S2 E3 God and I both Knew: Inner Authority Found at the Edge of Suffering

What happens when suffering cracks open a door to the inner life — and God walks through it? In this episode, Stan and Tucker welcome Sarah Brown, a hospital chaplain, counseling student, mother, wife and Latter-Day Saint for a conversation that is as theologically profound as it is personally vulnerable.

Sarah's journey began with a season of serious illness during her college years at BYU, when the weight of chronic illness forced an unexpected choice: be swept along by circumstances, or find a new kind of footing. What she discovered wasn't a cure, but something perhaps more durable — the awareness of an inner witness. A God who didn't just watch her behavior from a distance, but who knew the full weight of what she was carrying.

Along the way, she grapples honestly with the tension between inner authority and communal belonging, charting her own course within her faith community in a way that honored both her integrity and her relationships.

The thread running through it all: "God and I both know." That quiet, grounded certainty that becomes its own kind of freedom — freeing Sarah to show up more fully for the patients she serves as a chaplain, the teenagers in her home, the communities she belongs to and her intimate, daily, relational walk with God.

A note for listeners unfamiliar with the LDS faith tradition: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the LDS or Mormon church) organizes a volunteer program called Ministering, in which members are assigned to watch over and personally care for fellow congregation members through regular visits and check-ins.