The Nexus Podcast

The Lonely Road (S15 Episode12)

All humans journey with loneliness, experiencing it in varying degrees, at different times in our lives. We’re in this together. But most of us - all of us? - do NOT enjoy this feeling in any way, and why would we? Most of us usually do everything we can to avoid it. We even avoid talking about the “L” word, or admitting that we are lonely. This is quite reasonable of us, considering how deeply painful and isolating chronic loneliness is. 

And yet…what if loneliness, as soul-sucking as it can be, can offer us something? 

Could the Jesus path include loneliness in ways that are freeing and creative? 

Could it even be a key to the Good Life?

I hope you’ll join us this Sunday as we engage with scripture, research, statistics and a meme or two, along with some of my most (un)shining moments of connection and togetherness as we explore this possibility, and dare to face The Lonely Road. 

Enemies Everywhere (S15 Episode10)

Well, this is a bit awkward after the week we have had. I didn’t plan it this way. Or maybe I did? I can’t remember now, but as we continue to pursue the flourishing life, we come to a bridge that may feel too far to pass. Jesus instructs us to “love our enemies.” Of all weeks to head there, this is the one? I am afraid so.

Mark Twain once quipped, “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it’s the parts that I do understand.” That certainly rings true for where we are headed. But this teaching isn’t meant to bother us. Rather, Jesus’ teaching is about directing us to the good life. How in the world does loving enemies lead to flourishing? Well, let’s explore that together on Sunday.

Of Crime & Punishment (S15 Episode9)

Sometimes I feel as though I have the word ‘sucker’ written on my
forehead. Kristen likes to say I am every salesperson’s dream. I
haven’t met an upgrade or extended warranty I have passed on. I
can be easily taken advantage of. Which is why Jesus’ next
teaching about the Good Life initially feels a little disconcerting to
me.
I am referring of course to the “turn the other cheek”
passage in the Sermon on the Mount. It starts with Jesus
referencing one of humanities oldest laws (the eye for eye bit) and
moves to not resisting evil people. The examples Jesus uses to
illustrate what this might look like involve getting slapped twice (at
least), finding yourself naked without any clothes, walking a lot,
and lending a lot of people money. On the surface, it sounds like a
recipe for people like me getting walked all over.
Ah, but naturally, there is whole lot more going on here. And
we are in for quite the ride. We will need to explore the earliest
human laws we have on record and why implementing those laws
still seems beyond us (think Ukraine and the Middle East). I will
need to tell you about the anxiety I experience when getting my oil
changed, my mission to stop Amazon thieves, and what to do
when an elderly couple backs into your car.
We also have plenty of stops to make within Scripture, from
what David did when he caught Saul using the bathroom, to a
question from the apostle Paul that I find to be both wise and hard
to swallow, and of course, why Jesus’ instructions here are not
only wise, but psychologically astute as well. If we can begin to
master what Jesus is getting at in this teaching, we will be well on
our way to the good and flourishing life.

The Dandelion Dilemma (S15 Episode7)

The Sermon on the Mount offers us a vision of the “flourishing life.” At times, however, that means heading into uncomfortable territory, like, well, infidelity and lust. Sigh, I confess I am not overly excited to offer some thoughts about this one. So, we might as well just dive in.

In her revelatory book The State of Affairs, Esther Perel says this about infidelity. “Infidelity happens in good marriages, in bad marriages, and even when adultery is punishable by death. It happens in open relationships where extramarital sex is carefully negotiated beforehand. And the freedom to leave or divorce has not made cheating obsolete . . . Infidelity has a tenacity that marriage can only envy. So much so that it is the only sin that gets two commandments in the Bible, one for doing it and one just for thinking about it."

Ha, very true Esther. That is a great introduction to Jesus’ teaching on adultery and lust. So, I hope you will join us on Sunday as we head into some choppy waters. I trust it will be a worthwhile journey, and while the subject matter may be a bit heavy, there is still plenty of fun to be had along the way. From one of the greatest television shows of all time - LOST - to why I sense my neighbours are giving me the stink eye, I hope to explore this sensitive subject with thoughtfulness, compassion, and a touch of mirth.

Exploring Anger (S15 Episdoe6)

Well, now that the dust has settled on our Anger Royal Rumble debate, it is time to dig into the emotion of anger. This Sunday we will explore the positives of anger, its dangers, and why we should maybe question some of the dogmas surrounding this complicated emotion. We have a lot of stops to make along the way: from my deviled egg debacle to the 18,000 angry people of Greenfield, Massachusetts, the psychological sophistication of Scripture when it comes to emotions, and of course, why being angry like Jesus is much more complex than we realize.

The intricacies of anger mean there is no "one size fits all" approach to the emotion. Given that, I want to conclude the sermon with my own personal convictions about anger, fully realizing that what may work or be "right" for me may not be so for others. I hope to see you Sunday for An Exploration of Anger.

Anger Royal Rumble Debate (S15 Episode5)

Friends, it is time to mix things up a little this Sunday. You see, as Jesus heads into the meat of his Sermon on the Mount, first up is our inner worlds and what to do with an emotion like anger. We know, of course, that Jesus himself got angry on several occasions. And yet, here in the sermon, Jesus seems to strongly caution against being angry at all. For Jesus Path people, this can be a little confusing.

Now, there are various schools of thought around what to do with an emotion like anger. I could just describe them to you on Sunday, but that sounds a little boring. I think a better (and more fun) approach would be to just host a Royal Rumble debate on anger!

So, this Sunday morning after a brief introduction to the subject, you will be presented with six cases about anger from six very different people. Let me introduce you to our debaters. First up, we will have @AngryTwitterTina1234, followed by the Apostle Paul, then Brené Brown, Jordan Peterson, Ichiro Kishimi, and finally, the philosopher king himself, Marcus Aurelius, on behalf of the Stoics.
So, they make their case on anger, then we will discuss together which vision of anger we found most compelling. I hope this will set us up well for the weeks to come.

The Hidden Life (S15 Episode4)

We continue our search for The Good Life by delving deeper into Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This week we find Jesus making a remark that will certainly give us pause. According to Jesus, his path is only accessible to those who are more righteous than the Pharisees! That seems like cause for concern. First, isn’t the Jesus Path radically inclusive? Why the barrier to entry now? Second, and even more concerning, weren’t the Pharisees well known for being super-duper righteous? If we must surpass that, well, it sounds like trouble. Ah, something must be afoot here!

This passage, in my estimation, holds the interpretive key for all that follows in the Sermon on the Mount. So, on another journey we go: from traveling three hours only to find out your destination is closed, to Jesus' “anti-beatitudes” (his “woes” in Matthew 23), from why my dentist rubs me the wrong way, to the science of self-awareness, from the practice of hiddenness and introspection, to hosting a “Dinner of Truth,” we are off to explore why Jesus’ comments about the Pharisees might unlock the secret ingredient to living the Good Life.

Flourishing Unexpectedly (S15 Episode3)

Friends, after two introductory weeks, it is time to take the dive into Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This season is all about searching for The Good Life and human flourishing. So we begin, of course, with the Beatitudes, a series of peculiar and unexpected statements about human flourishing. On the surface, the beatitudes seem to represent the very opposite of flourishing. What are we to make of them?

To mine the wisdom of these statements will require another interesting journey: from Yale’s most popular class, to why Stoics think hope is a toxic emotion, from my ongoing battle with my physiotherapist, to the social experiment Nexus has been running for 15 years, from comedian Neil Brennan’s take on his own atheism, to the devastating loss musician Nick Cave experienced and how that shaped his thinking about cynicism. Through it all, I hope to illuminate the beatitudes in a fresh way for us all. 

The Philosopher's Club (S15 Episode2)

This season is all about searching for The Good Life by way of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and other visions of human flourishing. To start our quest in earnest, we will need to make a few early pitstops. If the Good Life is to be found, who are the sages that might point us in the right direction. And where does Jesus fit into all of this?

Join us this Sunday as we head to some ancient sites in Athens and Syria before heading to the bohemian ruin bars of Budapest. Our goal is to chat with a few sages, both ancient and contemporary, living and dead, in order to orient ourselves in the proper direction.

Everyone is Searching (S15 Episode1)

Where does the Jesus Path have us heading this year? Well, this season will be all about searching for The Good Life. How can we experience true human flourishing? What is happiness, should we aim for it, and how does one obtain and sustain it? This season we will be exploring Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount by bringing it into conversation with wisdom on human flourishing from Stoic philosophy and other voices. I can’t wait to get started, so to prime the pump, imagine this:

Somewhere in the mountains north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a treasure chest filled with two million dollars worth of gold, artifacts, and other treasures. It can all be yours, if you can just find the chest. To find it, all you need to do is solve a riddle.
 
Would you go looking for the treasure? Where would you start looking? Can you figure out the location based on the riddle? For almost half a million people, this was no imagination exercise, but the beginning of an actual treasure hunt that began in 2010 and only finished in 2020. During the hunt, five people died, scores had to be rescued from the wild, and dozens were arrested. Turns out, if you hide something worth finding, people will search for it...relentlessly. Which is where we shall begin our new season. We are all searching for something, but what? I hope to see you Sunday @ 10:30am at our new home in St. Andrew's for Everyone is Searching.

- Brad Watson