Tag Archives: African Americans
Trouble Don’t Last Always
Darkness Trouble Don’t Last Always Thursday, December 5, 2019 Today I share the writing of a modern mystic, Dr. Diana L. Hayes. She is an author and professor emerita of systematic theology at Georgetown University. I appreciate how her writing integrates her intellectual knowledge with her deeply embodied life experience. Hayes’ words are a testament… Continue Reading Trouble Don’t Last Always
Release and Healing
Art: Old and New Release and Healing Thursday, November 14, 2019 My art flows from the patterns and paths of my lived experience which—like yours—are at once deeply personal and entirely universal. —Julie Ann Stevens, Living School Alumna [1] Today contemporary theologian Dr. Diana L. Hayes shares a very personal part of her life and… Continue Reading Release and Healing
The River Flows
Black Women Mystics The River Flows Friday, August 2, 2019 As we’ve seen through the perspective of black women mystics this week, our experience of God is not for its own sake or an end in itself. Unless we share the love we’ve been given we’ll become spiritually constipated! Modern mystic Dr. Diana L. Hayes… Continue Reading The River Flows
Gifts of Power
Black Women Mystics Gifts of Power Thursday, August 1, 2019 Rebecca Cox Jackson (1795–1871) was born into a free family in Pennsylvania. After a mystical encounter, she divorced her husband and became an itinerant preacher. She discovered the Shakers and eventually founded the first black Shaker community in Philadelphia. Jackson’s spiritual awakening was catalyzed by… Continue Reading Gifts of Power
Gift of Heaven
Black Women Mystics Gift of Heaven Wednesday, July 31, 2019 Jarena Lee (1783–1864) was the first authorized woman preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her spiritual autobiography—the first by an African American woman published in the United States—describes her childhood and her journeys across the United States. Though born to free black parents, she… Continue Reading Gift of Heaven
All in All
Black Women Mystics All in All Tuesday, July 30, 2019 Mysticism is not all ecstatic visions. People who have endured great suffering and let it open them to a new consciousness or perspective are often mystics. They discover that they are always sustained by Love’s presence. James Finley has a beautiful image for this unceasing… Continue Reading All in All
Images
Black Women Mystics Images Sunday, July 28, 2019 It’s so important that all people are able to recognize themselves as God’s image. Icons and images of Mary, the mother of Jesus, with a dark or ebony hue are revered in many cultures around the world. For example, the Black Madonna as a model of maternal… Continue Reading Images
Being Christian
Mystic: Howard Thurman Being Christian Friday, July 26, 2019 Today I invite you to reflect on your own sense of identity—both as an individual and as part of a collective—as you read Howard Thurman’s thoughts on race and relationships: The burden of being black and the burden of being white is so heavy that it… Continue Reading Being Christian
