Reimagining the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker (Amy Julia Becker)
Explorez tous les épisodes de Reimagining the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker
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| 08 Mar 2022 | The Beauty and Wounding of This Here Flesh with Cole Arthur Riley | 00:52:37 | |
The effects of trauma often surface in our embodied existence. What about hope? Cole Arthur Riley, author of This Here Flesh and creator of Black Liturgies, talks with Amy Julia Becker about bearing witness to the pain of the world through our bodies, the healing found in belonging, and the importance of weaving together self-care and community-care for social healing. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 22 Feb 2022 | Practically Divine and the Presence of Love with Becca Stevens | 00:41:03 | |
In a world of pain, can one person—one action—make a difference? Becca Stevens, author of Practically Divine, talks with Amy Julia Becker about the healing available through the practice, practicality, and presence of love within community. “Becca Stevens is a speaker, social entrepreneur, author, priest, founder of ten non-profit justice initiatives, and President of Thistle Farms. She has been featured on PBS NewsHour, The Today Show, CNN, ABC World News, named a CNN Hero, and White House Champion of Change. Drawing from 25 years of leadership in mission-driven work, Becca leads important conversations across the country with an inspiring message that love is the strongest force for change in the world. Her newest book is Practically Divine, published by Harper Horizons.” ____ *A transcript of this episode will be available within one business day, as well as a video with closed captions on my YouTube Channel. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 15 Mar 2022 | To Be Made Well: An Excerpt | 00:15:34 | |
For anyone struggling with pain or loss, for anyone concerned about the things that divide us, this episode—this book— is for you. It’s launch day for my latest book, To Be Made Well. I'm celebrating by sharing an excerpt with you! I hope you enjoy it, and if you think of other people who might find this relevant and helpful in their own lives, please pass it along to them as well. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 22 Mar 2022 | To Be Made Well Conversation with Katherine Wolf, David Bailey, and Amy Julia | 00:58:18 | |
What if I feel disappointed with God? Does grief play a role in healing? Is racial reconciliation a work of healing? Katherine Wolf and David Bailey join me for a conversation celebrating the book launch of To Be Made Well. We talk about the multidimensional nature of healing, and then we respond to questions from launch party guests at the end as we reflect on healing and hardship and hope in our personal lives and our society.
Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 05 Apr 2022 | How to Cultivate Contentment with Niro Feliciano | 00:51:42 | |
In a society that pursues happiness at all costs, how do we cultivate contentment? Niro Feliciano, psychotherapist and author of This Book Won’t Make You Happy, talks with Amy Julia Becker about the keys to finding true contentment.
Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 19 Apr 2022 | The Role and the Limits of Medicine with Dr. Matthew Loftus | 00:48:13 | |
When we need healing, is medicine the only solution? Dr. Matthew Loftus talks with Amy Julia Becker about both the limits and the role of medicine connected to healing, wholeness, and community.
Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 03 May 2022 | Living as a Person in a Technological World with Andy Crouch | 00:59:28 | |
How do we reclaim personhood and relationships in a technological world? Andy Crouch, author of The Life We’re Looking For, talks with me about technology and what it means to be a person. We conclude our conversation with daily practices to help us reflect the truth that we are designed in and for love.
Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 17 May 2022 | Resting in a Restless World with Kate Rademacher | 00:57:04 | |
How do we rest in a restless world? Kate Rademacher, public health expert and author of Reclaiming Rest, talks with Amy Julia Becker about rest, burnout, healing, social justice, and the difference between religious and secular approaches to rest. To Be Made Well audiobook ___
Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 31 May 2022 | Disability Belongs in Church with Dr. Amy Kenny | 00:48:20 | |
While Jesus welcomed the disabled, the poor, and the outcast, Christian communities are often spaces of exclusion. Dr. Amy Kenny is a disabled scholar, a Shakespeare Lecturer, and the author of My Body Is Not a Prayer Request. In this conversation, she talks with Amy Julia Becker about disability, the church, ableism, and creating communities of belonging. "Amy Kenny is a disabled scholar and a Shakespeare Lecturer who hates Hamlet. She serves on the mayor’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce in her home city, coordinates support for people experiencing homelessness in her neighborhood, and is currently co-launching Jubilee Homes OC, a permanent supportive housing initiative in her local community. She is a Scribe for Freedom Road Institute and believes that every human is an image-bearer worthy of belonging. "
Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 14 Jun 2022 | Becoming a Race-Wise Family with Helen Lee | 00:43:24 | |
How do we raise children who will stand against racial injustice? Helen Lee, co-author of The Race-Wise Family, and Amy Julia Becker discuss why it’s important for all of us to talk about race, how we can do this well with and for our children, and the postures of celebration and lament. “Helen Lee has been a Christian publishing professional since 1993, when she began her career working at Christianity Today (CT) magazine. She is the director of product innovation at InterVarsity Press, where she formerly served as an associate editor, director of marketing, and associate director of strategic partnerships.” For full show notes, go to: amyjuliabecker.com/helen-lee/
Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 28 Jun 2022 | Disability and the Speed of Love with Dr. John Swinton | 00:50:06 | |
How do we create communities where friendship is a possibility among people of differing abilities? Dr. John Swinton, theologian and author, talks with Amy Julia Becker about mutual relationships of care, the meaning of health and healing, and the speed of love. “John Swinton is chair of divinity and religious studies at the University of Aberdeen. He has published widely within the area of disability theology, spirituality and health, qualitative research, and mental health.” *A transcript of this episode will be available within one business day, as well as a video with closed captions on my YouTube Channel. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 30 Aug 2022 | Introducing Season 6 of Love Is Stronger Than Fear | 00:03:33 | |
Welcome to Season 6 of Love Is Stronger Than Fear, a podcast about pursuing hope and healing in the midst of personal and social brokenness. 🎙Rich Villodas 🎙Sharon Hodde Miller 🎙Ruth Haley Barton 🎙Lore Ferguson Wilbert 🎙Haider Warraich And more! Our movement toward healing is like a spiral and goes back to some of the same places over and over again, and yet it’s constantly moving upward. Those movements of healing include honesty and humility and surrender and hope, and all of those movements circle around love because love is the center of healing. The first episode—with Rich Villodas—drops Tuesday, September 6. So please join me for these conversations…you can subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. I’m excited to begin this journey with you! Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 06 Sep 2022 | Good and Beautiful and Kind with Rich Villodas | 00:51:04 | |
Can we find—can we grow—goodness, beauty, and kindness in a wounded world? Rich Villodas talks with Amy Julia Becker about what it means to live lives formed by the love of God.
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For complete show notes and transcript, go to: amyjuliabecker.com/rich-villodas/ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 20 Sep 2022 | A Curious Faith with Lore Ferguson Wilbert | 00:42:45 | |
We may sometimes doubt the importance of our questions, but the practice of curiosity is actually a gift. Author Lore Ferguson Wilbert joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about all the questions we are invited to ask of God and of ourselves and how those questions can open up spacious places in our souls.
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For complete show notes and transcript, go to: amyjuliabecker.com/lore-ferguson-wilbert/ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 04 Oct 2022 | Down Syndrome and Belonging with Heather Avis | 00:49:01 | |
“You belong here, as you are, who you are. Come be in this place with us.” Down syndrome advocate and author Heather Avis joins Amy Julia to talk about the importance of people with Down syndrome, celebrating Down Syndrome Awareness Month, and creating spaces of belovedness and belonging. Guest Bio:
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For full show notes, transcript, and more, go to: amyjuliabecker.com/heather-avis/ You can find all the details on my October 5, 2022, Instagram post @amyjuliabecker. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 18 Oct 2022 | The Beauty of Life Together with Willie James Jennings | 00:55:29 | |
"The challenge is to trust again the beauty of life together.” Professor and author Willie James Jennings talks with Amy Julia Becker about the beauty, promise, and hope of Christianity, especially if and as we are able to untether Christianity from whiteness and reimagine institutions and relationships built upon mutual dependence. “Willie James Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University. His book The Christian Imagination won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion and the Grawemeyer Award in Religion. He has also published the book After Whiteness. He is an ordained Baptist minister and served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He received an undergraduate degree from Calvin University, his M.Div from Fuller Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D in religion and ethics from Duke.”
__ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 01 Nov 2022 | The Healing Work of Rest with Ruth Haley Barton | 00:47:48 | |
Rest is a challenge for almost all of us in our frantic and distracted world. For anyone who is longing to stop and rest and delight but feels stuck in a pattern of never-enough-time, this conversation is for you. Ruth Haley Barton talks with Amy Julia Becker about rest as a healing practice given to us by God that leads to a spacious, generous life. Ruth is the author of many books, including her latest, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest.
On the Podcast:
___ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 15 Nov 2022 | True Self, True Healing with Alison Cook | 00:44:37 | |
In between the extremes of selfishness and selflessness, how do we bring healing to our true selves? Dr. Alison Cook, psychologist and author, talks with Amy Julia Becker about finding our true selves and how that helps us bring health and wholeness into our relationships with God and with one another.
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__ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 29 Nov 2022 | The Cost of Control with Sharon Hodde Miller | 00:41:57 | |
How does control lead to anxiety? How can we let go of the illusion of control and entrust our lives to God? Pastor and author Sharon Hodde Miller joins Amy Julia Becker for a down-to-earth, intellectually astute conversation about the wisdom surrounding control, agency, and influence.
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__ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 13 Dec 2022 | Christmas, When Church Lets You Down with Bekah McNeel | 00:49:03 | |
It’s Christmastime! But how do we celebrate Christmas when consumerism and church hurt bring complicated feelings to this season? Journalist Bekah McNeel and Amy Julia Becker talk about divisions within the American church and Bekah's book Bringing Up Kids When Church Lets You Down. If you are someone who is wrestling with questions of faith and doubt and how to raise kids with faith without force-feeding them answers, this conversation is for you.
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___ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 27 Dec 2022 | Spiritual Timekeeping in a New Year with James K. A. Smith | 00:50:31 | |
Do you feel like there isn’t enough time or wish you could just get a better hold on time? This episode is a chance to enter into a way of greater freedom with time. Professor and author James K. A. Smith talks with me about history, contingency, limitations, Black Lives Matter, hope, and his latest book, How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now.
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__ *A transcript of this episode will be available within one business day on my website, and a video with closed captions will be available on my YouTube Channel. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 10 Jan 2023 | How to Receive the Time We’re Given with Jen Pollock Michel | 00:43:39 | |
Does anxiety characterize your relationship with time? Author Jen Pollock Michel talks with Amy Julia Becker about our posture toward time and her new book In Good Time. She offers gentle reflections on learning new habits of being and of receiving the lives we have been given.
For show notes, transcript, and more, go to: amyjuliabecker.com/jen-pollock-michel/ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 24 Jan 2023 | Chronic Pain’s Untold Story with Dr. Haider Warraich | 00:55:36 | |
Pain is more than a physical sensation; it has cultural, relational, and spiritual dimensions as well. Dr. Haider Warraich, a cardiologist and the author of The Song of Our Scars, talks with Amy Julia Becker about these dimensions, the opioid epidemic, and ways we can be a part of the story of healing, for ourselves and others.
__ For full show notes, transcript, and more, go to: https://amyjuliabecker.com/haider-warraich/ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 07 Feb 2023 | How to Cultivate Racial Healing with David M. Bailey | 00:58:43 | |
In the wake of Tyre Nichols’ death in Memphis, David M. Bailey, founder of Arrabon, talks with Amy Julia Becker about the long, deep, painful, hopeful work of healing in a world that is often filled instead with quick reactions.
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__ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 21 Feb 2023 | How a Mystery Series Tells Black History with Patricia Raybon | 00:46:29 | |
What is casual racism? And how did a non-fiction writer end up writing a mystery series? Author Patricia Raybon talks with Amy Julia Becker about faith and “casual racism,” Black history month, and the beauty and truth that emerge from creative storytelling.
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For full show notes, transcript, and more, go to: amyjuliabecker.com/patricia-raybon/ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 07 Mar 2023 | Lessons for Healing in a World That’s Sick with Lyndsey Medford | 00:55:05 | |
What do our bodies tell us about ourselves and our world? And how do we listen? Lyndsey Medford, author of My Body and Other Crumbling Empires, talks with Amy Julia Becker about physical and social healing and the beauty of limitations and interdependence. They discuss how healing connects to slowing down, technology, food banks, capitalism, and more.
___ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 21 Mar 2023 | World Down Syndrome Day and Unexpected Gifts with Jillian Benfield | 00:49:59 | |
On World Down Syndrome Day, Jillian Benfield, author of The Gift of the Unexpected, talks with me about whether it is hard to be the parent of a child with a disability, how our perspective on ourselves, faith, and the world has changed through our experiences as parents, and about the gift of the unexpected.
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Transcript* and more are available at: https://amyjuliabecker.com/jillian-benfield/ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 04 Apr 2023 | Enchantment in an Anxious Age with Katherine May | 00:51:08 | |
In an anxious, rational world, is there a place for enchantment? Katherine May, New York Times bestselling author of Wintering and Enchantment, talks with Amy Julia Becker about awakening wonder, relearning enchantment, connecting to the natural world, and living every day with a continual sense of the presence of God.
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Season 6 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 18 Apr 2023 | Questions for a Life Worth Living with Matt Croasmun | 00:57:54 | |
What should you hope for? What’s worth investing your life in? How do you define and create a flourishing life? Matt Croasmun, coauthor of Life Worth Living, joins me to discuss:
“Matt Croasmun is an Associate Research Scholar and the Director of the Life Worth Living program at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School and a Lecturer of Divinity and Humanities at Yale University. He is also a staff pastor at the Elm City Vineyard Church, a dynamic, diverse, urban church.”
On the Podcast:
Transcript and more: amyjuliabecker.com/matt-croasmun/ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 02 May 2023 | Join the Work of Justice with Michelle Ferrigno Warren | 00:37:00 | |
How do we step into the good work of kingdom justice? In this episode:
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__ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 16 May 2023 | Deconstruction and Rebuilding with Yolanda Pierce | 00:54:08 | |
In an environment of deconstruction, how do we identify what needs to be torn down? And in the midst of the rubble, what are we rebuilding? Dr. Yolanda Pierce, author of In My Grandmother’s House, joins Amy Julia Becker for a conversation about:
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__ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 30 May 2023 | Strong Like Water with Aundi Kolber | 00:57:05 | |
Do you feel like you have to stay strong to survive? Aundi Kolber, a licensed professional counselor and author, talks with Amy Julia Becker about her latest book, Strong Like Water. They discuss how to:
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__ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 13 Jun 2023 | A Good Life, A Good Death with Dr. Lydia Dugdale | 00:54:28 | |
How do we prepare now to die well? Can we reimagine care of the dying in all of its messiness as a gift? Dr. Lydia Dugdale, a medical ethicist, internal medicine doctor, professor, and author of The Lost Art of Dying, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:
__ “Lydia Dugdale MD, MAR, is the Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at Columbia University. Prior to her 2019 move to Columbia, she was Associate Director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics and founding Co-Director of the Program for Medicine, Spirituality, and Religion at Yale School of Medicine. She is an internal medicine primary care doctor and medical ethicist. Her first book, Dying in the Twenty-First Century (MIT Press, 2015), provides the theoretical grounding for this current book. She lives with her husband and daughters in New York City.”
__ On the Podcast: __ Interview transcript and more: amyjuliabecker.com/lydia-dugdale __ __ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 27 Jun 2023 | Why Stories of Hope Subvert Racism with John Blake | 00:49:47 | |
Is racism baked into our nation’s DNA? Is there any hope for change? John Blake, a CNN journalist and author of More Than I Imagined, explores the personal and social aspects of race as he shares:
_ John Blake is an award-winning journalist at CNN.com and an author. He has been honored by the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Academy of Religion, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Religion Communicators Council and with the GLAAD Media Award…He has spoken at high schools, colleges, symposiums and in documentaries about topics such as race, religion and politics. Blake is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and a graduate of Howard University. _ _
Transcript available at: amyjuliabecker.com/john-blake/ _ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 29 Aug 2023 | Introducing Season 7 of Love Is Stronger Than Fear | 00:02:22 | |
Love is stronger than fear. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 05 Sep 2023 | The Hope and Hurt of Being Black in America with Esau McCaulley, Ph.D. | 00:54:32 | |
“Whose stories matter?” Esau McCaulley, author of How Far to the Promised Land, joins Amy Julia Becker for an honest, hopeful conversation about:
“How do the people whom we love, who hurt us, shape the kind of people we become? And how do we make peace with that?” _ “Rev. Esau McCaulley, PhD is an author and associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. His writing and speaking focus on New Testament theology, African American Biblical interpretation, and Christian public theology. His new memoir How Far to the Promised Land, questions the narrative of exceptionalism that he, and other Black survivors, are conditioned to give when they “make it” in America. His book Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope won numerous awards, including Christianity Today’s book of the year. Esau is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. His writings have also appeared in places such as The Atlantic, Washington Post, and Christianity Today.”
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_ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 19 Sep 2023 | Anxiety: A Doorway to Your Best Self? with Curtis Chang | 00:49:47 | |
Do you wrestle with anxiety? Are you plagued with worries? Do you think you’ve conquered anxiety? Curtis Chang, author of The Anxiety Opportunity, joins Amy Julia Becker for a conversation that uncovers:
__ Curtis Chang is a theologian and consulting faculty member of Duke Divinity School and a Senior Fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the founder of Redeeming Babel and the host of the Good Faith podcast. His latest book is The Anxiety Opportunity: How Worry Is the Doorway to Your Best Self.
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__ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 03 Oct 2023 | Netflix's Down for Love with Robyn Paterson | 00:41:55 | |
Have you watched the new show on Netflix called Down for Love? It’s a reality dating show for people with Down syndrome, and we’re celebrating the start of Down Syndrome Awareness month with a conversation with the producer of Down for Love, Robyn Paterson. We talk about:
___ “Robyn Paterson is a New Zealand-based producer, director and writer known for Down for Love (2022), Grand Designs New Zealand (2015) and In the Zone (2018). She works across various roles within multiple formats, including television factual, documentary & entertainment series, documentary feature, web-series, comedy, and drama. She has a background as an actress and presenter, and is the current president of the Directors & Editors Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand.”
___ ___ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 17 Oct 2023 | Breaking Down Bias: Prenatal Diagnoses and Comprehensive Care with Stephanie Meredith | 00:50:12 | |
What happens when women receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome? How does that diagnosis affect those women and their families? How does it affect our whole society? Stephanie Meredith joins Amy Julia Becker for a conversation about her new report on the bias doctors have when giving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, including:
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__ YouTube Channel: video with closed captions Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 31 Oct 2023 | Finding Hope in the Dark with Curt Thompson, MD | 00:52:25 | |
How do we show up for each other in the midst of pain? Is it possible to hope when we’re suffering? Psychiatrist Curt Thompson, author of The Deepest Place, joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about:
__ “Inspired by deep compassion for others and informed from a Christian perspective, psychiatrist Curt Thompson shares fresh insights and practical applications for developing more authentic relationships and fully experiencing our deepest longing: to be known. He helps people process their longings, grief, identity, purpose, perspective of God, and perspective of humanity, inviting them to engage more authentically with their own stories and their relationships. Only then can they feel truly known and connected and live into the meaningful reality they desire to create. Curt and his wife, Phyllis, live outside of Washington DC and have two adult children.”
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__ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 14 Nov 2023 | How to Become a Worry-Free Parent with Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP | 00:49:58 | |
Anxious parents. Anxious families. Anxiety is contagious. How do I know if I’m an anxious parent? And if I am one, how is that affecting my kids? What can I do about it—for their sake and for mine? Therapist and author Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP, joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast to talk about:
Advent Devotional: Prepare Him Room is available now! __ “Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP, has worked as the director of child and adolescent counseling at Daystar Counseling Ministries since 1993. She speaks to parents and children's ministers across the country, is a frequent guest on media outlets, and is the author of 13 books including her latest, The Worry-Free Parent. She also co-hosts the chart-topping Raising Boys and Girls podcast, with fellow Daystar Counselor David Thomas.”
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__ Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 28 Nov 2023 | How Advent Resists the Culture Wars with Tish Harrison Warren | 00:46:33 | |
Holiday culture wars and consumerism bring more chaos than joy to the world. But there’s hope. The countercultural season of Advent offers a different way to prepare for Christmas. Tish Harrison Warren, former New York Times columnist and author, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:
Give a book for Christmas! __ Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. She is a former New York Times columnist the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year) and Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work, or Watch, or Weep (Christianity Today's 2022 Book of the Year and the 2022 ECPA Christian Book of the Year). Her latest book is Advent: The Season of Hope. She is a founding member of The Pelican Project and a Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum. She lives with her husband and three children in Austin, Texas.
__ __ __ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 06 Feb 2024 | The Gifts of an Evolving Faith with Sarah Bessey | 00:57:09 | |
Is faith something that should always stay the same? Or is it something that evolves by necessity? Sarah Bessey, author of Field Notes for the Wilderness, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:
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| 13 Feb 2024 | Reimagining the Good Life | 00:30:25 | |
This podcast has a new name: Reimagining the Good Life. If you’re asking, “Why a name change?” and “Why now?”—I have answers! Author and teacher Patricia Clarke talks with me about:
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_ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 20 Feb 2024 | Disability and the Language We Use with Andrew Leland | 01:01:21 | |
Is blindness an incidental characteristic, like hair color? Or is it an identity? What language should we use to talk about disability, and why does it matter? Andrew Leland, author of The Country of the Blind, joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast for a conversation examining:
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TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/andrew-leland/ YouTube: video with closed captions Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 05 Mar 2024 | Flannery O'Connor and the Prophetic Imagination with Jessica Hooten Wilson, Ph.D. | 00:45:29 | |
Why would a Christian author immerse her stories in darkness? Why would she use violent imagery that directly relates to Christianity, race, class, disability, and illness? And how can this darkness guide us toward the importance of love in the flesh, of personal connection and vulnerability? In this conversation, Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson, author of Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress, and Amy Julia Becker explore:
Register for the Festival of Faith & Writing Jessica Hooten Wilson (PhD, Baylor University) is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. She is the author or editor of eight books, including Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress, Reading for the Love of God, The Scandal of Holiness (winner of a Christianity Today 2023 Award of Merit), and Giving the Devil His Due: Demonic Authority in the Fiction of Flannery O’Connor and Fyodor Dostoevsky (winner of a 2018 Christianity Today Book of the Year Award). Wilson speaks around the world on topics as varied as Russian novelists, Catholic thinkers, and Christian ways of reading.
On the Podcast:
TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/jessica-hooten-wilson __ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 19 Mar 2024 | Reimagining Church Leadership and Disability with Andrew Draper, Ph.D. | 00:53:02 | |
Why does it matter that most churches don’t welcome people with disabilities in leadership? If a church excludes people with disabilities, is it really a church? Rev. Dr. Andrew Draper, coauthor of Disabling Leadership, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:
Workshop: Reimagining Family Life with Disability EVENT: Festival of Faith & Writing __ Rev. Dr. Andrew T. Draper (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is founding teaching pastor at Urban Light Community Church in Muncie, Indiana, and adjunct theology faculty at Anderson School of Theology and Winebrenner Seminary. He is the author of A Theology of Race and Place, Christian Mission and Poverty, and numerous articles on race, disability, and the church. He is the coauthor of Disabling Leadership: A Practical Theology for the Broken Body of Christ.
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_ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 02 Apr 2024 | When Your Church and Political Group Turn on You with Nancy French | 00:48:47 | |
{Please note that we discuss abuse in this episode.}
New Workshop with Amy Julia: Reimagining Family Life With Disability
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_ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 16 Apr 2024 | How to Honor Limits in a World That Doesn’t with Micha Boyett | 00:55:39 | |
What's the difference between limitations and brokenness? What does it mean to be blessed? How can a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism be a part of a flourishing life? Micha Boyett, a writer, poet, and mom, joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about her new book Blessed Are the Rest of Us. They explore the intersection of blessing, limits, and longing within the context of the Beatitudes, including:
Workshop with Amy Julia: Reimagining Family Life With Disability Guest Bio:
On the Podcast:
TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/micha-boyett/ YouTube Channel: video with closed captions Let’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 30 Apr 2024 | Bringing Politics Under the Power of Love with Michael Wear | 00:46:51 | |
We are heading into another contentious Presidential election. For people of faith, for people who care about character and gentleness and values, for people who are inclined to disengage from politics altogether, what are we to do? Michael Wear, author of The Spirit of Our Politics, joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about:
Workshop with Amy Julia: Reimagining Family Life With Disability “Michael Wear is the Founder, President and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution based in the nation's capital with the mission to contend for the credibility of Christian resources in public life, for the public good. For well over a decade, he has served as a trusted resource and advisor for a range of civic leaders on matters of faith and public life, including as a White House and presidential campaign staffer. He is the author of The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life, a paradigm-shifting book that advances a vision for spiritual formation in the context of political life, and the author and co-author of several other books.” _
_ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 14 May 2024 | Hope That Heals in a World That Hurts with Katherine Wolf | 00:49:38 | |
How do you hold onto hope in the midst of suffering? How can we trust in the goodness of God in a world of pain? What does the good life look like in the midst of disability and uncertainty? Katherine Wolf, author with Alex Wolf of Treasures in the Dark, survived a catastrophic stroke at the age of 26 and continues her recovery to this day. She offers thoughtful answers to these questions as she talks with Amy Julia Becker about:
FREE RESOURCE: 10 Ways to Move Toward a Good Future (especially for families affected by disability) _ Katherine & Jay Wolf are communicators and advocates. They married and moved to Los Angeles to pursue careers in law and the entertainment industry. Their son, James was born in 2007, and six months later Katherine’s life nearly ended with a catastrophic stroke. Miraculously, she survived and continues her recovery to this day, including having a miracle baby, John in 2015. Katherine and Jay have shared their journey of steadfast hope through their books and at speaking events. Together, they founded Hope Heals camp, a community for families with disabilities like them. Katherine, Jay and their two sons live in the Atlanta area.
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_ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 28 May 2024 | Chasing the Intact Mind with Amy Lutz, Ph.D. | 00:54:11 | |
In a society often obsessed with intelligence, can we reimagine a good life that encompasses joy, meaning, and respect for all? What does it mean to respect and support individuals with profound intellectual disabilities? What role do those most intimately involved in providing care have in advocacy? Professor Amy Lutz, Ph.D., author of Chasing the Intact Mind, joins Amy Julia Becker to discuss:
_ Professor Amy Lutz, Ph.D., is a historian of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research locates at the intersection of disability history and bioethics. She is a founding board member of the National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA) and the author of Chasing the Intact Mind and several other books. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and five children, including Jonah, her 25-year-old son with profound autism.
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_ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 11 Jun 2024 | Exploring the Good Life with Meghan Sullivan, Ph.D. | 00:46:37 | |
What does it mean to live a good life? How do we find meaning and happiness in our everyday lives? In this episode, Amy Julia Becker sits down with Meghan Sullivan, co-author of The Good Life Method and philosophy professor at Notre Dame, to explore:
_ _ Meghan Sullivan is the Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. She serves as Director of the University-wide Ethics Initiative and is the founding director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, which will launch in the summer of 2024. In 2022, Sullivan published The Good Life Method with Penguin Press (co-authored with her teaching collaborator Paul Blaschko) based on a wildly popular introductory philosophy course she developed at Notre Dame called “God and the Good Life.” Sullivan has degrees from the University of Virginia, Oxford University, and Rutgers University, where she earned a PhD in philosophy. She studied at Balliol College, Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar.
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_ TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/meghan-sullivan/ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 03 Sep 2024 | Introducing Season 8 of Reimagining the Good Life | 00:05:22 | |
How do we envision the good life in a way that is hopeful and human and freeing and good? Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 10 Sep 2024 | Narrow Path, Spacious Life with Rich Villodas | 00:49:08 | |
The ways we have envisioned success—whether it’s more wealth, social media followers, recognition, or power—might actually lead us away from an abundant, spacious life. Pastor Rich Villodas, author of The Narrow Way, joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast to examine how the Sermon on the Mount challenges prevailing notions of success and the good life and invites us to reimagine faithfulness to Jesus.
Check out Amy Julia's live, online WORKSHOP: Reimagining Family Life with Disability. Use code FAMILY24 at checkout and take 30% off! Guest Bio: Rich Villodas is the author of 4 books, including his latest The Narrow Path: How the Subversive Way of Jesus Satisfies Our Souls. He is the lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church with more than 75 countries represented, in Elmhurst, Queens, and Long Island, New York. He is the co-host of the Resilient Pastor podcast. He’s been married to Rosie since 2006, and they have two beautiful children, Karis and Nathan.
TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/rich-villodas-2024/ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 24 Sep 2024 | What’s Normal? The Anthropology of Disability with Tom Pearson, Ph.D. | 00:48:44 | |
What does it mean to be human? Who counts as a human being and why? Anthropologist Tom Pearson has been asking these questions for a living for a long time, and then his daughter was born and diagnosed with Down syndrome, prompting him to ask the questions all over again in his book An Ordinary Future.
FREE RESOURCE: 10 Ways to Move Toward a Good Future {especially for families with disability} Guest Bio: Tom Pearson is a cultural anthropologist with wide-ranging interests in the fields of environmental justice and disability studies. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, where he also chairs the social science department. His writing has appeared in numerous scholarly journals and other public outlets. The birth of his daughter Michaela and her diagnosis with Down syndrome thrust him into an unfamiliar world of disability and difference. His book An Ordinary Future: Margaret Mead, the Problem of Disability, and a Child Born Different examines this experience in relation to Margaret Mead's path to disability rights activism. It confronts the dominant ideas, disturbing contradictions, and dramatic transformations that have shaped our perspectives on disability over the last century.
Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 08 Oct 2024 | How Stories of Hope Empower Justice with Jemar Tisby, Ph.D. | 00:50:14 | |
The way we tell the stories of our past plays a crucial role in shaping our imagination for the future. Author and historian Jemar Tisby, Ph.D., insists in his work that we tell a fuller story of our past, especially when it comes to the history of race and justice within the United States. Jemar joins Amy Julia Becker to discuss his latest book, The Spirit of Justice. Their conversation includes:
Amy Julia's book: _ Jemar Tisby, PhD, is the author of new book The Spirit of Justice, and he also wrote the New York Times bestselling The Color of Compromise, and the award-winning How to Fight Racism. He is a historian who studies race, religion, and social movements in the twentieth century and serves as a professor at Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically Black college. Website: https://jemartisby.com/ | Instagram | Facebook | Substack/Newsletter
_ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 22 Oct 2024 | The Measure of Intelligence with Pepper Stetler, Ph.D. | 00:50:43 | |
What freedom could we offer one another as humans if we weren’t so stuck on the "treadmill of achievements and quantified learning"? Pepper Stetler, PhD, is the author of A Measure of Intelligence: One Mother's Reckoning with the IQ Test. She joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast to share her personal journey navigating the world of IQ testing with her daughter Louisa, who has Down syndrome. Amy Julia and Dr. Stetler explore:
_ On the Podcast: A Measure of Intelligence: One Mother's Reckoning with the IQ Test by Pepper Stetler _ _ Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 05 Nov 2024 | How to Be Christian During Election Season with Corey Widmer, Ph.D. | 00:48:19 | |
Political divides don't just disappear after elections. If you long for a hopeful way forward, this conversation is for you. Pastor Corey Widmer talks with Amy Julia Becker about how to navigate political polarization with humility, love, and a commitment to Jesus' way of life.
_ _ Watch this conversation on YouTube by clicking here. Read the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast. Rev. Corey Widmer is Senior Pastor of Third Church, a Presbyterian congregation in Richmond, VA. A graduate of University of Virginia and Princeton Theological Seminary, he also has a Ph.D. in theology from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Corey is married to Sarah, a public health nurse, and they have 4 teenage daughters. Corey loves reading, exploring the outdoors, and pickleball! Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 19 Nov 2024 | A Life Worth Living? Reimagining Life, Choice, and Disability with Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Ph.D. | 00:52:26 | |
How do we decide who has a life worth living? Author and professor emerita Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, PhD, joins Amy Julia Becker to discuss what it means to:
_ _ CONNECT with Dr. Garland-Thomson on her website: rosemariegarlandthomson.com Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 03 Dec 2024 | The New Testament in Color with Esau McCaulley, Ph.D. | 00:44:59 | |
How do we attend to diverse voices in our churches and society without silencing or patronizing each other? Author and professor Esau McCaulley, PhD, joins Amy Julia Becker to discuss The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary. They talk about:
_ NYT essays by Esau McCaulley CONNECT with Dr. McCaulley on his website (esaumccaulley.com) and on social media (@esaumccaulley) Watch this conversation on YouTube by clicking here. Read the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast. Esau McCaulley, PhD, is an author and The Jonathan Blanchard Associate Professor of New Testament and Public Theology at Wheaton College. His writing and speaking focus on New Testament Exegesis, African American Biblical Interpretation, and Public Theology. He has authored numerous books including, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope, which won numerous awards including Christianity Today’s Book of the Year. Esau also served as the editor of New Testament in Color: A Multi-Ethnic Commentary on the New Testament. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 14 Jan 2025 | The Discipline of Inspiration with Carey Wallace | 00:50:14 | |
"Just try harder. Work harder. Think harder." But what if the key to creativity, whether that’s in our art or in the art of our daily lives, isn’t more effort but surrender? Carey Wallace, artist and author of The Discipline of Inspiration, joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about:
_ The Discipline of Inspiration by Carey Wallace Image Seminar: The Discipline of Inspiration (a five-week craft workshop) Slow Productivity by Cal Newport Jon Batiste interview on Fresh Air Once a Queen: A Novel by Sarah Arthur Once a Castle by Sarah Arthur _ CONNECT with Carey Wallace on her website (disciplineofinspiration.org), Instagram (@disciplineofinspiration), or Facebook (@disciplineofinspiration). _ WATCH this conversation on YouTube by clicking here. Read the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast. _ ABOUT THE GUEST: Carey Wallace is the author of The Discipline of Inspiration (Eerdmans), The Blind Contessa’s New Machine (Penguin), and The Ghost In The Glass House (Clarion). She works to help people from all walks of life find inspiration and build strong creative habits to sustain a lifetime of creation. She performs as a songwriter, exhibits her own fine art, and has spoken on art, faith, and justice with students at Princeton, Julliard, Emory, Pratt, and Yale. Her articles and poems have appeared in Time, Detroit’s Metro Times, and America. She is the founder of a retreat for artists in Michigan, and the Discipline of Inspiration creative habit formation program, which has been in operation for over a decade across the US and internationally. She grew up in small towns in Michigan, and lives and works in Brooklyn. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 15 Nov 2019 | Season One Trailer: Prepare Him Room | 00:01:53 | |
Listen now to get a sense of season one of the Love is Stronger than Fear podcast. Amy Julia Becker introduces a series of reflections about God showing up in the midst of the everyday life of eating, drinking, and doing too much, and experiencing love and grace through it all. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 29 Nov 2019 | Tis the Season for Stress | 00:06:27 | |
Today’s episode gives a sense of our journey together this Advent season. We’re preparing for love to show up on Christmas morning in the form of a baby, but we’re also longing for love to show up in the midst of the everyday stress and joy of the holiday season. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 30 Nov 2019 | An Introduction | 00:03:42 | |
I’ve written often about Advent and Christmas. A few years ago I gathered many of those thoughts into an ebook so they could accompany the Biblical stories of Jesus’ coming and birth. This year, I am reading that ebook out loud. To you. One day at a time. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 01 Dec 2019 | Why Bodies Matter | 00:08:13 | |
Today’s podcast comes from Matthew 1:1-17, which might seem boring because it’s a genealogy, but Jesus’ story starts here, and this list of names is important. It reminds us that Jesus—the one who in just a few verses will be named God with us—came to us in a body. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 02 Dec 2019 | Hopes and Fears | 00:06:50 | |
Today we’re reading Matthew 1:18-21, where the angel implies that Joseph is afraid to take Mary home as his wife. I’m grateful we aren’t asked to eliminate fears in order to claim hope. Rather we are invited to bring hope and fear in a mixed up jumble to Jesus. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 03 Dec 2019 | Prepare Him Room | 00:05:21 | |
Today we’re reading Matthew 1:22-25, which describes Joseph and Mary’s preparations to welcome Jesus as their son. Preparing room means clearing out space. Cleaning up. Moving the detritus into the basement. How do I prepare room for Jesus on a spiritual level? Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 04 Dec 2019 | Other Religions at Christmastime | 00:09:19 | |
A simple statement from our son makes me realize I haven’t talked much about other religions with our children. This episode gives you a chance to eavesdrop on our conversation. Can we honor each religious tradition without pretending they’re all the same? Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 05 Dec 2019 | The Importance of Gifts | 00:06:05 | |
At times I want to protest the commercialization of Christmas. In today’s episode we talk about tinsel and tacky decorations and the fact that our son, when he was two years old, thought more highly of Santa than God. Part of me wants to do away with Christmas extravagance altogether. Yet from the beginning of Jesus’ life, people responded with extravagant generosity. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 06 Dec 2019 | Somber Exile | 00:06:21 | |
There is nothing trite about this time of year. In today’s podcast we see that Advent is a time of sorrowful expectation, of daring to hope that Immanuel, God-with-us, is still working to make things right in this world. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 07 Dec 2019 | Waiting | 00:05:27 | |
Advent involves the sorrowful expectation that God will indeed bring good news by showing up in our messy, broken lives. In today’s podcast I talk about a new tradition our family has integrated into our Advent practice that I hope has deepened our understanding of the spirit of this season. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 08 Dec 2019 | Hoping to Find Faith | 00:04:41 | |
Today we look at Luke’s story of Jesus. We’re invited to enter this story with our questions, but also with our love. This is a book filled with holy tension between faith and doubt, between love and investigation. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 09 Dec 2019 | Holy Questions | 00:07:16 | |
A baby born of a virgin, a God who became a human being, a promise that the entire world will one day taste the resurrection–I have my own set of questions for each one of those claims. In today’s episode I talk about my questions and the God who keeps showing up. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 10 Dec 2019 | Anxiety and the Prince of Peace | 00:07:22 | |
Mary had good reasons to be “greatly troubled.” She was young, unwed, and about to learn that she would be a teenage mother. I have never had such reason to worry, but worry has plagued me still. Anxiety comes up throughout the Bible, and over and over again God offers peace. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 11 Dec 2019 | Shame and Glory | 00:05:36 | |
“I am the Lord’s servant.” Mary said "yes" to both shame and glory, writes poet Luci Shaw. In today’s episode I talk about how in saying yes to God’s invitation to bear love in this world, we are willing to endure misunderstanding at best and abuse at worst. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 12 Dec 2019 | When Mary Says “Oh Crap” to God | 00:06:21 | |
In today’s episode I focus on Mary’s humanness. We know Mary was frightened. We know Mary was confused. If Mary could come to God with fear, with confusion, with her real self, well, so can we. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 13 Dec 2019 | Being Elizabeth | 00:05:18 | |
What does it take for Mary to have hope? It takes God’s word, sure. But it also takes Elizabeth. It takes another person to affirm God’s work in Mary’s life. Today I look at how we access hope as we speak the truth of God’s promises into one another’s lives. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 14 Dec 2019 | Love Hates | 00:07:13 | |
In today’s episode, I look at Mary’s song and an uncomfortable truth about who God is. Yes, God is love. But what God’s love looks like as it enters a world filled with injustice and abuse and oppression isn’t always what we expect. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 15 Dec 2019 | George Bailey and the Secret to Being Content Part One | 00:05:57 | |
In today’s episode I give you a glimpse of when I was grumpy for a few years. Maybe not every day. But most days. And at the core of my being, deep inside my heart, lay a stone, a slowly growing bitter stone of resentment and self-pity. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 16 Dec 2019 | George Bailey and the Secret to Being Content Part Two | 00:06:25 | |
Today I look at a passage in the Bible that relates to George Bailey, and to Zechariah, and to me, and to all of us who think we need impressive resumes and accomplishments in order to prove our worth to the world. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 17 Dec 2019 | Ordinary Hard Stuff | 00:07:08 | |
Today’s reflection comes from a time when our kids were little, our cat was alive, and I was in a hard spot personally. A time when I needed to learn about expecting God to show up not only when our life is in crisis but also in the every day. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 18 Dec 2019 | Not Prepared | 00:05:02 | |
I'm more or less ready for Christmas. But am I ready for Jesus? Not really. I'm not ready for Jesus to show up, and perhaps that's exactly as it should be. Today on the podcast we’re talking about how Jesus is ready to enter my life—just as it is. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 19 Dec 2019 | Light in The Darkness | 00:04:40 | |
The light shines in the darkness. Today’s episode looks at how the glitz, parties, and gifts of the commercialized Christmas can serve as very physical reminders of what, of whom, we celebrate this season. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 20 Dec 2019 | Joy All Year Round | 00:05:45 | |
When I sing Christmas hymns to my children at night, I am naming something that runs deeper than peppermint ice cream and mistletoe, and yet it is through baking and decorating and gifts that I communicate the spiritual reality contained in those Christmas church songs. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 21 Dec 2019 | Darkness and Light | 00:05:11 | |
The darkness of the human heart. We don’t like to talk about that darkness, not at Christmastime, and really not ever. But if Jesus has come to be a light in the darkness, then the reason to talk about darkness is so that we can turn toward the light. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 22 Dec 2019 | Seeing The Darkness | 00:04:10 | |
In today’s episode I talk about our options when we see the darkness inside our own lives, like a ketchup stain on a shirt. We can turn off the lights and go back to ignorance. Or we can ask Jesus to help us clean it up. But what do we do when some stains don’t disappear? Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 23 Dec 2019 | Light That Guides Us | 00:04:51 | |
Living with Jesus, living in the light, means we start to see the things that God hates in this world. Injustice to people who are vulnerable and needy might be at the top of the list of things God hates. But light doesn't just expose. It also guides us and shows us how to reflect the light that brings healing and change in the world. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 24 Dec 2019 | Birthday Party for Jesus | 00:05:06 | |
Our tradition on Christmas Eve is to throw a birthday party for Jesus. As we approach the mayhem of Christmas morning, we remind ourselves that the gifts Jesus asks for are those of a humble heart, a contrite spirit, and a willingness to give ourselves in love to those in need. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 25 Dec 2019 | Merry Christmas | 00:04:18 | |
Our children will open presents today, and their joy at receiving gifts that they cannot buy for themselves will remind me of the extravagant and free love of a God who comes when we don’t expect him and shines light and hope in the darkest corners of our lives and our world. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 26 Dec 2019 | Jesus Came from A Dysfunctional Family | 00:07:28 | |
I’m sneaking in one more bonus episode of the podcast because I couldn’t resist and because it’s about family, and, well, as we approach the end of the holiday season, sometimes we need to be reminded of the title of this episode—Jesus Came from a Dysfunctional Family. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 02 Jan 2020 | Head Heart Hands ebook | 00:01:37 | |
I'm excited to introduce to you Head Heart Hands, my new resource that accompanies White Picket Fences. This free action guide offers ways to respond to the harm of social divisions and privilege in a thoughtful, loving, and courageous manner. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 07 Feb 2020 | Race, Sex, Faith, and the Halftime Show | 00:49:21 | |
And now for something completely different: the Superbowl halftime show! After noticing really different reactions to the show from white Christian women and Christian women of color, my good friend Niro Feliciano and I decided to record a conversation. Listen as we talk about Shakira and J Lo, about how culture shapes our view of the world, and how to grow in love even when we disagree. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 17 Mar 2020 | S02 Ep. 101: A Global Pandemic, a Market Meltdown, No School, and the Bible | 00:26:10 | |
It was after the election of President Trump in 2016 that I first wrote the words, “Love is stronger than fear.” Fears haven’t abated in the past few years, and they only increased in the past few weeks as we face an unprecedented medical and economic crisis across the globe. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 24 Mar 2020 | S2 Ep. 102 Social Connection in a Time of Social Distance | 00:25:26 | |
How do we connect socially in a time of social distance? Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians in the midst of his own extended time of social isolation. This letter he wrote offers us words of honesty and hope in the midst of our current moment. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 24 Mar 2020 | Bonus Episode: A Three-Minute Invitation to Peace | 00:07:33 | |
For all of you who are stressed, and fearful, and worried—for yourself, for your family, for those you love, for our whole world—I want to share a practice that has helped me. I invite you to give yourself three minutes today. Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 31 Mar 2020 | S2 Ep. 103 The Foundation is Shaking: Coronavirus and Living in Love | 00:26:48 | |
What do we do when the foundation is shaking? Thousands of Americans have already died from the coronavirus. Hundreds of thousands of people are sick from this virus around the globe. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, just last week. So what do we do when the foundation is shaking and busyness, self-medication, and entertainment are not enough? Today’s episode explores six ways to receive God's love in the time of coronavirus. Additional Resources:
Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 07 Apr 2020 | S2 Ep 104: COVID-19, Holy Week, and Preparing for Suffering with Love | 00:26:26 | |
“Why does God allow the coronavirus to exist?” is the question my kids (and many of us) are asking this week. More generally, why does God allow suffering to happen? Why doesn’t God stop the suffering? I can’t offer any easy answers, but we will tackle this age-old question in today’s episode of the Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast. As we enter the Christian celebration of Holy Week, we’ll look at how Jesus faced his own suffering and death with love. We will also explore how Paul faced the prospect of his own death without fear and with love, and how we too can enter into a place of greater peace, hope, and love without denying our real fears and sorrows. Show Notes Blog post I wrote about how Psalm 63 moves us towards hope Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 14 Apr 2020 | S2 Ep 105: COVID-19, Privilege, and What Keeps Us from Living in Love | 00:36:18 | |
What does COVID-19 tell us about our humanity? In today’s episode, Amy Julia talks about the way this pandemic exposes three truths of human nature. She also explores three impediments to living in love: distraction, fear, and injustice. With a look at Philippians 2:1-4 as an ideal way to live, she offers thoughts on the way social divisions impede living in love.
For the Life of the World podcast (Miroslav Volf) Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||
| 21 Apr 2020 | S2 Ep 106 Where is God When People Suffer? | 00:28:27 | |
Science, medicine, and politics can answer lots of our questions about where the coronavirus came from and what it is doing in and among humans. But another set of questions arises in times like this. Can we find any meaning or purpose in this suffering? Can we find any meaning or purpose in our lives right now? Is God present, and loving, and real? Where is God in the midst of suffering? In this episode, Amy Julia looks at what Paul writes about who Jesus Christ is as a way to understand who God is in the midst of suffering and how voluntary self-sacrifice motivated by love equips and empowers us to find meaning and experience God’s loving presence in our current moment. Show Notes:
Connect with me: Thanks for listening! | |||