What’s Feeding Our Souls Right Now

The first in an occasional series rounding up the articles, musings, interviews, books, prayers, and other spiritual content that is keeping us afloat in an often wearying world.

How Dallas Became One of America’s Most Refugee-Friendly Cities (from BuzzFeed News)

“…Gateway of Grace isn’t a church. It’s a ministry with two very specific missions: to decrease the fear of refugees in the Dallas Christian community, and to foster loving friendships between Christians and refugees in need. Page isn’t looking to convert people, but to model Christ’s love — and, in so doing, help change the very temperature of refugees’ reception from frigidity and fear to endless warmth and compassion.”

Thine Is the Transkingdom (from Image Journal)

“What is performed in the between-places, where pieces of selves are lost and exchanged and transformed?”

‘Wonder Woman’: A Win at the Box Office and for Equality (from Busted Halo)

“Not only is Diana’s decision a moving example of selfless, honorable valor in the face of utter doom, but it’s also a brilliant allegory for the struggles that women face across the world. Both in the broad sense of working for equality and also in the day-to-day challenges women face. Whether caring for their own responsibilities, families, communities, countries, or any combination of these, women contribute daily, tirelessly — often at great cost to themselves and great benefit to the rest of the world. Women are living out in real life what we see in this scene every day: Being told that they’re not capable when they know they are, facing opposition from all sides, taking on challenges that seem insurmountable, and rising to the occasion.”

People Who Hold Space Will Heal the Church (from Kaitlin B. Curtice)

“They are the ones who bring justice and shalom, because they are patient people who hold onto a long-off vision. We need them in our churches, because they will not force change. They will not sit in pews and bear judgment over the people around them, but they will sit with those people and wait for God to show them the way.”

A Prayer for a Heavy World (from Sojourners, also by Kaitlin B. Curtice)

“O God,
teach us what it means to live in grace — not just for ourselves,
but for the collective whole.
We have been individuals for far too long,
and in that individualism, we’ve forgotten how to hold each other.”

[BOOK] The Necessary Beggar by Susan Palwick

Sisterhood recommendation: “A really great fantasy novel that is set in an AU United States and deals with refugees. A family from a fantasy kingdom is exiled to our world and end up in a refugee camps in the United States. The book deals a lot with their struggles to mourn their home and to assimilate into the US. One thing I really liked about it is that the book features a Christian character who helps the family as her way of following Jesus.”

[BOOK] The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Sisterhood recommendation: “It’s about a small ship of crewmembers traveling in space who are all very different from each other. Some are human, some are space lizards, all of them have very different outlooks on life and beliefs but are able to live with each other (and love each other), even when they are so different from each other. I find the lesson on tolerance particularly potent right now when there are more and more calls to cut off people who do not share our beliefs.”

Now it’s your turn! What are you reading (or watching) these days to increase your awareness, build your knowledge, enhance your spirituality, and/or generally feed your soul? Some examples might be:

• Books (fiction, nonfiction, etc.)
• Publications (journals, magazines, newspapers, etc.)
• Blogs
• E-newsletters/online forums
• Podcasts
• Videos (documentaries, films, YouTube series/TED Talks, etc.)
• TV shows (news, entertainment, etc.)
• People (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)

Please share your favorites with spcsisterhoodchronicles@gmail.com as the spirit moves you. Thanks!