Sitting by the River with Jesus: Trauma, Mysticism, and Communal Healing with Aizaiah Yong

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2025

⏱️ 82 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if everything we think we know about trauma and healing is backwards? Today I'm talking with Aizaiah Young about his incredible new book "Trauma and Renewal" and honestly, this conversation blew me away. Isaiah survived a near-death motorcycle accident right after passing his PhD comprehensive exams (talk about terrible timing), and during a 16-hour surgery, he had this profound mystical encounter with Jesus that completely reshaped how he thinks about transformation. But here's the thing - this isn't some individualistic "I found healing and so can you" story. Instead, Aizaiah argues that real healing is relational, communal, and intercultural, and he's doing something really brave by including his parents' voices throughout the book as they process this traumatic journey together. We dive deep into contemplative tradition, Internal Family Systems therapy, the vision he had of sitting in silence by a river with Jesus (who apparently has a great sense of humor), and how the whole Western approach to selfhood might be fundamentally missing the point. Isaiah's working at the Collegeville Institute now with the Benedictines, and if you want to meet him in person, he'll be hanging out with us at Theology Beer Camp this October in St. Paul. This is one of those conversations that stays with you. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Aizaiah G. Yong is an ordained pentecostal Christian minister and practical theologian who has served in religious and higher education leadership for over a decade devoting his energy to healing and advocacy work that centers QTBIPOC communities. His recent book, Multiracial Cosmotheadrism: a Practical Theology of Multiracial Experiences, received the internationally acclaimed 2022 Raimon Panikkar Prize. UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The God of Justice: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Longing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This transformative online class brings together distinguished scholars from biblical studies, theology, history, and faith leadership to offer exactly what our moment demands: the rich, textured wisdom of multiple academic disciplines speaking into our contemporary quest for justice. Here you'll discover how ancient texts illuminate modern struggles, how theological reflection deepens social action, and how historical understanding opens new possibilities for faithful engagement with our world's brokenness and beauty. Join John Dominic Crossan, Peter Enns, Casey Sigmon, Aizaiah Yong, & Malcolm Foley As always, the class is donation-based, including 0. INFO & Sign-Up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.FaithAndPolitics.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theology Beer Camp ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is a unique three-day conference that brings together of theology nerds and craft beer for a blend of intellectual engagement, community building, and fun. Guests this year include John Dominic Crossan, Kelly Brown Douglas, Philip Clayton, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Jeffery Pugh, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Andy Root, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Noreen Herzfeld, Reggie Williams, Casper ter Kuile, and more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get info and tickets here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. _____________________ This podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ production. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000 other people by joining our⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Substack - Process This!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get instant access to over 50 classes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What is up theology nerds? This is Tripp. Today on the podcast is Isaiah Young. And we're going to have a powerful, exciting conversation about the counterintuitive wisdom that he gained through a near-death experience.
0:25.4	What if our culture's approach to trauma and healing is fundamentally backwards?
0:31.5	Instead of individual recovery, what if transformation is actually relational, communal, and intercultural?
0:33.0	Isaiah Young learned this the hard way through a motorcycle accident that nearly killed him, a 16-hour
0:38.8	surgery where he spent most of the time sitting in silence by a river with Jesus.
0:45.9	Yeah, exactly. Well, today he shares how that experience is reshaping how he thinks about trauma,
0:52.8	community, and spiritual transformation.
0:55.6	This is a personal but also a deeply intellectual conversation about the mystical openings
1:01.9	to faith that he discovered in an intense crisis, recovery,, what you gain by hanging out with Jesus?
1:13.7	Anyway, thank you, Isaiah for coming on, sharing your story, and I hope you all enjoy it.
1:20.0	And know this, Isaiah?
1:21.7	Isaiah's going to be hanging out with us at Theology Beer Camp.
1:24.0	So if you want to meet him in person, if you got a cool story like this to share with them,
1:28.5	then come hang out with us there this October in St. Paul, Minnesota.
1:42.4	Well, hello, everyone. This is Tripp, and today on the podcast is Isaiah Young, author of trauma and renewal,
1:50.0	towards spiritual communal and holistic transformation.
1:54.0	And I'm pretty excited.
1:57.0	You know, you're like all grown up and stuff.
2:00.0	This is an honor to be with you, Tripp. I'm real happy to be here on the podcast. I've been a fan for a long time, so this is real, real, real exciting. But I feel like you and your dad now are the first, like, parent kid that have both been on the podcast. You know, it's kind of like LeBron getting to play with Brony or something. You know, well, I appreciate the Lakers reference. I won't make any evaluation on LeBron or Brani in response, but it's pretty cool to be a parent-son, a father-son duo on the podcast. Never put that together. So that's pretty special. I know. How many other epic theologians are going to have epic theologian kids that also want to hang out with me on the internet?
2:37.8	I don't know.
2:56.0	I don't know. Hopefully there's more to come. Yeah. Yeah. Come on. Come on. So, you know, we met a long time ago before you had even started your PhD. but this book, the origin story of it, starts at an almost ontological moment of transcendence for graduate students, passing your comprehensive exams. For those of you that haven't been in a PhD
3:02.2	program, when you show up in America, this isn't true in European PhD programs, they give you a giant
	...

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