how the community depends on Pennsylvania detective Mare Sheehan, in the HBO series Mare of Easttown written by Brad Ingelsby, to solve a series of murder...
What do simplicity, availability, and darkness have to do with spiritual formation? Find out on this episode, where Renovaré President Ted Harro and host Kristy Lahoda discuss how Bishop Bienvenu, from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, has understood what the good life really means and has lived it out.
What do silver candle sticks, flowers, and a bishop named Welcome have to do with spiritual formation? Find out on this episode, where Renovaré President, Ted Harro, joins host Kristy Lahoda as they discuss how Monseigneur Bienvenu, from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, became a virtuous man who spread gentle goodness wherever he went.
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