Climate Changed

The BTS Center
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Climate Changed is a podcast about spiritual leadership in a climate-changed world. Hosted by Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis, Climate Changed features guests who deepen the conversation while also stirring the waters. The Climate Changed podcast is a project of The BTS Center.

  1. قبل ٣ أيام · إضافة

    Convocation Stories Part 3: Confessions from the Mud: Eco-Anxiety and the Power of Surprise

    A special bonus episode mini-series from Climate Changed In the third of four installments of our special bonus mini-series, Climate Changed returns to the 2025 BTS Center Convocation. Over the last few weeks, we have heard from participants who “flipped the script”—stepping away from data and policy to share personal, lived experiences of the climate crisis. Peterson and Ben also break down the specific storytelling techniques—The Confession and The Twist—that make these narratives so effective, while storytelling coach Cheryl Hamilton and previous guest Tyler Mark Nelson return to discuss how one person’s story can “unlock” the stories of others.   Links to Listen Listen on Spotify  Listen on Apple Podcasts  Full show notes and all episodes: ClimateChangedPodcast.org Transcript Links to Listen Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Full show notes and all episodes: ClimateChangedPodcast.org Transcript About This Mini-Series: Convocation Stories At the 2025 BTS Center Convocation, participants were invited to share climate-centered stories grounded in their own lives. Working with coaches from Stellar Story Company, these storytellers moved beyond the "doom and gloom" binary to find humor, resilience, and spiritual insight in the face of a changing world. Meet the Storytellers Kate André serves as Pastor of the Mennonite Congregation of Boston and is the Mennonite/Anabaptist Chaplain at Harvard University. In her story, Kate uses the power of "confession" to admit that, despite her work in creation care, she wasn't always a nature lover. She takes us on a journey from the comfort of dark movie theaters to the muddy reality of planting hope, showing us that we don't have to be perfect environmentalists to do good work. Blair A. R. Nelsen is the Executive Director of Waterspirit and represents the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace at the United Nations. Bringing a global perspective from her time living in Venezuela and Brazil, Blair shares a story about seeking help for eco-anxiety. Expecting to find a room full of despairing peers, she instead encounters a "twist" that reveals the deep, intergenerational resilience found in community. Cheryl Hamilton is the Founder and Executive Director of Stellar Story Company. An award-winning communications expert, Cheryl has coached over 1,500 people from 80 countries. In this episode, she shares insights on how stories can lead to unexpected connections and richer conversations. Next Steps Share this episode with a friend or your faith community. As Cheryl and Tyler remind us, "Stories unlock stories." Tell your own story. You don't need a stage. Share a reflection on social media or record a voice memo for a friend. Contact us. Share your reflections by email at podcast@thebtscenter.org or leave a voicemail at 207-200-6986. Learn more about The BTS Center and upcoming programs at TheBTSCenter.org. Explore storytelling coaching at StellarStory.com. Announcing Season Four of Climate Changed! Season Four is coming soon! We are thrilled to welcome incoming co-hosts Nicole Diroff and Autumn Brown, who will explore what it means to live, love, and lead with faith and imagination in a climate-changed world. Season Four Guests include: Francis Weller: Author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow. Norma Wong: Zen Master and leader at the Institute of Zen Studies. Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner: Climate Change Chaplain. Tory Stevens: Climate Narrative Project. Katie Mears: Episcopal Relief & Development. Make sure you are subscribed so you don’t miss the Season Four premiere!

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  2. ٢٠ يناير · إضافة

    Flipping the Script: Loons, Butterflies, and the Courage to Begin Again

    In this second bonus episode from Climate Changed, we return to the 2025 BTS Center Convocation, where participants were invited to flip the script—shifting climate conversations away from data and debate and toward lived experience, spiritual insight, and imagination. Co-hosts Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis introduce two deeply personal stories from members of the BTS Center community: Tyler Mark Nelson and David Arfa. Their stories explore mental health, vocation, migration, lineage, wonder, and responsibility in a climate-changed world—offering listeners not solutions, but companionship, honesty, and renewed attention to the wisdom of place. About This Mini-Series: Convocation Stories At the 2025 BTS Center Convocation, participants were invited to share climate-centered stories grounded in their own lives—stories shaped by courage, vulnerability, and spiritual practice. Rather than expert lectures or policy analysis, these stories center on imagination, grief, hope, and relationships. In this mini-series, Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis share two of those stories in each episode, offering listeners a glimpse of how ordinary people are integrating climate concern with faith, creativity, and daily life. These episodes are especially suited for seasons when exhaustion, uncertainty, and longing coexist—and when stories can help us breathe again. How These Stories Were Made: The Story-Making Process To bring these stories to life with care and craft, The BTS Center partnered with Stellar Story Company. Months before Convocation, community members were invited to submit story “seedlings” connected to the Convocation theme. From more than twenty proposals, seven storytellers were selected. Each storyteller worked closely with an experienced storytelling coach over several months, meeting multiple times to shape, revise, and rehearse their narratives. The goal was not polished performance for its own sake, but faithful storytelling—stories lovingly and prayerfully crafted for a shared community. As Associate Director Nicole Diroff explains in the episode, this process was itself an act of “flipping the script”: centering voices from within the community and trusting that lived experience can open pathways to courage and connection. Stories in This Episode “Teach Me the Ways of the Loon” – Tyler Mark Nelson Tyler Mark Nelson begins his story seated on a warm rock along the north shore of Lake Superior—a place he returns to when his mental health falters, and his vocational path feels uncertain. Living with long-term depression and anxiety, Tyler finds himself one year away from graduating from Yale Divinity School and questioning everything. As he watches loons dive and resurface in the cold inland sea, Tyler recalls another moment years earlier when he stood at this same shoreline after dropping out of college. The loons become unexpected spiritual companions, offering a metaphor for nourishment, patience, and survival beneath the surface. A simple prayer—“God, teach me the ways of the loon”—marks a turning point. Tyler does not emerge with easy answers or dramatic healing, but with breath, presence, and a renewed commitment to care for his body, spirit, and community. His story reframes vocation not as certainty or ordination, but as learning how to swim alongside others in deep water. Tyler Mark Nelson Tyler Mark Nelson is a community educator, ecotheologian, activist, and artist. He currently serves as a Research Associate with the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology and is involved in projects exploring kinship and public ritual in a time of planetary crisis. Raised in Minnesota, Tyler’s work is deeply shaped by place, contemplative practice, and the more-than-human world. “What Migrations Have You Been On?” – David Arfa David Arfa’s story begins with a childhood encounter with a snake in a Detroit backyard—an early moment of exhilaration and curiosity rather than fear. As David studies ecology, wrestles with family expectations, and searches for spiritual grounding, he finds unexpected resonance in Jewish ritual, prayer, and lineage. A formative experience with monarch butterflies in California—hundreds falling frozen from eucalyptus trees and lifted back into flight by human breath—becomes a moment of awe and ethical clarity. Weaving together migration stories of butterflies, ancestors leaving Warsaw, and his own vocational journey, David invites listeners to consider what migrations—spiritual, emotional, generational—have made their own lives possible. His story holds wonder and responsibility together, asking what we are creating now that may not come to fruition for generations. David Arfa coordinates bereavement services and offers grief counseling at Baystate Hospice. A storyteller and educator rooted in Jewish tradition, David’s work weaves together ecological awareness, spiritual lineage, and narrative as tools for meaning-making, wonder, and ethical responsibility. Reflection and Response Following both stories, Ben Yosua-Davis and Peterson Toscano reflect on the craft and impact of climate storytelling. They note the power of spaciousness, the refusal to rush toward solutions, and the way sound, image, and silence can carry meaning. Together, they suggest that climate storytelling works best when it trusts listeners—when it offers images rather than explanations and allows sorrow, humor, holiness, and resilience to coexist. Next Steps Share the episode with someone who may need it. Stories create connection, and connection creates courage. Tell your own story. Consider where land, body, memory, or ritual shape your climate story. Practice storytelling as spiritual practice. Begin with image, place, or breath rather than argument or data. Learn more about The BTS Center and upcoming programs at TheBTSCenter.org. Explore storytelling coaching at StellarStory.com. Announcing Season Four of Climate Changed! In Season 4, incoming co-hosts Nicole Diroff and Autumn Brown will explore what it means to live, love, and lead with faith and imagination in a climate-changed world. We are especially honored to welcome Autumn—a visionary artist, theologian, and co-host of the acclaimed podcast How to Survive the End of the World with her sister adrienne maree brown—whose profound expertise in community resilience and speculative fiction brings a rare, transformative perspective to these essential conversations. Season Four Guests Francis Weller: francisweller.net (Author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow). Norma Wong: Institute of Zen Studies (Zen Master and leader). Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner: Climate Change Chaplain Tory Stevens: Climate Narrative Project (Climate storyteller). Katie Mears: Episcopal Relief & Development (Disaster response leader).

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  3. ١٦‏/١٢‏/٢٠٢٥ · إضافة

    Convocation Stories, Part One: Walking for Peace, Listening for Song

    In this special bonus mini-series, Climate Changed returns to the 2025 BTS Center Convocation, where participants “flipped the script” and stepped forward to share climate-centered personal stories—not lectures, not data, not policy, but lived experience. Co-hosts Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis introduce two powerful stories of walking, vision, and spiritual practice from BTS Center community members June Zellers and the Rev. Sara Hayman. About This Mini-Series: Convocation Stories At the 2025 BTS Center Convocation, participants were invited to share climate-centered stories grounded in their own lives—stories shaped by imagination, vulnerability, and courage. In this mini-series, Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis share two of those stories in each episode, offering listeners a glimpse of how ordinary people are integrating climate concern with spiritual practice, community, and daily life. This end-of-year series is designed for a season when many of us are carrying questions about justice, the environment, and the future of our climate-changed world. Reflection, exhaustion, hope, and uncertainty often intermingle. These stories offer a companion for that moment, reminding us that one of the most powerful tools we have is our own voice and our own lived experience. How These Stories Were Made: The Story-Making Process To bring these stories to life with care and craft, The BTS Center partnered with Stellar Story Company. Months before Convocation, the BTS Center staff invited participants to propose story “seedlings” connected to the Convocation theme. More than twenty community members responded. From those proposals, seven storytellers were selected. Each worked with an experienced storytelling coach from Stellar Story Company over several months, meeting in multiple sessions to develop, revise, and rehearse their stories. Together they shaped deeply personal narratives—rooted in faith, place, and embodied experience—designed to be shared in a plenary setting rather than as expert lectures. As Associate Director Nicole Diroff explains in the episode, the intention was to “flip the script”: to center not headline keynotes, but the voices of people sitting at the tables, taking the leap to tell stories they had “lovingly, prayerfully crafted” for this community. The hope is that these stories will not only move listeners but also spark new stories in all of us. Stories in This Episode “When the Earth Sings” – A Vision Quest with June Zellers Attorney and long-time BTS Center participant June Zellers takes us back 32 years to Eagle Song Camp in western Montana, where she joined 27 women and Indigenous teacher Brooke Medicine Eagle for a three-week physical and spiritual training culminating in a two-day vision quest. Sitting within a carefully prepared medicine circle on a grassy mountainside, June seeks “soul-level answers” to why her outwardly successful law career feels so soul-crushing. What follows is a night of galloping horses, a mountain lion stalking a fellow participant, and the unsettling choice to break the rules in order to move toward another’s distress. The second morning, as she wakes, June hears what she can only describe as the earth itself singing—a three-syllable chant carried first by stillness, then by warm rain, and finally by a brook she has crossed many times before. Tone-deaf and unable to reproduce the melody, she nonetheless carries this silent chant as a mantra through decades of difficulty, sorrow, and grief, a reminder that “regardless of my circumstances, the spirit of life is so incredibly joyful. And my soul, our souls, are designed to be radiant.” “Walking for Peace and Friendship” – A Long Walk with Rev. Sara Hayman The Rev. Sara Hayman, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth, Maine, describes how intentional walking has become a primary way she gets grounded amidst overlapping crises, ministry demands, and the weight of liberal religious leadership. From the Camino de Santiago in Spain (500 miles, no blisters—though bedbugs made an appearance) to the wild coasts of Newfoundland and a sheep-covered Dingle Peninsula in Ireland, walking renews her spirit. It reconnects her to land, ancestors, and gratitude. When Penobscot spiritual leader and activist Sherri Mitchell invites her to help organize a “Journey for Peace and Friendship”—an 82-mile, eight-day prayer walk from Indian Island (Penobscot Reservation) to the State House in Augusta—Sara says yes without asking her congregation’s permission. Alongside Wabanaki leaders and a diverse group of walkers, she experiences ceremony, risk, hostility from passing traffic, unexpected welcome (church bells, homemade chocolate-zucchini muffins, cold sparkling water), and the daily discipline of simply putting one foot in front of the other. On the State House steps, exhausted and unprepared with formal remarks, she finds herself moved into a litany of gratitude—for Sherri, for fellow walkers, for the chance to remember that she is “from here,” deeply rooted in relationships that change her from the inside out. Six months later, her life has not been transformed in dramatic ways. She is still overwhelmed, still entangled, still wrestling with the demands of leadership. But every time she laces up her boots and walks the local mountain, 17 minutes from her house, she again touches the soul nourishment and connection that walking makes possible. And no matter what, she always feels “a little bit better when I’m walking.” Season Four Preview: Welcoming Autumn Brown This bonus episode also offers listeners a first look at Season Four of Climate Changed. Ben and Peterson announce that there will indeed be a fourth season—and that it will bring something new: writer, musician, and organizer Autumn Brown will join Nicole Diroff as a guest host. Autumn is the recipient of the 2025 Margaret Brent Award from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a 2020 Auburn Seminary Lives of Commitment honoree. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College who continued her theological studies at the General Theological Seminary in New York, Autumn is a speculative fiction and creative nonfiction writer whose work appears in journals, anthologies, and collected volumes. Her band, also named Autumn, released two EPs in 2024, produced by Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards. Many listeners will also know her as co-host of the podcast How to Survive the End of the World, created with her sister adrienne maree brown. Season Four will continue to explore what it means to live, love, and lead in a climate-changed world, now with Autumn’s voice and experience adding new depth to the conversation. Next Steps Tell your own story. If these stories stirred something in you, consider sharing your reflections with someone in your community, in a sermon, newsletter, social media post, or small group gathering. Your voice matters more than you may think. Practice climate storytelling as spiritual practice. Try noticing where your own stories begin with land, body, and ritual rather than with data or arguments. Connect with The BTS Center. Explore upcoming programs, resources, and past events at TheBTSCenter.org. Learn more about Stellar Story Company. Discover their coaching and storytelling offerings at StellarStory.com. Meet the Storytellers June Zellers June Zellers is an attorney and long-time member of the BTS Center community. An active member of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Augusta, she also regularly practices with the Kennebunk River Zen Sangha. June’s story in this episode draws on an earlier chapter of her life, when—newly divorced and a partner in a respected law firm—she traveled to Eagle Song Camp in western Montana seeking “soul-level answers” about work, vocation, and joy. Her ongoing spiritual practice weaves together Earth-based ritual, contemplative listening, and a commitment to keeping the earth’s song alive as a silent chant in daily life. The Rev. Sara Hayman The Rev. Sara Hayman has served for over fourteen years as minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth, Maine. A “justice mover and shaker” in the region, she works at the intersections of faith, public witness, and solidarity with Indigenous communities. Sara was part of the planning team for the “Journey for Peace and Friendship,” an 82-mile, eight-day prayer walk from Indian Island (Penobscot Reservation) to the Maine State House in Augusta, shaped daily by ceremony led by Wabanaki and other spiritual leaders. Long walks, local mountains, and a persistent practice of gratitude nourish her ministry.

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  4. ١٨‏/١١‏/٢٠٢٥ · إضافة

    Small Experiments with Radical Intent with Allen Ewing-Merrill and Rev. Nicole Diroff

    What does it mean to take faithful action in a climate-changed world—especially when the problems feel impossibly large? In this final Behind the Scenes episode of the Climate Changed Podcast, host Jessica David sits down with Allen Ewing-Merrill, Executive Director of The BTS Center, and Rev. Nicole Diroff, Associate Director, to explore a defining BTS Center phrase: “small experiments with radical intent.” Together, they reflect on how this deceptively simple idea invites spiritual leaders and communities to take creative, courageous steps—grounded in curiosity, rooted in discernment, and open to transformation. Through stories of congregations testing new practices, the BTS Center’s own experiment with reading weeks, and even Nicole’s family’s choice to replace disposable napkins with reusable ones, they reveal how small, intentional acts can lead to profound shifts in culture and worldview. Jessica, Allen, and Nicole discuss what it means to lower the stakes, embrace failure as a learning opportunity, and approach faith work as experimentation rather than perfection. They unpack the “radical” in radical intent—not as extremism, but as a return to our roots—to what nourishes and sustains life. The result is a conversation that reimagines leadership and community as living laboratories for hope, spaciousness, and renewal. Key Quotes Allen Ewing-Merrill: “The root of the word radical is radix, meaning root. What if being radical is really about sinking deeply into our roots—into our essence, our source of life and nourishment and vitality? It takes real discernment to know what that is, but once we do, transformation follows.” Rev. Nicole Diroff: “For me, small experiments with radical intent build the muscle of curiosity. They’re manageable but meaningful, and they keep our hearts open in uncertain times. Without curiosity, our hearts can harden—and that’s when transformation stops.” Allen Ewing-Merrill: “We’re more likely to act our way into a new way of thinking than to think our way into a new way of acting. A small experiment—taken with radical intent—helps us step toward that new way of being.” Meet the Guests Allen Ewing-Merrill Allen Ewing-Merrill serves as Executive Director of The BTS Center and is a pastor, writer, and father of three daughters. With a background in ministry and community leadership, he brings deep commitment to cultivating spiritual imagination for a climate-changed world. He lives in Portland, Maine, with his family and continues to find joy in the small experiments that keep faith active and alive. Rev. Nicole Diroff Rev. Nicole Diroff is Associate Director of The BTS Center and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. A mother, an amateur naturalist, and a self-described “pet collector,” Nicole brings warmth and curiosity to every conversation she leads. Her work focuses on developing programs that nurture spiritual leadership, curiosity, and awe as pathways toward ecological and cultural transformation. Join the Conversation Have you tried a small experiment with radical intent in your own life or community? What did you learn? Share your reflections by email at podcast@thebtscenter.org or leave a voicemail at 207-200-6986. The Climate Changed Podcast is a project of The BTS Center in Portland, Maine. Produced by Peterson Toscano. Discover more episodes, transcripts, and resources at climatechangedpodcast.org.

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    Ash Temin and Ben Yosua-Davis Explore Curiosity as a Spiritual Practice

    What does it mean to approach a climate-changed world with rigorous and reverent curiosity? Inthis special Behind the Scenes Edition of the Climate Changed Podcast, host Jessica David sits down with Ben Yosua-Davis and Rev. Ash Temin of The BTS Center. Together, they explore how curiosity—paired with imagination—can become a spiritual practice, a way of meaning-making, and a pathway toward more faithful responses in a climate-changed world. From maple sap and chickens to contemplative practices and ecological grief, Ben and Ash share both the practical and the profound ways they cultivate curiosity in their own lives. They also reflect on how The BTS Center’s programs encourage spiritual leaders to slow down, pay attention, and imagine new ways of living and leading. Key Quotes Ash Temin: “Curiosity as a quiet, contemplative stance doesn’t make it any less alive. It might not be as visible, but it’s there fomenting the change that comes.” Ben Yosua-Davis: “If you want to change, you have to slow down. You have to create spaciousness to ask big, open-ended questions that don’t have a one-to-one correspondence with your to-do list.” Ash Temin: “Taking curiosity with rigor and reverence moves us out of selfishness and into an ecology of relationships, where growth and flourishing become possible.” Meet the Guests Ben Yosua-Davis Ben Yosua-Davis is Director of Applied Research at The BTS Center, where he leads projects rooted in rigorous and reverent curiosity. A graduate of Drew Theological Seminary and Colby College, Ben previously co-planted a missional church and hosted the podcast Reports From the Spiritual Frontier. He lives with his family on Chebeague Island, Maine. Rev. Ash Temin Rev. Ash Temin is an ordained minister and Communications Manager at The BTS Center. She also offers spiritual direction in Portland, Maine. A graduate of UVA, Trinity College Dublin, and Harvard Divinity School, Ash brings her passion for ecological theology and grief work into her ministry and writing. Join the Conversation: Where do you fall on the hope spectrum? What practices do you use to cultivate hope — or maybe you don't? Share your reflections via email at podcast@thebtscenter.org or leave a voicemail at 207-200-6986. Climate Changed Podcast is a project of The BTS Center in Portland, Maine. Produced by Peterson Toscano. Visit climatechangedpodcast.org for more episodes of the Climate Changed podcast.

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    Claiming Your Call: Navigating Spiritual Leadership in a Climate-Changed World

    What does it mean to have a calling in a climate-changed world? In this episode, Jessica David is joined by Alison Cornish and Allen Ewing-Merrill from The BTS Center team to explore the idea of “calling.” How do we know what our deepest purpose is, especially when the world is shifting beneath our feet? Through personal stories, reflections on chaplaincy, congregational life, and ecological crisis, this conversation models how calling is not just a destination—it’s an ongoing dialogue between joy and need, self and world, spirit and action. “My calling is to be an agent of God's love, healing, justice, and peace in the world.” — Allen Ewing-Merrill “My specific calling really came when I heard the earth calling directly.” — Alison Cornish ✨ Highlights from the Episode Alison and Allen reflect on their personal callings—from a childhood love of carpentry to a life of teaching and pastoring The BTS Center’s unique framing of vocational discernment: spiritual leadership for a climate-changed world A theological and interfaith understanding of calling as active, evolving, and collective How congregations and chaplains are responding to climate change in ways that are embodied, compassionate, and spiritually grounded An invitation to discern not just what you are called to do, but who you are called to be 🧭 Resources Mentioned in the Episode Frederick Buechner’s Definition of Calling: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” https://www.frederickbuechner.com/ Refugia Faith by Debra Rienstra – framing congregations as spiritual refugia in a climate-changed world https://debriarienstra.com/refugia-faith/ Claiming Your Call for a Climate-Changed World — A program led by The BTS Center in collaboration with: Creation Justice Ministries, Anabaptist Climate Collaborative. https://thebtscenter.org/claiming-your-call-for-a-climate-changed-world/ Chaplaincy Innovation Lab (Partnered with BTS Center on climate chaplaincy programming) [https://chaplaincyinnovation.org] 📣 Share Your Calling We want to hear from you! 📞 Call or text: 207-200-6986 📧 Email: podcast@thebtscenter.org 🌐 Learn more and explore past episodes: climatechangedpodcast.org

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    Lists and Lima Beans: A Tactile Practice of Grief and Gratitude

    Grounding: How do we make space for both sorrow and joy? In this tender and tactile episode, Jessica David steps out of her hosting role and into practice leadership, guiding listeners through a deeply personal ritual that blends lamentation and gratitude — with help from candles and beans. Drawing inspiration from her love of list-making, Jessica offers a sensory-rich experience for naming griefs and exaltations, helping us hold the complexity of life in a climate-changed world. Main Practice: This episode’s practice invites listeners to physically express emotions using small, everyday objects. With humor and heart, Jessica guides us through a sequence of lamentations and exaltations — statements of grief and gratitude — placing one object down for each. Through this embodied ritual, we’re reminded that: Grief and joy often coexist Tactile practices help us stay grounded in the moment Honoring loss is itself a sacred, healing act Even impermanent gestures can hold deep meaning This practice is accessible, creative, and well-suited for individuals, groups, and even children — with plenty of room for improvisation and personalization. What You’ll Need: A candle and lighter (optional but recommended) A flat surface (floor, table, ground) Two types of small objects (8 of each) One type represents grief or lamentation The other represents gratitude or exaltation (Examples: beans, stones, buttons, leaves, shells)   Next Steps: Try the practice using what you have on hand: beans, buttons, shells, or stones Explore it alone or with a group Consider bringing it to your faith community, youth group, or a climate-related gathering Share your experience with us: Email: podcast@thebtscenter.org Text or Call: 207-200-6986 Revisit the earlier practices in this series, offered by Madeline Bugeau-Heartt, Ash Temin, and Peterson Toscano. Meet the Guest / Host: Jessica David is a Harvard Divinity School student and intern at The BTS Center. She is a curious and courageous spiritual leader who finds meaning in honest conversations, tactile rituals, and community-based exploration of climate, faith, and care. She’s also an excellent list-maker and lover of beautiful beans. Meet the Guest / Host: Peterson Toscano is the producer of the Climate Changed podcast and a longtime collaborator with The BTS Center. A skilled storyteller, performance artist, and climate communicator, Peterson brings creativity and depth to every episode. Learn more at his website, PetersonToscano.com This episode concludes our Behind the Scenes mini-series — four practices for spiritual grounding in a climate-changed world. Learn more at: thebtscenter.org

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    Embracing Climate Change Uncertainty: A Practice for Impossible Questions

    How do we hold space for what feels unanswerable? In this episode of the Behind the Scenes Edition, host Jessica David welcomes Madeline Bugeau-Heartt, Program Associate at The BTS Center, to guide us through a contemplative practice. This episode isn’t about solving anything — it’s about embracing what feels impossible. Main Practice: Madeline shares a guided meditation that invites listeners to sit with the “impossible questions” — the ones that don’t have tidy answers, especially in the face of climate uncertainty. Born from personal experience and deep spiritual reflection, this practice reframes uncertainty as sacred, not something to be avoided, but something to be honored. Key themes include: Holding profound uncertainty with reverence Embracing not-knowing as a spiritual act Honoring the questions that shape us Cultivating bravery, not certainty Listeners are encouraged to move outside (if possible), settle their bodies, and gently bring their impossible questions into presence, not to “figure them out,” but to tend to them as holy. Next Steps: Try this practice again — or share it with a friend. Reflect on your impossible questions: What are they whispering? Journal. Walk. Breathe. Notice what unfolds. Share your experience with us: Email: podcast@thebtscenter.org Text or Call: 207-200-6986 Keep journeying with us — the next episode in this series features a practice led by Jessica David. Meet the Guest: Madeline Bugeau-Heartt is a Program Associate at The BTS Center. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School and NYU Tisch, she brings her background in experimental theater, farming, and caregiving into her work. Madeline is passionate about creating spaces for radical imagination, deep embodiment, and joyful resistance, especially as we navigate life in a climate-changed world. Meet Our Host: Jessica David is a Master of Divinity candidate at Harvard Divinity School, founder of Local Return, and President & CEO of Rhode Island Community Investment Cooperative. With 20 years of experience working at the intersection of people and place, Jessica focuses on the intersection of spirituality and money, supporting community wealth-building and strategic organizational development. This episode is part of our Behind the Scenes edition — a mini-series offering spiritual and embodied practices from The BTS Center’s team. Learn more at: thebtscenter.org

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Climate Changed is a podcast about spiritual leadership in a climate-changed world. Hosted by Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis, Climate Changed features guests who deepen the conversation while also stirring the waters. The Climate Changed podcast is a project of The BTS Center.

المعلومات

  • صناع العمل
    The BTS Center
  • سنوات النشاط
    ٢٠٢٢ - ٢٠٢٦
  • الحلقات
    ٤٣
  • التقييم
    ملائم
  • حقوق النشر
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • موقع البرنامج على الويب
    Climate Changed

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