In this episode of Persuasion, Erin and Hannah end their reading of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with professor Karen Swallow Prior. The trio look back at the life of Mary Shelley and explore the context of the novel's place in literature, Mary Shelley's life and situations, and the lessons we can still glean for today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Destiny and fate are central to Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, which inspired our fall Persuasion series, What We Make of Ourselves. In this episode, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the sixth and final reading (Volume III: Chapters 5–7), as Victor and his creation wrestle with fate and if they have any say whatsoever over the course of their lives. Now at the end of Victor’s story, destiny is seen as the flip side of the ambition that launched us into this tale. Christians especially wrestle like this as we try to make sense of how our actions matter in light of God’s sovereign will. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mistakes and regret are central to Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, which is inspiring our fall Persuasion's series, What We Make of Ourselves. In this episode, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the fifth reading (Volume III: Chapters 1–4) and Victor’s ongoing struggle with his decisions and the resulting fallout thereof. His inner turmoil is on display for us, giving a snapshot of his tortured mind and soul. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stories and storytelling are central to Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, which is shaping our fall Persuasion‘s series, What We Make of Ourselves. In this episode, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the fourth reading (Volume II: Chapters 5–9) and the stories shared by each of the characters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Frankenstein, which is the foundation of our fall Persuasion's series, What We Make of Ourselves. In this episode, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the third reading (Volume II: Chapters 1–4), exploring the characters’ expectations of and dependence upon others. Shelley’s novel, while falling in the goth/horror genre, spends considerable time addressing the fallout we face when our connections with others are strained or severed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the second reading of the series (Volume I: Chapters 4–7), in which the characters and their suffering take center stage. Shelley’s rich descriptions of the inner turmoil provide readers insight into how suffering can alter a person’s ability to function. Her story is raising those age-old questions about why suffering exists and what causes it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If we were to choose one word to describe modern life, busy would be a top contender. We are a busy people—busy making a living, busy making a name for ourselves, busy being busy. This is why productivity hacks are all the rage. We need better ways to make the most of every moment. But is this the point of it all? Does all of our ambition produce a life worth living? This is one of the questions being explored in Persuasion's fall series, What We Make of Ourselves. Week by week we will work through Mary Shelley’s classic story Frankenstein, identifying what the themes of this 19th-century classic has to say about life in the 21st century.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dig into the background of the story, starting with what we've gotten wrong due to the many cultural adaptations. Hollywood has taken a seed of Mary Shelley's classic and grown an entirely new story that overshadows the original. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you consider yourself a reader? That answer isn't so easy to come by. How many books do you need to read a year—or a month—to qualify as a true reader? And does it matter what kinds of books you read? Do mystery novels count? What about young adult fiction or business books or graphic novels? Do you need to have read all 100 of the top books ever written to confidently claim you are a reader? If you've ever felt like an imposter when it comes to be well-read, this conversation is for you Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our world came to a screeching halt with the pandemic. Schedules that used to be packed to the brim opened wide, creating unexpected space. Now that the world is opening up again, we have the opportunity to decide if the ways we had been in community before the pandemic are the ones we even want to return. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dig into the summer miniseries called Showing Up. Each episode explores the challenges we face to show up in the world. Erin and Hannah invite Rebecca McLaughlin to help us learn how to show up in conversations despite our differences. Rebecca grew up in the United Kingdom and holds a Ph.D. in English literature from Cambridge as well as a theology degree from Oak Hill College in London. She is co-founder of Vocable Communications and former vice president of content at the Veritas Forum, where she spent almost a decade working with Christian academics at leading secular universities. Learning to have honest, charitable faith dialogue is a passion for Rebecca, whose latest book is titled The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims. This conversation covers a whole host of topics related to engaging others in matters of faith by showing up with your whole self—differing beliefs and all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dig into the summer miniseries called Showing Up. Since 2004, Rachel has lived in Djibouti, a primarily Muslim country, where she and her husband run a school and where they enjoy cross-cultural, cross-religious relationships. Rachel shares from her recent release titled Pillars: How Muslim Friends Led Me Closer to Jesus. The conversation covers a whole host of topics related to developing strong relationships by showing up with your whole self—differing beliefs and all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in March of 2020, none of us could have known the level of disruption we would be facing. In addition to the reality of illness and death, we also had to face a new way of going about our daily lives. Our daily routines were shattered and reformed to meet health protocols. Work, school, worship, community, sports, culture—every aspect of life was shaken. Now, more than a year later, our world is opening up once again. We're heading back to the office, back to school, back to our faith communities. But after a year away, are we ready to show up? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the past year, as communities implemented social distancing protocols, daily life came to a screeching halt. People stayed home to work remotely or attend virtual school. Without all our usual human hustle and bustle, wild creatures began roaming more freely. People began sharing photos of whales in harbors and goats running through towns. The conclusion? Nature is healing itself now that the humans are no longer interfering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some days life cruises along the course of your well-laid plans and everything runs like clockwork. Other days—most days, perhaps?—life takes a detour off the beaten path and you get lost in the wilderness and stuck in the muck. Life works great, except when it doesn't, which is more often than not. So what can we do in response? Do we bother making plans when they are likely to get turned inside out anyhow? Do we let chaos reign and become accustomed to the wild ride of life? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the last episode, Erin and Hannah discussed the hurdles and struggles we face in our attempts to cultivate goodness, finding another point of shared experience in the brokenness of the world. In keeping with that conversation, we're taking a brief Interlude from our larger series, FINDING COMMON GROUND, and invite you to listen in as Hannah Anderson reads an excerpt from her recently released book, TURNING OF DAYS: LESSONS FROM NATURE, SEASON, AND SPIRIT. "How does one live in this place between longing and fulfillment? How do you dare to hope when the world is so harsh and cares nothing for your good work? How can you sustain hope in the face of it all? How can you not be chilled until your heart slowly freezes over?" Keep the conversation going on Twitter @PersuasionCAPC or in the CAPC members-only community on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week we discussed our shared call to cultivate goodness in the world. While that is true, it's not the whole picture. Because as we work, we also find another shared experience. We all struggle in our work. We encounter barriers and failures. We grow weary. The world experiences disasters and pandemics. And we are left holding the brokenness of this life, wondering what to do next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Erin and Hannah explore our shared desire to find meaning through our work and in life. Our work may be more mental than physical, but whatever it is, we hope it means something more than a paycheck. We want to thrive on all fronts, to see our work take off and produce a harvest we can enjoy and share with others. To illustrate this truth, Sarah Pabody from Triple Wren Farms shares how her flower farm teaches her about the deeper truths of work and meaning. How is gardening a metaphor for our personal flourishing? What can the natural patterns of sowing and reaping and tending and harvest show us about life? How can we find shared ground in the human desire to flourish? Listen in for dialogue on questions like these as we find common ground together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Communicating with others is something we're born doing. We emerge from the womb with limited skills, of course. Our skills grow in time, from wails to words and eventually to full sentences and fully nuanced, complex ideas. But that's not all it takes to communicate well. We can use all the skills at our disposal—verbal and nonverbal—and still experience a breakdown in communication with others. In the past few years, these breakdowns have become seemingly more common. We wonder what has changed and why we are unable to connect well with others as we once did. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Death has been a constant thought this past year, due to the pandemic that continues to rage among us and around the globe. It's rare in our society to think much about the end of our days. We tend to press on with our plans until death disrupts us, when it jolts us to the reality that all of us are living on borrowed time and breath. From dust we came, to dust we will return. The earth grounds us, binds us together in this shared fate, creatures, and creation. While we attempt to stay nature's course on our fleshly forms, creation pays no mind. Its rhythms of death and decay can be seen all around, as foliage and creature both are welcomed to final rest to become one with the dust. As Ash Wednesday approaches, we dust our foreheads remembrance of our fleeting nature. We are given sacred space to reflect on the limits of this life and these feeble frames. The sorrow of death will be present, of course, but our limits beckon us to remember our place in God's creation. When we repent of our attempts to outrun death, we are able to embrace the space God has appointed us in this life. Here we are called to till the soil of our lives, and plant goodness, and tend the seed to harvest. God calls His creatures to cultivate His creation and make something beautiful out of the days we're given.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices