Do we need to deny our grief in order to be grateful? And what does practicing gratitude look like when we are suffering and in need?

In this episode of The Digital Examen’s special five-part miniseries, host Jay Y. Kim sits down with Drew Hyun to reflect on how gratitude and grief are both essential and inseparable in our spiritual journey. Hyun is the Founder and Lead Pastor of Hope Church NYC, the author of Beautiful, Disappointing, Hopeful: How Gratitude, Grief, and Grace Reflect the Christian Story, and the Executive Director of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, an organization that aims to transform church culture through the multiplication of deeply changed pastors and leaders.

Hyun shares how his story—from early family dynamics, learning emotional health from trusted mentors, and decades of ministry experience—has taught him what gratitude truly means. In this candid conversation, Hyun shares wisdom from his own seasons of depression and struggle, explores how the ancient practice of the Examen helps us “explore the iceberg” of our inner lives, and explains why gratitude is not escapism but a practice that befriends suffering and is open to God’s grace.

If you want to learn how gratitude can both embrace grief and move us towards hope, this conversation is for you.

For more encouragement and practical wisdom on living at God’s peaceful pace, be sure to check out Jay Y. Kim’s upcoming book, The Pace of Peace. Its themes continue the journey begun in this episode, offering a framework for rediscovering attention and presence in a world of distraction.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Why gratitude and grief go hand in hand
• How to name cynicism and move toward hope
• Practices that ground us in God’s presence, especially in suffering

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Drew Hyun
• Read Beautiful, Disappointing, Hopeful by Drew Hyun
• Read Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazzero
• Read the transcript here
• Learn more about The Digital Examen
• Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
• Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
• Download a Guide to The Examen

Continue attuning to God’s pace by reading Jay Y. Kim’s new book, The Pace of Peace. Drawing on the Prayer of Examen developed by Ignatius of Loyola as a framework for all of life, Kim guides readers through the movements of this ancient prayer practice—invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward—to point us toward the antidotes for the aches of our distracted age. 

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Our suffering is precious to God. Our suffering also holds a strange invitation to encounter the love of God more deeply and discern his voice more clearly. 

In this episode of The Digital Examen’s special five-part mini-series, host Jay Y. Kim welcomes pastor and author Tyler Staton, who opens up about his cancer journey, discerning God’s familiar voice, and learning what it means to be truly loved.

Together, Kim and Staton break down the myth that God only moves through predictable moments and means. Instead, they explore how his presence meets us through both our formal spiritual practices and all of the moments in between—small interruptions, family commitments, and even seasons of suffering. By sharing personal stories like coaching Little League, Staton shares why practicing ordinary spiritual rhythms, cultivating community, and embracing the unique limitations and opportunities of our season of life can train us to recognize God’s familiar voice and loving presence every day in unexpected ways.

Tune in to discover a vision of faith that is less about striving and more about staying present and open to God’s love, especially when life feels anything but peaceful. 

For deeper reflection and guidance, check out Jay Y. Kim's new book, The Pace of Peace, which invites you to discover the peace and ease of being present, known, and fully loved by God.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• How to invite God’s presence into your everyday life
• Why we often miss God’s familiar voice
• How to believe God’s love for us when we have nothing to offer

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Tyler Staton
• Check out The Familiar Stranger and After Amen by Tyler Staton
• Read the transcript here
• Learn more about The Digital Examen
• Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
• Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
• Download a Guide to The Examen

Continue attuning to God’s pace by reading Jay Y. Kim’s new book, The Pace of Peace. Drawing on the Prayer of Examen developed by Ignatius of Loyola as a framework for all of life, Kim guides readers through the movements of this ancient prayer practice—invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward—to point us toward the antidotes for the aches of our distracted age. 

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder.

But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, and we can attune to that pace through an ancient prayer practice: the Ignatian Examen. In this special five-part mini-series of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim will join writers, pastors, and artists to uncover the gifts of an examined life by meditating on the five key movements of the Prayer of Examen: invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward.

If you are worn down by life’s relentless pace, these conversations—and Jay’s new book, The Pace of Peace—invite you to encounter God in all of life and discover the peace and ease of being present, known, and fully loved.

This special miniseries of The Digital Examen launches August 27th. Tune in and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or find us on the IVP YouTube channel. 

Links from this episode:

• Read the transcript here
• Learn more about The Digital Examen
• Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
• Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim
• Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
• Download a Guide to The Examen

Continue attuning to God’s pace by reading Jay Y. Kim’s new book, The Pace of Peace. Drawing on the Prayer of Examen developed by Ignatius of Loyola as a framework for all of life, Kim guides readers through the movements of this ancient prayer practice—invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward—to point us toward the antidotes for the aches of our distracted age. 

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

We rarely experience pure, unfettered joy. More often, we live with a layered emotional experience—where opposite emotions overlap and muddle together. 

Yet, even in these moments, God is with us and understands us.

In this season finale of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim gently guides listeners to embrace the journey of faith as marked by paradox, longing, and the unexpected possibility of joy, even amid life’s greatest disappointments. 

Drawing from the life of Teresa of Avila and the ancient story of Abraham and Sarah, Kim explores why our laughter amid disbelief, tears amid relief, and energy amid great love all mark the emotional complexities of being human—and how God is present in it all. This episode is an invitation to trust that one day your laughter of disbelief can be transformed into the laughter of joy. 

Stay tuned this August for a special miniseries exploring the five movements of the Prayer of Examen—invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward—with guests like Ann Voskamp, Faith Eury Cho, Ken Shigematsu, and others. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Why joy and grief often go hand-in-hand
• How paradox shapes authentic faith
• Permission to feel and express real emotions with God

Links from this episode: 

• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Ministry burnout is real—for pastors, leaders, parents, and volunteers. But beneath our exhaustion, God is inviting us to slow down and experience soul-level renewal by simply being honest in his presence.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, host Jay Y. Kim sits down with pastor Will Chung, whose own journey through severe burnout, breakdown, and renewal led to the founding of Beloved Church in Southern California. Together, they trace Chung’s reckoning with the pressures of ministry, the pain of spiritual weariness, and the temptation to embrace opportunities that outrun the soul. Chung shares about the pivotal moments that shattered his illusions, brought him to tears, and opened his heart to God’s true invitation: to not just serve him, but to stay close to him. Together with Kim, he explores why honest vulnerability is essential for lifelong faithfulness, how solitude and hiddenness restore our souls, and why God cares more about our hearts and character than any of the work we might do for him.

Tune in to learn how God doesn’t just desire our repentance, but our healing and wholeness.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• What true spiritual healing looks like
• Why vulnerability and authentic friendships matter for leaders
• Small shifts that help us choose a life with God, not just for God

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Will Chung
• Learn more about Beloved Church
• Read Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Sometimes sacred gifts arrive quietly—in the scent of broth simmering in the kitchen or in the gentle light cascading across a painting.

These small moments hold invitations for us to connect with God. But are our hearts prepared and open to do so?

In this episode of The Digital Examen, host Jay Y. Kim welcomes theologian W. David O. Taylor and visual artist Phaedra Jean Taylor for a moving conversation about embracing God’s interest and presence in our everyday life. Together, they share how prayers, paintings, and simple moments invite us to slow down, embrace a softened heart toward God, and receive the hidden graces we often overlook.

Drawing from their book Prayers for the Pilgrimage and the visual landscapes Phaedra creates, the Taylors reflect on the trust we foster amid struggle, how art and imagination cultivate hope, and how we can truly be met by God both in joy and sorrow. They wrestle with how to bring our full lives—our soup-making, our grumpy moods, our diaper-changing, our illnesses—into honest prayer. They also uncover Jesus’ subversive way of modeling joy amid suffering and offer creative ways to nurture an "undramatic attunement" to God's presence as we move through the world. 

Tune in to learn how to experience Jesus and joy afresh today through vulnerability and praying through all of life’s emotions and experiences with God.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• How God meets us in pain, pleasure, and the ordinary moments of life
• How prayer and art invite vulnerability, honesty, and healing
• Practices for slowing down, noticing, and finding God everywhere

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about W. David O. Taylor
• Learn more about Phaedra Jean Taylor and her art
• Read Prayers for the Pilgrimage by W. David O. Taylor, with paintings by Phaedra Jean Taylor
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

How can we engage our imagination to perceive the ordinary imbued with the extraordinary?

All of reality is aflame with God’s loving presence, glimmering with meaning, beauty, and wisdom beneath the surface of our everyday.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes author, poet, priest, and musician Dr. Malcolm Guite. Widely recognized as one of today’s greatest Christian poets, Guite shares how our imagination is not a creative extra, but a truth-telling faculty that helps us apprehend meaning in a world saturated with data yet hungry for substance. 

Seamlessly connecting insights from Shakespeare and Seamus Heaney to John’s gospel and the life of Moses, Guite illustrates how poetry and story help us discover that reality shimmers with divine presence. By engaging our imagination with God, Guite notes that we can perceive “reality [as] itself numinous, translucent with glimmerings of the supernatural.” Together, Kim and Guite explore how imagination makes biblical truth come alive, how metaphors and parables reveal vivid wisdom, and why community is essential for nurturing and expanding the Christian imagination. 

Listen and be inspired to see your life, faith, and surroundings in a new light—and the world as the handiwork of the greatest poet, God. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Why imagination is crucial for perceiving meaning, not just information
• How metaphor and poetry bring spiritual truths down to earth
• The role of community in expanding and renewing Christian imagination

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Dr. Malcolm Guite
• Read Dr. Malcolm Guite’s books, Mariner, Sounding the Seasons and Faith, Hope and Poetry
• Read "Digging" by Seamus Heaney
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Our often hurried pace of life not only affects us as adults, but also our kids. 

How can we create rhythms of rest, play, and delight to help our kids savor their childhood years—even as we learn rich spiritual lessons from them as adults?

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes Grace Pouch, educator, content manager for Renovaré, and author of Savoring Childhood. Together, they talk honestly about the frenzied pace of modern life—how it impacts young people, families, and the adults we become—and propose gentler rhythms centered on trust, presence, and joy.

Pouch shares her own journey as a parent and teacher, reflecting on how savoring the moments of childhood, lingering with familiar stories and practices, and embracing Sabbath rest can help children and adults recover a sense of identity and connection with God and one another. They discuss why nurturing play, creativity, and even boredom are essential in a world obsessed with productivity and achievement.

If you sense that life has become too rushed and wonder how to recapture joy, trust, and deep spiritual formation for yourself or the children in your life, this episode is for you. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• The importance of savoring childhood
• Spiritual formation is a slow work
• Sabbath as a space for trust and rest

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Grace Pouch
• Read Grace Pouch’s book, Savoring Childhood
• Discover Renovaré and resources for spiritual renewal
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

With the infinite knit into our very being, our brief life cannot bring us ultimate joy and satisfaction.

And yet, as we long for eternity, we can find meaning and peace by resting in God, serving others, and cultivating a mellow heart.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, acclaimed Roman Catholic priest and author, whose spiritual trilogy offers wisdom for following Jesus in our youth, mid-life, and final years: The Holy Longing, Sacred Fire, and Insane for the Light. Drawing from decades of pastoral experience, Fr. Rolheiser explores the cultural obsession with staying young, the challenge of aging well, and the deep joy that comes from surrender and gratitude. 

Together, Kim and Fr. Rolheiser reflect on the power of everyday rituals, our modern misunderstanding of happiness, and how true spiritual maturity is cultivated by serving others with an open heart. Through this, they explore how tending a forgiving and thankful spirit is how we can be subversive instruments of joy in the world.

Tune in to discover how to follow Jesus in each of life’s unique seasons, wrestle with our longings, and find true rest in God’s presence. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• How restless longing shapes all stages of life and can only find rest in God
• How delight, mellow-heartedness, and forgiveness connect to true meaning and maturity
• Simple practices for channeling desire, sustaining love, and finding God in ordinary moments

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Fr. Ronald Rolheiser
• Explore Fr. Rolheiser’s trilogy: The Holy Longing, Sacred Fire, and Insane for the Light
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In seasons when life feels meaningless, how can we perceive purpose, hope, and even joy?

Amid our deeply materialistic culture, the purpose of life can seem to simply be the elimination of pain and inconvenience. Yet the answer to our deepest aches lies in the joy of serving others, the wisdom of our ancestors, and the worthiness of Jesus. 

In this episode of The Digital Examen, host Jay Y. Kim sits down with Isaac Serrano, lead pastor at South Valley Community Church in Gilroy, California and author of When Life Feels Empty. He also serves on the leadership team of the ReGeneration Project and is an adjunct professor teaching theology and ministry at Western Seminary. Together, Kim and Serrano draw from ancient Christian wisdom and their experiences as pastors in Silicon Valley to discuss how discerning our telos, embracing connection with others, and locating ourselves with God’s story are essential to experiencing joy in our digital age. Serrano shares why the antidote to pain and suffering isn’t positive thinking or attempting to escape pain, but embracing endurance, selflessness, and age-old practices like communal singing, thanksgiving, and prayer. 

If you long to experience tangible meaning in your everyday, this episode offers hope, clarity, and practical next steps toward a life filled with purpose and deep joy. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• The search for meaning in an age of emptiness
• How timeless practices can help us recalibrate our lives toward joy, meaning, and connection with God and others
• Endurance and faith in the midst of suffering

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Isaac Serrano
• Read Isaac Serrano’s book, When Life Feels Empty
• Read the transcript here

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Read Analog Church and Analog Christian by Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen.

Links and Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands