In the early ’80s, HIV/AIDS was a seen as a disease of risk groups. Three decades later, we know it is a disease of risk behavior. But more than a disease, AIDS can also be seen as a metaphor that reminds us to love one another, to offer kindness and to learn about life. This short podcast delves into the question of what it’s like to live with HIV and the blessings that it can bring.
Podcast Friday
The very first letter that I ever received from a teen posed the question, “Can you help me to feel that my existence is worth something?” Every one is waiting for a miracle: the need to noticed; the hunger to be held; forgiveness. Each of us has a wish we whisper or a secret we stash on the top shelf of our “closets.” This ten minute talk, given at a BBYO convention in south Florida, explores this theme.
One summer, I asked some teenage campers to tell me their thoughts about love. Here’s what they taught me. The song, “Ain’t Love Easy?” was written by Carol Hall, performed live at St. Peter’s Church in New York City.
As we experience life’s faithful aches, what we desire most is not to have the pain taken away from us but to be seen, validated and held in the midst of the experience. Everyone wants permission to the lament the absence of a perfect life, while at the same time, to be in the presence of a companion who witnesses the loneliness and the wound. This podcast, which explores these themes, is an excerpt from a lecture given to a group of parents in a Montreal high school in 2008.
What does it mean to be sacred? To be sacred is to include the fear and the unknown into your experience of life. It is found in moments of woundedness as well as in times of achievement. It is becoming acquainted with the notion that you do not have to be put back together at all. Being broken, being confused, being a contradiction is normal. Sacredness is making room for acceptance of such doubt. This talk was given in front of a live audience in Boulder, Colorado in the summer of 2000.
As we walk through life, our losses walk with us. How do we begin the process of making peace with the concepts of death and grief? What happens to those of us who are left behind? How can we learn to live again? This podcast examines these questions and more. It was recorded in front of a live audience for the Conference on World Affairs at the University of Boulder.
Each of us is at risk of having a broken heart. It takes great courage to believe in love; to believe that love is worth the cost of breathing; the price of the pulse of blood in your veins; the gathering of a million mornings of hope. It is a holy thing to love what can change. It is a courageous thing to love what can leave. This podcast, recorded in front of a live audience, is for guys like me. The song was written by Mary Chapin Carpenter.
A girl wrote me about her broken heart after a boy who promised not to leave, did just that. If you’ve ever experienced the hurt and loss of love, this is a song for you.
“We are all living with AIDS.” That’s what the scrap of paper hanging from my fridge reminds me everyday. Natalie Merchant’s song “Life is Sweet” reminds me that life is sweet too. The decision to see it one way or the other is wholly mine each day. And yours.
I am not here to judge, but only to listen to your story and to share mine.
This episode was recorded in front of a live audience in Boulder, CO in the summer of 2002.
Every lesson on safer sex must touch upon both physical and emotional safety. In keeping with that theme, today’s podcast is about abstinence. It’s a short but sweet message on establishing guidelines to safety and personal power. Take a listen.