Episode 92: Shannan Martin & Amar Peterman

In this episode, Chris Smith, founding editor of ERB, speaks with best-selling author Shannan Martin and first-time author Amar Peterman about the intersecting themes of faith, justice, and community in their new books. Their conversation explores the tension between life’s “heavy goodness” and its “undercurrent of grief,” demonstrating that "we can only counter what we're first willing to weigh," as Martin puts it. In addition, the authors explore the tension between one’s personal comfort and the call to “draw near in mercy” to our neighbors, especially those who are marginalized, as Peterman points out. Both authors emphasize that meaningful change begins not with grand gestures but with everyday relationships, accompanying our neighbors across lines of difference through joys and struggles. Overall, the episode, like the books, is not prescriptive but rather rooted deeply in how the authors work to cultivate a sense of belonging for everyone in their local neighborhoods.If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books (an independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) Books by Shannan MartinCounterweights The Ministry of Ordinary PlacesStart with HelloFalling Free Work by Amar PetermanBecoming Neighbors: The Common Good Made Local Other Books MentionedA Theology of Liberation by Gustavo Gutiérrez Paul Farmer: Servant to the Poor by Jennie Weiss BlockMake Your Home in this Luminous Dark by James K. SmithGod Without Being by Jean-Luc MarionHope for the Mission by Kevin NyeCherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times by Gregory BoyleKin by Tayari Jones (novel)The Message, a Bible translation by Eugene Peterson