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Spirituality of Howard Thurman: The Necessity of Prayer as the Foundation for Justice Work

By: The Rev. Chana Tetzlaff, RJET Co-Chair

On Saturday, September 16th over 60 lay, clergy, and community leaders gathered at St. Philips Episcopal church for a retreat hosted by the Diocesan Racial Justice and Education Team (RJET) on the Spirituality of Howard Thurman: The Necessity of Prayer as the Foundation for Justice Work. Thurman is best known as the pastor of the Freedom Movement of the 1960s, mentoring and caring for the souls of those on the front lines speaking truth to power and pursuing equal rights for people of color.

The morning opened with two workshops on evolutions in theological thought, framed by Deacon Cathy Scott, with an overarching question for people of faith everywhere reflecting on justice in our time: what is it that breaks your heart in our world today, and, more importantly, what breaks your heart open? The Rev. Andrea Arsene of All Saints, Indianapolis spoke to Womanist theology as a spring from which the Waters of Justice Flow forth. With a grounding overview from the particular realities of specific cultural groups who have been silenced or kept from contributing by groups in power, these alternate theological reflections offer us a rich expansion for the fullness of God’s activity. There is no one experience of God, so what can the Church learn from the lived experience of people who have been outside of the assumed norm? And how does that new knowledge expand, intersect with, and influence, the thriving of all people within God’s embrace? These lived experiences help us to know a Jesus who is close, and personal, rather than a distant cosmic Christ who is not intimately involved in the particular experiences of our lives. As stated so beautifully by Mtr. Andrea, “theology needs the perspective of Black women so when [what’s] hard comes to you, you’ll know: God makes a way.” Downstairs, Cassidy Hall, MDiv. shared her insights from the contemplative life of Thomas Merton in Queering Contemplation: Examining the union of contemplation and activism through a Queer lens. How does your context enable you to articulate the Gospel in a unique way? As Cassidy summarized, “Queer is a word of invitation to see and look differently at ourselves and the world around us, a prophetic way to see beyond what is to what could be, a way to live expansively and [explore] how everythingness is necessary to the love and liberation of our whole selves.” As a concept, queer “asserts a type of fluidity in life  – how to make this work, shift to heal this relationship, how to think differently to love or be better?” The uniqueness of each soul, in communion with the Soul of God, leads us to be ever-expansive people reflecting God’s ever-expansive Love in action. This becomes our prayer-infused action for social change.

After the workshops, participants viewed the documentary film Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story that was written, produced and directed by noted filmmaker Martin Doblmeier of Journey Films. Following a delicious catered lunch by Guy’s Cooking Creation, Martin spoke about the creation of the film and the spiritual practices of this (largely-unknown) spiritual sage who fostered the spiritual heart of the Movement from behind the scenes. Thurman’s mysticism, expressed so eloquently in his preaching, poetry, and contemplative writing, believed social action to be as sacramental as worship in churches on Sunday. Thurman invited both the secular culture and the institutional church to come alive, to “look inside and find the sound of the genuine in you.” Thurman believed it was not for the human spirit to accommodate itself to desolation, but to recognize that “all social issues are temporary and brief – go deep” to “find the principle that underlies all your efforts or remove whatever keeps God from coming into himself or herself. That is the call to action.” For Thurman, the most absolute expression of God was Unity: that the starting and ending place for every person we encounter is that we are loved and honored by the Creator of all things.

The day concluded with Eucharist led by St. Philip’s music team and celebrated by Mtr. Andrea. Rev.

Cathy Scott served as deacon for the liturgy and Mr. Demarius Walker, Service Corps Program Director and Associate for Spiritual Formation at Trinity, Indianapolis, was the preacher.

The Ujamaa Community Bookstore offered several of Rev. Thurman’s books for sale at the event. Several unique collections of Thurman’s writings are available at the Ujamaa Community Bookstore located in the Flanner House Community Center located at 2424 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street in Indianapolis.

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