In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with Jonathan Merritt about his deeply painful experience of being outed by a colleague and friend. We discuss the generative capacity of pain to birth new life within and through us, and we explore how the simple phrase “and also” helps us integrate trauma and re-narrate our stories.

TW: In our conversation, we touch on the topics of physical and sexual abuse, so please care for yourself well.

Jonathan Merritt is one of America’s most trusted and popular writers on religion, culture, and politics. He is an award-winning contributor for The Atlantic, a contributing editor for The Week, and is author of several critically-acclaimed books including Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words are Vanishing—and How We Can Revive Them. Jonathan has published more than 3500 articles in respected outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. As a respected voice, he regularly contributes commentary to television, print, and radio news outlets. As a collaborator or ghostwriter, Jonathan has worked on more than 50 books, with several titles landing on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists. Jonathan currently resides in New York City where he is an aspiring dog dad and college football fan.

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to inthewavespodcast@gmail.com, so we can explore them together in the final episode.