Todays repost reminds us of the importance of healing ourselves as well as others. Two, no make that three, highlights from the article below are:

The exterior work of social justice is only as strong as the interior work that births and fuels it.
We can’t heal as a community if we do not concern ourselves with healing our inner lives.
We help solve our community’s problems when each of us faces our own sorrow, authentically and creatively.

The Foundation Is Contemplation

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Reverend Liz Walker is the founder of the Can We Talk… network, which creates safe spaces for people to connect through sharing their stories. She describes the importance of contemplative, healing practices to support the work of social justice:

We trust that whatever needs to be healed will be healed by the Spirit of a creative God who works in and through us….

Dr. [Barbara] Holmes writes that the civil rights movement was born through the contemplative spirit of the Black church.

By lovingly joining our neighbors and sharing our painful stories in the interest of finding peace within our own souls, we are taking seriously the interior work necessary for our collective healing.

The exterior work of social justice is only as strong as the interior work that births and fuels it. We can’t heal as a community if we do not concern ourselves with healing our inner lives. Storytelling, listening, movement, and music all represent the gentle, interior healing necessary to empower the hard work of social change.

participate as truth seekers, unashamed to process their own pain. They show us that authentic joy is reached through a healing process. We help solve our community’s problems when each of us faces our own sorrow, authentically and creatively.

References:
[1] Barbara A. Holmes, Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church, 2nd ed. (Fortress Press, 2017), 113.

Liz Walker, No One Left Alone: A Story of How Community Helps Us Heal (Broadleaf, 2025), 191, 192–193. Used with permission of publisher.

I am amazed at how much pain is being inflicted by the new U.S. president and his administration team. I am astounded that so many Americans want this pain to occur. Fortunately, there are others who are looking for ways to counteract this pain and stop the cruelty we see.

Lynn J. Kelly, offers some gentle advice on how to we might respond to these trying times. Below is a quote, and a link, to her full message. I think you will find this very helpful today and, in the days, to come.

“Once we have accepted the overwhelming dukkha that is the news of our world, what can we do? We can acknowledge that we are close to powerless to alleviate all the suffering that we see around us. However, we can each find a way to dedicate some of our energy to a healing activity. …

Whatever we care about most will use our energy to best effect. We don’t have to feel helpless if we understand what we are doing and why. It is important to support both our mindfulness (internal) and something outside of ourselves that we care about (external).”

World Repair