Writing is me.
Maybe growing up as an only child inspired my love of writing. Writing has always been my “go to” place - and while writing has never been far away, I’ve gone back to it even more in the past few years. Primarily, as a priest and pastor, I write about issues of justice and equity for all of God’s people. And, I read about those issues, too. So if you’d like to know what I’m reading and writing, I hope you’ll jump on board - and we can share the journey.
I write a lot of essays.
Essays are the way that I reflect on things happening in our world. As former President Jimmy Carter continues in hospice care, I reflect on his legacy, here.
I love to reflect on our scriptures.
It’s been said that the only thing new in the world is the history that we don’t know. We learn so much about ourselves as humans - and about our steadfastly faithful God - from our holy scriptures. From immigration to violence to family relationship fracture to all of our questions about the faith journey, our scriptures inform us.
See these reflections on immigration and being in relationship with neighbors who are different.
And, yes, I enjoy taking a critical look at justice issues.
Lots of things happen in our world. How do we see events unfolding around us and ways in which we can be an impetus for positive change? Read about how American workers are being impacted by the housing crisis - and ways that our communities can help solve this challenge. And, read about affirmative action - and how institutions of higher learning can still be committed to diversity after the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard, and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina.
About that history we don’t know...
I’ve learned, as I’ve grown older, that history really does matter. We need to learn the whole of it - the good, the bad, and the ugly - if we are to learn from it. So I try to study it pretty intently to see what there is to glean - and to understand better how our scriptures inform us as we study our history. This essay, about a 19th century physician who contributed much to the science of obstetrics and gynecology, also helps us understand more about some of the subjects of his experiments and why the whole of history - including scriptural history - matters.
I love learning more and more about the history of this wonderful city that I call home.
Memphis is amazing…and Memphis’ history is rich. Our history informs so much of who we are today. Take a look at some history from a pivotal year, 1968: the Sanitation Workers Strike, here, and the founding of an incredible Memphis hallmark - MIFA - here.
And, some “old news” is, unfortunately, still “new news.”
An essay from 2004 about the gap between men’s and women’s wages still seems to hold true nearly 20 years later.
Thank you to everyone who’s been reading my essays!
I’m grateful that two of my pieces - “Juneteenth: The Remembrance of Humankind’s Opposition to Freedom and Justice” (Black by God) and “Restoring Housing Hope” (Bearings Online/Collegeville Institute) were recognized in the Associated Church Press 2022 Best of the Church Press awards.
And, yes, sometimes, I’m preaching.
A look at Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well…
And, a look at the Book of Esther…
On prayer…
“I used to think believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us, and we change things.”
(attributed to Mother Teresa)
Prayer is our conversation with God. For some of us, it’s an ongoing conversation that continues wherever we last left off. For some of us, prayer is much more intentional and focused. We may pray through the day (morning, noon, evening), or we may struggle to find words or even to gasp, “Lord, have mercy.” However we pray (or struggle to pray), God invites us always into that kind of holy conversation. We don’t need lovely poetic words; we merely need to offer the words on our hearts.
For some thoughts on prayer, please see this reflection.
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© 2023 Dorothy Sanders Wells
