Tag: Marcia Lee

Time for a Retreat?

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

On offering from our dear comrade Marcia Lee (right) dialing in from eastside Detroit.

As Grace Lee Boggs reminds us, in the Chinese word for chaos, there is both opportunity and danger.  These times can be especially difficult to navigate when you are in leadership.  To support you in your leadership and to grow a community of leaders, we invite you to join us for a series of retreats for your soul and role and to have a community with which to grow and learn together for a year. 

Continue reading “Time for a Retreat?” →

4 Thoughts on Hope and Resistance

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Note: This is part of a series of short posts, in the lead-up to the election, from leaders reflecting on hope and/or resistance.

By Marcia Lee

Thought #1

Lately I’ve been wondering if I’m doing enough.  With everything that is happening in our world, am I causing more harm but not doing enough or not doing the ‘right’ things with my time?  I definitely needed to make that pumpkin bread this morning instead of calling people for the election or checking in on someone, right?  Maybe…maybe not.  But one thing that does give me hope is the reminder that: i will never be enough.  No matter what I do, or not do, my contribution is not enough.  However, our contribution, when we mix and flow together, each of us, in our small and large ways, we are enough.  What I do or do not do, may not be the thing that changes the world, but if I do something and you do something, our somethings combined might, just might be enough.  Thank you for doing your something to make a more just and compassionate world.  I am grateful for you.

Continue reading “4 Thoughts on Hope and Resistance” →

A Beekeepers Musings

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Uncategorized, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment

unnamed2By Marcia Lee

The end of an era is over.  The beehive that started it all did not survive the summer.  This hive barely made it through the winter, revived itself, and then swarmed twice.  This led to two ‘new hives,’ but the bees did not leave a queen for the bees that were left behind.  So many lessons from the bees for these times.  I made so many small and large decisions throughout the time, many of them probably not the best.  But here we are.

Yesterday one of the beehives in our backyard was robbed by other bees, wasps, and insects.  When we went to look today, we found that the hive had been decimated.  There was no more honey in the cells and the bodies of dead bees littered the floor of the hive.  The hive was going to die one way or another, because, without a queen, a hive cannot survive.  The honey went to other bees and wasps and it will help them to survive another winter.  However, if I had pulled the honey, could the bees have died a softer death? Continue reading “A Beekeepers Musings” →

Radical Surrender and Commitment to ‘Your Thread’

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marciaBy Marcia Lee (Detroit, MI)

*This is the fourth installation of a year-long series of posts from contributors all over North America each answering the question, “How would you define radical discipleship?” We will be posting responses regularly on Mondays during 2019.

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
William Stafford Continue reading “Radical Surrender and Commitment to ‘Your Thread’” →

What is Your New Years (R)evolution?

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

Grace LeeBy Marcia Lee, Healing by Choice!, a women of color healing circle in Detroit, MI

Now that Christmas is over, you may be thinking about what new years’ resolutions you want to make and how you want to show up in this new year.  I want to invite you to consider, instead of a resolution, to make a New Years (R)evolution. Grace Lee Boggs  (right) taught us that the next revolution needs to be a (r)evolution = the re-evolution of ourselves and our community.  Although it is helpful to have goals for how we want to grow as individuals, we live in the context of the times we live in and in God’s time.   Continue reading “What is Your New Years (R)evolution?” →

Meeting the Sacred in Our Daily Lives

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

IMG_9157By Marcia Lee

Every month, I host a gathering at Taproot Sanctuary, an intentional community of mostly people of color working on living in right relationship with the earth and our neighbors.  These gatherings are Circles of Trust.  They are in the lineage of the work of Parker Palmer through my work as a facilitator with the Center for Courage and Renewal.  The purpose of these gatherings, or mini-retreats, is to create a space for us to listen to our inner voices and to support each other in following the calling of our own souls.  We do this type of deep listening best when we are in spaces where we can trust that our words and actions are not repeated and that the people in the community with us are listening to us not for their own benefits, but to just be a witness and support of us.  We use what we call third things to accompany us.  The third thing might be a poem, song, or something in nature.  These third things allow us to focus in on the issue at hand in a more gentle and circular manner. Continue reading “Meeting the Sacred in Our Daily Lives” →

time(lessness)

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, UncategorizedLeave a comment

imagesBy Marcia Lee, Detroit, MI

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.
Albert Einstein.

Time in its measurements of hours, minutes, days, and years is a human construct that we have created to make order in our lives.  (Think of how many different calendars there are in different parts of the world and terms we use like people of color time, Asian time, etc.). We want a certain level of structure and having time to measure events allows us to have something outside of ourselves, a ‘science’ if you will, to give purpose and stability to our decisions.  This is how people come to say things like, “If only I had the time,’ or ‘there are not enough hours in a day.’ This, I call ‘human time.’ Continue reading “time(lessness)” →