Resistance Archives - ��Ƶ of Theology & Psychology

Politics, Theology, and Spiritual Darkness with Annie Mesaros

��Ƶ — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 17:24:22 +0000

On this episode of text.soul.culture, Shauna Gauthier, Alumni Outreach Coordinator, talks with Annie Mesaros (Master of Divinity, ‘18) about her work in what Annie refers to as political theology—connecting past and present iterations of American Christianity to current systems and dynamics in U.S. politics.

Annie: “While I’m concerned about what you would think of as politics—what would be in the political section of a newspaper—I’m also thinking about the politics of being human, the politics of church, the relational dynamics between people and between groups. That’s kind of what I mean by political in the broader sense.”

Annie is the host of , a podcast exploring the long and often problematic story of Christianity in the United States, grounded in the hope that by better understanding where other perspectives are coming from, we can be better conversation partners across difference and contribute to sustainable, collaborative social change.” Her work is primarily concerned with two questions, she says: What do we believe it means to be human? And what do we believe is true about God? On God Help Us, Annie and her guests wrestle with how both of those questions inform our relationship to each other and our response to events in the world around us.

Annie: “God Help Us is about information, it’s about what are our commonly held beliefs in this country, how are they informed by our Christian heritage? […] I’m hoping, on a more meta level, that it’s also a way of modeling those conversations, so we can feel defensive and have all the human range of emotions while we’re disagreeing with each other and still continue to talk to each other.”

Much of Annie’s work can be connected to the category of spiritual darkness, which was the focus of her Integrative Project at ��Ƶ, “Making a Home in the Dark.” In our 2018 Integrative Project Symposium, Annie offered this insight into what draws her to working with spiritual darkness: “I think that in those times when everything has been stripped away, we also lose hold of the lies we have believed about ourselves, about each other, and about God. So I’m left only with my desire and the question of what to do with it, and the question of what to do with this new reality. And I find that the only option really is to come home to myself. And in those places, I find that God is waiting for me there.”

Annie: “When we recognize that we have put our faith in something like patriarchy, it doesn’t let us go easily. These periods of darkness, of feeling completely lost and at our wits’ end, both communally and individually—it forces us to give up hope in what we’ve put our hope in. And that is this great gift that we can then decide we’re going to do something different now.”

In an era of fragmented relationships—and, therefore, fragmented politics—we are deeply grateful for the insightful, far-reaching conversations Annie is hosting. Here’s to listening deeply, speaking boldly, and returning again and again to our connections with each other.

Resources to Go Deeper

You can learn more about Annie’s work, including God Help Us, at . And if you have ideas for future topics or guests on the podcast, email godhelp.podcast@gmail.com.
As this conversation turned to purity culture, it brought to mind an article by Lauren Sawyer (MA in Theology & Culture, (‘14). Shauna asked Lauren to record an excerpt for this episode, and here’s the full article from Feminist Studies in Religion:
To be fair, Annie’s reference to is more tangential than thematic. But it really is a great film!
Shauna references an episode from NPR’s Invisibilia podcast about the relationship between uncertainty and dogmatism, and what we do when we don’t know what to do.
Annie mentions being inspired by this article from Tyrone Beason at the Seattle Times:
Just in time for summer, we got a bunch of book recommendations from Annie. Happy reading!
- by Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers
- by Frank Schaeffer
- and by Amber Cantorna
- by Mary Daly
- by Miguel A. de la Torre

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The Violation of Hospitality

Gabes Torres — Wed, 08 May 2019 13:00:03 +0000

“Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.”
–Henri Nouwen

This month on the Intersections blog, we are exploring the art of nurturing our identity and formation in a way that allows us to continue growing in wisdom, empathy, and clarity of calling. It is a challenge to open ourselves to the care and sustenance needed to sustain deep, meaningful service in the places of deep need all around us. And in order to open ourselves to care, we must also be able to identify the places of our identities that are still impacted and influenced by our histories of harm and internalized messages of shame.

In that vital, difficult work, we were deeply inspired by the research and insights offered by Gabes Torres, MA in Counseling Psychology student, MA in Theology & Culture alumna, and Program Assistant for The Allender Center, as she presented her Integrative Project in 2018. Gabes’s project, “Ang Mga Sugatang Kamay na Naghain sa Lamesa (The Scarred Hands that Set the Table)—The Violation of Hospitality: Consequences from Centuries of Colonization in the Philippines,” wrestles with the painful scars that grow out of colonialism.

For this project, Gabes interviewed a Filipino woman who works in hospitality industries in the United States. Gabes describes the woman’s impulse toward subservience—a fear of saying no, challenging authority, or naming experiences of harm—that is common among Filipino workers. Gabes argues that that subservience is a reflection of the manipulation and corrupt power dynamics at the heart of colonialism and imperialism.

“The irony here is in the fact that these events are taking place within the context of hospitality industries, and these reports violate the very meaning of hospitality,” says Gabes. “Because the true practice of hospitality exists in the mutuality of responsibility and roles between host and guest, where there is a shared power, there is an equal value, acceptance, protection, service, and respect towards one another.”

“The true practice of hospitality exists in the mutuality of responsibility and roles between host and guest.”

To unpack the ongoing effects of colonization in Filipino culture, tradition, and even sense of self, Gabes says it is important to take a look at history and follow the narrative threads that are still very much at play today. But Gabes advises caution in doing so, since most of the dominant historical narratives propagate the belief that explorers and colonizers helped advance a “primitive” culture, rather than exposing the violence and irreversible harm brought by colonization. To meaningfully reflect on where we are today, we must be willing to tell the full, honest stories of where we have been.

“Not only do the artifacts of Spanish colonization and American imperialism spread out in language, in architecture, in our very names, but also in the ideas of the Filipinos, their ideas about themselves, and others, and their relationship to others,” says Gabes. “It is also very disturbing to realize that we do not need to be in North America to see the impact and pervasiveness of American exceptionalism and white supremacy.”

Gabes argues that the end result of colonialism is an erasure of the self. Colonized people are taught to welcome and accommodate others at the expense of welcoming themselves as they are, and in the process the self is compromised and rejected. In response to this reality, Gabes ends her presentation with a letter that she wrote to her ancestors—a stunning, insightful work of art, and a profound assertion and celebration of self in the face of systemic harm.

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Serving God and Neighbor

��Ƶ — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 17:38:11 +0000

“When Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, he summarized in these gestures his own life. […] When we take bread, bless it, break it, and give it with the words ‘This is the Body of Christ,’ we express our commitment to make our lives conform to the life of Christ. We too want to live as people chosen, blessed, and broken, and thus become food for the world.”
–Henri Nouwen

During this season of Lent, as we follow the story of Jesus in the wilderness, we’ve been exploring the call to affirm humanity in ourselves and each other—even in all of our hunger and wounding and brokenness. And we believe that affirming the dignity in humanity is, ultimately, an invitation to service; it’s a call to direct our lives and our work toward worshipping God through the healing and empowerment of individuals and communities, and through the dismantling of systems that seek to deny humanity in some.

That is the arc of pilgrimage: to journey into the wilderness, to be transformed, and to return to service. It’s also at the heart of our mission at ��Ƶ. Through transforming relationship and the competent study of text, soul, and culture, we train people to serve God and neighbor in the unique context of their identity and calling.

“That is the arc of pilgrimage: to journey into the wilderness, to be transformed, and to return to service. It’s also at the heart of our mission at ��Ƶ.”

These two movements—inward change and outward service—are inseparable. Our own transformation will be stifled if it is not directed toward service, just like our work in the world will burn out or fall flat if it is not grounded in the journey of transformation. So as we move through Lent and into the rest of April, we’ll continue wrestling with the themes of pilgrimage and wilderness, turning the conversation more specifically to service and the call to serve God and neighbor.

We’ll hear from alumni, faculty, staff, and students about their work in the world, and about how their ability to love God is inextricably tied up with their willingness to love others. We also hope to explore the deep need for imagination in how we approach calling and service. Because—no surprises here—the world is changing, and the problems we face today are not the same as they were before; our service should not look the same, either.

May the change and healing that we have found propel us to the change and healing of our world. May we continue to enter places of both deep brokenness and deep beauty. May we never stop innovating, dreaming, and scheming. And may the Spirit be with us as we commit to hard conversations and dare to confront the wicked problems that deface the image of God in humanity.

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Liberating Fire: A Short Film with Dr. Bob Ekblad

Dr. Bob Ekblad — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 16:00:40 +0000

All through Lent we’re exploring the idea that the affirmation of humanity is an act of resistance. This is especially true when the humanity being affirmed is attacked, belittled, or marginalized by systems of power. In these conversations, we are often inspired by Dr. Bob Ekblad, Associate Professor of Old Testament Studies, whose work with and has helped many people live into new, liberating ways of reading Scripture and practicing their faith.

https://vimeo.com/305151148

If you’ve ever met Bob, you know that he is a man of apparent contradictions. He speaks with a calm gentleness, meaning you might miss the pointed fierceness of his indictments of oppressive powers. One moment he’s decrying the injustice of nationalistic capitalism, and the next he’s leading a charismatic prayer for healing.

But the more you get to know him, you realize these aren’t contradictions for Bob. His political and social convictions are intimately connected to and informed by his vibrant faith in a God who is near and active in human affairs, especially in places of injustice and marginalization. It wasn’t always this way, though. In the post-9/11 atmosphere of fear and distrust of outsiders, Bob often felt like his faith had nothing to offer those who most needed good news. He was intrigued by Christians who spoke of miracles and prayed for healing, but he knew that those more charismatic circles were so often connected with harmful conservative and nationalist politics. The chasm between Christianity and social justice felt devastatingly vast.

“The evangelical and charismatic churches would be promoting the Reagan and Bush administrations’ policies, always dismissing everything we had to say,” says Bob. “We’d speak in churches and people would just oppose us. So we were getting more and more frustrated and feeling quite antagonistic toward the United States.”

Bob’s journey of working to reconcile that divide is chronicled in this documentary from the , a short film series “exploring the crossroads of God’s presence in our lives and justice on the earth.” The film offers an overview of Bob’s story, documenting the progression of his faith, his encounters with both liberation theology and the charismatic movement, and his work in Washington and around the world.

“The places of deepest brokenness and marginalization everywhere in the world require a united body of Christ.”

This is a beautiful, compelling film, and it reminds us that a meaningful pilgrimage is not just about leaving home embark on something new; there is, eventually, a return to service. For Bob and Gracie Ekblad, that meant returning to the United States to work within the Church instead of outside it, helping to foster reconciliation in places that had been divided for too long.

“In our ministry, God is doing a work where word—reading Scriptures for good news at the margins—spirit—the gifts of the Holy Spirit, moving in the power of the Holy Spirit—and street—justice, advocacy, peacemaking, confronting the powers, standing with the downtrodden—those three pieces we feel called to champion together, in a united way,” says Bob. “We see that the places of deepest brokenness and marginalization everywhere in the world require a united body of Christ. So we feel called to a ministry of reconciliation, and there’s a need for repentance on lots of fronts. We needed to repent of all of our judgements, harsh judgements against evangelicals and charismatics. And churches that endorse the status quo need to repent of that and be about Jesus and the kingdom of God. Without that happening, we’re going to see increasing division and ineffective ministry, because the body of Christ isn’t going to be trusted around the world.”

Our thanks to filmmaker Fred Sprinkle and the Wind Vane Project for helping tell Bob’s story, and for offering a compelling picture of a vibrant, active faith that does not shy away from the darkest injustices in our world. You can learn more about their project , and more about Bob and Gracie Ekblad and their work .