Practicing Moral Courage (Erin Jean Warde)

I am not telling you how to feel, how to believe, how to act. I am telling you how I feel, what I believe, and how my faith is calling me to act. <3

Practicing Moral Courage

Hello beloveds,

I write to you today with a heavy heart.  Next week, I’ll share the November Chaossier, and below I announce our topic. I appreciate your patience in advance, as I know it’s already November 7th.  

Yes, today I write to you with a heavy heart.  I have done as much inner work as one person can do over the past 24 hours, given the circumstances.  I have gone through many thoughts I will not share here.  But, as I arrive to this page today, I arrive with a trembling courage that is the result of what happens when one tries to let their grief become their power.

I want to be very clear here, today, about where I stand.  I do not say this to harm anyone, as my work has always been–and will always be–about healing.  Healing is, I believe, the most powerful force in our world.

You might be thinking: Shouldn’t she be saying the most powerful force in our world is God?  Well, of course, but I believe the power of God is the power of healing.  I’m also aware that claiming God as powerful can, in our current context, undermine the very power I hope to call on, which is a deep grief of mine.  But when so many who align themselves with the “power of God” act in such a way to wield that power against the marginalized, how exactly can I call on that power within this context as being a healing power too?  How can I wed power with healing when we know power can be, and is being, used to enact harm?  I will always call on the power and healing of God, but I call on it believing it will seek out the last and the least, that it will–like Jesus–find its way to the very beloved souls who are not being served by the powers and principalities of this world, to remind them of the true power and healing that is their birthright.  I will always call on the power and healing of God, but I know it will not serve the power of this world, and instead, subvert it, explicitly so that the true power and healing of God may be known in this world, as it is in heaven.

I feel, maybe more than ever before, ready to become part of the resistance of pain and evil taking and maintaining power in this world, specifically because of how deeply I feel called to offer healing as a ministry and vocation.  Again: my work has always been–and will always be–about healing.  And, in light of recent events, it feels clear to me who needs healing given the powers of this world that be: the marginalized, the disenfranchised, those who find themselves full of fear right now. 

I commit to:

• Trying to offer healing to my LGBTQIA+ beloveds.

• Trying to offer healing to my beloveds who are harmed because of their race.

• Trying to offer healing to those who fear for their lives due to lack of necessary healthcare.

• Seeking wisdom from the margins, so I can sit at their feet, to learn from them how to move forward.

• Practicing moral courage, because I believe it is of utmost importance now, especially as Christians, and I know I have failed to practice moral courage in the past.

• Focusing my work of healing on the systems of pain that need to be healed by being ended in order for justice to reign.

• Remembering the wisdom we find in creation and how care for creation is its own act of resistance.

I recommit to my Baptismal Covenant, when it asks: 

Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?

Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? 

Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

The fact that I say, “I will, with God’s help” after each of these vows means that, when the world casts justice opposite from power–as our world is wont to do–and I am asked whether I will stand on the side of justice, my answer must also be: I will, with God’s help.

I am not telling you how to feel, how to believe, how to act.  I am telling you how I feel, what I believe, and how my faith is calling me to act.

One of the interesting realities about the ministry of Jesus, that I think many of us gloss over too quickly, is that Jesus’ healing was so deeply upsetting to the powers that be of his time that it got him crucified.  The powers that be were so threatened by him that they criminalized him and he died by capital punishment.  The life of Jesus was always political, because even from the prophecy of his birth, he made kings shake in their boots.  Did you read how Herod scrambled?  Something about Jesus, even just the prophecy of his birth, then how he healed people in the flesh–all of it confused and frightened the powers that be.  From the jump, he was cast opposite from earthly power, and he chose to stand opposite earthly power, at whatever cost, because even with his humanity he never lost his divinity.  

This is why, when the world casts justice opposite from power and I am asked whether I will stand on the side of justice, my answer must always be: I will, with God’s help.  Because that is what it means for me to follow Christ.  I believe anything else is a capitulation to said power, a quiet sliding to the side of power, a slow meander away from the seat of justice where Jesus is enthroned.  

In the coming weeks, months, and years, I will be focused on how my healing work becomes resistance work.  You see, I spent yesterday first being completely numb, then coming out of numbness to the deeper soul question: How will I follow Christ in this world–the one in front of me?  And I spiraled into wondering what all the huge new things would be that I’d have to take on in order to follow Christ in this world, especially the Jesus I met in Scripture–the one who is enthroned in justice.  Finally, blessedly, I realized something: the work I am doing, the healing work, the passions I already hold but haven’t given enough thought to, the quiet questions about my vocation I’ve been discerning—this is the work.  I don’t have to start a billion huge new things, and if I did, it would be a fast track to burnout.  

No, I don’t need to start a billion huge new things.  But I do need to commit–with the fullness of my heart–to the work that is mine to do.  I still need to discern what exactly my work is right now, in the sense that it will need to be shaped around this present reality, but I know it’s seated within the healing work I already do, and the passions I already hold but haven’t given enough thought to, and the curiosities I already wish to research.

So if you’re floundering like me right now, trying to figure out how to do something good, maybe start with who you already are, what you already love, what you already do–then figure out how that can be situated within the work of justice in our world right now.  I’m not saying that’s the be all and end all, because if we are to listen to the gospels and receive Mary at her word, we know that overthrow is part of what is to come in the world we are called to create when we worship Jesus who sits on the throne of justice.  But overthrow looks different in different spaces, in different ways, and it can even–and maybe most radically–also happen just inside the human heart.  So again, this is not all we can do, but I do believe it is how we can start, trusting that when we give an inch, God knows how to lead us into miles and miles, ten-fold upon ten-fold.

I would also like to remind myself that this is the work I have been given to do, through my belief in Jesus, regardless of the president.  So, while this comes to you days after an election, please know that this has been on my heart long before Tuesday.  The world has shown us cruelty many times over, and within these seasons and movements of cruelty, somehow, against all odds, we have always found hope, resilience, sustenance, prayer, laughter, joy, friendship, allyship, and consolation.  Remember: the Magnificat was uttered before Jesus was even born.  Mary knew she would give birth to a child and send him into a world of cruelty in order to overthrow it, and still, here we sit.  And still, as we look into a world of cruelty, we don’t just receive her prophecy, we receive her song.  We receive a hymn.  We receive a melody.  We receive art.  We will need this in the days to come.  We will need to find that hymn, that hope, that daily bread, like we will need air in our lungs.

If you are scared right now, I send you my deepest love.  I am scared, too.  I am also trying to let my grief become my power.  I do not write this as an attack on anyone, but as a promise, and it’s a promise to myself.  But, it is also a promise to you.  A promise to you that I will show up in this space with this heart, with this attempt at a deeper moral courage, with this spirit of trying to do better, all as the soul behind more deeply centering my healing work on resisting the powers that sit opposite justice.

I will, with God’s help.

With love & care,
EJW

For the rest of the 2024 year, we will focus our attention on THE GIFT OF DARKNESS & LIGHT. We are experiencing the recent time change, the upcoming winter solstice, the grief that can often become front of heart during the winter, and Advent + Christmas—all of which are explorations of darkness & light. We can also often speak as if darkness is bad & light is good—but what about the gifts of both darkness and light? We’ll explore this through a variety of lenses & I’m really pumped to dive in.

Paid members, I’ll be sending out info about live calls for this month soon, but a quick announcement: for November & December, we will only have one call per month, due to the Thanksgiving & Christmas holiday. I’m so sorry, but both months feel truncated! That said, each month on the one call we will still honor both HIGHS & LOWS and also explore THE GIFT OF DARKNESS & LIGHT. Again, more info headed your way soon. If you’d like to join us for live calls, you’re invited to become a paid member if you aren’t already! And if you can’t swing it financially, reach out and let me know. <3

GOOD NEWS & GRATITUDE PODCAST

After a bit of a hiatus, I’m thrilled to share that the podcast I host for United Thank Offering—Good News and Gratitude—is back in production! You can check THREE new episodes just in the past few weeks: a 2 part series on prayer & an introduction to November’s focus on Navigating Burnout.

ALL THINGS MADE NEW PODCAST WITH AARON J. SMITH

Enjoy this chat about Sober Spirituality and more with my long time internet friend, Aaron J. Smith. I had a blast talking with him and I hope you enjoy it, too!

MINDFUL DRINKING PODCAST WITH DEREK BROWN

I had the honor & joy of being a guest on Derek Brown’s Mindful Drinking podcast recently! If you don’t follow Derek’s work, I highly recommend it. He is an award winning mixologist with a heart for mindfully engaging with alcohol, which is a voice and presence I believe we really need. His Substack is very much worth subscribing too! I hope you enjoy our conversation!

COACHING

If you’re moving through this fall semester and hoping to change your relationship with alcohol, I’d love to work with you as your recovery coach. This is for anyone who wants to change their relationship with alcohol, whether that’s cutting back, quitting completely, or maintaining sobriety.

Not wanting to focus specifically on alcohol, but want support finding positive coping tools? Feeling stuck in habits you’d like to change? I’d love to support you as you find great coping tools. <3

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

If you’re seeking long term spiritual support, I’d love to hold space for you as your spiritual director. Supporting people in their spiritual lives is one of the deep joys of my life. I have supported people spiritually through deconstruction, daily life, seminary, grief, the big questions of life, the ordination process, sobriety, and more. I’m also LGBTQIA+ inclusive. If you’re hoping for a companion along the way, I’d love to be a companion to you, as your spiritual director.