James Martin — Work in Progress

Have you ever looked back on your adolescent and young adult years and wondered how those experiences formed your personality, conscience, ambitions, desires, and even insecurities? What did your ordinary jobs throughout these formative years teach you about yourself, God, and the world you were stepping into? As you stepped into young adulthood, what did you learn about the cruelty and goodness of the world? About being mean or kind? About who you wanted to become?

In this episode, Fr. James Martin, SJ — Jesuit priest, New York Times bestselling author, and one of the most relatable voices in contemporary spirituality — sits down for a heartfelt, often hilarious, conversation about his new memoir, Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest. Rev. James Martin is the founder of Outreach, editor at large of America Magazine, and host of The Spiritual Life Podcast. Fr. Jim is also the chaplain of Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report and is a frequent commentator for major news outlets, including CNN, NPR, and The New York Times.

Whether you’re spiritually curious, wrestling with your own calling, longing to understand yourself more deeply, or just craving a reminder that your story matters, this episode is for you. God meets us exactly where we are—flawed, funny, and still very much a work in progress.

The show notes are available here.

(00:00:01) Introduction

(00:03:16) Why Write This Book?

(00:04:58) Learning from the Past

(00:11:38) Reflection No. 1: How Memories Can Become Our Teacher

(00:16:17) Developing the Superpower of Not Caring What Others Think

(00:20:05) The Spiritual Practice of Memoir

(00:22:11) Navigating Guilt and Shame, Embracing Our Humanity

(00:26:41) The Connection Between Kindness and Being Comfortable in One's Own Skin

(00:29:16) Turning Point: Losing His Best Friend

(00:33:35) The Gift of Friendship

(00:36:06) Memoir as Spiritual Practice: Cultivating Gratitude

(00:38:55) What Does it Mean to Be Yourself?

(00:43:55) Reflection No. 2: Mining Desire and Discovering the True Self

(00:46:15) Finding One's Vocation

(00:53:00) The Book's Impact and Golf Stories

(00:57:51) Kindness and Working at the Ice Cream Inn

(00:59:58) Reflection No. 3: Kindness is Everything

(01:02:10) Kindness and Closing Thoughts

(01:05:27) Conclusion