"Making a Way Out of No Way"
A salvific massage
Keeping true to my promise for a new year of ease, joy, and love, this week paved the way for it to happen. For example, I bought three new womanist theology books for my personal library (!). Then, my best friends from college got me an engraved necklace with my favorite gemstone (in which tears may or may not have been shed). And I then received a gift for a massage from my older sisters and quickly booked an appointment to do so (because, look, who wouldn’t want one). It has been a time of outpouring, and I’m thankful for this state of receiving love in all forms.
So, here I was, just this week, with muscles relaxed, lying peacefully in a room smelling deep of ginger and grapefruit, getting the massage I most desperately needed. Between drifting in and out of sleep and daydreaming about the near future, I found myself thinking about one of my latest reads in “Making a Way Out of No Way: A Womanist Theology” by Dr. Monica Coleman.
Making a Way Out of No Way: A Womanist Theology
Coleman is a writer and scholar who’s known for advancing the fields of process and womanist theologies. Process theology “understands that everything that happens is a product of the past, what’s presently possible, and what we do with those things” (p.8). Womanist (Christian) theology “examines the social construction of black womanhood in relation to the African American community and religious concepts” (p.6).
Coleman opens the book, retelling the story of braiding Lisa’s hair at a domestic violence shelter. She named that braiding as an act of salvation as they pulled “tiny pieces of hair into small plaits, working around the bald spots” (p.2). Coleman, the Executive Director, and the other women in the group gathered around Lisa after she experienced a “radical, intimate, painful encounter with violence” (p.2).
She lets us know that the concept of “making a way out of no way” best describes the way that womanist theologians voice salvation. It is a weaving of the past, future, and possibilities offered by God, a weaving that leads to survival, quality of life, and liberating activity on the part of black women” (p.33).
Basically, we don’t have to wait for heaven to experience salvation; we can co-create it now.
The Salve
So how was my massage salvific? Because it brought relief to the physical (and mental) areas where I’ve been experiencing a lot of pain. It was a moment of attentiveness and gentleness to the areas that needed it most. And though the massage brought relief to painful areas, the healing journey continues. This time, I know I’m not alone in this.
Whether our salve comes in the forms of braiding hair, a massage, a meal shared, or days off, for Black women who face many oppressions daily, salvation is social.
And that’s why I’m finding more on this spiritual journey, the power of womanism because it is a daily pursuit towards wholeness for all. It is a salve placed on physical and internal wounds, a nudge forward in a new direction, a wisdom-filled “sis-we-need-to-talk” conversation, and an invitation into sharing in the faith of the collective. Yes, it’s a reminder that life can’t be done alone. A reminder that we can’t self-care ourselves (only) out of these systemic injustices.
Before signing off here, Coleman also lets us know a womanist theology cannot “require a belief in Jesus Christ for salvation. It must uphold a religious framework that can discuss the relationship between God and the world for more than one single religious tradition” (p.36). This gives room for non-Christo-centered religions and African traditional religions to have space here.
Extra
Just in case you wanted to check out the books I recently purchased for yourself, here they are:
Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel - Dr. Wil Gafney,
Listening for God: A Minister’s Journey Through Silence and Doubt - Dr. Renita Weems
Making a Way Out of No Way: A Womanist Theology - Dr. Monica Coleman
Until next week,