"Our marrow is made of their survival"
Everyone around you keeps telling you to slow down. And what if you actually did?
This week on Mothering Spirit
As she shares stories from her own family history,
Stevens rouses us to name and remember the sacredness of Black men and women as an act of resistance:“My grandmother bore four daughters who lived and two sons who died.
Something about the environment broke the baby boys in a way that kept them from surviving. I believe it was poverty—I can only say this from what I feel in my bones; the testimony of the marrow of inherited memory.
Yet there is something lasting in these babies taken by death. These treasured children are a part of history as they are remembered. Their lives are sacred and we speak their existence to honor their belovedness. They are in my marrow.
In the same way, we carry the memories of so many whose names and mother tongues were drowned in the Atlantic. Of course we mimic the dances in the holler and the children darting between the sugar cane stalks. Of course we feel the greens that our great-great grandmother grew, like a phantom touch tickling our palms. Our marrow is made of their survival.”
Read the rest here: Marrow: The Memory in our Bones.
In this week’s prayer, “A Blessing to Lighten the Load,” Lauren Nizol invites us to let our never ending to-do list rest in order to find the peace we seek.
“Bless you.
Bless your list too long
to remember,
to complete,
to carry this day.
Everyone around you keeps telling you
to slow down and breathe.
And what if you actually did?
May you feel the sacredness
of letting the list
winnow and unwind.”
Read the whole prayer here: “A Blessing to Lighten Your Load.”
From our sponsors
This week’s sponsor of Mothering Spirit is Be A Heart Design, a modern Christian lifestyle brand that creates beautiful products to help both adults and children grow in faith. Check out their recently restocked Guardian Angel Quilts and Jesus Heals Bandages.
More good reads for your weekend
Tasha Jun writes about belonging and embracing her identity in her essay, “Korean Washcloths: Messengers of God’s Nearness and Love.”
“In snapshots and moments of realization, I was faced with past pain and my own choices to reject parts of my legacy. From trying to squelch my voice in cross-cultural ministry to dumping miyeokguk down the drain as a brand-new mom, I began to realize that I couldn’t know God’s love for me unless I accepted and uncovered all of who he has made me to be.
I had to go back to those moments of practicing my handwriting, moving to Indiana, rejecting my identity, deciding to no longer join my mom in the bath, and every other attempt to sew my own fig leaves in shame, and let God meet me in those places. Each memory is a wake-up call, a second chance that points me toward hope, wholeness, and healing.”
Read the rest here: “Korean Washcloths: Messengers of God’s Nearness and Love.”
As many of our kids end another school year and welcome summer, we’re reminded of Jennifer Magnano’s prayer “Arm the Children” that offers a vision of a better future:
“Arm them with a passion for life and each
other. Arm them with gorgeous humans
who consistently show up. Arm them
with some sort of relationship to the Divine.
Arm the children with beautiful experiences
and honest ones, too. Arm them with
gratitude, an ample dose of optimism and
hope, the ability to ask for help, a village of
support, an appreciation of mystery and
magic and art. . .”
Read the rest here: “Arm the Children.”
Want to write for us?
We’re looking for short prayers on the following themes related to upcoming essays. If any of these topics speak to you, we’d love to share your words:
Taking your child to therapy - due 6/6
Celebrating Juneteenth with your kids - due 6/13
Parenting with your “village” (or longing for more support) - due 6/20
Original prayers are accepted (previously published on your social media, blog, or other personal site are fine). We’ll give you full credit and copyright, and tag you on our social media when we publish. You can respond here with your prayer(s) or email them to newsletter@motheringspirit.com.