Pull thoughts and words from my head and form sentences with them on a screen? No problem. Speak into the air for those interested to hear? A little more of a challenge.
Yet this week my number came up; it was my first turn at the mic for GetReligion's "Crossroads" podcast.
I chair-danced while the introductory music played. I tried to answer host Todd Wilken's questions honestly and succinctly while adding the insight he asked. I prayed silently throughout that my daughter's small, white pet rabbit sitting next to me wouldn't start loudly munching on the wicker basket in the corner.
I'm told these things become easier with time and practice — not to mention professional voice coaching, a dialect makeover and a stint living somewhere outside the proverbial Bible Belt.
Pour yourself a cup of coffee first, though, because we're stopping in again at the Death Café. In summary, I wanted to order up an item that wasn't on the menu: any real spiritual discussion related to death, the destination of souls or thoughts about the afterlife.
I enjoyed reader FW Ken's take on the subject and appreciated his thoughts on the journalistic questions I raised:
Finally got around to reading the article, and I'm here to tell you, is hard to take seriously a program called a Death Cafe. It sounds like a Deathmetal eatery. Maybe like that one in Chicago serving unconsecrated hosts on a burger.
Mulling over the critique that the article lacks substantive discussion of the afterlife, I would be fearful of such a discussion going in the circles illustrated in the comments on this thread. I can't imagine that such a cheerful program would allow such theoretical discussions, but it would be nice to know if they happen, and how they are handled.
We also looked back at a BBC installment in its series on kindness regarding Keshia Thomas, an anti-KKK protester at a KKK rally that took a dangerous turn when a white supremacist was spotted in the anti-KKK section. Thomas said her instinct to shield the supremacist with her body was born of faith, and that she felt like angels were picking her up and placing her across him to protect him. The follow-up questions about her spiritual background and religious convictions were nil, however.
I haven't seen a retrospective of this 1996 rally that has done Thomas' story justice, but I'm still looking. I'm sure it will be a good one, if a reporter is willing to really listen to her replies and delve into the answer as to why she kept this man from being harmed that day.
Enjoy the show, and remember I'm the rookie around these parts!