CHERYL A. KIRK-DUGGAN
Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan is a Professor of Religion at Shaw University Divinity School, Raleigh, NC, and an Ordained Elder in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Known for her 6 P’s as: professor, preacher, priest, prophet, poet, and performer, Kirk-Duggan is author of over 20 books, including Violence and Theology, her edited The Sky is Crying: Racism, Classism, and Natural Disaster, both Abingdon, 2006; and Wake Up: Hip Hop, Christianity, & the Black Church.
Dr. Kirk-Duggan’s current research includes: theology; justice; violence and religion; music; ethics; humor; the Bible and culture; Womanist and feminist studies; faith, spirituality, and health; women’s religious and leadership experience; pedagogy; rage, grief, and transformation; gender theory; sexuality, and popular media as a praxeology for constructive and narrative theology. Currently, she is working on a systematic theology, a commentary on Joshua and Judges, and a volume of poetry.
from btpbase.com
Spirituality: Looking for a Way into Ourselves
There are many paths to an inner life of contemplation, prayer, and connectedness. Most of these paths require action. We tend to think of prayer and meditation as passive – they are not. Indeed, they involve quiet action or active silence. Developing a spiritual practice or discipline involves work, and the daily repetitions of that work, so that the disciplines become habitual, second nature. Second nature is not synonymous with static or passive but an ongoing commitment with little or no struggle. The practice of reflection, meditation, and prayer can become a part of our daily lives, and thus become effortless, though they require a spiritual space and a time commitment. One traditional hymn says it best: “Take time to be Holy.” This invitation to be in frequent conversation with God and the divine within is a journey, a pilgrimage, and perhaps an adventure – one that can bring peace, wisdom, and revelation, and can be life changing.
The Undivided Soul
Archived Quotes
Spirituality: Looking for a Way into Ourselves
The moment of most aliveness is the moment in which we live and breathe in present time. The moment in which we act, we experience the immediacy of life. In those moments of heightened reality and vital intimacy, we can make a difference. In these sharp, real moments, we know the essence of ourselves, we connect with the divine in others, and we experience hope, the empowerment of the divine, and the joy of freedom. Hope meets thanksgiving and creates nobility and peace. That which is noble is honorable and good. That which is of peace imparts serenity and wellness. In peace, our experience of time is a gift. That which knows health, wellness, and peace can know God.
The Undivided Soul
Faith: Wading Through Troubled Waters
O God,
Your awesomeness
Overwhelms our troubled Spirits.
Sometimes,
We imagine,
We cannot be important to You.
Our insecurities and lack of faith
Make it easy for us to be troubled,
And not believe:
That You
Love and care for us.
Dear God,
Help our prayers to be sincere.
Help us grow,
That We may come
To love ourselves,
As created by You,
in Your Divine Image.
The Undivided Soul
Spirituality: Looking for a Way Out
To pray is to recite holy words in sacred ways. When our words and our bodies become one in prayer, we celebrate with thanksgiving all that God has created. As part of that creation, we are part of the rhythms of the universe: a symphonic masterpiece of vitality. If we are trapped and are overwhelmed with commitments and time constraints, if we are depressed and overburdened with the cares of the world, we will miss the blessing of knowing this godly vitality. We become so desensitized that we then lose track of the seasons of our lives and take life itself for granted. With faithful prayer we experience time as energy, and life as fertile with many new creations, and death with the culmination of greatness, in the realm of physical life. Prayer becomes complete after we become quiet and listen for God. When we hear God, and we receive direction, love, and mercy. When we heed God, we respond with heightened level of accountability and praise. When we attend God, we know the Holy of Holies, we become sacred, we live in a more balanced life, and we give thanks.
The Undivided Soul
Spirituality: Looking for a Way Out
Life has so many faces: expressions of delight and disdain, elegance and errors. Sometimes we get trapped into focusing on outer appearances, external trappings, and acquired goods as indicators of beauty, status, and self-esteem. Things make us comfortable but ultimately do not make us happy. Part of having a balanced life, wherein one easily experiences the sacred in new ways, is to look for inner beauty and strength. One can also set priorities and focus on those goals that lead one to experiencing life as ministry.
The Undivided Soul
Spiritual Health: The Integrated Self
Listening well is an art and a science. To listen for God requires a sensitivity of ongoing insight, to note how to talk to God and how to respond when God answers. God has promised to never forsake us, and that is good news. In this vein, God is Immanuel, with us, loving us, protecting us, and sending messengers to bear glad tidings of good news. The good news is that God loves us and that we can experience salvation – liberation from anxiety and oppression. We are called to be liberated and to help liberate others.
The Undivided Soul
Spiritual Health: The Integrated Self
When life becomes overwhelming we can revisit the place where we can know love – in the presence of God. God created us to be one in body, mind, and spirit; to be whole, integrated persons. Because there are so many pulls on our lives, a sense of being integrated may be difficult. Of course it is much easier to say “Live an integrated life and be a whole person” than it is to daily live this way. Although accomplishing this level of integration sounds simple, it may not be easy to maintain. The complexity or ease of embracing one’s total health as a way of life will depend upon one’s lifestyle and one’s priorities.
The Undivided Soul
Spiritual Health: The Integrated Self
Given the power and diversity within God it makes sense that human beings can be so alike yet so different. The differences become a variation on a theme, as people are different but their physiology and the experiences necessary for survival are the same worldwide. Together the differences are the movements and motifs of a symphony: many instruments, many performances, and yet one huge musical work. We must deal with dissonance and consonance, rhythm or pulses, tempo or time, slow or fast. Different individuals move to different drummers; others want the safety of the old hymns and standard classical repertoire. Some want to dance to country, some to R & B, others to rap, yet others to waltzes. Nevertheless, on some level, we all want to dance. In health, we embrace music and move and feel good. In knowing holiness, we honor God, ourselves, and life itself: we know peace.
The Undivided Soul
Spiritual Health: The Integrated Self
One of life’s gifts to us is the ability to share appreciation. Some people are so wounded that they think to say “thank you” is to show weakness. Offering thanks creates an open dialogue with God and with humanity. Thanks never minimizes, but reflects openness, awareness, and value. Consciousness about value presses us to live an ethical life where our behavior grows out of our sense of the sacred. Witnessing to the sacred involves our worship, prayers, and spiritual disciplines, and honors our individual and collective past. Honoring the past helps us see the present without needing to know what will transpire in the future.
The Undivided Soul
Spiritual Health: The Integrated Self
Sometimes we use fear to validate our insecurities. We become so self-absorbed over what we perceive as our weaknesses that we cannot hear the melodies of strength or of new possibilities within ourselves. When we successfully embrace these insecurities we become masters of self-critique, self-flagellation: we beat ourselves up so thoroughly in the hope that no one else will do so. What if we can excel, then what? What if God really does love us and will forgive us? We can tell God things we might not tell another living soul. God is our biggest cheerleader and confidante. God wants us to be good stewards and respectful of the gifts God has given us. We come from a living God, a God who lives in us. Awareness of this divine, incarnated, blessedness within brings serenity and harmony, balanced joy and prayerful hope toward new possibility, and the freedom to live as an integrated whole in a community with others and at peace.
The Undivided Soul
Spiritual Health: The Integrated Self
The gift of laughter is crucial to our well-being. Laughing creates a buffer where we can relax and not take ourselves too seriously. Laughing helps to release pent-up emotions. Sometimes we laugh at inappropriate times out of embarrassment. Sometimes we laugh when we are nervous or taken by surprise. Laughter ought to be an expression of joy and never the tool of ridicule. We are often so fragile that we are like tight walkers without the skill to maintain balance in the gymnastics of life. When we become wound too tightly we often operate from fear. Fear in itself is not bad. Fear that stifles our creativity and smothers our joy can be deadly. Sometimes we rely on fear when we do not have a handle on failure or when we are intimidated by success. Even so, that fear is just a feeling and it need not inhibit our health. When we face fear head-on, we can move on.
The Undivided Soul