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Life with God · Episode 245

Winn Collier — On François Fénelon

Winn Collier Winn Collier
Nathan Foster Nathan Foster

Nathan Foster talks with Winn Collier about the penetrating and practical spiritual wisdom of 17th-century archbishop and writer François Fénelon.

Show Notes

    [3:42] Could you share a little about Fénelon?

    [10:35] There’s almost a level of pain that one needs to feel in order to find the comfort… I wonder if it’s a season of life, if you’re in a space where you’re really needing a kind of brokenness.

    [11:57] I would go beyond identifying [pain]… It’s giving a map.

    [13:26] Do you know his influences, what shaped him in his life?

    [15:18] What were you hoping to do with the book?

    [16:45] What did you learn from the project?

    [19:56] Do you get any indication that he was a person of joy?

    [21:28] You can dip in anywhere in his letters … I will usually read one at a time and just sit with it, reading it multiple times before moving to another one. Am I doing it right?

    [23:07] Thoughtful, honest pastor — this reminds me of another friend of ours beyond the grave. How would you connect him with Eugene Peterson? Would you?

    [24:17] How are things with the Eugene Peterson Center?

    Resources

    Published on January 13, 2023
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    Winn Collier
    About the Guest
    Winn Collier

    A pastor for 26 years, Winn was the founding pastor of All Souls in Charlottesville, Virginia, and now serves as director for the Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination and Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology & Christian Imagination at Western Theological Seminary (Holland, MI). Winn holds a PhD. from the University of Virginia in Religion & Literature, where he explored the sacramental vision of Wendell Berry’s fiction. Winn writes books (including Love Big, Be Well: Letters to a Smalltown Church and A Burning in My Bones, the biography of Eugene Peterson) and has written for Christian Century, Christianity Today, and Washington Post. Winn and his wife Miska, a spiritual director and yoga teacher, love evenings by the fire, weeks when their sons are home, and walks with their dog Gus.

    Nathan Foster
    About the Host
    Nathan Foster

    Nathan Foster is an author and host of Life With God, a Renovaré Podcast. Formerly, he was an Associate Professor of social work and served as the Andrews Chair in Spiritual Formation at Spring Arbor University. He was also a licensed clinical social worker and certified addictions counselor. Nathan has published two books, including The Making of an Ordinary Saint: My Journey from Frustration to Joy with the Spiritual Disciplines.

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