Listen Now

Ideos Podcast: The Empathy TableEpisode: IITitle: The Least of These: Making Space for Everyone in the Post COVID-19 Era.Guests: Cheryl Cuthbertson, Jamie Haft, and Diana Oestreich. In this episode of The Empathy Table, Christy Vines interviews Diana Oestreich, Key Relationships Officer at Preemptive Love, Cheryl Cuthbertson, Director of Engagement and Sustainable Practice at Children of the Nations, and Jamie Haft, Executive Director of Circles USA. The interview is the second installment of The Empathy’s Table’s special Food for Thought series, which explores what it looks like to co-create space for everyone in the post COVID-19 era. Christy starts the conversation by exploring what the panelists’ organizations do and what populations they work with before moving to a brief discussion of policy, its implications, and ways people of faith can interact with policy. Diana shares specific information about the impact of COVID-19 on refugee populations she works with and explains the way in which refugees, hunger, and starvation arise from situations of violence. The group considers the need for proximity and seeing ourselves as united to all others in a global community, as well as the need to advocate for (actively and even at the expense of privilege) and enter the world of others; these things will help to make the post-COVID-19 world a better, more equitable place. People of faith should take this opportunity to “stand in the face of pain,” explore options for sustainable helping methods going forward, recognize their own debt to love, and commit to the vulnerable for the long haul. Ultimately, people of faith in this season should be looking to expand, not to contract.0:25 - An introduction to the episode and panelists.2:40 - A discussion of the organizations the panelists serve and the populations with which they work10:33 - The group talks about matters related to policy both within the US and in foreign contexts.17:43 - How is the COVID-19 pandemic impacting refugees? The panelists talk about root causes.21:47 - See ourselves within a global community, and not seeing other people as problems.23:12 - Thinking about a post-COVID-19 future24:31 - The group considers the value of proximity.28:57 - The church should become advocates after this pandemic season.36:27 - Jamie talks about inviting volunteers into her organization’s work.39:10 - What does a more empathic and redemptive future look like if we move through this season well?42:01 - Cheryl considers new forms of sustainability to adopt.45:19 - Commit for the long haul.51:09 - What’s a step people can take forward?56:57 - Christy’s takeaway is that people of faith should expand rather than contracting.Connect with us:Follow Ideos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_ideosLike us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideosinstitute/Follow Ideos on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IdeosInstituteLinks:Learn more about Ideos: https://ideosinstitute.comLearn more about The Empathy Table: https://tinyurl.com/ycpp82j5Learn more about Christy Vines: https://tinyurl.com/y9xw9ub5Learn more about Diana Oestreich: https://tinyurl.com/yasvnnfuLearn more about Cheryl Cuthbertson: https://tinyurl.com/yakvbeesLearn more about Jamie Haft: https://tinyurl.com/y92bd94g.Mentioned:Preemptive Love: https://preemptivelove.org/Children of the Nations: https://cotni.org/Circles USA: https://www.circlesusa.org/Keywords:empathy, co-create, conversation, church, faith, COVID-19, vulnerability, marginalized, refugee, poverty, violence, proximity, advocate, listen, privilege, equity, sacrifice, community

Ideos Podcast: The Empathy TableEpisode: ITitle: After the Pandemic - Co-creation and a Faithful Response to COVID-19Guests: Andy Crouch, Kristen Farrington, and Dave EvansIn this episode of The Empathy Table, Ideos president Christy Vines interviews fellow Christian thought leaders Kristen Farrington, Andy Crouch, and Dave Evans in a Food for Thought conversation about the future post-COVID-19 and what it looks like to emerge well from quarantine. More specifically, the group discusses co-creation in pursuit of a future worth having, starting with an analysis from Andy of the present moment as an “ice age” period. The group moves on to consider navigating daily life under pandemic restrictions, ways in which life will and won’t change long-term due to COVID-19, and what it looks like to flourish as individuals and a culture under our present circumstances. Life under and beyond quarantine has a lot to do with sacrifice, and moving forward well demands inclusivity, reconciliation of brokenness, and the learning of lessons about ourselves and our own vulnerability. The group concludes their talk by extrapolating from the ideas they’ve detailed thus far to an exploration of a co-created and redemptive future - what it looks like, and how to get there.Timestamps:4:27 - What signs indicate that we are in an “ice age” period?8:11 - Kristen addresses the trauma of the current moment and disparity of experiences.11:26 - Dave talks about “designing your COVID-19 life.”17:52 - Things may look the same after quarantine, but that won’t account for all the shifts beneath us.19:15 - The group considers what flourishing looks like in the present moment.24:41 - God didn’t necessarily promise to fix your circumstances but to be with you, and we need to be honest about this and other aspects of reality to set ourselves up to pursue equity.26:32 - Andy talks about a flourishing culture.31:39 - What place does the concept of sacrifice have in the future of the church?36:00 - Dave addresses sacrifice and mindset.40:04 - The first sacrifice is giving up the “I.”45:00 - The conversation turns to the need for proximity.48:04 - We need to emerge from quarantine more - not less - inclusively.50:25 - One of the most critical challenges to address is reconciling the brokenness.52:08 - Andy overviews a potential sermon series for a pastor to use post-quarantine to help his church process lessons from the season.55:24 - What does a co-created and redemptive future look like, and how can we get there?Connect with us:Follow Ideos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_ideosLike us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideosinstitute/Follow Ideos on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IdeosInstituteLinks:Learn more about Ideos: https://ideosinstitute.comLearn more about The Empathy Table: https://tinyurl.com/ycpp82j5Learn more about Christy Vines: https://tinyurl.com/y9xw9ub5Learn more about Kristen Farrington: https://tinyurl.com/y89n7ganLearn more about Andy Crouch: https://tinyurl.com/y79qenygLearn more about Dave Evans: https://designingyour.life/about/Mentioned:Praxis: https://home.praxislabs.org/Leading Beyond the Blizzard - Why every organization is now a startup: https://tinyurl.com/ufjzw66Keywords:empathy, conversation, church, Christian, COVID-19, quarantine, vulnerability, equity, inclusivity, creative, reality, flourishing, co-create, sacrifice, proximity, reconcile, brokenness, future, presence

Can empathy solve the challenges we face today and will continue to face in the future? At Ideos, we certainly think so!In this introductory episode of The Empathy Table, producer Alyssa Tan interviews Ideos president, Christy Vines about the importance of empathy. In an increasingly polarized world, Ideos is introducing The Empathy Table, to reintroduce empathy into conversations, and connect us more than ever before. Stories connect us as humans; they translate across religion, gender, race, and generations. The sharing of our personal accounts leads to empathy and makes controversial topics more comfortable to talk about. Empathy is not a compromise of your own beliefs; rather, it is the ability to feel with someone. God has called us to relate to one another, not for competition, but collaboration. Bringing people around the table to collaborate empathetically is the idea behind both The Empathy Table and our special COVID-19 series, Food for Thought.