What Is Struggling to Be Born? — Fr. Tomáš Halík

When old certainties crumble, what is God bringing forth? Opening the Understory festival from Prague, Czech Republic, priest and theologian Tomáš Halík reflects on faith after Christendom, the wounds that become sites of encounter with God, and why Christianity's future may depend less on restoration than on spiritual maturity. His remarks are followed by responses from Makoto Fujimura, Romanita Hairston, Amber Lapp, and Christian Wiman, woven together with live cello by Slovak musician Jozef Lupták. Mentioned: Touch the Wounds, by Tomáš Halík  The Afternoon of Christianity, by Tomáš Halík "And I Was Alive," from Stolen Air: Selected Poems of Osip Mandelstam — Osip Mandelstam, translated by Christian Wiman Nihonga (Japanese mineral-pigment painting) The Liberty Bell "Great is thy faithfulness" (Lamentations) Thales Heraclitus Meister Eckhart Vincent van Gogh Pope Francis and synodality Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. The Understory is a production of Comment (comment.org), published by Cardus (cardus.ca). Hosted by Anne Snyder. Edited by Allie Crummy. Produced by Tiffany Thompson and Evan Rosa. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. ——— Episode Highlights Tomáš Halík: "It is difficult to distinguish the pain of dying from the birth pangs of something struggling to be born." Makoto Fujimura: "But rather than rush to fix the crack, now is the time of beholding." Romanita Hairston: "We have not yet learned how to be valuable apart from being useful." Amber Lapp: "It made me wonder how many of our social troubles are downstream from people doubting their dignity, feeling badly about themselves." Christian Wiman: "I believe we've entered a time in which the preservation of individual consciousness will be the great battle." ——— Links The Understory festival: https://comment.org/understory/ Comment: https://comment.org Cardus: https://www.cardus.ca Makoto Fujimura: https://makotofujimura.com Romanita Hairston: https://romanitahairston.com Tomáš Halík: http://halik.cz/en/ Amber Lapp: https://comment.org/contributors/amber-lapp/ Christian Wiman: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/christian-wiman Jozef Lupták: https://www.jozefluptak.com/ ——— Show Notes Opening night in the Cathedral nave; the question beneath the others Tomáš Halík, from Prague: incarnatio, passio, resurrectio continua; resurrection as transformation, not restoration Makoto Fujimura: to understand is to stand under; Nihonga, the Liberty Bell's crack, and broken beauty Romanita Hairston: the move from physical to cognitive labor; twins of a new humanity and new institutions; beloved before useful Amber Lapp: a working-class Ohio town, the marriage gap, doubted dignity, and micro-institutions of recovery Christian Wiman: Mandelstam's last poem; quantum strangeness; consciousness as something shared Live cello by Jozef Lupták; closing word from Anne Snyder ——— #TheUnderstory #UnderstoryFestival #CommentMagazine #Cardus #ChristianHumanism #WhatIsStrugglingToBeBorn #MakotoFujimura #ChristianWiman #BrokenBeauty