CORE Faculty
Barbara Holmes
A scholar of African American spirituality and mysticism, Dr. Barbara Holmes reveals how the cosmos can expand our limited constructs of religion, race, and power. As faculty at the Center for Action and Contemplation, she teaches how God’s communal presence can inspire imagination and wisdom, especially in times of crisis. She is the author of Race and the Cosmos , Joy Unspeakable and Crisis Contemplation.
essential reading
Crisis Contemplation Mercifully Emerges
Dr. Barbara Holmes believes contemplative experience can emerge in times of collective crisis. She invites us to understand how crisis is experienced at the communal, tribal, national, and global levels.
Daily Meditations
The Jazz Gospel
Jazz helps us be sensitive to the whole range of existence. Far from offering us rose-colored glasses … it realistically speaks of sorrow and pain…. Jazz stimulates us to feel…
Listen
Consecrating Chaos With Rev. Otis Moss III
How can we cultivate resilience and hope, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges and ongoing chaos? In this episode Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donny Bryant…
Daily Meditations
Wisdom from Barbara Holmes
Read Daily Meditations inspired by the words of Barbara Holmes.
“The world is the cloister of the contemplative. There is no escape. Always the quest for justice draws one deeply into the heart of God.”
– Dr. Barbara Holmes
A Story From Barbara
Fishing—my contemplative practice—is the place where I find real connection. I fish with my husband, George. Normally we throw them back, but occasionally bless them for nourishment. We don’t talk a lot. We connect in other ways—through the ocean, the waves, the birds diving, and the struggle. God’s grace has been to live, to breathe salt air, and to just be.