Stop Trying to Fix Everything: Simran Jeet Singh on Spiritual Sanity

Stop Trying to Fix Everything: Simran Jeet Singh on Spiritual Sanity

Author: Institute of Religion Politics and Culture, Amanda Henderson, Iliff School of Theology June 2, 2025 Duration: 17:18
In overwhelming times, spiritual practice starts small—and stays true. When the world feels too big to fix, it’s tempting to shut down—or spiral. In this intimate conversation, author and scholar Simran Jeet Singh joins Complexified to talk about what happens when we finally let go of the pressure to save the world, and instead tend to our corner of it with humility, joy, and spiritual grounding. Drawing from Sikh wisdom and his own experience of burnout, Simran invites us to trade ego-driven change for something more lasting: connection, presence, and compassion that transforms us from the inside out. If you’ve ever wondered how to keep caring without collapsing, this one’s for you. Simran Jeet Singh is a scholar, writer, and public advocate known for his work at the intersection of religion, justice, and culture. He is the author of The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life and Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Religion & Society Program. A proud Sikh American, Simran writes and speaks widely on equity, empathy, and the power of small, meaningful acts to create lasting change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Complexified is a conversation that starts from a simple, uncomfortable truth: the forces of faith and power are woven into the fabric of our everyday existence, from kitchen tables to courtrooms. Hosted by Amanda Henderson of the Iliff School of Theology and presented by the Institute of Religion Politics and Culture, this podcast deliberately steps into the tangled intersections where belief systems meet policy, cultural norms, and social strife. We move beyond superficial debates to examine how these deep structures actually function, why certain problems feel so immovable, and where the possibilities for genuine movement might lie. Each episode is an effort to untangle a specific, knotty issue, listening for the underlying narratives and historical currents that often go unspoken. The goal isn't to provide easy answers but to foster a more nuanced comprehension, the kind required for meaningful engagement rather than repeated conflict. Tuning into this podcast means joining a rigorous yet accessible exploration of our shared life, acknowledging the complexity so often glossed over in public discourse. It’s an invitation to think more deeply about the roots of our divisions and the potential pathways forward, grounded in the conviction that clearer understanding is a necessary first step toward any durable change.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Complexified
Podcast Episodes
$438 Million Later, What Does This Faith-Tech Company Actually Do? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:17
RNS reporter Bob Smietana on Gloo, the faith-tech company chasing a one-stop IT/AI solution for churches. Nearly half a billion dollars, gone, over thirteen years. That's how much a company called Gloo has lost trying to…
The Catholics Who Broke With Rome. Again. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:30
When Tradition Becomes Trouble On the side of a mountain in Switzerland, in the shadow of the Alps, a fanciful event attracting a small but ardent group of Catholic traditionalists gathered to celebrate the consecration…
Spiritual Technology for the 21st Century [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:07
Philip Reed-Butler, Black AI, and the future of healing For the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about artificial intelligence. We’ve talked Vatican positioning, Silicon Valley philosophers, Catholic ethics, corporate…
The Business of Being Good [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:29
Anthropic, the Vatican, and the Moral Branding of AI Imagine you're an engineer at one of the most powerful AI companies in the world. You've built a system that can write poetry, pass the bar exam, and hold a conversati…
Building God, Fearing Doom: The Theology of Superintelligence [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:39
A theology of sorts has been building in Silicon Valley, where questions about digital, biological and spiritual life are beginning to converge. For most of us, AI means chatbots, recipe tips, work tools and strange litt…
Pope Leo XIV and the Case for Imperfection [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:23
In 1891, Pope Leo 13th looked at the Industrial Revolution — factories, machines, workers being displaced and exploited — and decided the Church had a role to play. The result was an encyclical: Rerum Novarum, translated…
America, According to Hillsdale [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:49
Who gets to tell America's story? Hillsdale College is small by most reckoning, but punching above its weight in influence, with its ethos and teaching saturating all levels of education far beyond its campus in Michigan…
Separation of Church and State Was a Baptist Idea. What Happened? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:01
The Baptist preacher (and Texas Lieutenant Governor) who stood before the White House Religious Liberty Commission had a message: there is no separation of church and state in the Constitution. That's a shift... For two…
What Stuck: Reading Pope Francis a Year Later [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:54
A year after his death, the Catholic Church is moving forward—and revealing what Francis actually changed. While he was alive, Francis' papacy was interpreted in real time: praised, criticized and debated. It was difficu…
What If the Most Powerful American in the World Isn't Who You Think? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:43
The playbook for dismissing a pope just stopped working. Trump called Pope Leo weak. Catholics — including some of Trump's own — aren't buying it. Vatican reporter Claire Giangravé joins Amanda Henderson to explain why L…