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.