Contemplative Threads for the community
embracing the pauses of life
Dear Comrades: I left early this morning to head to Florida where I am invited into a meeting with the New York Anti-Violence Project to combat spiritual violence. I am eager to see what this training looks like and how to bring it to the communities I serve. I’ll share more when I know more!
When I last wrote, I was in need of 12 folks to give $20, so that I could accept the invitation to spend 3 weeks in South Korea. People gave in abundance and I successfully bought my ticket this afternoon! With the overage, I am able to book an airbnb for 3 nights for the time that we will be in Seoul after my partner finishes teaching. Thank you for your support! Thank you for being connected to community scholarship that endeavors to suture the wounds that have caused so much damage. This experience of community supported scholarship has caused me to stop and reflect on what I do and why! I even started coming up with a way to externalize what I do: Community supported public scholarship. Making little moves against destructiveness with the people.
I’m still trying to figure out how to communicate what I do. I am a professor, a pastor, a confidant, a writer, a speaker, an activist, and yet what I love doing is building community with others. Together, we rise!
On Mondays, I am committed to sending the contemplative threads post, and I think I’m going to have to start scheduling these posts, since my work travel at times interferes with my Monday rhythm. I’m sorry this is coming later than I anticipated, but it is still Monday!
Before I get into the weeds of this post, I want to post an important essay by my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Eileen Campbell-Reid. The pandemic continues to shape us, and Eileen writes about faith and leadership in this new era. Read it here.
Some of you know that I’m convening a conversation around Imagination and Ethical Futures. I am excited about the retreat; there’s lots to share, but for now, I’ll share that these are my conversation partners! Want to become a sponsor? Click here. Want to join us? There are only a handful of slots left, but you can grab your spot here.
Welcome to the first edition of Contemplative Threads for paid subscribers! In these posts, which drop on Mondays during 2023, you’ll be invited to contemplate on an image; engage in a somatic exercise; and, read a few sentences. Again, I’m introducing sound to the posts! These posts won’t be long, but rather they will be an invitation for you to follow the threads throughout the week!
These posts are for paying subscribers, so I hope you’ll upgrade your subscription. I’ve lowered the price to $5/monthly or $50/year. You can still be a cultivating member, so that I can gift subscriptions to others who otherwise can’t afford the cost. Let’s fight poverty; not the poor! As a working poor person, I am in solidarity with the underside of history! Let’s join together and be the healing of the wounds!