What if faith isn’t about pretending everything is fine—but about telling the truth?

In this episode of the Perspectives Podcast from First United Methodist Church of San Diego, Rev. Brittany and Rev. Trudy explore what it means to not be okay and why that honesty might be the beginning of real hope.

After Easter, when celebration fades and real life sets back in, many of us are left carrying grief, doubt, exhaustion, or unanswered questions. Drawing from Luke 24:13–32 (The Road to Emmaus), this conversation reminds us that even Jesus’ followers wrestled with disappointment, confusion, and loss.

In Part 1 of our series “The Grace of the Passion,” we explore how God meets us not when we have it all together but when we’re willing to be real.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why “I’m fine” culture can harm our faith and mental health
• The courage it takes to face grief, disappointment, and change
• Why resurrection hope doesn’t erase present pain
• The importance of community when life feels overwhelming
• What happens when we avoid grief—and why it eventually catches up
• How God meets us in confusion, not just in clarity

Content Note: This episode includes discussion of deep emotional pain and mentions of suicide. If you are in crisis, please call 9-1-1 or visit your nearest emergency room. You are not alone.

Reflection Questions:

1. What are you carrying right now that you’ve been trying to hold together on your own?
2. When has a season of “not being okay” led to growth?
3. When have you felt that God was absent or hard to recognize?

Continue the conversation by reflecting with someone you trust or join the Perspectives community online via Patreon or in person at the weekly Convergence Discussion Group.

Limited on time? Jump ahead to these pivotal moments.

Timestamps
00:00 Intro – Is it OK to not be OK?
00:34 Special content note & episode overview
3:26 Why the Road to Emmaus story matters
7:34 When hope dies after disappointment
10:09 You’re not OK – and that changes how you see things
15:04 Rethinking suffering, faith, and God’s role
19:07 Faith, mental health, and the danger of “just be OK”
21:10 The pressure to pretend in culture and church
23:17 Standing still in grief
24:58 “If you don’t sit with your grief…”
26:43 Reflection questions and closing

In this Lenten episode of Perspectives, Revs. Trudy D. Robinson and Dr. Hannah Ka explore Matthew 26:6–13, the story of the unnamed woman who anoints Jesus—and the uncomfortable truth it reveals about us: Why do we deflect when truth feels painful? Why do we “help” in ways that actually protect our own comfort?

As the disciples criticize what they call waste, one woman embodies a radically different response: acceptance, courage, and costly love.

This conversation invites us to confront a difficult question: Are we avoiding the truth… even when we know it deep down?

Join the female pastors of First United Methodist Church of San Diego to explore:

• Why we instinctively deflect in moments of discomfort
• How “helping” can sometimes hide our own agenda
• The difference between surface peace and truthful love
• What it means to accept reality—even when it hurts
• Why love, in the way Jesus models it, always costs something

This is part of our Lenten series, The People of the Passion, where we reflect on the figures surrounding Jesus’ journey to the cross—and what they reveal about who we are today.

Continue the conversation by reflecting with someone you trust or join the Perspectives community online via Patreon or in person at the weekly Convergence Discussion Group.

Reflection questions for Lent:

1. When have you had a meaningful experience you didn't know how to interpret?
2. Where do you notice yourself deflecting to avoid conflict or protect yourself?
3. What helps you with acceptance?

Limited on time? Jump ahead to these pivotal moments.

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction: Love, discomfort, and deflection
01:04 Scripture Reading – Matthew 26, verses 6–13
02:09 Why this story resists easy explanation
04:23 The disciples’ deflection vs. the woman’s clarity
06:20 How the story changes across the Gospels
13:44 Deflection as a human survival instinct
16:52 A modern story: when “helping” hides our agenda
21:55 The cost of love & Lenten reflection questions

Was Jesus resurrected in body or spirit? Does it matter? What does it mean for us today? That’s what Revs. Trudy D. Robinson and Brittany Juliette Hanlin discuss in this episode of Perspectives FUMCSD Pastors Podcast.

Throughout Lent, this series—The People of the Passion—has focused on the individuals surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion, not just as historical figures, but as mirrors for who we are today.

This week, we turn to a brief but powerful passage: Matthew 27:62–66, where religious and political leaders seal Jesus’ tomb to prevent what they call “deception.” But beneath the surface is a deeper question: Who gets to control the story of resurrection?

The female pastors wrestle with:

• Why the resurrection has been reduced to something overly literal and what we lose as a result
• The tension between faith, mystery, and the need for certainty
• How institutions (then and now) shape narratives through doubt and control
• Whether resurrection is less about what happened to Jesus—and more about what is still happening in us

This conversation invites us to move beyond proving resurrection…and instead, to live it.

Continue the conversation by reflecting with someone you trust or join the Perspectives community online via Patreon or in person at the weekly Convergence Discussion Group.

Reflection questions for Lent:

1. What significance does the resurrection of Jesus mean for you?
2. How does that understanding of resurrection appear in your daily life?
3. How does the resurrection impact your relationship with others?

Limited on time? Jump ahead to these pivotal moments.

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction: Does the resurrection make sense?
01:43 Scripture Story: Matthew 27, verses 62 to 66
03:18 Is resurrection controversial—or just assumed?
05:00 “Death doesn’t have the final say” – what really matters
07:06 Why we’ve lost the mystery of resurrection
10:46 Resurrection as personal transformation (hope, joy, love)
15:15 Controlling the narrative: doubt, power, and the sealed tomb
19:28 Why Jesus’ story survived—and why that matters
24:18 Resurrection is not just for you
27:45 Reflection questions + closing