Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams, SACReD Co-Director for Movement Building
Take a deep breath – this is deep work, and we need you for the long haul.
Inhale.
Exhale.
These are the words that closed SACReD’s call to action after the draft SCOTUS opinion leaked, showing what many of us presumed would happen: the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
I repeat these words to you now in another moment filled with anxiety, uncertainty, commitment, dread, resolution, fear, dis-ease, possibility, exhaustion, and anticipation that fill our personal, communal, national, and global worlds. These are foundation-cracking times, moments that can shift our axis of gravity. We are living through apocalypse. In this blog series my colleagues and I are not referring to the end times of Judgment Day, but a time of revealing, pulling back the veil to show what has been here for a long time, as Catherine Keller and other Christian scholars teach us. We hope to take a longer view and offer perspective on where we have been, where we are, where we might go from here, and how you can be a part of it.
What we know is this: the forces at work spreading dis- and misinformation, pitting individuals and communities against each other, stoking the flames of the fires of the war machine, inciting fear and violence toward the “other” have been at this for a long time. In this moment, White Christian Nationalism is the power working behind the scenes and increasingly out in the open creating these divisions.
We also know that the progress we have won through civil and human rights and changes in material conditions happened over the course of generations. Beloveds, this is deep work.
Take a deep breath. We need you for the long haul.
Whatever comes next, SACReD is clear what our vision for the world is and our role in getting us there.
In a SACReD world, religious communities shift the culture to make Reproductive Justice a lived reality.
No matter what, we will still create and equip a network of spiritual communities with liberative religious education & practices that shift our culture to advance Reproductive Justice. Whoever is in elected office, we continue to affirm bodily autonomy and moral agency, celebrate healthy sexuality, and advocate for reproductive dignity to support the flourishing of all people and families.
The conditions under which we educate, organize, and mobilize will be different based on who is in office, but the core of our work does not change. We still need Reproductive Justice. We still need more preaching, prayer, and teaching that weaves together faith stories and reproductive stories free from shame, judgment, and stigma. We still need faith leaders to provide compassionate care to people along their reproductive journey. We still need folks providing access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including abortion and IVF. We still need activism and organizing to create the Reproductive Justice we hope to see in the world.
This moment calls us to healing and to organizing, and SACReD is equipped to do both. What will that look like for you? What practices do you need to develop to make it through these apocalyptic times?
At the 2024 SACReD Gathering, AnaYelsi Velasco Sanchez shared her Interlocking Justice Framework that can guide us in answering these questions. This framework is a series of practices starting internally (Restorative Practice), moving to interpersonal contexts (Integrity Practice), within organizations or a community (Communal Practice), among multiple organizations in a movement (Convergence Practice), and even extending across movements or issue areas (Expansive Practice). How can these practices inform our healing and our organizing? What do we need to heal within ourselves after enduring so much in these times of rupture? How do we tend to our soul and body after a time of neglect and abandonment?
Apocalypse can bring about more defensiveness, reactivity, and doubling-down on our position. It can also mean opening ourselves to seeing the world differently. Now that we have peeked behind the veil, we cannot unsee what we have seen. Will we attempt to cover it back up and forget this ever happened? Will we dull our senses and strive for a return to normalcy, whatever that is?
Or will we take this opportunity to dig deeper, to learn from our neighbors, to seek out humanity beyond click-bait and slogans? Will we listen to the deep concerns and needs of the world? Will we act to meet the need where we can? Will we respond with openness and curiosity?
These problems are so big, so huge, so monumental that it can feel overwhelming to know where to begin. The empire wants us to feel powerless so that we stay in a place of apathy, indifference, and inaction. Instead, Gregory Ellison, II, shares the wisdom from his aunt who invited him to start changing the world by changing the three feet around himself. What or who is in the three feet around you that you can listen to, learn from, and tend to in these apocalyptic times?
From our inception, SACReD has created spaces where people who want to change the world gather in community, ask hard questions, and learn by beginning to answer them together. We weave together spiritual practices into our reproductive justice movement work, whether that is online or in-person. We have heard from those of you who have attended our Gathering and trainings that you feel less alone, like you have found your people and want to dig deeper into this work with these people. You love the emphasis on embodied spirituality that moves beyond the intellect. You felt the community spirit and feel more secure bringing your spirituality into your work for Reproductive Justice wherever you are. These are signs of finding your community and your political home.
SACReD is ready to become your political home. You can dig in with us in the coming months in a few ways. There is still time to sign up for the Woven Together webinar series, where we are digging into political education around faith, Reproductive Justice, and White Christian Nationalism. You can also make plans to join us in-person in New Orleans for the facilitator training and launch of our revised curriculum: A SACReD Journey February 17-18, 2025. Join us as we skill up, heal, and organize together for the next four (and twenty-four) years to come.
The night before the election, I gathered around a labyrinth lined with flameless candles with fellow faithful folks to pray for our country. I needed intimate, embodied time to connect with people and share a bit of the weight of the world. We sang, we read scripture, and we prayed from the depths of our souls. In the middle of our circle stood a table with sand and candles. As we offered our individual prayers to God, one by one, we picked up a small candle, waited for the light of the center candle to spread to the small wick, and placed it in the sand. The night was windy. It was not possible for all of the candles to remain aflame. Some went out. The next person walked to the table to light their own candle from whatever flame flickered. They stayed, sharing that light with the extinguished candles. One by one by one.
Beloveds, I do not know exactly what the next days, months, or years will bring. I imagine some of us will feel like our flames are at risk of going out. At times, we may feel a strong flame that we can lend to a neighbor. Stay connected, reach out to each other. Tend to your flame and to others. Pay attention for when you need to rest and not burn for a time. We need each other to get through this. What is the soul-nourishing healing that you need in order to stay grounded and nourished for the deep organizing work ahead of us.
Take a deep breath – this is deep work, and we need you for the long haul.
Inhale.
Exhale.
We look forward to healing and organizing with you, wherever you find yourself in the struggle for liberation of all people.
