Voices of Theological Horizons
The voices of Theological horizons
Hear from the many different folks who are an integral part of Theological Horizons explain why they give to our ministry and what TH means to them.
“TH is the community I wish I had explored when I was an undergraduate student at the University. So I decided to take advantage of my involvement now and dropped by a Vintage Lunch series, where I met one of the new nurses in my intensive care unit. We had an engaging discussion about forgiveness that set the foundation for the challenging situations we encounter at work. It’s so amazing to be a part of a community that pays it forward in so many unexpected ways.” - Dr. Taison Bell, Board Member
“Why do we contribute? Our first exposure to a parachurch ministry was, as newlyweds in 1977, when the Navy moved us to Japan - far from our families and friends. We cherished the fellowship, teaching, and sense of community provided by that ministry. While the specific context is certainly different, Theological Horizons provides the same type of ministry to the UVA community and we welcome the opportunity to support it.”
“My time at Theological Horizons offered me a safe space to wonder about questions of purpose and vocation, all while challenging me to slow down and prepare my heart for life post-graduation. It was through guest speakers and guided readings that I was able to better understand what it means to be a good neighbor, to consider issues of inequality and justice consciously, and how I may find God in unexpected places." - Harmony LaJeunesse, UVA 2023
"It seems that people - young adults especially - are figuring out how to faithfully engage in a world that doesn't always make sense. Theological Horizons is special - uniquely providing space for us to pursue the Kingdom of God here on earth alongside seekers and our neighbors, buoyed by the encouragement of saints before us. Through its intentional programming and welcoming environment, the work of TH gives us great hope for the year ahead.”
- Betty Li-Simpson and Joshua Simpson-Li
We are so grateful for all the ways these voices have helped us to shine light in dark places this year.
Theological Horizons appreciates your financial support to allow us to continue to offer a welcoming community for faith, thought & life.
- your friends at TH
January Prayers | Prayers for New Vision
mural in Carytown, Richmond, VA.
“And then God answered: “Write this. Write what you see.Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming.It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie.If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time.”
DEAR FRIENDS,
As we enter a new year, we pray for new vision (For without vision, the people perish. Proverbs 29:18) Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem gathers up the many strands that we carry into a new year - the joys and the heartbreak, the fears and the hopes. Let us take time to prayerfully weave these strands together into a “vision-message” tapestry for the year to come.
-Christy Yates, Associate Director
The Hill We climb
When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade. We’ve braved the belly of the beast, we’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice. And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it, somehow we do it, somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one. And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect, we are striving to forge a union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.
So we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another, we seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true: that even as we grieved, we grew, even as we hurt, we hoped, that even as we tired, we tried, that we’ll forever be tied together victorious, not because we will never again know defeat but because we will never again sow division.
Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one should make them afraid. If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in in all of the bridges we’ve made.
That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb if only we dare it because being American is more than a pride we inherit, it’s the past we step into and how we repair it. We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it. That would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy, and this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can periodically be delayed, but it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith, we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us, this is the era of just redemption we feared in its inception we did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour but within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves, so while once we asked how can we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us.
We will not march back to what was but move to what shall be, a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free, we will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, our blunders become their burden. But one thing is certain: if we merge mercy with might and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.
So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left, with every breath from my bronze, pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one, we will rise from the golden hills of the West, we will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution, we will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states, we will rise from the sunbaked South, we will rebuild, reconcile, and recover in every known nook of our nation in every corner called our country our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful, when the day comes we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid, the new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.
Advent 4 | Christmas Eve
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.
”
When the Miracle Happened
Long we have waited and at last Christ’s coming is near – that “Great little One, whose all-embracing birth lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.”*
The poet Kenneth Steven speaks of Jesus’ quiet arrival:
When the miracle happened it was not
with bright light or fire—
but a farm door with the thick smell of sheep
and a wind tugging at the shutters.There was no sign the world had changed for ever
or that God had taken place;
just a child crying softly in a corner,
and the door open, for those who came to find.**
As we welcome the Child on this Christmas Eve, let us stand in awe. For “God travels wonderful ways with human beings….God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair. He takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous.”
“And this is the wonder of all wonders: God loves the lowly. God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Here is Jesus: “Eternity shut in a span.”* O come, let us adore him.
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.
(Christina Rossetti)
*Robert Crashaw
**Thanks to Jamie Smith for sharing this poem
Karen Wright Marsh, Executive Director
Side by Side | Perkins Fellow Grace Jackson '25
“We find ourselves only by the practice of locating ourselves within community.”
In the last year and a half of being a Perkins Fellow, I have learned so much about life, faith, inequity, and biblical justice. I have read several books that have challenged my perceptions of the world and the Church’s role within it. My understanding of who I am and my place in this world as a follower of Jesus has been slowly developing. And yet, the friendships that I have developed in the last couple of years have proved to be perhaps the most soul-shaping aspect of my life.
White westerners love to think that we can create an identity for ourselves separate from entangling relationships with others, but this way of life causes us to miss out on the mysterious beauty of diverse and unified community. I strongly believe that God created us to live alongside one another not just so that we can be happier individually, but for His glory and the flourishing of this world. As Kurtz and Ketcham posit in the above quote, I have found that throughout my life, who I am has been profoundly shaped by who I live in close proximity with.
After three days of sitting and listening to leading ministry leaders, scholars, and activists at the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) annual conference this fall, I came home full of inspiration, new perspectives, book recommendations, new questions, theoretical and theological wonderings. And yet, when people asked me the highlight of the weekend, I realized that the best answer was a new recognition and appreciation for the friendships with the people who I live side by side with.
Perkins Fellows at the annual Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) gathering.
After two and half years of friendship and two CCDA conferences with Ashley and Megnot, I have learned to cherish the conversations that we share more than almost anything. This year, there was one particular conversation about Chrsitian theology through indigenous perspectives that sparked a discussion that lasted deep into the night. Conversations with Ashley and Megnot are lovely because they are marked by eager listening, deep thoughtfulness, vulnerability, willingness to be wrong, “beautiful questions,” and a strong commitment to pursuing the truth and ways of Jesus (Geography of Grace, page 79).
Megnot and I also enjoy friendship with the Abundant Life (AL) kids, and our co-leaders, Ben and Katelin. I have gleaned many important lessons from these wonderful humans, two of which I will share with you. Firstly, relationships move at the pace of trust (slowly!). As we have spent about three hours a week with the AL kids for the last couple of years, we have slowly but surely grown in joy, vulnerability, and respect for one another. Secondly, community is best when it is intergenerational. Children have taught me over and over again the importance of joy and play in life rhythms. The following poem illustrates this child-mastered idea that worship must be, in part, an outpouring of delight.
Playing with kids at Abundant Life Ministries.
“We must risk delight…To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil… We must admit there will be music despite everything.”
All the Perkins Fellows, from those who I first met at our orientation in the fall to those who I know intimately, have shown me more and more about what friendship means. Frederick Buechner said, “I don’t think that it is always necessary to talk about the deepest and most private dimension of who we are, but I think we are called to talk to each other out of it, and just as importantly to listen to each other out of it, to live out of our depths as well as our shadows.” (Geography of Grace, page 196). Both with those who we talk about the depths of our souls and those who we don’t, in this year’s group of Perkins Fellows, I have seen these people really listen “out of their depths” to one another. I am reminded yet again that the good story of the gospel and the good road of justice requires companionship. I would like to invite you all to ponder with me: Specifically in your life, despite the inherent brokenness of human relationships, do you have friendships that challenge you to pursue the Lord with truth and humility? Is there anything more Jesus-like than depth-ful listening? And what would it look like if Christians everywhere were marked by this kind of listening-first type of friendship?
Advent 3 | Now in our midst
“Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart!
The Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.
”
Let us pause to recall that teenaged girl – alone and vulnerable — who responded with breathtaking faith to an angel’s stunning news. At one sacred “hinge in time” Mary carried all the generations of waiting and said “yes” to the coming of God in our midst.
Mary – brilliant yet humble, likely illiterate, without wealth or status, from a backwater town – shows us what Christian faithfulness looks like. Through her surrender to the wild and unpredictable will of God, Mary reveals a way of life in which we, too, may say “yes” to the work of God.
In these final days of Advent, let us watch with Mary, who, her belly swollen with Life, waited to go into labor two thousand years ago.
Rev. Alfred Delp (1907-1945) said “yes” to God by opposing Hitler and was condemned to death for his witness. From his prison cell, knowing that execution is imminent, Delp calls us to “an Advent of the heart” that waits with readiness for Christ:
Advent consolation streams from the mysterious figure of the blessed, expectant Mary. The grey horizons must grow light….Beyond the present tumult there exists a different realm, one that is now in our midst. The woman has conceived the Child, sheltered him beneath her heart, and given birth to the Son. The world has come under a different law. Christmas is not only a historic event that happened once, on which our salvation rests. Christmas is the promise of a new order of things.
We must remember that the blessed woman of Nazareth is an illuminating figure of life, of our existence. Deep down in her being, our days and our destinies bear the blessing and mystery of God. The blessed woman waits, and we must wait too until her hour has come. We must be patient and wait with readiness for the moment when it pleases the Lord to appear anew in our night, too.
Let us say “yes” to God, now in our midst.
*adapted from Tish Harrison Warren’s Advent: The Season of Hope
*Spanish painting detail of Our Virgin and Child of Guadalupe, 1745. • Source: Wellcome Collection
Grace & Peace,
Karen Wright Marsh, Executive Director
Advent 2 | While we wait
“On this mountain He will swallow up the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever.
The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth.”
As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ’s infant arrival, we also long for Christ’s promised return—to set all things right across the whole earth. Through this season of already-but-not-yet, what do we do as we wait, wait, wait?
We turn to seven ancient prayers harkening the Old Testament’s promised Messiah. “O Wisdom!” “O Adonai!” “O Root!” “O Key!” “O Light!” “O King of the Nations!” “O Emmanuel!” we cry. “Come!” we sing to our rescuer and our ransom.
We desperately need wisdom from on high. We need Adonai—the Lord—to arrive and redeem us. We need the root of Jesse to nourish us. We need the Key of David to unlock our chains. We need the rising Sun of Justice to shine upon us. We need that King who is the deepest desire of the nations. We and all of this “wounded world” need Emmanuel: God with us.*
Malcolm Guite artfully translates the old “O Antiphons” into fresh poetry. Wait with these words:
O come, O come, and be our God-with-us
O long-sought With-ness for a world without
O secret seed, O hidden spring of light.
Come to us Wisdom, come unspoken Name
Come Root, and Key, and King, and holy Flame,
O quickened little wick so tightly curled,
Be folded with us into time and place,
Unfold for us the mystery of grace
And make a womb of all this wounded world.
O heart of heaven beating in the earth,
O tiny hope within our hopelessness
Come to be born, to bear us to our birth,
To touch a dying world with new-made hands
And make these rags of time our swaddling bands.
*adapted from Tish Harrison Warren’s Advent: The Season of Hope. Image “Night” by Odilon Redon, 1910-1911.
Grace & Peace,
Karen Wright Marsh, Executive Director
Longings & Love | Horizons Fellows Lilly Long '24
In the spirit of the approaching Christmas season, I recently watched one of my favorite holiday movies, Love Actually. One of the opening lines is a pop star who is re-recording one of his top hits into a Christmas song, and he does so by changing the word “love” to “Christmas.” The song goes: I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes, *love* is all around us, come on and let it show. However, every time he sings, he forgets to change the wording and ends up re- recording the song multiple times before he gets it right. This scene demonstrates the power that love has on our society, sometimes becoming so second-nature that it is hard to put a different word in its place.
In discussions about finding our calling as a Horizons Fellow, one of my biggest take aways was the difference between love, desire, and longing. From Chris Yates, we learned how desire prioritizes self- creation and a performance aesthetic, which can drive us to find our identities in earthly achievements. Longing, on the other hand, is a storied aesthetic that is not grounded in immediate satisfaction or success.
Defining the difference between these two terms helped me to realize how quick I am to equate my life with what I have accomplished – a certain exam score, a well-practiced presentation, a lower 5K time. Falling in love with desires is dangerous because they will never be enough. Longing takes a step back and considers what is being loved – do I love the act of running a 5K or the sense of control it instills in me? In my mind, a longing bears much resemblance to a good moral habit, where the focus is less on the act itself and more on the root of intent. Christianity is a unique religion in honestly acknowledging the darkness, but never without bringing in the light. Christianity does not ignore the sin, hatred, and violence in the world, but rather pairs it with the hope and goodness that is to come. I like to think that longing and good moral habits are the same, looking toward the greater hope and goodness that surrounds it rather than the act itself.
At the root of it all sits love. At the temptations of desire, love can steer us into earthly kingdoms of success and control, but at the basis of longing, love can re-orient us in the right direction to our commitment in finding our calling. As the Christmas season continues and fourth year makes its way, I love the constant reminder that this is a journey. Yes, there are roadblocks and obstacles and dark patches, but there are also flowery meadows and chirping birds and friends along the way. Despite the stress of figuring out what the future holds, our walk in faith with God has no deadlines. Instead, I pray that every day I will take one step further in the direction of where I’m meant to be. Love is found in this journey and our eternal longing to stay on His path.
Advent I | In Lowly Exile Here
“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”
In our world, darkness seems stronger than light. Amidst this winter, the Christian season of Advent invites us to look honestly at the darkness even as we watch for the light of Christ, our one true hope.
This is what Advent asks of us:
that before we celebrate the birth of Christ, we remember the pain of labor; we wait with this whole longing world, with all of creation, groaning for redemption to be born; that we face the midnight before we celebrate the dawn;That we prepare for Christmas not only with shopping lists and decorations but by making space for mourning; that we join with all of God’s people, across the ages, in lamentation; that we wait, as the hymn says, “in lowly exile here, until the Son of God appears.”*
And this is what Advent promises to us:
“We have a promise upon which to base our hope:
The promise of God’s love.
So our life can rightly be a waiting in expectation, but waiting patiently and with a smile.
Then, indeed, we shall be really surprised and full of joy and gratitude when he comes.”
(Henri Nouwen)
As this Advent begins, let us remember, let us lament, let us wait, let us cling to the promise.
And let us have eyes to see the Christ who comes to live among us.
Christ of the cosmos, living Word,
come to heal and save…
Incognito, in our streets,
beneath the concrete,
between the cracks,
behind the curtains,
within the dreams,
in ageing memories,
in childhood wonder,
in secret ponds, in broken hearts,
in Bethlehem stable:
still small voice,
Word of God, amongst us.
(Iona community, Scotland)
*adapted from Tish Harrison Warren’s Advent: The Season of Hope, p.13
Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash
December Prayers | Prayers of Illumination
DEAR FRIENDS,
There’s an old practice of praying before reading Scripture that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes, minds and hearts to see new insights, to reveal what might have been hidden by the darkness of our own blinders and narrow views. Let’s try this month to incorporate such prayers not only before reading Scripture, but before watching the news, reading a book, watching a film or visiting with a friend. Perhaps Holy Spirit might reveal something new in this season of light amidst the dark.
-Christy Yates, Associate Director
God, source of all light by your Word, you give light to the soul. Pour out on us the spirit of wisdom and understanding, that our hearts and minds may be opened to know your truth and your way. Amen.
Shine within our hearts, loving God, the pure light of your divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our minds and hearts that we may understand and embrace the message of the Scripture. Amen.
Gracious God, we do not live by bread alone. Let the heavenly food of the scripture we are about to hear nourish us today in the ways of eternal life, through Jesus Christ, the bread of heaven. Amen
God of mercy, you promised never to break your covenant with us. In the midst of the multitude of words in our daily lives, speak your eternal Word to us, that we may respond to your gracious promises with faithfulness, service and love. Amen.
Living God, help us so to hear your Word that we may truly understand; that, understanding, we may believe; and believing, we may follow your way in all faithfulness, seeking your honor and glory in all that we do. Amen.
Planted like a Tree | Perkins Fellow Megnot Abebe '25
“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.”
Psalm1:3 paints a picture of a tree. One that yields fruit in season and who is prosperous in every season. But how?
Lorenzo, CEO of Christian Community Development Association kicked off the first morning plenary with this psalm. He reminded us to think about this tension of prosperity existing even in not fruit bearing seasons. The prosperity is not defined by the fruitfulness of the season, instead by the stream it draws from in both seasons. And even in times where the tree is not yet bearing fruit, it is preparing to.
And as I sat there in Covington, KY it pushed me to pause, to reflect on my semester so far, to ask myself once again, how do I make sure that I realign with the Word and make sure that I am acting, thinking, praying—living in a season that is prosperous ?
I constantly remember that I am one of the trees planted by streams of water.
We are first and foremost creations of God. And a gift that I often forget that the Lord blesses us with inherently in this world is Him and others. How often am I thankful for not having to live this world alone? When the Lord blessed Adam with Eve, He blessed him with someone who simultaneously was like Adam in that she was human and she was a part of God in that she was made in His image. And what a gift that is.
As I zoom out to the CCDA conference, how thankful am I to sit alongside other UVA students willing to travel mid-year to be in Kentucky, to be surrounded by other followers who have committed their lives to the work of finding the Lord’s justice, hope and will in their communities.
In addition, I am reminded that I am a tree that prospers in every season, regardless of whether I am bearing visible fruit or not. I remind myself that my prosperity is not defined by material wealth, or my grades, or my achievements but in what the Lord defines as prosperous. And as I move away from what I define as prosperous, to what the Lord does, I have to search harder and deeper into understanding the Spirit and the word. In Geography of Grace, in the chapter “Reading The World,” they introduce the idea of ‘Mapping the Hope’. It is referred to as a process where individuals or community leaders find the unique ways hope is found externally and internally. In Charlottesville, I am reminded of hope as I chase Azhiya around a picnic table outside during Bible Club. As I walk with Leena in solidarity with Palestinians during a walkout for Gaza. As I stand in front of the Chapel next to Grace, silent, in memory of Lavel, Devin, D’Sean.
Finally, the road to see the bigger picture requires us to remember, to remember that I am fruitful in seasons, and in the seasons I am not, I am preparing to bear fruit. This importance of memory was highlighted in the words of Richard Rohr, “Remember in the dark what you knew in the light”. Our faith needs to be grounded in the knowledge of the unwavering character of the Lord– of His goodness, His faithfulness, His love. That when we understand better who the Lord is, we are able to see Him separate from our circumstances and our current states. Life/ The world, whatever you want to call it, has ups and downs, but as I am standing in a season devoid of fruit, do I remember that the stream that flows to me is the same one that flowed to me in fruitful seasons? Will I remember the God that has provided for me so far is the one I am putting my faith in now? And do I have the courage not to let my current situation or the current state of the world taint this character of who He is?
In Hebrews 10:23, it is written “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” So, as we head to the end of semesters, end of seasons, and end of the year, I hope and pray that we may remember that we are trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever we do prospers. And may we have the courage and hope to constantly remind ourselves of it and pause to remember the One who calls us Beloved.
Calling & Constraint | Horizons Fellow Cora Carmouche '24
Trader Joe's is adored by a great many people for a great many reasons. One praise I have heard time and again is the fact that, when one shops in Trader Joe's, there is only one brand to choose from. The atmosphere therefore is entirely different than in most other grocery stores, where shopping happens amidst extensive variety and competition. Trader Joe's does not need to carry every brand of peanut butter that has ever been produced; It is constrained to be a grocery store with lovely, packaged snack and meal options, and it walks out that calling wonderfully.
Earlier this semester, the Horizons Fellows read a writing called “Constraint and Consent: Career and Motherhood" by Kate Harris. One example she used for a beneficial constraint was in the Incarnation, when God became man and constrained himself to a fleshy body, a specific time, and a geographical location. Jesus had diminished freedom compared to God the Father in Heaven, but these constraints allowed him to walk out his purpose on Earth and interact physically with His people. What Kate was getting at with this example is that constraints do not have to be seen as a negative thing. Sometimes boundaries, like being a parent, or being a student, or having a sick family member, provide clarity about our callings. We do not have to feel the pressure to do everything and be good at it all when we acknowledge the limitations set before us.
My attitude towards constraint has changed immensely over this semester, especially after the Horizon Fellows had our discussions on the topic. I was angry at the start of the semester that I would have to devote so much time, effort, and energy to my schoolwork. I felt that the difficulty of my work this semester would prevent me from being able to work on other things I care about, such as family, friendships, a relationship, keeping good habits and taking care of myself, and my clubs. All of these are good things to care for and to have. However, it is prideful not to acknowledge that everyone has limits to the amount of things they are able to do well. I felt like I had so many things to attend to and so many people to please and too much to do in a day, and that stress made me angry.
Constraint is my buzzword recently, and the answer to my resentment over feeling endlessly busy. I am constrained by my role as a Chemistry student here. I am constrained by the difficulty of this semester and the fact that I want to graduate "on time" this spring. I am constrained by the number of waking hours in the day. However, instead of feeling anger towards these constraints, I have begun to feel stronger in my purpose. I still work to make time to care for my health and the people around me, but I know that I do not need to do everything all the time because my primary job is just to be a student. I do not have to fawn and fulfill everyone's expectations perfectly, because I already have work set before me. It is work I am lucky to be able to do and work I want to honor the Lord in.
If you ever wonder what you should be doing all day and what your current purpose should be, just take a step back and see what tasks and responsibilities you already have set before you. In this discussion, variety is not the spice of life. The demands you already have are the ones you should fulfill to the best of your ability. Your purpose can be to live in your current role and not squander it. Remember Trader Joe's and how it rules over other grocery stores because it only seeks to be a grocery store. Remember Jesus Christ, who constrained himself into the body of a man so that He could love and rescue us. I will be confident in my constraints as a 4th year Chemistry student and as a human with relational limits, and I hope you will view your constraints in a positive way too, as boundaries to discern your best current purpose.
Fall '23 Board Meeting
On Saturday, November 11, the Theological Horizons Board met at the Bonhoeffer House to discuss many different aspects of our ministry, including: fundraising, strategic planning, and highlights from the fall semester!
Meet Our board!
Back row, left to right: Nathan Walton, Alexa Andrews, Martha Flory, Penny Peebles, Evans Rice, Emilia Gore,
Front row, left to right: Matt McFarland, Betty Li Simpson, Nancy Beane (Board Chair), Mary Meadows Livingston, Jane Grizzle, Liz Carraway
Not pictured: Taison Bell, David Coles, Heidi Metcalf
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board helps to advance our mission through social networking, critical evaluation and support of our long-term strategic plan. Members of the Board are drawn from geographically diverse locations and a variety of backgrounds to champion Theological Horizons in new and different arenas. The expectations of the Advisory Board are advising within your professional capacity, friend-raising within your community and connecting with TH students and alumni. The Advisory Board will meet in person once a year, coinciding with a meeting of the TH Board of Directors.
Advisory Board members: Steve Scoper, Cindy Brinker Simmons, Rich Dean, Carolyn Mitchell Dillard, Betsy Hutson, Danny Avula, Beth Wright, Shaka Sydnor, Kate Harris, Leslie Merrick, Margaret Merrick Ukrop
Board and Friends Dinner
Following the board meeting, attendees and their family and friends gathered for dinner at the Bonhoeffer House. Students shared about how Theological Horizons has made an impact in their lives.
The Value of Constraints | Horizons Fellow Ashley Fan '24
Like most people making their way into a new phase of life, I am caught in a mixed state of stubborn confidence and an overwhelming sense of unknowing. I am certain of what I think my next steps should be, but I am also very aware of how little I know. It can be a paralyzing position to be in, just standing at the edge of the next big thing, and I paradoxically feel trapped by the openness ahead of me. The good news in all of this? I’m one of many, many college students preparing for “real life,” and of all the places I could be, God brought me to the Horizons Fellows where we get to discuss this chapter together.
Like many things, graduating comes by way of intentionally acting to progress my situation while being faced with the fact that I don’t know precisely what God has in store for me. Just the other week, I clicked a little button on my computer indicating that I’ll be graduating in May. I have no clue what comes after Final Exercises, so my anticipation of that time is both anxious and motivating. What am I supposed to do when faced with more options than merely moving on to the proper successive step? My peers and I only know life as students. All due respect to Mr. Jefferson, but being a lifetime learner doesn’t necessarily guarantee the same security as moving from grade school to college. At some point, learning has to shift from career to habit, so it’s a pretty big deal to decide what the first step outside the bubble will be.
Studies show that people are typically more satisfied with their choices if they had fewer options to choose from. We’ve all experienced it in some form: a long menu, ice cream flavors, toothpaste brands. Too many alternatives cause us to wonder what could have been, but there is a level of safety in having limited options. While we like knowing we have choices, we also take comfort in having made the ‘right’ choice. It then makes sense that we have a natural gauge of probability when our options are narrowed. I like to think that this is simply a built-in mechanism that allows us to appreciate what comes out of the choices we make in times of limitation. It gives us the ability to reflect back on times of tribulation and see how God provided out of finite resources.
As I grow older (and hopefully wiser), I have developed an appreciation for constraint. Our first readings as Horizons Fellows discussed constraint, and they have certainly shown me its place in the bigger picture of my life. I am told regularly what a wide array of paths are open for me to take, and I’ve come to long for the feeling of pressure nudging me on. That’s not to say that I hope for catastrophe, just that my natural drive to find rest in not having to make a choice is growing. I miss the certainty of there being a distinct next step, and the idea finding the start of a clearer path excites me.
Maybe that’s what prompts those further down the road to get excited about my future; I’m about to start the path that is truly unique to myself. While I wish for some semblance of structure to tell me I’m headed the right way, they get to reflect on what unfolded for them in such times. It’s easier to appreciate the level of constraint on the other side, but I hope that my final months here teach me to ruminate on what a great privilege it is to be formed by the curiosity of what lies ahead.
Thanksgiving 2023 | The Welcome Table
“Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The Civil Rights movement has a rich history of “the Welcome Table,” both in the song (enjoy one version below), and in gathering diverse groups of people for food and fellowship as a foretaste of the great banquet table to come.
Our theme this year, “cultivating conversations” finds a fitting challenge over the Thanksgiving table. As you come to the table with family and friends, ones you’ve chosen, ones you haven’t, we hope these resources inspire the spirit of welcome in Jesus' name - and remind us all that the joy of the Lord is indeed our strength.
With gratitude,
Your friends at Theological Horizons
Blessed be you Inspirer of pilgrim hearts,
for your Holy Spirit who breaks through conventions
and leads us on to new places.Praise to you Freedom-Giver,
for giving hope when all around has lost sight of precious things,
for giving grace to dare to live a different life,
for giving courage to leave security behind,
for giving strength on stormy waters,
for giving conviction when choices do not bring immediate rewards,
for giving faith to endure the danger of the road less travelled,
Praise to you….Spirit of God,
I offer this thanksgiving for the feast of food you provide
I offer this thanksgiving for friends with whom to share
I offer this thanksgiving for the kindness of the heart.
I remember those who struggle to survive this day
and ask your blessing on us all. AmenTess Ward (Celtic Wheel of the Year)
Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart….
Not thankful, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be Thy praise.George Herbert (1593- 1633)
THANKSGIVING RESOURCES
Faith & Work Forum with Rev. Claude Atcho & Sam Heath
The Faith & Work Forum is a conversation series on Grounds that discusses the interplay between faith, work, and life. Each semester we feature guest speakers with leadership experience from across a wide range of vocations, who bring authentic stories about seeking a meaningful, purpose-driven life.
On November 9th, we gathered at the Bonhoeffer House to hear more from two community leaders who are cultivating very challenging conversations both locally and nationally. Rev. Claude Atcho is the author of Reading Black Books: How African American Literature Can Make Our Faith More Whole and Just and the founding rector of Church of the Resurrection, an Anglican church plant in Charlottesville. Sam Heath is a member of that church and the organizer amongst evangelicals for Equal Justice USA which is seeking to transform the criminal justice system by finding alternative responses to violence that breaks cycles of trauma.
Essential Photovoice Family Weekend Recap
Over UVA Family Weekend, several family groups and other interested UVA community members gathered in Newcomb Hall to intentionally and openly connect through photographs. The prompt was simple: look on your phone and find 1-2 photos that show some defining aspect of the past few months for you. They could show areas where you’ve experienced flourishing or challenges you’ve faced. Each person in the small groups had a few minutes to share about their photos. Then the rest of the group asked questions that invited depth and the photographer shared again.
The Essential Photovoice dialogue structure was created in collaboration between Essential Partners and Interfaith Photovoice, both of which are 30+ year old organizations that specialize in bringing people together across vast differences to engage in meaningful conversation. EP has partnered with Theological Horizons’ Deeper Dialogues Initiative for the past 4 years to cultivate meaningful conversations with members of the UVA and Charlottesville communities.
Ninety percent of Saturday’s participants gave the experience a 4/4 rating of excellence. One participant said the most significant thing they took away from the experience was “the emotional and physical connection between us;” another wrote that while they were not open to the Essential Photovoice process when they first arrived, they realized it has significant value through participating.
Theological Horizons thanks the UVA Parents Program and the Fetzer Institute for their support of this project!
November Prayers | Praying amidst Grief
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
Dear friends. As we process the horrific war in the Middle East, the lives of innocent children, women and men lost, we must allow space for lament. Let us listen to the varied voices of grief and let us stand alongside them in the hope for an end to this violence and for a lasting peace. Let us also make space for the multitude of griefs we and our neighbors carry.
For this Grief Stricken Day
God, we are heartbroken in the face of
so much evil, so much grief.
Comfort us in our sorrow.
Blessed are we who allow ourselves to feel it—
the impossibility
of what was possible a second ago—
the light decision,
the casual stroll,
the easy exchange and ordinary duty,
a decent choice or a banal one,
the sweep of hours on a day that was like any other,
until it wasn’t.
This is the place where nothing makes sense.
This is the place where tears flow in earnest now.
Blessed are we who allow our hearts to break,
for it will take some time
for brittle unreality to release us from its grip,
for the long and slow dissolve
until we fully see
what never should have been.
Blessed are we who ask you, God,
that grief find its way to move among us
and be felt together, that comfort may flow
in bonds of affection
unbroken by this fresh tragedy.
Though grief and tragedy and pain
try to convince us otherwise,
remind us that we are not alone.
God, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Spirit, have mercy.
Amen.
The Telos Group seeks “to form communities of American peacemakers across lines of difference, and equip them to help reconcile seemingly intractable conflicts at home and abroad.” They are an important resource when learning more about the Middle East.
Essential Photovoice Fall 2023
Essential Photovoice Facilitator Cohort
Fall 2023
For 3 weeks in October, a group of 8 folks met and participated in a series of facilitated conversations about community using the Essential Photovoice (EPV) dialogue format. EPV is a recent pilot project of TH’s longtime dialogue consultant and friend Essential Partners in collaboration with Interfaith Photovoice (see below). The concept is simple: take photos responding to prompts each week, then come together to share and ask each other questions about the photos.
We had different sharing prompts each week:
Week one: Share a picture/or pictures to help people understand something meaningful about you; share a picture/or pictures that would help people understand something about your community - however you define that.
Week two: How and where is your community growing and flourishing? What are your community’s deepest challenges?
Week three: What is your role or responsibility in creating or maintaining community, however you define it?
During the last session, the participants also had time to create a page of our cohort’s zine. They were prompted to flesh out a narrative or theme from all the photos they had taken and present it in a way that made sense to them.
Virtual Zine
Connection
The purpose of these 3 sessions was to train the participants to facilitate their own conversations, but the results were much greater than acquiring skills: the 8 participants of all different ages and origins were able to share with striking vulnerability almost immediately. New friendships were formed and old ones were deepened; the group benefitted from hearing each others’ perspectives on how community forms and is maintained.
All 8 of the facilitators gave the training experience a 4/4 rating. When asked “What stands out as the most significant thing you learned in this workshop? what surprised you most about what you learned?,” they responded:
“I learned the power of using pictures to facilitate open, personal, and honest dialogues.”
“As someone with a very small family, it surprised me the most that I was able to relate to and find community with people that decades older than me.”
“The most significant and surprising thing I learned was how much people can open up if given the time and space to do so.”
When asked “how did this experience impact the way you feel about yourself or your community?,” they responded:
“I really felt validated in aspects of my life that I was downplaying. A greater sense of balance and contentment emerged!”
“This experience reinforced the amount of work necessary and needed for all communities to be viable and true to the common good”
“I feel so much more in sync with myself and with my community. The workshop gave me to space and tools to dissect what I want my community to look like and how I can best love them. The diversity of the group really showed me how similar we all are, even through our differences.”
Several trainees have even used the EPV format amongst their friends and family and in their own workspaces.
We hope to host another cohort of facilitator trainees in the spring of 2024!
More about Essential Photovoice
Essential Partners was founded in 1989, with the mission of helping equip people to live and work better together in community by building trust and understanding across differences. Their trademark approach -Reflective Structured Dialogue- empowers people to have healthier, more complex, more inclusive conversations about polarizing differences of values, beliefs, and identities.
Interfaith Photovoice has been around almost as long as EP. It is an arts-based approach to understanding that invites participants to respond to a series of prompts with their own photographs. These photos are used in a series of meetings as the basis for small and large group discussions. At the end of a project, the visuals and narratives are used to engage a broader audience.
Essential Photovoice combines the concepts and methodologies of both approaches to bring more richness to connecting around or across a social issues, and to illuminate and illustrate what is important to those impacted (or inspired!) by curating an exhibition, hosting an event, or collaborating on a tangible item through which other people can engage or better understand that topic.
Conversations in Hospice with Gina Maio - Faith & Work Forum
Gina Maio (pronounced May-oh) and her husband of 30 years, Matt, live in the City of Richmond. Cultivating conversations has been a vital part of Gina’s professional and personal journey as an educator and active member of her faith community. She was ordained in 2011 and currently serves in the most fulfilling role of her professional journey: as a Hospice Chaplain. The most important thing she does every day is listen with her heart, soul and mind, cultivating conversations to help patients and their families prepare for death.
On Thursday, Oct 12th, we hosted a beautiful and intimate Faith & Work Forum over lunch with Reverend Gina Maio, an at-home hospice chaplain. She shared hard earned wisdom about cultivating conversations around the death bed. Below are some quotes and resources to help you navigate these challenging yet sacred spaces in our lives.
How do you handle challenging conversations in your work?
Rev. Maio emphasized how a lot of her job as a hospice chaplain is listening, asking questions, then reflecting back what she hears—and repeating that cycle again and again. Active listening for her involves listening with your nose (is someone smelly? Are they getting proper care?), her hands (does the patient seem like they want physical touch like hand holding for comfort?), and her posture. She will get down or below the level of the patient, even sitting on the floor, rather than standing over them like a doctor might do, to change the conversation dynamic. Rev. Maio keeps a keen ear open for what is not being said, and often uses the phrase “sometimes someone might feel _____ in situations like these…” to encourage a patient to share more about their feelings.
What breaks your heart in your work?
Sometimes, Rev. Maio said, she will engage in conversations around faith and the afterlife (although this only happens when the patient shows an interest in discussing their faith first). She says that occasionally a Christian will say they don’t know if they’ve been good enough for heaven, and this breaks her heart, she says, because these folks do not understand the beautiful gift of grace they’ve been given through Christ. “There is nothing any of us can do to earn a spot in heaven; we have received salvation through grace, and it breaks my heart that some people I talk with do not understand that they are loved despite how they may or may not have lived.”
Her heart also breaks for people who have been abandoned in their final stages of life. The unfairness of life is imminent when patients are lonely as they grow closer to passing. “My heart breaks and also is filled,” she said.
Gina opened up the floor at the end of the Forum for questions, and audience members vulnerably shared about their struggles with losing loved ones. She closed with a blessing from Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie’s book, The Lives We Actually Have:
For this Grief Stricken Day
God, we are heartbroken in the face of
so much evil, so much grief.
Comfort us in our sorrow.
Blessed are we who allow ourselves to feel it—
the impossibility
of what was possible a second ago—
the light decision,
the casual stroll,
the easy exchange and ordinary duty,
a decent choice or a banal one,
the sweep of hours on a day that was like any other,
until it wasn’t.
This is the place where nothing makes sense.
This is the place where tears flow in earnest now.
Blessed are we who allow our hearts to break,
for it will take some time
for brittle unreality to release us from its grip,
for the long and slow dissolve
until we fully see
what never should have been.
Blessed are we who ask you, God,
that grief find its way to move among us
and be felt together, that comfort may flow
in bonds of affection
unbroken by this fresh tragedy.
Though grief and tragedy and pain
try to convince us otherwise,
remind us that we are not alone.
God, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Spirit, have mercy.
Amen.
Resources
End of Life Doula Care with Laurel Marr | Charlottesville, VA
“Death without Duality: Three Both/Ands at the End of Life” - On Being blog.
The Four Things that Matter Most - Dr. Ira Byock
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End - Atul Gawande
The Lives We Actually Have - Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie
Other RESources
The Gift of Being Yourself - David G. Benner
October Prayers | On Listening
“Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry.”
DEAR FRIENDS,
The posture of any healthy conversation, including prayer, must include listening. Yet, in our culture today, we are prone to pithy responses and pontification. Many Christians are embracing contemplative practices like meditation and breath prayers. We invite you into that welcoming space in your interactions with God and others this month and ask yourself: how might deep and compassionate listening alter these conversations?
-Christy Yates, Associate Director
HOWARD THURMAN - The Sound of the Genuine
There is in every person something that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine ... There is in you something that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. Nobody like you has ever been born and no one like you will ever be born again -- you are the only one.
If you cannot hear it, you will never find whatever it is for which you are searching and if you hear it and then do not follow it, it was better that you had never been born. You are the only you that has ever lived; your idiom is the only idiom of its kind in all the existences, and if you cannot hear the sound of the genuine in you, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.
The sound of the genuine is flowing through you. Don’t be deceived and thrown off by all the noises that are part even of your dreams and your ambitions when you don’t hear the sound of the genuine in you. Because that is the only true guide you will ever have and if you don’t have that you don’t have a thing ... Cultivate the discipline of listening to the sound of the genuine in yourself.
There is something in everybody that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in other people... I must wait and listen for the sound of the genuine in you. I must wait. For if I cannot hear it, then in my scheme of things, you are not ever present. So as I live my life then, this is what I am trying to fulfill...that I’m secure because I hear the sound of the genuine in myself, and having learned to listen to that, I can become quiet enough, still enough to hear the sound of the genuine in you.
Now if I hear the sound of the genuine in me and if you hear the sound of the genuine in you, it is possible for me to go down in [my spirit] and come up in [your spirit]. So that when I look at myself through your eyes having made that pilgrimage, I see in me what you see in me. [Then] the wall that separates and divides will disappear, and we will become one -- because the sound of the genuine makes the same music.
*excerpt from Howard Thurman’s Baccalaureate Address at Spelman college, May 4, 1980.