Curating Richard Rohr Material
Judy Traeger, Curator/Editor (Independent Contractor)
As a curator for the Daily Meditations, I focus on Richard Rohr’s teachings. I have been blessed to have Father Richard as my primary spiritual teacher for over three decades, and this job allows me to share his life-giving work and spread the blessings! I am so very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the Daily Meditations since 2008. Father Richard is one of those teachers whose wisdom meets us wherever we are, which is clearly the work of the Spirit. I have listened to Richard’s same teachings on tape or CD countless times, but some new nuance or angle always arises that is exactly what I need for my own growth. Here’s where the deep hunger for God and the blessing of beginner’s mind intersects. It is my hope and prayer that the Daily Meditations feed our readers in the same way.
Whether I am searching through Richard’s books, listening to his recorded talks or recent podcasts, or doing an online search for his teachings on a certain topic, I try to focus on those elements that might be especially helpful for whatever natural, national, or global issues our readers may be facing. With Richard’s decades of work, I can usually find more than enough material for the Daily Meditations on whatever the weekly topic is. Father Richard, like Francis of Assisi, tries his best to follow Christ. It is truly an honor and a blessing to share these teachings.
Prioritizing BIPOC and Other Minoritized Voices
Brandon Wrencher, Curator (Independent Contractor)
When I receive the theme for the week, the first place I turn to is my own inner voice. In many ways, I am an “external” voice to the CAC, so I begin with trusting my own gut and the voices that have shaped my Southern Black prophetic lineage. Usually there is much to mine here. An additional place I go to is the local university library. The university stacks have been one of my dearest communities since I was in my twenties. I find that my research practice is about conversation. I seek to go with my hunches, questions, even ideas that might seem “crazy.” I almost never land on the first ideas, but those first ideas are a portal of sorts, guiding me to the thought partners who ultimately become my core guests to the weekly theme. This process is not unlike what I do in my full-time work as a community organizer. The best organizers are master listeners, curious about the person with whom they’re engaging, trying to discern what exists on the unconscious level of their heart. What would make them come alive in the conversation and enable them to act on their deepest beliefs? That’s what I’m after in my research process with the DMs: What is the conversation that I can uniquely have with this theme that will be a welcome guest to the DM audience to explore this theme with new eyes?
Supporting CAC Faculty and Content
Seth Wilmor, CAC Cataloger and Archivist
As the CAC’s digital archivist, I organize pretty much all CAC audio and video teachings—from Fr. Richard’s old cassette tapes to the current Living School and online courses. This gives me a unique familiarity with our faculty’s written work and areas of interest. When I get a research request, I first think about which faculty members like to talk about the week’s topic. For instance, for a week about Christian mysticism—or a particular mystic—the first faculty member I’ll start with is James Finley, who co-hosts CAC’s Turning to the Mystics podcast. Chances are, if it’s about Christian mysticism Jim has talked about it. Other faculty members who come to mind are Carmen Acevedo Butcher, affiliate faculty in the Living School, and Mirabai Starr, a frequent guest teacher at CAC events. Both have dedicated their careers to translating the works of various Christian mystics.
Narrowing down which teachers to focus on leads me to dive into their books, podcast transcripts, and Living School teachings for passages to suggest to the Daily Meditations Editor. If I get stumped on a topic I’ll turn to searching within our internal archival platform, which is full of audio and video transcripts. If I’m not even sure where to start, I’ll even turn to a keyword search on Google. Ironically this almost always leads to past Daily Meditations, pointing me to faculty books and teachings that I can explore in greater depth.