Three Pieces of Glass: Discussing Eric's New Book

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5y ago 52:28

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In this episode, Sara Joy interviews Eric about his most recent book, Three Pieces of Glass: Why We Feel Lonely in a World Mediated by Screens. Released in May of 2020, Eric's book dives into our current crisis of loneliness citing it as partly resulting from a lack of belonging we feel in regard to the places and the people who most often inhabit the world in proximity to us. He makes the case that from the advent of the car (the windshield) and designing our cities for driving, to our TV screens, and now our smart phones, we have become more fragmented from places, neighbors, and friends. These three mediating pieces of glass remove us from embodied interaction with one another and have slowly atrophied our abilities to engage in neighborly and civic discourse, eroding a sense of belonging for us.

He encourages his readers to be catalysts of belonging by taking small steps that can emulate the goodness of belonging and community connection as represented by the "kingdom belonging" modeled for us in the gospel. He challenges churches and individuals to be active in supporting policy choices at the city level that provide places for walkability, connection, and gathering with people over auto-oriented developments. And, he urges people to put away their smart phones, turn off their TVs, and take some walks to connect with the places and people in proximity to them.

Access more Show Notes with pictures and resources related to this episode.

More information about this podcast and helpful church and urbanism resources can be found on The Embedded Church website.

Related Resources

Three Pieces of Glass: Why We Feel Lonely in a World Mediated by Screens by Eric O. Jacobsen

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Lesslie Newbigin

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometime Lonely World by Vivek Murthy

Unlocking Us Podcast: Dr. Vivek Murthy & Brene Brown on Loneliness and Connection

I Miss Singing at Church (NY Times Op Ed) by Tish Harrison Warren

Find these Key Terms on The Embedded Church website:

- Belonging

- Fragmentation

- Kingdom Belonging

- Personal Belonging

- Proximity

- Public Belonging

- Social Belonging

- Zoning

Show Credits

Hosted and Produced by Eric O. Jacobsen and Sara Joy Proppe

Edited by Adam Higgins | Odd Dad Out Voice Productions

Theme Music by Jacob Shaffer

Artwork by Lance Kagey | Rotator Creative

47 episodes

#Society #Religion #Eric O Jacobsen #Sara Joy Proppe #Church #Neighborhood #Built Environment #Walkable #New Urbanism #Communities #Evangelical #Christianity #Belonging #Place