Pilgrims' Home

The Pilgrim’s Exercises Paulo Cohelo, The Pilgrimage The Seed Exercise Kneel on the ground, then seat yourself on your heels and bend forward so that your head touches your knees. Stretch your arms behind you. You are now in a fetal position. Relax, releasing all of your tensions. Breathe calmly and deeply. Little by little you will perceive you are a little seed, cradled in the comfort of the earth. Everything around you is warm and delicious. You are in a deep, restful sleep. Suddenly, a finger moves. The shoot no longer wants to be a seed; it wants to grow. Slowly you begin to move your arms, and then your body will begin to rise, straightening up until you are seated on your heels. Now you begin to lift your body up and slowly, slowly you become erect, still kneeling on the ground. The moment has come to break completely through the earth. You begin to rise slowly, placing your foot on the ground, then the other, fighting against the disequilibrium just as a sh...

Returning to ECC artwork by Julie Courtney Excelsior, MN We  were reflecting on Ida B. Wells and Sojourner Truth when the email came through acknowledging the activation of my ordination in the Evangelical Covenant Church. I was attending a conference centered on African American Religious autobiographies at the time. Somewhere between a discussion of Sojourner Truth’s words to Douglass, “Is God Dead?” and the autonomous power of Ida B. Wells defending Douglass’ white wife, I saw the email notification. Someone invited the rest of us to hear   Ida B Wells’ words, “Because white people forget Christianity and good breeding when dealing with those who belong to the darker races is no justification for this dark race to do the same. I cannot see it any other way than that the truly Christian, well-bred person is always so, no matter with whom they come in contact.” The decision to activate my Covenant ordination and suspend my ordination in the Reformed Church in American is not...