By: Pam Lau on August 28, 2024
“Mythic violence is blood-violence over mere life for the sake of violence itself; divine violence is pure violence over all of life for the sake of the living.”[1] – Walter Benjamin What I Knew Before October 7th, 2023 Golda[2] is the 2023 biographical film dramatizing the leadership of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir during the 1973…
By: Kally Elliott on August 28, 2024
In this blog post I will answer three questions. “What did you know about Israel before October 7th 2023, and what was that based upon? What does this book help you understand that you didn’t know before? How do you navigate the Israel-Middle East conflict? What did you know about Israel before October 7th 2023…
By: Scott Dickie on August 27, 2024
What did you know about Israel before 7th October, and what was that based upon? I knew some of the long-term history of Israel due to my theological and historical studies in my undergrad and graduate degrees. I was relatively familiar with the creation of the modern state of Israel and the WWII context that…
By: Jennifer Vernam on August 27, 2024
Israel and Palestine’s Origin Story What I have known about the conflict between Israel and Palestine begins with Israel’s origin story in Genesis and God informing Abram about his plans to make him into a great nation: Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make…
By: Kim Sanford on August 26, 2024
Looking Back Reading about life in Israel and Palestine over the past 100+ years evoked some diverse emotions. Firstly, nostalgia as I was taken back to my college Hebrew classroom where we began each class by singing, “Hineh ma tov uma na’im Shevet achim gam Yachad.” How good it is for brethren to dwell in…
By: Cathy Glei on August 26, 2024
A Peek Into My Limited Understanding Admittedly, I have a limited understanding of the conflict that is taking place in Israel. John, I think I need the 5-year-old explanation of the conflict too. For several years I taught in an Arabic/Muslim in Michigan and not much was said about the historical conflict of the region,…
By: Travis Vaughn on August 26, 2024
In this post, I will answer the following questions: 1. What did I know about Israel and the Middle East before October 7, 2023, and what was that based upon? 2. What does Martin Bunton’s The Palestinian – Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction help me understand that I did not know before? 3. How…
By: John Fehlen on August 26, 2024
I read this entire book, and I still don’t fully understand the situation in the Middle East. I didn’t prior to October 7th, and I still don’t fully after October 7th. Honestly, I just don’t get it. Reading The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict by Martin Bunton only seemed to confuse me more, and the material only covered up…
By: Tim Clark on August 26, 2024
One of the features of the home I grew up in was sitting down in front of the TV to watch the nightly news. Some of my earliest memories are of news anchor Walter Cronkite signing off the end of his program with “And that’s the way it is…” (and then he would give the…
By: Jenny Dooley on August 26, 2024
My Understanding of Israel The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, by Martin Bunton was a timely and informative read. As the Israeli-Hamas war continues, this short volume helped me understand the complexity of how two peoples came to be at violent odds with one another. Before reading this book, I knew Israel became a nation in 1948, continues…
By: Russell Chun on August 23, 2024
Week 1: Aug. 26-Sept. Hebrew: זוהי אדמתי (Zo hei adma’ti), Arabic: هذه أرضي (Hadhihi ardi) “This is my land.” What’s happening now. What happened before. (The book) Major Events since 2013. DIME + R, What the bible says, what the Koran says. The way ahead Epilogue 1.What’s happening now… Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on April 19, 2024
My BFF (in my head) Let me just put it out there. I am a FanGirl of Brene Brown. I have been a fan long before the world discovered her. She is my BFF (in my head). My mentor and, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant beings on the planet is friends…
By: Dinka Utomo on April 19, 2024
The foundational skill of courage-building is the willingness and ability to rumble with vulnerability. Once we start to build vulnerability skills, we can start to develop the other skill sets. -Brene Brown- A Pastor in our denomination was very excited – after he had completed his initial ministry of five years in a remote,…
By: Jana Dluehosh on April 18, 2024
I am a Brené Brown fan. Anyone who has the courage to talk about shame and vulnerability deserves respect. In fact, I am a big enough fan that as I was looking for what’s next for me prior to this Doctorate I was seriously considering getting a daring greatly coaching certificate through her business. I’m…
By: Todd E Henley on April 18, 2024
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to speak at a leadership conference to medical doctors, therapists, and social workers. Whenever I am given the freedom to choose my topic, I always try to choose a topic my audience is not expecting but I know they need to wrestle with. Last weekend, my topic was, “Healing…
By: Cathy Glei on April 18, 2024
“What makes embracing vulnerability feel the most terrifying is how taking off the armor and exploding our hearts can open us up to experiencing shame. Our egos are willing to keep our hearts encased in armor, no matter the cost if we can avoid feeling “less than” or unworthy of love and belonging. What the…
By: Adam Harris on April 18, 2024
Our home has a list of “Harris values” hanging by our front door. Our church has “Godwhy’s values” hanging in the hallway so everyone sees them as they walk into the café area (strategic placing). However, until I read Daring to Lead by Brene Brown, it never occurred to me to “operationalize” them for our…
By: Mathieu Yuill on April 18, 2024
Now at the end of the semester, looking back over the texts we have read as a cohort, Brené Brown’s seminal work, Dare to Lead[1], seems like an easier to digest snack opposed to our high-fibre, protein-rich meals we’ve been consuming. The difference I see is Brown’s work is more encouraging and supportive whereas the…
By: Scott Dickie on April 17, 2024
We have just started a new sermon series on modern-day idols at our church and this past week I spoke on the idol of ‘success/achievement’. Like most preachers, it took me 35 minutes to essentially say a relatively simple truth: we will always be tempted to bow down to the idol of success as a…
By: Pam Lau on April 17, 2024
In Daring to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations and Whole Hearts, researcher and storyteller, Brene Brown, inspires her audience and readers to lead bravely through her accessible insights. As I write my last post for the semester, I am reflecting on how profoundly grateful I feel for who we are as a doctoral student cohort extraordinaire. Thinking back…
