
The Check-in: The Practice of Flourishing
03/09/23 • 57 min
What does it take to flourish? Both personally and collectively, even in the midst of profound and seemingly intractable conflict? Andrew DeCort, Christian peacemaker, teacher, and author has an idea. He says the formative practices of the prayer offered by Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, what many of us know today as the “Lord’s Prayer,” can shape us into the kind of people with the groundedness and courage necessary to be peacemakers.
This week on the show, we invited Andrew to discuss his new book on this prayer, “Flourishing on the Edge of Faith: Seven Practices for a New We.” He describes the seven practices that emerge from it, and the ways it challenges us to be transformed inwardly even as we practice justice externally. He also shared powerful stories from his personal life as a peacemaker, ultimately pushing him to the conviction that violence cannot save us. And he offers each of us an invitation to experience the flourishing available to us, to take up the call of peacemaking and begin to see the “new we” that is possible in our world.
Whether you identify with a faith tradition or none at all (or find yourself somewhere in between), Andrew’s example of the moral courage it takes to live a life of nonviolence and peacemaking will inspire you to practice a deeper life of flourishing for yourself, and for the world.
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Buy Andrew’s book, Flourishing on the Edge of Faith
Listen to our prior episode with Andrew, April 2022: The Check-in: How to Love Your Enemy, with Andrew DeCort
Read and share the Principles and Practices of Peacemaking
Follow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroup
If you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!
Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify
What does it take to flourish? Both personally and collectively, even in the midst of profound and seemingly intractable conflict? Andrew DeCort, Christian peacemaker, teacher, and author has an idea. He says the formative practices of the prayer offered by Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, what many of us know today as the “Lord’s Prayer,” can shape us into the kind of people with the groundedness and courage necessary to be peacemakers.
This week on the show, we invited Andrew to discuss his new book on this prayer, “Flourishing on the Edge of Faith: Seven Practices for a New We.” He describes the seven practices that emerge from it, and the ways it challenges us to be transformed inwardly even as we practice justice externally. He also shared powerful stories from his personal life as a peacemaker, ultimately pushing him to the conviction that violence cannot save us. And he offers each of us an invitation to experience the flourishing available to us, to take up the call of peacemaking and begin to see the “new we” that is possible in our world.
Whether you identify with a faith tradition or none at all (or find yourself somewhere in between), Andrew’s example of the moral courage it takes to live a life of nonviolence and peacemaking will inspire you to practice a deeper life of flourishing for yourself, and for the world.
--
Buy Andrew’s book, Flourishing on the Edge of Faith
Listen to our prior episode with Andrew, April 2022: The Check-in: How to Love Your Enemy, with Andrew DeCort
Read and share the Principles and Practices of Peacemaking
Follow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroup
If you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!
Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify
Previous Episode

The Check-in: Telling the Truth about Violence
Ten Palestinians killed in Jenin. Seven Jewish worshipers killed in Jerusalem. And more since then...What’s happening? Where are things headed, and what can we do about it?
This week, we discuss the escalating violence in Israel/Palestine that has caught international attention, unpack what CIA Director William Burns means when he says it bears an “unhappy resemblance” to the Second Intifada, and what it looks like to speak honestly about the violence— and call our political leadership to do so too. In this fraught and dangerous moment, telling the truth is our urgent calling as peacemakers.
Join the Telos Learning Corps!
If you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!
Read and share the Principles and Practices of Peacemaking
Follow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroup
Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify
Carlos Rodriguez (@carloshappynpo): “Peace is the goal, justice is the way, and truth-telling is the starting place.”
Next Episode

The Check-in: Where do we go from here? With Sam Bahour
Could this moment in Israel/Palestine offer a strategic reset for US engagement in the region? While Israelis were taking to the streets, we sat down with Palestinian-American businessman and commentator Sam Bahour to hear his thoughts on the current moment—locating it in the larger context, recognizing opportunities for transformation of the deeper realities, and charting a path forward.
We recorded this episode prior to the pause of the judicial overhaul on Monday, March 27th, but we think its relevance and importance holds as we await what happens next in that saga.
Read and share the Principles and Practices of Peacemaking
Follow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroup
If you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!
Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify
Resources Recommended from Sam:
Sam Bahour’s website www.epalestine.ps
Boycott (Just Vision) and the Telos Instagram explainer post
Want Israeli-Palestinian Peace? Try Confederation (New York Times and Medium)
Visiting the Palestinian narrative requires more than a visit (Medium)
When home is no longer home [Book Review] (Le Monde diplomatique (English edition) September 2022 Issue and Medium)
What do Palestinians want? (Medium.com)
An American Evangelical Christian Man’s Awakening to Palestine [Book Review] (Medium)
Israel’s Linguistic Acrobatics [Book Review] (Medium)
Palestinians are done conceding (Medium)
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