Bonus: Listener Questions

Learning How to See with Brian McLaren

Center for Action and Contemplation

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 748 Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if love could guide you through anger, injustice, and even the darkest memories? In this episode, Brian McLaren and co-host Carmen Acevedo Butcher reflect on how love, honesty, and contemplative practice can transform even deep wounds. They also respond to a listener’s question: how do we love those who cause harm—especially in politics? Brian and Carmen explore the tension between righteous anger and loving action, offering spiritual insights, personal stories, and practices that help us see with the eyes of love. Resources: Find the poem by Nikolai Velimirovich here Find the poem by Walter Brueggemann here

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to a podcast by the Center for Action and Contemplation.
0:04.0	To learn more, visit cac.org.
0:09.6	Welcome, everyone. I'm Brian McLaren.
0:12.5	And I'm Carmen Acevedo Butcher.
0:15.0	And we're so glad you're here for this episode of Learning How to See.
0:21.1	Recently, Bishop Marion Buddy posted on Instagram a photo of herself, looking out an airport
0:27.7	window, and she spoke about attending a gathering of Christians called the Kyrgyntag in
0:33.3	Hanover, Germany.
0:34.9	And they were discussing there the role of churches in standing up for justice.
0:39.5	And everything, she said, held good reminders for me. And I sat with them and returned to them
0:47.1	over the days. I took screenshots of them and reread them. And I want to share her words here because I think in healthy community,
0:57.1	we remind each other of what matters and of how to be human and of how to humanize others.
1:04.9	Buddy said she was struck by how curious people were about what's happening in America
1:10.0	and how similar the conversations were about what's happening in America and how similar the conversations were
1:12.8	about what's happening in their own countries. At this gathering of Christians, she said,
1:19.1	our greatest contribution is to speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen. More importantly, we are to live as best we
1:31.2	can according to the highest aspirations of humankind revealed to us in Jesus. And then she reminds us of
1:41.3	what these are. To recognize the inherent God-given dignity of every human being.
1:49.4	To love our neighbors as ourselves, and even to love our enemies.
1:55.9	To share what we have and to strive for an equitable and just society, to refrain from evil
2:05.6	and refuse to hate, to be mindful of the power of our words, and to speak without malice or
2:14.5	contempt, to forgive as we have been forgiven, to live in hope, and to be willing
	...

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