Shows
Human Is A Verb PodcastEpisode 4: Lean In-God With Us in the Dark, John NielsonIn this episode, I got to sit with pastor and theologian John Nielson to reflect on Advent as a season where joy and sorrow co-mingle. If you or anyone you know is experiencing grief in this season, this episode is for you (and them!).If you’ve missed the other episodes, here they are:Episode 1: Waiting Without Turning Away, David YoungEpisode 2: I Got You: Preparing for Peace in the Wilderness, Mat ThomasEpisode 3: You See Me: Digging Out For Joy, Julene TegerstrandIf these podcasts have meant something to...
2025-12-1839 min
Human Is A Verb PodcastEpisode 3: You See Me: Digging Out for Joy, Julene TegerstrandDear Human is A Verb Community-I poured my heart into this episode. It includes a recording I made in the weeks after ENC closed. It is raw and shows what it can look like to experience anxiety and trust, sadness and joy all in the same moment. Advent is pregnant with all the emotions — all at the same time. I hope you enjoy. If you’ve missed the other episodes, here they are:Episode 1: Waiting Without Turning Away, David YoungEpisode 2: I Got You - Preparing for Peace in the Wild...
2025-12-1040 min
Human Is A Verb PodcastRadishes and Radical HospitalityDear Human is a Verb Community-On the first Sunday of Advent, my husband Steve carried a mixing bowl full of red radishes into a church potluck. That unlikely root vegetable became a symbol of an invitation: stay awake to God’s presence by practicing radical hospitality.Radical hospitality is about being rooted and grounded. It is a way of being receptive to our own pain without shame, receiving others without defensiveness, and receiving our incarcerated and returning neighbors as part of the one human body we belong to.In this episode, Steve sh...
2025-12-0329 min
Human Is A Verb PodcastEpisode 2: "I Got You" - Preparing for Peace in the Wilderness, Mat ThomasEpisode 2: “I Got You” – Preparing for Peace in the WildernessWhat does it mean to prepare for peace when your own life feels anything but peaceful? In this episode, we follow Pastor Mat Thomas into the wilderness of infertility, foster care, and adoption, and we meet John the Baptist and Catherine of Siena along the way.Mat and his wife I’Esha longed for children and walked through the heartbreak of fertility challenges. Their story winds through doctors’ appointments, prayers that felt unanswered, and eventually a call to become foster parents. As Mat tells the story of s...
2025-11-2640 min
Human Is A Verb PodcastEpisode 1: Waiting Without Turning Away, David YoungDear Human is a Verb Community—I’ve been working on an Advent resource with a group of colleagues from ENC over created my first-ever storytelling podcast mini-series called Waiting in Wonder. Each episode follows a story of one of my ENC Religion colleagues, a gospel story, and a Woman Christian Mystic who lived in a time of disruption.Episode 1: Waiting without Turning Away: David Young, Simone Weil, and Matthew Ch 24Episode 2: I Got You: Mat Thomas, Catherine of Siena, Mathew Ch 3Episode 3: Julene Tegerstrand, Etty Hillesom, Matthew Ch 11Epis...
2025-11-0429 min
Human Is A Verb PodcastInterrupted by the Bell: The Activated Contemplative Welcome to Human as a Verb, an audio newsletter this week about practicing the sacred work of being human. Today, we'll explore the Benedictine rhythm of prayer and work and how contemplative Praxis invites us to view our inner life and social action as an integrated whole, shaping our engagement with the world. And to bring this to life, I wanted to share a story about someone who listened to me, not only with their words, but with their whole life. Through simple acts of hospitality and welcome, it takes me back to when I live...
2025-09-1014 min
Human Is A Verb PodcastFacing Our Own ExileDear Human Is A Verb Community,Here is what you can expect in this (long) essay:* What's left of our humanity when AI can do everything?* Why "bearing God's image" matters in the age of machines* How the Creation and ancient exile stories speak to a people facing disruption* Why emotional intelligence, empathy, and courage are our superpowersThis essay is for you if... have you ever wondered what it means to be human in a world where machines seem more capable than we are.
2025-07-0213 min
Human Is A Verb PodcastCookies in A Prison Classroomn this episode, the story of a cookie in a prison classroom serves as the starting point for a deeper reflection on how dignity shows up in our lives — or doesn’t — in both small gestures and systemic failures. This reflection explores what it means to practice dignity, both individually and communally, and how the choices we make can either build or diminish the relational fabric that holds us together.Listen in as personal experience, spiritual insight, and a call to action come together, inviting us to cultivate a world where dignity is practiced, one small...
2025-04-2913 min
Human Is A Verb PodcastDiscipleship and the Distance Between usIs there someone you need to speak to, not about, but to?What if that phone call became a spiritual practice?Welcome to Human Is a Verb, a podcast about practicing the sacred work of being human.I'm your host, Julene Tegerstrand.Today's episode is a story about my dad and Iabout the phone calls I almost didn't make,and about how that simple choice became a doorway into something holy.I didn’t even know that discipleship could look like learning how to speakand listen in a new way.But it...
2025-04-0909 min
Human Is A Verb PodcastThe Quietest Form of ResistanceOne afternoon, I found myself standing at the kitchen counter with the fridge still open, not sure what I was looking for. I wasn’t hungry. I wasn’t even bored. I was just... full. Full of news updates I didn’t ask for, full of things I should be doing, full of opinions and noise and worry. The kind of full that makes you tired and a little mentally hangry.I closed the fridge, walked into our office (we call it the Sunrise Room), and stared out the window to the expansive blue ocean of a horizo...
2025-04-0414 min