Persuasion 110: Keeping Place with Jen Pollock Michel

The concept of “keeping place” ties directly to our notions of house and home. It is elemental in how we approach our lives. The modern age has made us more transient and outwardly focused, thereby weakening our rootedness—to people and to places. At the same time, media entertainment, such as HGTV’s Fixer Upper, stokes our desire for a designer-like place to serve as the backdrop for our family’s memories.

In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson invite Jen Pollock Michel to the conversation. Jen is the author of Keeping Place: Reflections on the Meaning of Home, and she has put considerable attention into the ways that home influences us individually and collectively. Whether our experiences of home have been positive or negative, our hearts desire a place of belonging and rest. This desire is really homesickness—a longing to be in the home God is preparing for His people even now. If you’ve ever wondered how gnosticism affects our sense of home or how Augustine’s concept of rightly ordered loves checks nationalism or what the price is for seeing Church as family rather than home, this episode is for you. Listen in to all this and more, and then continue the conversation on Twitter @PersuasionCAPC or in the CAPC members-only community on Facebook. Be sure to answer our question of the day: What memory or emotion do you most associate with home?

Links from the Show:

Jen Pollock Michel, Official Site

Keeping Place: Reflections on the Meaning of Home, at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Theme music by Maiden Name.