Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims,
On Monday, September 8th we begin a four week journey for Resistance, Renewal, and Resilience: Resting into Uncertainty and Harnessing Opportunity with Kindred Spirits led by Wisdom Council members Aisling Richmond, Felicia Murrell, Jamie Marich, and Richard Bruxvoort Colligan. This retreat was created to guide you through contemplative and action-based practices to meet the challenging times in which we live. Through rest and renewal we not only nourish ourselves, we settle into what is most important for our spiritual growth and our capacity for resilience.
Jamie Marich offers this reflection as inspiration.
In a World
by Jamie Marich
The world is screaming around us
Endless wars
Political unrest
Hostile takeovers
Climate chaos
Corporate greed
Silenced voices
Hungry people
Thirsting for change
Begging for justice
Aching for affirmation
Of their existence
I fear that they are coming for me too
In many ways they already have
I know there are so many others
In this messy world of ours
Bleeding in every way
Who would trade places with me
Because at least I have
Running water
Food to eat
And a bed in which to sleep
The only bombs I dodge on the daily
Are those of cruelty
This is my lament in a world that is 2025. Cogent words seem impossible to string together to describe what I am experiencing. Sometimes I wonder if words written by this empathic heart even matter during these times in which we find ourselves; especially when many brand empathy as toxic. My heart feels heavy as a queer person of faith for a variety of reasons right now. I want to fight back. I know that I am finding ways to do that. Yet just as I observe divisions in the world that are the source of so much pain, I also ache in seeing many advocates and caring, faith-filled people arguing with each other on the correct way to engage in acts of resistance. You may also be finding that people whose values largely correspond with your own are attacking you for having a different opinion, or for trying to build bridges in places of division instead of burning them. It can be difficult to know how to even take up fights of resistance right now when there is so much in-fighting and quarrel amongst advocates, usually fueled by the pain of trauma responses. In a world where we need community more than ever, even community can feel very unsafe.
I am often active on social media spaces where advocates share ideas. There is quite a bit of virtue signaling (e.g., calling out people, often in shaming ways, for not using correct language or taking what the user sees as a preferred moral stance). There is also this deep sense of, “When people start thinking and behaving exactly like I do, then the world will be a better place.” Interestingly, I grew up with this thinking in the Christian nationalist, Evangelical context in which my father raised me. And I’ve been hearing it with increased intensity from people with whom I am aligned in so many ways. I’ve been guilty of virtue signaling behavior myself, forgetting a core lesson that I learned years ago in my own healing process: You can’t shame people into transformation.
It’s difficult to know how to operate, as an advocate and a resistance fighter with no tolerance for hate and discrimination, and to not shut down vital human interactions that are needed to heal the world. Here is what I wrestle with now, in my own lived experience. I am a queer person and I am a female-identified person who believes that bodily autonomy is not just a legal right, it is a spiritual blessing given to us as free will from our Creator. Even as a person of faith, I believe that the separation of church and state is vital to a harmonious society. I regard assuring food security and health care equity for all as more important than military might. So it’s pretty obvious how I will vote in any given election in my country. I will not back down from my convictions. And I also need to remember that many people extended me a great deal of grace on the long journey to getting here, after being raised to see the world in a different manner. So is it possible to stand strongly in my convictions, fight for what I believe in, challenge others where needed and not be a horrible person to others in the process? Even those who vote differently than I do? Even those who abstained their vote in protest?
So what would Jesus do in a world that is imploding on itself? Sadly, even that question is up for interpretation right now, depending on who you ask and on how they see Jesus. In navigating the conundrums I lay out in this article, here is the answer I am getting: Jesus would flip tables, especially those tended to by people in positions of authority who use that position to exploit others. Jesus would speak his truth. And he would also have a meal and talk with those who others might not judge as very Christ-like. He would love them no matter what. The scriptures we venerate as Christians show us that Jesus did all of these things. And as people of faith being called to acts of resistance in 2025, we can use Jesus’ model as useful inspiration.
Now, is it difficult to be kind to those who persecute us? Of course. Are we expected to put ourselves in situations where we are being repeatedly maligned and abused in our work to make a difference in a world that may not even want to change? That is your personal call to make. However you decide to work for the resistance in our modern times, may you also know that showing care and grace for yourself, while attending to all areas of your nourishment (e.g., spiritual, emotional, physical) is imperative. One way to look at the importance of rest is that those who are in positions of exploitative power want and even rely on the people with caring hearts to burn out and go away. One of my She-roes, poet Audre Lorde, said it best: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
I hope that you will consider joining us for our upcoming Abbey of the Arts online retreat, Resistance, Renewal, and Resilience: Resting into Uncertainty and Harnessing Opportunity with Kindred Spirits. This four-week experience starting on September 8 will allow you to navigate some of the difficult questions that might be coming up for you around how to practice resistance in our current climate in an environment that we are cultivating to be both challenging and free of shame. You will also learn a bounty of practices for rest and renewal for the much-deserved care of your body, mind, and soul. It will be my pleasure to be one of your teachers and forum facilitators for this experience, and I hope to see you in our shared community.
I offer thanks to Jamie for her profound reflection and invite you to join us beginning September 8th to explore what resistance, renewal, and resilience means to you on your spiritual journey.
With great and growing love,
Christine
Christine Valters Paintner, OblSB, PhD, REACE
P.S. Today is the last day to register for our Sustainers Circle. There are four levels each with its own package of programming. All levels include access to new weekly poems and a private forum facilitated by our program coordinator Melinda Thomas.
Image © Jamie Marich of Dr. Kellie Kirksey, one of the guest conversation partners for the retreat. Used with permission.
