Season 1, Episode 2 with Photographer Mary Jasmin Yostos (Bonus this week)

Dear listeners,Welcome to the second episode of the Hunger for Righteousness podcast series! This episode is a bit longer, but we had SO MUCH FUN. This is definitely one episode you might want to watch instead of listen to, because Mary Jasmin Yostos shares some of her amazing photographs on the video. However, I am also going to put the Instagram links of those same photos in this post, so if you do listen to the audio, you can click on the links to see the photographs we are talking about later.Before we get into it, I have a FREE GIFT for you: a downloadable reading calendar for Lent 2025 to help you get through Hunger for Righteousness in time for the Resurrection! Just print it out, choose your reading plan, and fold it over or cut it out and use it as a bookmark in your copy of the book:In Chapter 1 of Hunger for Righteousness, I mention a friend whose perspective about our climb totally changed mine. That friend was Mary Jasmin Yostos (MJ for short) and on this episode she shares her side of the experience. She also found an old photo of us on the mountain!We had an amazing conversation about both physical and spiritual climbs, and how her photography links with her relationship with God. We kept talking after recording, and in that conversation, MJ mentioned how she often goes through grueling efforts to take her nature photos, and doesn’t know if she even got a good shot until she goes back home to process all her work. That’s often our experience, too, in our relationship with God. We pray, we go to church, participate in the sacraments, serve others, and go through many challenges in the process. We don’t always see the results of that until much later, when we are able to evaluate and reflect.Here are the photos MJ shared on the episode, in order:The Coptic Quarter in Jerusalem: Photo Mount of Temptation, Holy Land:White Mountain National Park in New Hampshire:Northern Lights, Lofoten Islands, Norway:Moonrise, New London Edge Light:Puffin at Machias Seal Island, Canada: Northern Lights, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse, NY:Solar Eclipse, Plattsburgh, NY:Moonrise, Statue of Liberty, NY/NJ:Censer, St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, Brooklyn, NY:Moonrise at St. Mary & St. Moses Monastery, TexasSunrise at St. Mary & St. Moses Monastery, TexasLofoten Islands, NorwayCheck out MJ’s guest post on Being in Community, back in 2017, about finding beauty in the ordinary. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as MJ and I enjoyed making it! Please share your thoughts in the comments, and stay tuned for the next episode, also dropping this week. Thank you for being part of this community,Phoebe Farag Mikhail Get full access to Being in Community, Phoebe Farag Mikhail's Newsletter at phoebefaragmikhail.substack.com/subscribe