On The Road Again
Volume 1, No. 33
I have been traveling a lot this month. I have to do better planning for the newsletter when I travel. I like to write it close to publishing so it will be fresh. I may just have to batch some evergreen newsletters to publish when I travel or get sick.
I am currently in Atlanta to attend the Acts 242 conference. Acts 242 is a two-day discipleship training & equipping experience featuring Megan Ashley, Jackie Hill Perry, Dr. Sarita Lyons, Dr. Eric Mason, Preston Perry, and Pastor Philip Mitchell. It’s getting back to the basics of the Christian faith.
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
SPIRITUAL ASSESSMENT
Spiritual health is a vital part of understanding your overall well-being, as it is the foundation of your actions, thoughts, and emotional resilience. Spiritual health should be visible because it dictates how to navigate life’s challenges, experience joy, and find purpose. Reflecting on your spiritual health means asking yourself: How connected do I feel to my faith or beliefs? Do I find comfort, direction, or peace through prayer, worship, or meditation? When we take time to evaluate our spiritual practices, we begin to see the strength they bring to our daily lives and identify areas where we might want to grow.
This process of self-assessment doesn’t need to be complex. Start by observing your daily actions and how they reflect (or don’t reflect) your spiritual beliefs. Ask yourself if you’re consistently living in alignment with the principles you value, such as kindness, humility, or forgiveness. Are there moments when you feel particularly close to God or at peace with your faith? Analyze what you are doing during those times and create consistent habits around them. Ask yourself if God is or will be glorified with what you’re doing or saying. Remember, assessing spiritual health is not about perfection; it’s about becoming intentional in nurturing a meaningful relationship with God and finding ways to weave that connection into your everyday life.
HERSTORIES: Jarena Lee (1783–1855)
Jarena Lee was born in Cape May, New Jersey. Her parents were a free Black couple who were very poor. At the age of seven years old, her parents sent her to work as a domestic servant for a white family that lived 60 miles away. Jarena still found time to teach herself to read and write.
She moved to Philadelphia as a young adult. Lee had trouble finding a religious community that was right for her until she attended a service at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and heard Bishop Richard Allen speak. She was so inspired that she chose to be baptized into the church.
Jarena felt like God was calling her to become a preacher. Women were not allowed to speak in most Christian churches in early America. She later wrote: “If the man may preach, because the Savior died for him, why not the woman? seeing he died for her also. Is he not a whole Savior, instead of a half one?” Being silenced in this way caused Jarena mental and physical discomfort.
In 1819, a guest preacher in the middle of the sermon stumbled over his words and became too nervous to speak. Jarena stood up and finished his sermon. Richard Allen was so moved by her words that he concluded God had chosen her to be a preacher. She was authorized as the first female minister of the A.M.E. Church.
Lee decided to become a missionary. She traveled the country by foot. She preached to all who would listen. As part of a broad spiritual movement called the Second Great Awakening, a period of intense religious enthusiasm from the 1790s to the 1840s. It reached its peak in the 1820s. The Second Great Awakening was not just a religious movement but a social revolution as well. During this time, a powerful message for women was that they were the moral foundation of the new nation. She widened the path for other spiritual women like Sojourner Truth.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Telling the truth is an act of love, an act of resistance, an act of courage. Its end is liberation, freedom, and if possible, reconciliation.”
Until next time.....remember to use your voice and document your stories because they matter!
