Hannah and her husband, Elkanah, have one of the few healthy marriages described in the Hebrew Bible. When she mourns her inability to have children, he asks, "Am I not more to you than ten sons?" (1 Sam. 1:8). No, unfortunately. In the following verse, Hannah goes to the temple to pray for a child. While children are infrequently named in the biblical text, the desire for a child occurs often. So, Jonathan and Seth talk about children in the ancient world and whether this desire for children extends to today. They talk about whether they want to have children, the different ways of being a parent, and the pressure sometimes put on young people to have a child.

We're glad you're with us! You may skip this episode if having a child is an emotional topic; we will not be offended and encourage you to care for yourself. Next week, there will be another episode on Reign of Christ Sunday.

In this week's Gospel reading, a widow puts everything she has into the temple's treasury. In contrast, the rich put in large sums that amount to small portions of their total wealth. Jonathan and Seth think more about the widow, considering what else she might be going through beyond how much money she has donated. How old is she? What grief does she carry? What source of income might she have? What compels her to give so much of herself when she has so little? And, finally, what can we learn from that?

We're glad you're with us! Please take extra care of yourself this week. Drink water. Get adequate sleep. Reach out to friends who may be nervous or can help calm your election anxiety. No matter what, we'll be back next week with another episode.

While Revelation contains many passages that, on the surface, seem terrifying, toward the end, John narrates a calming, almost safe story of a New Jerusalem descending from heaven. It's a relatively well-known passage often referenced when considering what the end times may be like. So, Jonathan and Seth try to hear it anew. Despite their best efforts, they uncover some political implications in the text. After all, the election is nearing, and tensions are high. So, what kind of vision does John have for us? Can it teach us about political discourse? Can we imagine a positive vision for our world and move past mere critiques?

As the election nears, we hope you're taking care of yourself. At the risk of stating the obvious: try not to let the news consume you, drink water, and prioritize self-care practices that work best for you. We can make it through this. As always, we're glad you're with us!

The theme of exile runs throughout the Hebrew Bible. While it's sometimes more explicit than others, scholars have argued that even when exile does not prominently appear, it was the lens ancient readers used to interpret the text. So, Jonathan and Seth talk about exile. They discuss its effect on ordinary people's lives, the deep longing it causes, and the joyous hope of being back together again. If we were not following the lectionary, this episode could (and maybe should) have been the first episode we produced.

We're thrilled you're with us! Have you had an experience of exile? Has that pain healed at all? Did you have a homecoming afterward? We'd love to hear about it; email us at noexpertsallowed@gmail.com

Hurricanes have been in the news lately. The cleanup will take months, and a sense of normalcy in some places may take years if it is possible at all. Meanwhile, the psalmist declares that the natural world is so stunning and masterfully designed that it points toward God. How do we make sense of these claims in light of these recent natural disasters? Do they tell us anything about God? Do they tell people "on the ground" something about God that we, sitting in our safe homes, can't comprehend? And what does a God concerned about justice have to do with these communities that were so significantly impacted? We try to unpack these theological questions and wrestle with the beauty we've seen in nature alongside the destruction in Florida and the western Carolinas.

If you're like us, the images of Hurricane Helene's flooding struck you deeply. And, therefore, we think they're worth some theological reflection. We're so glad you're with us. Please join us in praying for those affected by natural disasters and also those in Gaza, who have shown tremendous support for the hurting, despite their physical distance.

We have a lot of stuff. Compared to most of the world, those capable of listening to podcasts are doing quite well. We often, however, do not think of ourselves as wealthy. After all, some are much more affluent than us. We don't have private planes, yachts, or entourages. So, how do we read Jesus' remark, "Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me" (Mark 10:21)? Jonathan and Seth discuss the difficulties with this text. They consider how they've heard it interpreted to make it more palatable. They end by praying for help living into this teaching as people with a lot of stuff.

We're thrilled you're with us! This week's episode raises a lot of questions. I'll pose a few more here: how can one know they have many possessions? How does someone earnestly trim what they have? What do we own that helps us follow Jesus? How do we decide what to buy next? This text raises innumerable questions; we've only scratched the surface in the episode, but hope you'll continue asking them even after the episode ends.

CW: discussions of abuse, painful marriages, and scripture that people have used to trap women in harmful situations

While our episodes often touch on serious topics, this one deserves the content warning above. We mention these potentially triggering topics, but they're not most of the episode. Instead of trying to wrestle with texts about marriage's permanency, Jonathan and Seth zoom out. They discuss friendships, what makes healthy ones, and what sparked theirs and sustains it. And what pitfalls they sometimes fall into. The hope is that this discussion on friendship can illuminate the texts on marriage in healthier and more applicable ways.

We're glad you're with us. Please skip this episode if the content warning stirs fear or dread in you. It's why we provided it, after all! We'll be back next week with another episode.

Lately, there has been a lot of coverage in the news about political factions. But factions appear more than just in the political sphere. Churches, of course, can develop them too. They're equally insidious and difficult to deal with in civic, and public life. So, Jonathan and Seth talk about how these divisions take place. They start small this week; they don't try to tackle the United State's political problems like they sometimes do.

We're glad you're with us! For whatever reason, our last episode took off. So, if you're joining us again, we're thrilled you returned. We'd love to hear from you about church divisions and how we can spread out leadership to take some of the burden off of individuals (as Moses does in this week's reading) at noexpertsallowed@gmail.com