Episode #517
Date February 10, 2014
Run Time 45:56
Jen Kwok, Lulu, and Christine Lee share stories of bumping up against what might just be the Higher Power.
Song: RISK! Theme by Wormburner and John Sondericker
Song: Black Hole by Shawn Lee
Radio Story: Just Believe by Christine Lee
Radio Story: Left Behind by Lulu
Song: Cock of the Walk by Stoney
Live Story: The Connections by Jen Kwok
Song: Open Up by Fletcher
Song: RISK! Theme by Wormburner and John Sondericker
Song: Black Hole by Shawn Lee
Radio Story: Just Believe by Christine Lee
Radio Story: Left Behind by Lulu
Song: Cock of the Walk by Stoney
Live Story: The Connections by Jen Kwok
Song: Open Up by Fletcher
Nice to hear other opinions about faith.
Amen, Beto! I love podcasts but it’s so sad that man of the stories about faith can be cynical and sometimes mocking. Very Happy about Jen’s story. Even in the midst of faith our faith is tested. Wonderful testimony! Love it!
The story about the so called “miracle” was lame as hell. Why don’t we just get rid of the hospitals? I may actually, have got interested, if an amputee had grown a limb back. “Praying”, has been tested numerous times. It doesn’t work; in fact, in many instances, it makes people feel worse, because they feel under pressure. Magical thinking. Santa for adults.
OK, I’ve listened to every episode of Risk. I love Risk. That said, I hated this episode. If this episode were representative of what most Risk episodes were like, then I would not listen. It is easily the worst episode thus far (but fortunately one of only a very few truly bad episodes). The second and third stories were progressively less tiresome, but man was that first story/storyteller grating. Straw man faux-skepticism overcome by indisputable Jesus magic! Wonderful testimony, indeed. Please, no more delusional superstitious/transcendental claptrap from charlatans, patsies, and mentally ill people. Even Kevin was uncharacteristically flaccid this episode. I guess it’s at least encouraging that he didn’t seem very enthused to be presenting such silly nonsense. There wasn’t even an easter egg! Seriously you guys, WTF is going on? You don’t have to and shouldn’t try to appeal to everyone. There are other storytelling shows that play this kind of nonsense—ones that wouldn’t play the truly Risky stuff. Please resume being an alternative to what you presented in this awkward failed episode. Thanks!
Agree with John and Gary.
This is not the medium for faith based stories, I understand you may want to try to diversify your stories. If I wanted to hear about peoples testimonies about Jesus, I would subscribe to a religious podcast.
The first story, where she ask, “Why did Jesus heal my friends knee but not my friend with MS?”…really?..cause the knee was a injury..MS is a disease. Injuries generally heal over time..MS doesn’t get better with time..the comparison was ridiculous.
The second story..I have to give her the benefit of the belief due to being a child. But as a adult..you have to logically look back at that and go” I can’t believe I was listening to wild rantings of a schizophrenic”
The 3rd story…if I had honestly saw everything glowing around me..I think a trip to the hospital is in order, or someone slipped me a drug?
Hey, I have a story about aliens,bigfoot and the ghost of Elvis, and I believe it cause it was my personal experience. No?..I’m crazy?…how dare you say that and judge me..I know…cause it happened and nothing you can say can make it false.
What Gary said. :S
Stories of belief are a last frontier of taboo. So why not include them in Risk? The vulnerability on display here was the most touching feature in this episode, as in any of the episodes.
Not a fan of the “Belief” stories. I use to listen to a podcast about ghost stories. After a few months, they all became the same …they “FELT” something..watching,presence.
Its hard to relate to personal religious spiritual experiences, unless you are a believer to begin with. There are many other reasons why something could happened..it doesn’t just jump to, it was God. Only believers think like this.
I don’t automatically think God did something, when something extraordinary happens.
Stories of belief a Taboo??..really?. Religion makes up over 90% of the American population. Taboo is something its not.
I listen to Risk! on a consistent basis and enjoy some episodes more than others, but this one was pretty bad. My wife heard this episode the day before and agreed with me. Hopefully the next one makes up for this!
I think the stories about faith or spiritual experiences are entirely in line with the general theme of the Risk podcast. The tagline isn’t ‘cynical and snarky stories’ or ‘exploration of sexual kinks.’ It’s ‘stories you never thought you’d dare to share.’ Talking about personal and intimate experiences with spirituality is actually a pretty brave thing to do. Obviously it can open you up to criticism or mockery (see comments below)– but it’s as valid an experience as anything else. I don’t think any of the storytellers were being judgmental about anyone else’s lack of faith, nor were they trying to be preachy. They were just sharing. I’m not a religious gal in the least, but I’ve had some personal experiences I can’t explain– and I can’t discount them either because there was outside confirmation. I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I would never claim to know everything, and I wouldn’t ever want to discount or mock someone else’s personal experience with such matters. I’m just glad for a good story or three to get me through the workday- and I’m glad that the people sharing were fortunate enough to gain a feeling of inspiration or comfort from what they perceived.
When I was around the same age as Lori (10) I was told the same thing about the bar codes. One night, I was told that Jupiter was going to bounce out of orbit and destroy the earth that very night and the world was going to end. This is what my best friend’s older sister tells me she heard from her friends’ spanish grandmother (seemed legit…). I was already a very nervous child and this made me even more anxious. I’ll never forget that morning there was a dry cleaning van downstairs (we lived in Queens where this was a common occurrence) and I heard the scraping of the hangers and the doors and all sorts of noises and banging sounds and I thought while in a fit of lucid dreaming “Ok, this is it, the world is ending.” I never felt more relieved to look outside and see it was just the van. I still lived my life fearing death and jealousy of those who were so care free, and I’m still working on it ^_^
In case Jen reads the comments on this:
The moment of profundity you experienced is not a sign of any kind of mental illness. It’s a psychological phenomenon where an individual has an isolated short time when – without the use of things like drugs, hypnosis, or other influences – they perceive the whole world as incredibly beautiful and complex. It’s not a symptom of anything – it’s just an unexplained, isolated phenomenon. I’ve had it happen to me – also on the way to work, natch – and years later it remains one of the most, if not the most, profound moments of my life. Perhaps a brain glitch, or perhaps a message from some God or spirit, who knows.
Unfortunately, I haven’t the foggiest memory of what this phenomenon is called.
Loove risk – I have listened to almost every single podcast. Then the churchies come along –> as they somehow always appear – on tv, on pinterest, fb, instagram, yadda yadda. Enough already. Religion is quite the distraction from reality, and not taking any accountability. At least most millennials are no longer accepting this chaos of enforced judgement on oneself and others – we are waking up from this delusion. Behavior makes you a good person, not your beliefs.
I 100% agree with Jenna! She said it all perfectly!! I am not religious whatsoever…BUT I can respect and appreciate those that are. There is something to be learned from every one of these stories…even the religious ones. Its their experience from their world. Personally I think its well worth a listen!