Reimagining the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker

S9 E7 — Your body is trying to tell you something. Are you listening? In this episode, corporate lawyer Justin Whitmel Earley joins Amy Julia Becker to explore how spiritual life is also embodied life. As you reflect on the year ahead, this conversation invites you to think not in terms of resolutions, but in terms of habits that nurture health and wholeness. Justin and Amy Julia reflect on:How breathing can reconnect body and soulHow fasting, feasting, and everyday meals contribute to the spiritual lifeHow to understand pain and sickness in a world that is both beautiful and brokenWhy sleep matters spiritually00:00 Intro: Anxiety Journey05:20 The Body and Soul Connection09:25 Cultural Disconnect14:46 Breath: A Practice to Reconnect Body and Soul23:35 Food: Fasting, Feasting, and Ordinary Fare32:08 Understanding Pain and Sickness in a Broken World38:18 The Spiritual Significance of Sleep_MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Bible verses: Ephesians 2; Genesis 1-2; Genesis 2:7; Genesis 2:9; Psalm 23Kelly Kapic interview with Amy JuliaEmbodied Hope by Kelly Kapic_WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTubeSUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.comJOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabeckerLISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/_ABOUT OUR GUEST:Justin Whitmel Earley is a writer, speaker, and lawyer. He is the author of The Common Rule, Habits of the Household, and Made for People, though he spends most days running his business law practice. Through his writing and speaking, Justin empowers God’s people to thrive through life-giving habits that form them in the love of God and neighbor. He continually explores both how physical habits are more spiritual than we think and how spiritual habits are more physical than we think. He lives with his wife and four boys in Richmond, Virginia, spends a lot of time around fires and porches with friends, and is a part-owner of a local gym. You can follow him online at justinwhitmelearley.com.ONLINE:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justinwhitmelearleyauthor/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhitmelearley/X: https://x.com/Justin_W_EarleyYouTube: www.youtube.com/@justinwhitmelearley163We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

S9 E6 — In a season of parties and entertaining, it’s good to remember that hospitality means something very different—welcoming the stranger and caring for one another. In The Hospitality of Need, Kevan Chandler, born with a progressive disability, explores how dependence can expand life and deepen community. His story points us back to our shared human neediness, reflected in the baby lying in the manger. 00:0 Reimagining the Good Life06:12 Gift of Interdependence12:52 Understanding Need and Hospitality17:37 Proximity and Need21:43 Peer to Peer Caregiving26:39 A Journey to Skellig Michael32:53 Spiritual Realities of Need38:12 Invitation Into NeedMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Amy Julia’s interview with Kevan on Take the Next StepThe Hospitality of Need: How Depending on One Another Helps Us Heal and Grow Together by Kevan Chandler and Tommy SheltonWe Carry Kevan I John 1_WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTubeSUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.comJOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabeckerLISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/_ABOUT OUR GUEST:KEVAN CHANDLER is the founder of the nonprofit organization We Carry Kevan and speaks worldwide about friendship and disability. He and his wife, Katie, enjoy doing everything together, including growing vegetables and reading to each other.Kevan was the second of his siblings to be diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, type 2, a rare neuromuscular disease. In 2016, he and his friends took a trip across Europe, leaving his wheelchair at home, and his friends carried him for three weeks in a backpack.An avid storyteller, Kevan is an author and speaker worldwide about his friendships and unique life with a disability, being a featured speaker for Tedx and Google, as well as various conferences, pharmaceutical companies, and universities.__We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

S9 E5 — There is a lot of conversation right now about the role of women and men in society. Whether we’re talking about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal or the viral essay "The Great Feminization" and all the commentary it sparked, it’s clear we’re in a cultural moment where we don’t quite know how to talk about men and women. Should we see men and women as interchangeable? What does equality look like when our bodies are not the same? Can we admit our neediness and maintain our dignity as women or as men? These are some of the questions I'm asking Leah Libresco Sargeant as we talk about her new book, The Dignity of Dependence.00:00 The World is the Wrong Shape for Women6:14 The Lie of Autonomy and How It Harms Everyone21:09 Building a Just Society: Dismantling False Anthropology22:52 Understanding Disability and Unemployment25:43 Societal Examples of Dependent Communities30:15 The Dignity of Dependence32:51 Legacy of Care in Society38:20 The Costs of Devaluing Vulnerability41:14 Practices for Embracing DependenceMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto by Leah Libresco SargeantSara Hendren’s What Can a Body DoAmy Julia’s interview with Sara Hendren: Who Belongs? Disability and the Built World with Sara Hendren_WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTubeSUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.comJOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabeckerLISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/_ABOUT OUR GUEST:Leah Libresco Sargeant is the author of several books, including The Dignity of Dependence. She runs the substack Other Feminisms, which focuses on how to advocate for women as women in a world that makes an idol of autonomy. She lives in Maryland and works in family policy in D.C.Other Feminisms: https://www.otherfeminisms.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/leahlibresco__We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

S9 E4 — What if real freedom doesn’t come from more self-esteem—but from self-forgetfulness? Amy Julia Becker and author and pastor Sharon Hodde Miller explore the difference between the false self and the true self—and how thinking about ourselves less without thinking less of ourselves leads to healing, humility, and purpose.00:00 Introduction01:58 Defining Self and Self-Forgetfulness07:33 Understanding the Self and Healing09:50 Noticing Ourselves14:12 False Self vs. True Self16:31 The Concept of Self-Denial19:18 The Role of the Body in Self-Understanding22:08 Embracing Insecurity, Humility, and Limitations29:33 The Role of Self in Parenting31:34 Beyond Self: Purpose and Community38:12 Practicing Humility in Daily LifeMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Free of Me and Gazing at God • Books by Sharon Hodde MillerThe Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim KellerTo Be Made Well and White Picket Fences by Amy Julia BeckerAmy Julia's new podcast: Take the Next Step amyjuliabecker.com/step/_WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTubeSUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.comJOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabeckerLISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/_ABOUT OUR GUEST:Sharon Hodde Miller (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) leads Bright City Church in Durham, NC with her husband, Ike. She writes, travels around the country speaking at churches and conferences each year, and holds a PhD on women and calling. Sharon is the author of three books: Gazing at God, Free of Me, and Nice. Sharon lives in North Carolina with her husband and 3 young children. To read more of her writing, you can visit her site, SheWorships.com, and you can connect with her on Instagram at @sharonhmiller. We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

S9 E3 — What is the good life? Is it a life marked by money and success and achievement? Or a life marked by love? Author and professor Kelly Kapic joins Amy Julia Becker to rethink our obsession with productivity and self-reliance. They explore:Why “independence” is not the idealHow love—not intelligence or achievement—defines our humanityHow receiving our limits can lead to rest, belonging, and deeper joySubscribe to Amy Julia’s Substack newsletter: amyjuliabecker.com/subscribe/00:00 Exploring Humanity's Limits and Gifts 04:30 The Distinction Between Limits and Brokenness 09:35 Redefining Human Value Beyond Achievement 12:16 The Role of Love in Defining Humanity 19:45 The Gift of Humble Dependence in Relationships 26:03 Recognizing and Cultivating Gifts 28:21 The Good Life: Beyond Material Success and Happiness 34:33 Embracing Limits within Work, Rest, and Love 39:16 Practices for Accepting Limits and Cultivating Love__MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Books: You Were Never Meant to Do It All, You're Only Human, and Embodied Hope by Kelly KapicFour Thousand Weeks by Oliver BurkemanWhen Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert Becoming Whole by by Brian Fikkert and Kelly KapicWorld Happiness ReportI Corinthians 13__WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTubeSUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.comJOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabeckerLISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/_ABOUT OUR GUEST:Kelly M. Kapic (PhD, King's College, University of London) is professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, where he has taught since 2001. He is a popular speaker and the award-winning author or editor of more than fifteen books, including the devotional You Were Never Meant to Do It All, The God Who Gives, and the Christianity Today Book Award winners You're Only Human and Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering. Kapic has been featured in Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition and has worked on research teams funded by the John Templeton Foundation. He also contributes to the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care and various other journals. kellykapic.com___We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

S9 E2 — What if disability isn’t something to fix, but a way to see God and one another more clearly? Theologian John Swinton joins Amy Julia Becker to explore how our ideas of perfection, healing, and humanity can distort—or deepen—our understanding of the good life. Together, they imagine a church and a world that welcomes every body as good, beloved, and whole. They explore:How culture shapes (and distorts) our perceptions of disability and beautyWhat it means for a world to be both wounded and belovedWhy the difference between goodness and perfection mattersHow interdependence includes both beauty and a cost__TAKE THE NEXT STEP PODCAST: amyjuliabecker.com/step/SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia’s newsletter: amyjuliabecker.com/subscribe/__00:00 Introduction02:54 Significance of Disability in Faith05:50 Cultural Perceptions of Disability08:50 The Image of God and Human Relationships11:45 Understanding Goodness vs. Perfection18:18 Goodness and Suffering23:55 The Power of Naming and Identity27:38 Relationality and the Cost of Interdependence35:38 Resisting Culture's Distortions of the Image of God__MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Christianity Today essay: “It Was Good, Not Perfect.”Genesis 1-3_WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTubeSUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.comJOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabeckerLISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/_ABOUT OUR GUEST:John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. For more than a decade John worked as a registered mental health nurse. He also worked for a number of years as a hospital and community mental health Chaplain alongside of people with severe mental health challenges who were moving from the hospital into the community. In 2004, he founded the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. He has published widely within the area of mental health, dementia, disability theology, spirituality and healthcare, end of life care, qualitative research and pastoral care. John is the author of a number of monographs including Finding Jesus in the Storm: The spiritual lives of people with mental health challenges. (Eerdmans 2020) which won the Aldersgate prize for outstanding interdisciplinary work within theology. His book Dementia: Living in the memories of God won the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Ramsey Prize for excellence in theological writing. We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Karen Swallow Prior, an author and scholar on vocation and literature, shares insights on finding meaning in everyday work. She discusses how true calling differs from passion and emphasizes that vocation centers on service and relationships. Karen highlights the importance of pursuing truth, goodness, and beauty in our lives, and how multiple callings can unfold throughout our journey. She also reflects on the role of suffering in shaping our vocations and suggests spiritual practices to discern our purpose in a noisy world.

What really makes life worth living? This season on Reimagining the Good Life, Amy Julia Becker dives into the ideas, assumptions, and cultural narratives that shape how we live. Upcoming conversations include:Karen Swallow Prior on callingSharon Hodde Miller on self-forgetfulnessKelly Kapic on human limitationsLeah Libresco Sargeant on the dignity of dependence If you’re curious about culture, disability, family, and faith—and how big ideas can change everyday life—this season is for you.__WATCH on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTubeSUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.comJOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabeckerLISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

This is the very first episode of my new podcast, Take the Next Step, and I’m sharing it here so you won’t miss the launch. Be sure to follow Take the Next Step with Amy Julia Becker wherever you listen so you don’t miss future episodes. (New episodes of Reimagining the Good Life are coming in October!)Follow the new podcast at: amyjuliabecker.com/step/__Feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of disability? Katherine Wolf, author, advocate, and co-founder of Hope Heals, joins Amy Julia Becker to explore how families can reimagine disability, build connection, and celebrate life. From the dinner table to the slow work of recovery, learn how to find delight in the story you have. Discover:How to experience joy in the process, not just the outcomeDaily habits to cultivate gratitude and delightHow to build a supportive, connected communityWhy purpose and contribution matter for every family_MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Katherine’s books, resources, gatherings, and inter-ability communities: hopeheals.com. Luke 14_WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTubeSUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.comJOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabeckerLISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/_ABOUT OUR GUEST:Katherine Wolf is an author, advocate, and co-founder of Hope Heals. After she survived a near-fatal brainstem stroke at age 26, her family’s journey through disability has become a public witness that good and hard can co-exist in the same story. Through caregiving, storytelling, and lived theology, Katherine is inviting others into a vision of hope, interdependence, and embodied resilience. She and her husband Jay live in Atlanta with their two sons.Website: www.hopeheals.com Instagram: @hopeheals_Take the Next Step is produced in collaboration with Hope Heals. Hope Heals creates sacred spaces of belonging and belovedness for families affected by disabilities to experience sustaining hope in the context of inclusive, intentional, inter-ability communities. Find out more about our resources, gatherings, and inter-ability communities at hopeheals.com. Follow us on Instagram @hopeheals.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

I’m so excited to share something new with you! My new show, Take the Next Step, is a podcast for families experiencing disability—filled with real talk, real tools, and real hope. Tune in over at Take the Next Step each week for conversations with parents, therapists, and advocates about how we can cultivate belonging and build a flourishing future for the entire family.You can find the new show by searching "Take the Next Step with Amy Julia Becker" on your podcast app, or find it online at amyjuliabecker.com/stepAnd stay tuned - new episodes of Reimagining the Good Life coming in October.__WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTubeSUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.comJOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabeckerLISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/_Take the Next Step is produced in collaboration with Hope Heals. Hope Heals creates sacred spaces of belonging and belovedness for families affected by disabilities to experience sustaining hope in the context of inclusive, intentional, inter-ability communities. Find out more about our resources, gatherings, and inter-ability communities at hopeheals.com. Follow us on Instagram @hopeheals.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!