In the latest episode of Ordinary Matters, I sat down with the pastor and author, Ken Shigematsu. His opening story begins in a small church in Tokyo where, as a young Sony Corporation employee, he was asked to preach his first sermon. When his grandmother—who remembered him as a child always asking how to get rich—made the hour-long journey to hear him, something embarrassing and remarkable happened. You’ll have to listen to find out!
This story sets the stage for our conversation about Ken’s new book, Now I Become Myself: How Deep Grace Heals Our Shame and Restores Our True Self. Ken opens up about how even now, after years of pastoral ministry, he still has dreams of standing before a congregation with nothing to say, watching as people slowly file out of the room. It’s a picture of what many of us carry: that persistent feeling of not being enough.
What I love about Ken’s approach is how he weaves together spiritual practices with modern neuroscience. He shares a beautifully simple daily practice that has transformed his own life:
Sitting quietly after his morning swim,
receiving God’s affirmation of love
just as Jesus did at his baptism.
“Ken, you are my beloved son.
In you I delight.”
It’s not just positive thinking—it’s a practice that literally reshapes our neural pathways over time.
In our conversation, we also explore the relationship between grace, shame, and joy. Ken points to research from Stanford showing how exposure to natural beauty can actually quiet the brain regions associated with anxiety and self-criticism. “When you expose yourself to beauty,” he explains, “whether it’s in nature or through gorgeous music or through a piece of beautiful art ... you literally leave less room in your brain for shame to be at work.”
At the end of the conversation, Ken even lead us in a contemplative prayer based on Ephesians 3—inviting us into that spacious place of being “rooted and established in love.” It was a fitting end to a conversation that reminds us that transformation doesn’t come through willpower alone, but through the space for grace to do its deeper work.
I hope you enjoy this conversation!
P.S. Longing for Joy is a finalist for the InterVarsity Press Readers’ Choice Awards! 🏆Your stories and messages about how this book has touched your lives have been such a gift. Now, I’d be honoured to have your vote. Plus, voters can potentially win the entire collection of winning books! Voting closes tomorrow.
P.P.S. I am really enjoying the new album by half•alive, especially the last track Thank You. The chorus is just so, so good:
Every shadow of change When it's good, when it's painful All that is All that has been Every dagger of grace Is a gift, I am grateful All that is I say thank you I say thank you
Share this post