Tag: Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

An Unusual Wedding Gift

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Uncategorized1 Comment

outhouse.jpgBy Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

I spent the summer building an outhouse.
I spent the summer building an outhouse for my sister.
I spent the summer building an outhouse for my sister because she was getting married.

Forty-eight hours before the wedding as darkness fell and rain poured, even the groom was still drilling and cutting.

Lucy got married at our cabin in a pine grove a short walk from where my mom is buried. In order to accommodate 150 people for the service and thirty campers on our shallow, illegally plumbed crock well, we needed an outhouse. Continue reading “An Unusual Wedding Gift” →

Silence

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Identity, and History, Uncategorized1 Comment
geez black lives matter
“White Silence Kills” Theresa Zettner and Midwest Catholic Workers shut down baseball traffic calling for Justice for Jamar in Minneapolis.

By Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

An attempt to grasp for words when it feels like there aren’t any.

I’ve never seen
A gun.
never
up close
In my face.
Never seen one drawn
In threat
Or aim
Or play
Or hunt
Never heard the trigger
Or felt the fear.
It is my privilege upon privilege upon privilege. Continue reading “Silence” →

10 Reasons I believe in the Sacrament of Marriage

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Feminist/Womanist/Queer Liberation and Theology2 Comments

weddingBy Lydia Wylie-Kellermann,
(first published on Converge’s website a couple years ago)

Lately, I have found myself in conversations with friends about relationships and commitment. I’ve been hearing them say, “We will be together as long as it works and if it stops working, then it will end.” There seems to be a distrust and even suspicion of the act of marriage. These are friends who have relationships I admire and who are clearly in it for the long haul. I trust their decision making and discernment, but it has made me pause to reflect on why we choose marriage.

1. Community

A marriage is rooted within a community. We prayed that our relationship would be a gift to the larger community and asking for the help of accountability and support when things are difficult. Continue reading “10 Reasons I believe in the Sacrament of Marriage” →

Be welcomed again and again

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

RDnetlogo1.jpgAn Invitation. By Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

This is a space that lives in the
unknowable interweb,
that lives beyond the boundaries
of state or nation.
It is rootless
and yet is always honoring the rooted.

It is a space that is dreamed
and humanly kept
with love and foibles
for a movement of radical disciples. Continue reading “Be welcomed again and again” →

A Pentecost Sermon: They become the storytellers

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Uncategorized1 Comment

mimes_10By Lydia Wylie-Kellermann. A Pentcost sermon given on May 15, 2016 in celebration of her dad, Bill Wylie-Kellermann’s 10 years as pastor at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Detroit.

It may be a little known fact around here- but I was once in a mime troop. We did the whole thing- white face, bow tie, suspenders. We were invited to events around the area. Christmas was a particularly busy time for us. We put on shows with short skits and we also were able to just mingle in the crowds. I loved it- particularly the wandering aimlessly with no other job that to be subtly funny and of course not speak with our mouths. Continue reading “A Pentecost Sermon: They become the storytellers” →

The Soulmaking Room

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Uncategorized1 Comment

UR1525_Risher_Soulmaking_CVR-215x324.jpgIf I am honest with myself, I can’t actually remember the last time I read a whole book. The moments when I have total head space are few and far between diaper changes and a chatty toddler. But the moment I held this book in my hands, I knew I would simply have to find the time. So while nursing or walking to sleep, paragraph my paragraph, I have soaked these pages in. Dee Dee is an amazing writer who weaves together scripture and her story calling on each of us to remember our own stories, to hold on to those deep truths that matter, and to sing and dance through it all. This book is a gift. I am grateful to share this interview and encourage you to find yourselves in the pages of The Soulmaking Room.

Lydia Wylie-Kellermann: What is this book about?

Dee Dee Risher: The book is about using the difficult and challenging parts of life as a way to deepen your spiritual path and become more authentic. The only way I knew to do this was to share my own story. My own path is not nearly as difficult as so many people I know, but my insight was that we all have to deal with loss. Our social justice causes fail. Life rolls on and the positions we take on certain issues become more complex and more difficult to hold with integrity as we see many grey areas. Our beloveds die, leave us, or become someone else. Situations come up that are so incredibly unjust they have you asking whether there is a God in this world. The rich stay rich while the vulnerable have a thousand new ways to suffer. Often, we are in neither of those groups, so we watch the debacle, trying to take an ethical stand. Life ain’t easy, especially if you live with eyes open and conscience listening. Continue reading “The Soulmaking Room” →

Learning from Laughter and the Trees: Tell Me About Easter, Mommy.

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Feminist/Womanist/Queer Liberation and Theology, Uncategorized1 Comment
cherry
Photo credit: Erinn Fahey

By Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

“Tell me about Easter, Mommy.” Oh, Shit. Has that time come already? How to explain resurrection to a three year old? How do I tell my kid that Jesus died and came back to life? How do I explain our most sacred story?

We’ve spent the last year and a half learning about death, holding it sacred, singing songs, holding fish funerals, burying my Grandma Bea, and visiting my mom’s grave. We’ve tried to hold the tension of telling him the truth and also being gentle with his heart paying close attention to any moments of confusion or fear. We made a decision to be honest with him about the very earthly reality of death, something that even adults in our culture try to ignore. Death is a beautiful, ordinary, and hard part of life. Continue reading “Learning from Laughter and the Trees: Tell Me About Easter, Mommy.” →

Learning from Laughter and the Trees: Power, Pain, and Extraction

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Feminist/Womanist/Queer Liberation and Theology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

first family of 4 picBy Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

I don’t like pregnancy. I am not one of those people that walks around glowing, rubbing my tummy, and delighting in the attention. I am not proud of this. In the midst of pregnancy, I feel like I am losing my body, my strength, my sleep, my social abilities, and even my mind, all for something that I cannot yet touch or know. But birth on the other hand, I was ready for! I had learned the first time round that I could trust my body and the wisdom it held. My body was made to deliver these children. All I had to do was let my body work and to breathe.

I back labored with Isaac for multiple days and nights. We did most of the work at home arriving at the hospital already 9 cm. He was born with no medical or pain interventions. As Isaac leapt from me on that final push, he was caught by the same hands that caught me three decades earlier. We probably would not have been in a hospital setting, if it were not for choosing those hands. She is the doctor who holds the history of my own body and pain. She carries with her a deep sense of calm and sharp attention. You know she will fight like hell to advocate on your behalf. Continue reading “Learning from Laughter and the Trees: Power, Pain, and Extraction” →

She is Breathing: Listening for Another World and an End to Empire

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

iluminadoBy Lydia Wylie-Kellermann. Printed in Geez Magazine.

“Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe… Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

― Arundhati Roy, War Talk

I think of myself as a generally hopeful person. I’ve always believed in Martin Luther King’s long arc bending towards justice. But being in Detroit, the city where I was born and raised, over the last 5 years has crushed me. In a blink of an eye, a place filled with community leadership and creativity was steam rolled by an illegitimate government and the banks. We’ve gone from a city facing transformation by thousands of gardens to facing gentrification by tens of thousands of water shut offs. Black and poor folks are being pushed out fast. The stories are too painful. The work too big. The struggle for survival too real. The powers and principalities seemingly unstoppable. It’s all too much. Continue reading “She is Breathing: Listening for Another World and an End to Empire” →

Empire Cracking: Reflection from Open Door Community

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

the open doorThis interview was taken by Lydia Wylie-Kellermann as part of a writing project for Geez Magazine entitled “She is Breathing: Listening for Another World and an End to Empire.” It was published in the Winter Issue.

Lydia Wylie-Kellermann: Where are the moments for you where you are beginning to see a crack in the empire? Where is resurrection alive and being practiced? What is the story that lingers on your heart and keeps you moving forward? Is this the moment we’ve been waiting for? Is another world being birthed before our eyes?

Terry Kennedy:  I believe that one of the many great things that we do here that is counter to this revenge oriented society is our stand with those who have been condemned to die. Here at Open Door we visit those who are on Death Row, we write letters and vigil at the capitol when there is an execution. Continue reading “Empire Cracking: Reflection from Open Door Community” →