The four themes of the season of Advent in the Christian calendar are hope, peace, joy and love. There are two others that we've noticed, though, which are anticipation and celebration. In this episode, Petra explores how these two things can happen at the same time. First up, Petra and producer Sam talk to a handful of people who are all at different moments of change (graduation, motherhood, marriage etc). Later on Petra talks to Rev. Sarah Lea-West about her art (found here) and how she has learnt to navigate the combination of anticipation and celebration.

Sacred Text:

• A passage from Padraig O'Tuama's book In the Shelter

Music:

• Exchange by Massive AttackSunshine
• Family Affair by Mary J Blige
• The Breeze by Dr Dog
• Peace Piece by Bill Evans
• Muramura by Aro

Sunday the 30th of November marks the start of Advent for 2025, the season of the Christian calendar that leads into Christmas. As Petra and guest producer Mick get into, Advent is all about waiting. In the first half, Mick talks to his close friends Tom and Carly about a long wait they endured in 2021. Later on Petra talks to Rev. Mathew 'Newt' Newton about how faith in God can help us to learn to wait, even when it often feels like there is no good reason to.

Sacred Text:

• Sacred Trust by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Music:

• A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke
• Statue of a Woman by Novo Amour
• Moon Age by Duster
• Sitting in Limbo by Jimmy Cliff
• Intro by The xx
• Space 7 by Nala Sinephro

Why do people still go to church? There are no shortage of reasons why church might seem like an outdated model for collective Christian worship, so why do they hang around? In this collab episode with the In The Shift podcast, Petra and Michael Frost sit down to talk about the societal and spiritual reasons why churches are still worthwhile, in spite of their spotty history.

If you want to find the full discussion that Petra and Michael had, look for In The Shift wherever you find your podcasts. Find the website here and the Instagram here. An episode of In The Shift we recommend you start with if you're keen to hear more is episode #104 with James Beck, 'Earthiness, Spirituality and Relational Resonance'.

Sacred Texts:

• Quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Excerpt from a Guardian profile of popstar Rosalia

Music:

• Another Scorcher by Christoph El Truento
• Equipoise by Max Roach
• Galvanise by The Chemical Brothers
• FTA by Whitney
• Get Together by The Youngbloods
• Grazing In The Grass by Hugh Masakela
• Just Saying by Jamie xx