You may be aware that Rob and I have been podcasting as a means of making connections relevant to the revival of an old publishing platform called Proost. What this might look like is starting to take place- we are determined that whatever Proost is will depend on the community that comes together to make it happen. Our committment is to provide spaces for this community to happen. If you are interested in knowing more about this, feel free to drop me a message, or join our facebook group– it is a closed group, but this is simply to keep it a safe supportive place for those who need it.

This advent, we will be inviting artists to contribute to a collaborative daily offering

Some of these will be live poetry readings.

We would genuinely love to connect as many of you who want ot be part of this embryonic movement. There is a possibility here of the development of a very different kind of space for spirituality and creativity. It may be chaotic, but Rob and I are determined to make sure that it will be kind, supportive and fun.

(We don’t have posh mikes on our pod by the way)

Rob is a lovely man. He is so encouraging and enthusiastic about other people’s work – mine included. He had been following the long form ponderings on this blog about the renewal of religion (spool back through the feed – we are up to 7 posts in the series now) so he asked if we could chat through some of this on the Proost podcast.

Iniitialy I was reluctant, for these reasons;

1. I was not sure I could articulate my thinking in a chat. I tend to think by writing. In the end though, I decided I did not need to post it if it did not go well!
2. Was the Proost format an appropriate place for this discussion? As I thought about this though, it seemed to me that the Proost project is driven by the same thoughts and feelings
3. Finally, I am conscious that so many friends – including some who areninvolved in Proost – are still very much involved in organised religion. But then again, most of these have similar frustrations with elements of the old religion.

So we had the chat. In the end I enjoyed it – perhaps too much, as Rob had to slow me down! Being interviewed rather than being the interviewer is an interesting experience, and I was surprised how far the themes and issues unfolded. We will probably do one more as well. I will leave it to you to decide whether the podcast format helps to explore these complex issues more helpfully than written words…

Here it is.