The Ferment

4 - David Cayley - Christian Thought and Public Radio

One of the strange wonders of Marcus’ life is that the core of his after-degree theological training came to him through the medium of publicly funded radio programming, almost all of it curated by David Cayley. For over 20 years, Cayley was a producer for a program entitled simply, “Ideas” at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.  Always clear, always careful, always genuinely seeking after the Good, David Cayley has deepened and enriched the public conversation in this country and well beyond it. “What is worth understanding is worth being understood well by everyone,” said Northrop Frye, one of Cayley’s many interviewees. Cayley made a career of helping the Canadian public understand ideas with philosophical heft, and, perhaps even more challenging in the present milieu, ideas of great spiritual significance. We were delighted to have Cayley’s warm and iconic voice on The Ferment.

Episode References:

• David Cayley’s programs on several thinkers and themes:
  • Ivan Illich
  • Rene Girard
  • Simone Weil
  • After Atheism
  • Between Two Ages
  • William Blake
• David Cayley’s books:
  • Ivan Illich in Conversation
  • Rivers North of the Future
• Ivan Illich’s work: Deschooling Society
• Marcus’ book: Life at the End of Us Versus Them
• The New Left: a loosely organized progressive movement that emerged in the 60’s and 70’s that emphasized personal initiative over state reform. Think home-schooling, organic food, intentional communities and back-to-the-land experiments. Cayley features some of the important voices of this movement in his first documentary series for CBC Ideas, Between Two Ages
• William Blake’s mythological figure, Urizen
• Eric Voegelin – (the tragedy of the western tradition is the separation of theology and philosophy – theology takes a propositional form, e.g., web article by Yotam Hotam)
• Bruce Cockburn “The ones who know don’t have the words to tell/ and the ones with the words don’t know too well” – from “Burden of the Angel/Beast“
• Thomas Merton, Gethsemani Abbey, Merton’s monastery, and St. Therese of Lisieux, the “Little Flower,” one of Merton’s inspirations
• Alana’s song, Little Flower, from the album Point Vierge:

Little Flower

I will be your monk, little flower
Show me what to do, little flower
Pray for me, little flower
Pray for me

3 - Alana Levandoski - Beausejour Concert (Where it All Began)

In the late winter of 2016, Alana Levandoski and her family traveled to Beausejour, Manitoba to give a concert in a small country church, one of the oldest buildings in the rural town. Alana was promoting her album, Behold, I Make All Things New.The acoustics were gorgeous, and attendees were hungry for an authentic, living voice to sing songs of praise and longing in the century-old, near-defunct sanctuary. A little group called Saint Julian’s Table was trying to keep alive the embers of a worship life in the building of Saint James Anglican, a local parish that had ceased to gather. The experiment of Saint Julian’s Table would die within a year. But the next morning, Alana had a conversation with the group’s convenor that would birth The Ferment podcast. 

Alana had connected with Marcus Peter Rempel previously as a Kickstarter backer of his book, Life at the End of Us Versus Them: cross/culture/stories. After breakfast at Ploughshares Community Farm, where Marcus homesteads with his family and some fellow Christian agrarians, Alana and Marcus got to talking about collaborating on a podcast that would call itself “The Ferment” – referring both to a moment of social unrest, and to the magic that preserves the integrity of good, homegrown food by feeding a good culture instead of by sterilizing and killing bad culture.

Like good wine or good sauerkraut, it took a while. Now it’s time to taste and see if this thing is good! In this episode, Alana teaches and sings her way through the church calendar as a Christ narrative. Consider it the starter culture for The Ferment.

Episode References

• Richard Rohr’s Living School
• Alana’s discography
• Hildegard Von Bingen
• Frederich Buechner’s sermon series “The Birth”:
  • The Shepherd
  • The Innkeeper
  • The Wise Man
• saint benedict’s table Anglican Church
• You Are Stardust – children’s book
• St. Benedict’s Monastery
• Truth & Reconciliation Commission
• James Finley

2 - James Alison - From the Outside In

James Alison might insist that he is “fairly clearly not an authority, and often just a silly old queen,” but underneath his mirth and modesty lies an exceptional theological depth. America: The Jesuit Review hails this institutional outsider as an authority who “belongs on any short list of the most important living Catholic theologians.”

In this conversation, Alison addresses himself to a generation that has good bullshit detectors, but little social glue, speaking into the challenge of how to cultivate a togetherness no longer defined over against the “baddie du jour.” Questions of catholicity, original sin and the high priesthood of all believers are dealt with in due course. An uncloseted priest from the edges of the Roman Catholic Church speaks into central issues for our time.

Episode References:

• James Alison’s websites: jamesalison.co.uk / forgivingvictim.com
• James Alison’s book: The Joy of Being Wrong
• Matthew Fox’s book: Original Blessing
• Duncan Derrett, NT scholar
• Ojibway Elder – The Ojibway, or Anishnaabe, as they call themselves in their own language, are one of the main original people groups in Manitoba. Their territory stretches far east into Ontario and Quebec and south into Minnesota.
• Alana’s song, The Heart of God, from the album, Behold, I Make All Things New:

The Heart of God has been revealed
The Heart of God has been revealed
To bring love not hate
Pour out not dominate
The Heart of God has been revealed.
The Heart of God has been revealed
The Heart of God has been revealed
To forgive not blame
To make whole not shame
The Heart of God has been revealed.
Halleluja, Halleluja, Halleluja, Halleluja
The Heart of God has been revealed

1 - Ring in the New - The Ferment Launches

In this episode, Alana and Marcus introduce the vision of The Ferment and introduce ourselves from opposite shores of a prehistoric lake. Then we ring in the coming New Year with Alana’s musical take on Tennyson’s achingly beautiful Ring Out Wild Bells. We couldn’t think of a better way to name our tender hopes and fierce longings to “Ring in…the larger heart, the kindlier hand; / Ring out the darkness of the land, / Ring in the Christ that is to be.” 

We made some references in our conversation that you may want to follow up on. Here are some notes to get you started:

• Wendell Berry – the war economy vs the peaceable economy. Berry discusses this in Thoughts in the Presence of Fear, an essay he wrote in the aftermath of 9/11.
• Walter Brueggemann – The Prophetic Imagination
• Alfred Lord Tennyson – In Memoriam. An epic poem of 133 “cantos.” Alana composed music for canto 106, “Ring Out, Wild Bells,” which she performs at the close of this episode.
• Jamie Howison – God’s Mind in that Music. Jamie is a priest in Winnipeg who serves up good spiritual food on an open table, saint benedict’s table, to be specific.
• Belden Lane – The Solace of Fierce Landscapes
• René Girard – Very influential for us at The Ferment, especially for Marcus and Matt, who identify as “Girardians.” For starters, check out I See Satan Fall Like Lightning.
• Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove – Upcoming guest on The Ferment. Co-founder of Rutba House, colleague of Rev. William Barber II in Repairers of the Breach.
• David Cayley – Upcoming guest on The Ferment. Author and radio producer. A treasure trove of his work is available at davidcayley.com.
• James Finley – Co-conspirator with Alana on two recent albums, Point Vierge and Sanctuary. Depth psychologist, Merton scholar and spiritual teacher.
• Thomas Merton – Trappist monk, contemplative writer and master teacher. Managed to build a bridge to Eastern mysticism and provide a leading voice to the anti-war movement from the seclusion of his hermitage in rural Kentucky at Gethsemani Abbey.
• Lake Agassiz – At the end of the last glacial age, a lot of water built up at the southern edge of the ice mountains that covered what is now Manitoba, while the northern mass of ice blocked the outflow to what is now Hudson’s Bay. Alana lives on the escarpment that was the western shore of the old lake, while Marcus lives near the Agassiz Forest on the old eastern shore. Matt and Samantha live in Winnipeg in the Red River Valley, the bottom of the old lake. We are all happy to be keeping our heads above water for the time being.
• Ploughshares Community Farm – an intentional Christian agrarian community that is home to Marcus and his family, and some other fine folks.