Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color

WINNER of the 2021 Thomas Merton Award awarded by The International Thomas Merton Society What if we truly belong to each other? What if we are all walking around shining like the sun? Mystic, monk, and activist Thomas Merton asked those questions in the twentieth century. Writer Sophfronia Scott is asking them today. In The Seeker and the Monk, Scott mines the extensive private journals of one of the most influential contemplative thinkers of the past for guidance on how to live in these fraught times. As a Black woman who is not Catholic, Scott both learns from and pushes back against Merton, holding spirited, and intimate conversations on race, ambition, faith, activism, nature, prayer, friendship, and love. She asks: What is the connection between contemplation and action? Is there ever such a thing as a wrong answer to a spiritual question? How do we care about the brutality in the world while not becoming overwhelmed by it? By engaging in this lively discourse, readers will gain a steady sense of how to dwell more deeply within–and even to love–this despairing and radiant world.

Claudia Love Mair and Christine Valters Paintner have a conversation with Wilda Gafney about her book Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne. Womanist Midrash is an in-depth and creative exploration of the well- and lesser-known women of the Hebrew Scriptures. Using her own translations, Gafney offers a midrashic interpretation of the biblical text that is rooted in the African American preaching tradition to tell the stories of a variety of female characters, many of whom are often overlooked and nameless. Gafney employs a solid understanding of womanist and feminist approaches to biblical interpretation and the sociohistorical culture of the ancient Near East. This unique and imaginative work is grounded in serious scholarship and will expand conversations about feminist and womanist biblical interpretation.

Claudia Love Mair and Christine Valters Paintner have a conversation with Lisa Colón DeLay about her book The Wild Land Within. In The Wild Land Within, spiritual companion and podcast host Lisa Colón DeLay offers a map to our often-bewildering inner terrain, inviting us to deepen and expand our encounters with God. Through specific spiritual practices from early desert monastics, as well as Latinx, Black, and Indigenous contemplatives, she guides us in cultivating lives of devotion.

Claudia Love Mair and Christine Valters Paintner have a conversation with Barbara Peacock about her book Soul Care in African American Practice. Soul care director Barbara Peacock illustrates a journey of prayer, spiritual direction, and soul care from an African American perspective. She reflects on how these disciplines are woven into the African American culture and lived out in the rich heritage of its faith community.

Claudia Love Mair and Christine Valters Paintner have a conversation with Kaitlin Curtice about her book Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God. Curtice draws on her personal journey, poetry, imagery, and stories of the Potawatomi people to address themes at the forefront of today’s discussions of faith and culture in a positive and constructive way.

Claudia Love Mair and Christine Valters Paintner have a conversation about Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church by Barbara A. Holmes. Joy Unspeakable focuses on the aspects of the Black church that point beyond particular congregational gatherings toward a mystical and communal spirituality not within the exclusive domain of any denomination.

Claudia Love Mair and Christine Valters Paintner have a conversation about I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown.  I’m Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness—if we let it—can save us all.

Claudia Love Mair and Christine Valters Paintner have a conversation with Lerita Coleman Brown about the book Meditations of the Heart by Howard Thurman.  Howard Thurman, the great spiritualist and mystic, was renowned for the quiet beauty of his reflections on humanity and our relationship with God. This collection of fifty-four of his most well-known meditations features his thoughts on prayer, community, and the joys and rituals of life. 

Claudia Love Mair and Christine Valters Paintner have a conversation with April Yamasaki about her book Four Gifts: Seeking Self-Care for Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength. Drawing on the ancient scriptural command to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, Yamasaki helps readers think about the spiritual dimensions of attending to your own needs, setting priorities, and finding true rest in a fast-paced world. 

Claudia Love Mair and Christine Valters Paintner have a conversation with Jon Sweeney about his book Nicholas Black Elk: Medicine Man, Catechist, Saint. Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk (1863–1950) is popularly celebrated for his fascinating spiritual life. How could one man, one deeply spiritual man, serve as both a traditional Oglala Lakota medicine man and a Roman Catholic catechist and mystic? How did these two spiritual and cultural identities enrich his prayer life?