Dear Kaleid Ladies,
Do y’all think that sometimes we get “taken” - that things aren’t what they’re really cracked up to be? Like the time we got the fancy fake nails and then it took 9 months for our real nails to recover? Or like the time that we got the smartphone and then technology at us for breakfast? Or maybe that time that we ate low fat and sugar free in college and realized that the carb life and Diet Coke cost us all manner of dietary unease when we had to relearn the program?
Yeah.
These things happen.
We propose that a few slightly bigger “this isn’t what I thought it was” moments are happening, now, in the arenas of faith, race and other such big-time topics. Maybe we’re in a season of reckoning with the after effects of beliefs and actions that seemed expedient at the time.
We don’t pretend to be able to outline our current predicament in a few quippy questions or provide quippy answers, but we do want to continue to remind you that there’s an invitation on the table. For you. For me. For a way toward depth of life with God, depth of courage, and the courage of our convictions.
Perhaps one of the ways we’ve been “taken” is through the allure of busy. It’s pretty easy to recognize that the undercurrents of conversation about race, inequity, injustice, and generational trauma in our country are complex and difficult. It’s also pretty easy to think to ourselves, “I’ve got a LOT to do to keep my family and work going in this time, AND I’m pretty sure that I can’t really change the big picture, so I’m going to just get busy about my stuff.”
And perhaps another way we’ve lost our way is through the allure of idealization. When we see the pain in the world, we easily opt out into a “heavenly ideal” where we just wish Jesus would come back and take us all, or we opt out by idealizing that if everyone could just forgive and speak kindly, all would be well.
And so, we get busy and we discuss ideals and the rumblings underneath our world become other people’s problems for another person’s day.
This summer, we invite you to move to a season of faithful imagination.
We invite you to notice your busyness and pause, every day, faithfully quieting yourself so that you can be rooted in the faithfulness of God’s love through practicing the contemplative.
We invite you to notice your idealization and pause, with humility, to learn the stories of the marginalized and begin to imagine your story as affected by, woven with, and joined to the stories of people long silenced.
At Kaleid this summer, we are collectively seeking to let go of busy idealization and choose faithful imagination. This work is hidden and challenging and good and rich, and we are grateful to do it together. In our two Kaleid groups this past week, we’ve entered into hard places of lament for others and we’ve begun to talk about what it means to have a culture and identity as a white person, distinctly.
We’d love to have you along for the journey toward faithful imagination, as well. You’re not alone. Here are a couple of ideas of ways to lay down busy idealization and choose instead the path of faithful imagination...
Faithfulness - As we seek to faithfully ground our imagination in what is true, consider setting aside 10 minutes a day, around midday or early evening, to disconnect from the demands of tasks and to connect with the reality of God’s gracious, loving presence. Simply sit quietly, hands open and palms up, receiving the gifts of the day and offering back to God the cares of the day. Or, consider using this Soulspace app as a guide.
Imagination - As we seek to faithfully ground our imagination in what is true, consider listening to the Seeing White podcast or thinking about white culture via this worksheet, in an attempt to learn what whiteness means, so that we can love others (and even ourselves) with more awareness.
Blessings,
The Kaleid Team
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