Even Chaos Knows Your Name

Even Chaos Knows Your Name

Yesterday I got to sit on the paddleboard as the waves rolled under me. It felt like I was carried. It crossed my mind that I could practice this sense of being carried in other aspects of my life. I was captivated by the dancing sunlight on the water. What beauty. This morning a friend asked if I had made a song for Psalm 149 because she is facilitating a retreat and using some of the songs I’ve been creating. Thanks, Nancy! Here are the lyrics based on Psalm 149. The Psalm is a joyful, embodied, and earthly praise in which all of creation honors God. All of creation claims dignity, strength, and justice together through naming the goodness of God. I’m really captivated by the idea in this Psalm that even chaos and uncertainty sing out to God. I’ve added the song to the “podcast” so it can be easily listened to. Eventually you can search “Everyday Peacemaking Project” on Spotify and find it. Chaos Knows Your Name Some nights the future feels like fog,The road disappears from sight.I lie awake with all my questionsIn the middle of the night.But the moon climbs up above the harbor,The tide comes dancing to the shore.The world keeps singing all around meLike it has before.And all creation leans toward You,In rhythms I can’t ignore—The stars sing Your name,The sea sings Your name,Everything sings Your name.The mountains sing, the falling rain,Everything sings Your name.And if the wildest waters do,If thunder does the same,Teach me how to trust like thatWhen even chaos knows Your name.The gulls ride high above the breakers,The wind comes laughing through the pines.The river finds its way to oceansWithout a map or sign.The dawn still breaks across the water,Each season holds what You have made.And every living thing around meIs carried by Your grace.And every season points to You,In quiet and in roar—The stars sing Your name,The sea sings Your name,Everything sings Your name.The mountains sing, the falling rain,Everything sings Your name.And if the wildest waters do,If thunder does the same,Teach me how to trust like thatWhen even chaos knows Your name.Maybe I don’t need the answers—I just need to know You’re here.In the crashing waves and driving rain,You are here, You are here.The stars sing Your name!The sea sings Your name!Everything sings Your name!The mountains sing, the falling rain,Everything sings Your name!And if the wildest waters do,If thunder does the same,Teach me how to trust like thatWhen even chaos knows Your name!Even chaos knows Your name!The wind sings.The waves sing.And I will sing. More spiritual practices are coming based on scripture in Genesis. More conflict transformation essays are coming too! But first, a few more paddles might be in store for me. Peace, Julene Get full access to Human Is A Verb: Julene Tegerstrand, Ph.D. at humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Let Love Lead Me

Dear Human is a Verb Community, I am reading The Cloud of Unknowing this week. (God) wants you to lock your eyes on him and leave him alone to work in you. Your part is to protect the door and windows, keeping out intruders and flies. And if you’re willing to do that, just ask him, praying humbly, and he will help you immediately. (Ch 2, Bucher Translation) I’ve been sitting with this invitation: lock your eyes on God and let the work of love be done in you. My part is the locking. God’s part is the loving. How much better would my world be if I simply held that division of labor? Guard the door and window of the heart. Stay present. And trust that the loving is already underway. It is easier said than done. And yet, there is an invitation to surrender here that something deep in me recognizes and wants. When I sat with that image long enough, I wanted to pray it with music. I worked with AI to develop “Let Love Lead Me,” trying to let the Cloud‘s invitation become something I could live into through music. This week, I am aware of how much we need, as persons and as a society, for love to lead us. I hope this song encourages you the way it has encouraged me. Peace, Julene Get full access to Human Is A Verb: Julene Tegerstrand, Ph.D. at humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

We Are Still Here; Psalm 118: Praying with Scripture and Song Episode 7

Dear Human Is A Verb Community- In this final episode of the seven-part “Praying with Scripture and Song” series, we pray with Psalm 118, a marching psalm. I imagine a village gathering in the streets to do what Barbara Holmes calls “singing themselves sane” and what Walter Brueggemann calls “risky speech.” We need more of both right now. Psalm 118 gives witness to people who knew what it meant to march together, to call for justice, and to remember who they are in the face of violence and injustice. These were not passive people. They were practitioners of communal lament, and they survived together under pressure for a very long time. I am tired of the abuse of power in government, in institutions, in churches. And I know I am not alone. Neither are you. Through Lectio Divina, breathwork, and the song “We Are Still Here [https://suno.com/s/oPoTuue4zVQJOTOO],” this episode honors those of us who have been through something and are still going through something. What activists and agents of social change have long understood is that the inner life and the active life are deeply connected. You cannot have outer peace without inner peace. It is precisely when we are grounded inside that we find the capacity to raise our voices together and proclaim: we are still here. My prayer is that this episode helps your nervous system settle, and that you find yourself joining the long procession of those who have come before us, and those who will come after, in singing what has always been true: God’s love endures forever. A Prayer for a People Who Protest Lord, we come to you as a people, a village from separate rooms and separate roads and separate griefs. But together in this, we are joining a prayer that has been spoken across centuries by a people who knew what it was to be threatened and to have their lives on the line, and who stood on the edge of falling and found that you were there. So for the ones who feel hard pressed right now, whose bodies know the tight places before their minds have words for it, God, would you bring them into a spacious place? You’ve done it before, so would you do it again? For the ones in the streets, the ones placing their bodies in the path of what they believe, you have always been found in that kind of movement. God, would you be with them? Hold what is fragile in them, protect the hope that brought them there. And for the ones who have stopped trusting in princes, who have watched the structures they built their lives around fail to hold even when it seems to matter, God, remind them that refuge is still available, that it has always been available, that you have never moved. For those whose grief has set up its altars in their bodies, who are carrying things they cannot yet locate or name, let something in them know a little more clearly that the village is with them in it. That they are not alone in the dark. We are still here, still crying out, still hoping, still a village, even if we’re scattered, still singing ourselves towards something we cannot yet see. His love endures forever. His love endures forever. Amen. About This Series This is the seventh and final episode of “Praying with Scripture and Song,” a mini-series exploring contemplative prayer through the ancient practice of Lectio Divina. Each episode invites listeners to slow down, listen deeply, and pray with Scripture alongside music created for the journey. This series is part of Human as a Verb, a podcast about practicing the sacred work of being human—an extension of Everyday Peacemaking, a ministry built around the belief that our inner life and our relational life are deeply connected. If you’ve missed a prayer practice in this series, you can access the first four here: Episode 1, Soften me, Oh God: Psalm 51 [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/p/soften-me-o-god?r=32c4ia] Episode 2, Hiding Place: Psalm 32 [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/p/soften-me-o-god?r=32c4ia] Episode 3, Still Walking: Psalm 121 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/tired-still-walking-lenten-spiritual?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] Episode 4, Drop Everything: Psalm 95 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/drop-everything-and-listen-psalm?r=32c4ia&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web] Episode 5, You Might Be Real: Psalm 23 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/you-might-be-real-psalm-23-lenten?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] Episode 6, Wait for Morning: Psalm 130 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/wait-for-morning-psalm-130-lenten?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] Thank you for praying with us through all seven episodes. The village keeps gathering, and we hope you’ll stay with us as Human as a Verb continues. Connect * Website: everydaypeacemaking.org [http://www.everydaypeacemaking.org] * Music: Link to “We Are Still Here” [https://suno.com/s/oPoTuue4zVQJOTOO] * Link to song on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/track/0MAzBX14MBtxt7gaLLh36l?si=f893030d1305433b] Get full access to Human Is A Verb: Julene Tegerstrand, Ph.D. at humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Wait for Morning; Psalm 130: Praying With Scripture and Song Episode 6

Dear Human is a Verb Community- If you ever feel like you are sinking and crying out from a dark place, this episode is for you. Life is hard, right?! It has been hard for my family lately. People we love are not well. The loss of work and income seems to be the season we’re perpetually living in. We are looking for more stability! I know I’m not alone when I think—more change?!? And yet! God is here, even here. And we wait for that faithfulness to be uncovered. Psalm 130 has been a reminder of God’s faithfulness even in the midst of the hard. Peace, Julene Episode Overview Welcome to the sixth episode of the seven-part mini-series Praying with Scripture and Song. In this contemplative episode, I guide listeners through Psalm 130 using the ancient practice of Lectio Divina—a meditative approach to scripture that creates space for honesty, quiet, and the soul to emerge from hiding. Episode Prayer Lord, we come to you from the depths, from dark places. The hopes that we've stopped mentioning out loud 'cause it's exhausting to keep hoping. The futures we've carefully mapped and watched come apart, and the ground we built on turned out to be less solid than we thought. God, we are a people in the middle of something. Most of us don't have clean language for what it is. We just know that we're tired in a way that sleep doesn't fix, that we're afraid of things. We can't even quite name that we’ve lost some things we didn’t expect to lose, and we’re still learning what it means to live without them. God, your ears are attentive to our cry. You're already leaning in. For everyone doing the long, unglamorous work of waiting in the dark, be what the Psalm promises: the love that has not moved, the mourning that is already on its way. God, we are still crying. Still hoping, still here, and you have been waiting for us longer than we know. Amen. What You’ll Experience * Guided Breathing Exercise: Five slow breaths to settle your nervous system and create space for listening * Lectio Divina Practice: Four movements through Psalm 130—descent, meditation, prayer, and contemplative rest * Suno Song: “Wait for Morning [https://suno.com/s/oPoTuue4zVQJOTOO],” developed by Julene * Closing Prayer: A prayer for those feel like they are sinking doing the “long unglamorous work of waiting in the dark.” Resources * Song “Wait for Morning [https://suno.com/s/zGDi2iDUyXc1PNxl]” available by clicking on the link or on Spotify here. [https://open.spotify.com/track/0MAzBX14MBtxt7gaLLh36l?si=85d1c5035e4040ae] * Music created using Suno * Learn more about Soul Companioning/Spiritual Direction at everydaypeacemaking.org/spiritual direction [http://www.everydaypeacemaking.org/spiritualdirection] Next Episode Episode 7 (series finale): Praying with Psalm 118 About the Host Julene Tegerstrand is a spiritual director and co-founder of Everyday Peacemaking, a ministry exploring the connection between our inner life and relational life. Support the Podcast Monthly subscription: a few dollars | Yearly: $70 Or share this episode with someone who needs it The Whole Series If you’ve missed a prayer practice in this series, you can access the first four here: Episode 1, February 11- Soften me, Oh God: Psalm 51 [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/p/soften-me-o-god?r=32c4ia] Episode 2, February 18 - Hiding Place: Psalm 32 [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/p/soften-me-o-god?r=32c4ia] Episode 3, February 25 - Still Walking: Psalm 121 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/tired-still-walking-lenten-spiritual?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] Episode 4, March 3 - Drop Everything: Psalm 95 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/drop-everything-and-listen-psalm?r=32c4ia&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web] Episode 5, March 11 - You Might Be Real: Psalm 23 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/you-might-be-real-psalm-23-lenten?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] Episode 7: March 25 - God Still Lives; Psalm 118 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/we-are-still-here-psalm-118-lenten?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] “May you live and breathe and pray in such a way that you grow into your true humanity.” Get full access to Human Is A Verb: Julene Tegerstrand, Ph.D. at humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

You Might Be Real; Psalm 23: Praying With Scripture and Song Episode 5

Dear Human is a Verb Community - Psalm 23 is probably the most familiar psalm in the world. Most of us have heard it at funerals and memorized it as children. I’ve been sitting with this psalm for the past several weeks, and I’m reminded that the psalm isn’t about a life without darkness. The shepherd leads the psalmist through the darkest valley, not around it. The table is set in the presence of enemies, not after they’re gone. The rest I so need is not out there somewhere past the hard thing. The rest is with the Shepherd, inside the hard thing. I don’t know about you, but I need to be reminded of this almost daily. About this episode This episode, the 5th in a seven-episode mini-series, uses Lectio Divina to slowly move through Psalm 23, using a food metaphor. We take a bite of the text, chew it, savor it, and rest while it digests. You’ll also hear a song I developed based on the psalm called You Might Be Real. You can listen to it directly here: You Might Be Real; Psalm 23. [https://suno.com/s/NPOqeBAG5HC26Xml] It lives in the gap between “besides still waters” and the actual life most of us are living, where sickness happens, losses arrive without warning, and the valley is real. Yet, I follow, though I don't feelI hope You might be realEven when I cannot seePlease lead me....If You're near, then show me howTo trust You in the right here nowI don't ask for skies to partJust be the hand that holds my heart A prayer for hard places Whether you listen to the full episode or not, I want to offer you this prayer. It’s what came out of me at the end of the recording, and it’s for anyone in a valley right now or anyone loving someone who is. Shepherd God, you who hold the depths and shape the sea and still stoop to call us by name, we come to you from some very hard places today. For the ones who are sitting in a hospital room right now, or who are doing the slow, exhausting, sacred work of caring for someone they love who is not going to be the same. God, we need the valley to mean something. We need you to be in it, not just waiting on the other side. For those who find “I shall not want” almost unbearable to say right now, because they want their life back and don’t want to be this tired, don’t ask them to stop wanting. Just come near. For the ones who are angry, who have lived through enough already and are not sure they have language for what they’re feeling, you are large enough to hold that. You have held that before. The psalms are full of it. Prepare a table, even here, even now, even in this presence, even in this grief. Lead the ones who are too worn down to choose a direction. Feed the ones who have been doing all the feeding. And for those sitting in a silence that is not peaceful but just empty, stay in it with them. Be the thing that does not leave. Amen. The full episode, including the breathing practice, the Lectio Divina, and the song, is above. If you’re in a season where you need someone to slow you down and help you pray, I hope you’ll press play. And if this landed somewhere real for you, would you share it with someone who might need it? That’s genuinely one of the best ways to help this work reach more people. Access the song from this episode: You Might Be Real, on Suno [https://suno.com/s/WRS2OKAQUqbaGKSC] You Might Be Real, On Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/track/2LwtszptwPJidTCo8gaR0R?si=ef39df7485f44591] The Whole Series If you’ve missed a prayer practice in this series, you can access the first four here: Here is the full schedule of practices/episodes: Episode 1, Soften me, Oh God: Psalm 51 [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/p/soften-me-o-god?r=32c4ia] Episode 2, Hiding Place: Psalm 32 [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/p/soften-me-o-god?r=32c4ia] Episode 3, Still Walking: Psalm 121 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/tired-still-walking-lenten-spiritual?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] Episode 4, Drop Everything: Psalm 95 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/drop-everything-and-listen-psalm?r=32c4ia&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web] Episode 5,You Might Be Real: Psalm 23 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/you-might-be-real-psalm-23-lenten?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] Episode 6, Wait for Morning: Psalm 130 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/wait-for-morning-psalm-130-lenten?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] Episode 7: We Are Still Here; Psalm 118 [https://open.substack.com/pub/humanisaverb/p/we-are-still-here-psalm-118-lenten?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] May you live and breathe and pray in such a way that you grow into your true humanity. Peace, Julene Get full access to Human Is A Verb: Julene Tegerstrand, Ph.D. at humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe [https://humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]