Discover more from Encouraging Courage
Dear reader,
I’m awake early on a Sunday morning after being up way too late. My 13-year-old daughter had a sleepover with friends. Feeding and fetching snacks for a gaggle of girls, checking on the dog at 2am who might have accidentally been left outside, making sure all are awake and dressed for morning pickup is taxing parental work. I will need a nap today. But middle school is hard, and the laughter rising from our finished basement and the joy of knowing my daughter has found a place where she belongs is worth all the effort.
I’ve recently been contemplating how “belonging” is different from the concept of “welcoming.” To welcome someone, to invite them into our home is a beautiful gesture. But hospitality does just mean making space for them in “our” house.
Richard Wagamese is one of my favorite writers, and a Native American of the Ojibway tribe. If Wagamese were asked, “Where are you from?” he’d say his people come from the earth itself. “We emerged from her bosom fully formed,” he writes, “and ready to assume our place as stewards, caretakers, guardians. Our rich brown skin reminds us that we are her children, that we belong here, that our home is always at our feet.”
Tragically, the “belonging” of Indigenous peoples to this land has long been ignored. Wagamese, abused and abandoned as a child, bounced from one foster home to the next, believing there was nowhere he belonged—not in our White supremacist society, not in the White Protestant church, not in the institutions built by White people. “I was raised in a concrete Protestant reality,” Wagamese wrote, “with no room for imagination…no place for mystical thinking. Instead, faith sat in our home like a yardstick, a device by whose measure I always fell short.” (Wagamese, One Native Life, pg. 121)
There is a possessiveness about belonging. Who belongs and who does not is unfortunately controlled by who feels like they “own” the space. And once we feel like an institution, a land or a country is “ours” – then, well, we’re happy to “welcome” others, but not as happy to give them a share of the ownership, let them shape the space according to their ideas, values or culture, let them belong.
Allowing others to feel like they belong means giving up some of our ownership over the program, or the space, or the community. It’s honestly not easy, which is probably why we focus more on welcoming. But we also know, deep in our souls, that welcoming doesn’t often go far enough. People long to belong. People need to belong.
Recent writing:
The practice of writing is the way I learn the best. Articulating what I am reading or thinking gives knowledge a “stickiness” that serves me well. Over this past month, I’ve learned a lot. In this reflection on the crucifixion scene from Luke, I wrote responding to the violent attack on Paul Pelosi and the rising threats of violence against our political leaders. This reflection led me to learn about a theology of trauma, drawing on Serene Jones’ book Trauma and Grace.
In this editorial, I was able to articulate how a visit to the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas led me to look beyond first impressions.
My last editorial of the year focused on a fear I have for my Presbyterian church—that we will abandon our value of education and the educational development of God’s people. I’ve come to view education as a means of liberation. And there is so much from which we need to be liberated.
Upcoming speaking:
Monday, January 15: Joint presentation with Rev. Warren Lesane (Executive and Stated Clerk for the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic) for the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Service.
Sunday, February 26: Preaching at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.
February 27 -28: Cecil and Ruth Boddie Farmer Guest Chapel Speaker and Lecturer at University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas.
Sunday, March 12: Guest speaker for Sunday School at Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia.
Saturday, April 1: Keynote Speaker and Workshop Leader for West Virginia Presbytery’s “Festival of Faith.”
Keynote: Embracing a Love Ethic: In these divisive, polarized days of “purple” churches, listening well, embracing humility and encouraging vulnerability in our conversations with people of diverse perspectives are important. An “ethic of love” can guide us in these trying times.
Workshop #1: Living a Love Ethic. Building on the keynote that discusses the “whys” of embracing a love ethic, this workshop will focus on the “hows” of living a love ethic in everyday life. In light of our divisive and polarized society, we will discuss, practice and share strategies to engage with others across lines of difference.
Workshop #2: Inside the Outlook: Teri McDowell Ott discusses the mission and vision of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s only independent publisher, why the Outlook’s independence is important for the church, and her vision for the 200-year-old publisher’s future.
Books I’m loving:
Speaking of belonging, Willie James Jennings’ book, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging, is a marvelous read. Jennings weaves poetry and personal stories between rich insights into educational and theological history. He highlights the ways our institutions are built on White, Western cultural values—prioritizing self-sufficiency, individualism and masculinity—and calls for the creation of educational spaces where people can find meaningful, intimate connections, and their place of belonging.
I’m halfway through Braiding Sweetgrass, an exquisite book by Indigenous scientist, Robin Wall Kimmerer. If you enjoy the nature writings of Annie Dillard or Mary Oliver, you will love and learn from this book. In the first chapter, Kimmerer describes her shock when her students cannot name any known positive interaction between people and land. “How can we move toward ecological and cultural sustainability if we cannot even imagine what the path feels like?” Braiding Sweetgrass inspires such positive interactions and will make you want to go for a walk in the woods.
Although it’s not a book, I want to recommend the Instagram account @whitegirllearning to you. If you want to stay up to date (or catch up) on the writing of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, this account is amazing. Marla Taviano is a White ex-evangelical committed to her learning and growth as an antiracist. She reads voraciously and posts helpful, short reviews. I’ve bought a number of “must reads” based off Marla’s reviews and feel as if I’m staying much more current by following her account.
Let’s connect!
What books are you reading? What thoughts do you have about belonging?
I look forward to hearing from you in the comments or through my website: www.terimcdowellott.com.