After hearing Culture At A Crossroads on-air for the first time on LIFE 100.3 a few weeks ago I journaled my experience shortly after.
God, I give you glory. "Culture At A Crossroads" is finally on the radio. What tremendous anticipation and excitement there was leading up. May the Eighth had the feeling of a big exam or game day. I rolled back and forth in my bed in the early hours of the morning to look at the clock.
I double-checked the radio timing in the hours prior to 10 (when you work in radio, timing is everything). And then at 10:30 it went to air. The euphoria, the thrill, the satisfaction. It all culminated in those 28 minutes.
I did some reflecting on this podcast journey the night before. It was almost two years ago that I was driving to pick up a piece of farm equipment for my dad. He sent me on an hour's journey. We had just installed a new dock at our family cabin. As I made this trek, lots of things were bouncing around in my head - work, sports, and podcasting. My good friend Calvin DeLancey had been very enthusiastic that I start my own podcast. I recall having a conversation with him about a couple of my ideas at an annual friends' ski weekend a few months prior.
By this point I had landed on the approach of what my podcast would entail: exploring the intersection of faith and culture in Canada. A name, however, would better articulate this.
Back to the trip, "Culture At A Crossroads," it came to me. I can't remember if I was at a crossroads on my drive, I was well aware of Crossroads Communications (100 Huntley Street) in Burlington. I liked what 'crossroads' represented: traffic flowing in one direction that now has the option to go one of two ways. Practical and profound. Further, the 'cross' from 'crossroads' could be deduced as being of Jesus. Hence, the lens by which I look at my life through and would the same with this show. Finally, 'culture,' a broad term encompassing people, what drives them, and what they're attracted to.
Okay, I don't think I analyzed each word in the phrase when it came to me (but I appreciate that I can now). I just put the name in a note on my phone. Right before my launch I even considered other name options. But, here we are; it's stuck.
Forty podcast episodes later, an editor, an intern, a website - the whole gamut. There have been hurdles. Near burnout in the beginning while doing too many jobs at once, many attempts at breaking a national publication (in-time), and high-profile guests who have rejected my show invitations solely because of the faith element. I'm sure other challenges will unfold, but as for this moment I bask in what God has accomplished through me. To him who can do immeasurably more (Eph. 3:20).
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