We're In This Shift Together
As a rabbi, Matthew Ponak knows the significance of community in the good times and the bad. We’re in this Shift Together explores the meeting place between ancient spiritual teachings, cutting-edge research and innovation, and the needs of our era. The conversations cover insights and experiences that improve our world and give us hope during these tumultuous times. In our secular society, millions of people are dedicating themselves to the work of innovation. Simultaneously, camps of traditionally religious people are tending the fires of insights and practices which have sustained them for thousands of years. Leaders and thinkers from all arenas benefit from cross-pollination and there is much more common ground between these two camps than is often acknowledged. When approaching any new problem today, religious and spiritual insights can offer a sense of how our ancestors grappled with similar issues. At the same time, inherited wisdom is, by definition, from a prior era. In dialogue with scientific expertise and new circumstances, the storehouses of human knowledge inevitably grow and mature. Together these different perspectives help us navigate our transitioning world. Host Rabbi Matthew Ponak is a teacher of embodied mysticism, a spiritual counsellor, and the co-founder of the Mekorah Institute — an online spiritual centre. Also holding an MA in Contemplative Religions from the Buddhist-inspired Naropa University, Rabbi Matthew weaves world wisdom with ancient Jewish insights. He received ordination from Hebrew College where he specialized in the study of Hasidic spirituality and Kabbalah. Visit matthewponak.com to learn more.
We're In This Shift Together
Art that Aims for Heaven with Dr. Brian Pollick
Can commissioning public art ensure a happy afterlife? Many wealty merchants in medieval Italy sure hoped so! Dr. Brian Pollick opens a window for us into their worldview and how it can enrich our own.
Brian was born in England in 1946 but grew up in Toronto after his parents
emigrated in 1952. After getting his BA from York University in 1967 he
embarked on multiple careers that included teaching, correctional services,
community and family justice services, and Information Technology
development. He has been a senior executive manager for the federal and
BC governments, as well as the non-profit and private sectors. He left paid
employment in 2007 and spent a year in France and Italy with his wife,
Heather Lindstedt, where he developed a passion for medieval art.
Brian returned to University in Victoria in 2009 and has since obtained his
MA and PhD in Art History. His particular area of research is how art
commissioned by wealthy merchants in 14 th C Italy was used by them as a
way of affirming and broadcasting their identity as honest business persons
and honourable civic and Christian citizens who were worthy of salvation.
He has presented numerous papers at Canadian and international
conferences and published several articles on this subject.
Brian has one son, Ian, and is the proud grandfather of two boys, Austin
and Logan who live in Toronto. Brian’s next major undertaking will be
pursuing another PhD at the University of Victoria, this time in history
looking at the institution of the Grand Tour.