Healing Wisdom

Karen Simms Tolson

 Karen Simms Tolson is a Spiritual Director and Educator with 17 years of experience as a spiritual companion and over 35 years of experience in teacher education, social justice program development, and community outreach. She is a writer and global soul who revels in travel, music, and experiencing the various avenues of life as it unfolds. Karen brings ancestral insight, embodies spiritual depth, and a heart for healing into every space she holds. She trained as a spiritual companion at the San Francisco Theological Seminary and has extensive experience working with local and national non-profit organizations, including the Board of Directors for the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME). She has served on the Justice and Advocacy Commission of the Kentucky Council of Churches, and is a former member of the board of directors for Spiritual Director's International. She is an advocate for the Peace Building Alliance and a national facilitator for Lupus Foundation of America's Warrior's Well. Karen is a native of North Carolina.

About

THIS BOOK

A collection of 22 interfaith essays that reflect, explore, and expand on ideas and concepts about wisdom, deep mercy, grace, and eternal truth. The chapters are based on relevant and relatable lessons and concepts, using experiences from 21 different writers representing various religions and faiths. Each chapter includes questions for reflection and spiritual exercises. The content is a mosaic of several cultural and religious experiences, wisdom traditions, and many vibrant perspectives. The book is available on Amazon, Wipf and Stock Publishers, and independent bookstores.

"Clarifying and defining your purpose provides a clear sense of direction and motivation, helping you overcome obstacles with greater resilience. Moreover, exploring and aligning your daily actions with your core values and passions is essential for a richer experience that we call life."
"We are all part of a shared spiritual experience. Together, we can embark on the path to discovering a more profound purpose and deeper meaning that can lead to more fulfilling life experiences. "
Meet The

CONTRIBUTORS

The talented contributors to this volume are a mosaic of cultural, faith, and wisdom traditions.

Lisa Anderson

Lisa is the Director of Leadership and founder of the Sojourner Truth Leadership Circle at Auburn Theological Seminary. Lisa graduated from Union Theological Seminary (NYC), receiving the M.Div and M.Phil with expertise in liberation theologies (Black, feminist/womanist, LGBTQIA), philosophy, and ritual practice. Lisa was also a religion major at Vassar College. Before coming to Auburn Seminary, Lisa worked in the Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. She also served on the staff at Marble Collegiate Church in NYC and was a volunteer coordinator at Dutchess Outreach, a local United Way advocacy agency that provided direct care services for poor women and children. The notion that “Loving Blackness is the spiritual calling of our time” is Lisa’s personal and political guiding principle and informs the theo-poetical vision that sits at the heart of all of STLC’s work, including The Tarrying Place, a digital platform.

Preeta Banerjee

Preeta Banerjee, Ph.D., draws on a broad and deep range of experience, having spent over 20 years in academia, coaching, and consulting as an advocate, educator, researcher, and author. She is a strong advocate for combining spirituality, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and social change.

Her passion lies in creating brave spaces at the intersection of contemplation, activism, and healing and deepening in spiritually fluid ways from a lens rooted in bhakti, Gyan, karma, and raj yoga, including her work as a founding board member of the North American Hindu Chaplains Association; Vice Chair of the Mystic Soul Project; and Advisory Board Member of the Spiritual Directors of Color Network. She has a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the Wharton School and a B.S. in Computational Biology and Business from Carnegie Mellon.

Wilfredo Benitez

Wilfredo Benitez hails from the Bronx, N.Y., and currently resides in Lisbon, Portugal.  He is a priest, artist, poet, and activist.  He was ordained to the priesthood in 1991 at the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City.  Wilfredo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from La Universidad InterAmericana de Puerto Rico; a Master of Science in Education degree from the Bank Street College of Education, N.Y.; a Master of Divinity degree from the General Theological Seminary, N.Y; and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Haden Institute, N.C.

Wilfredo’s art takes the form of photography.  He’s had numerous photography exhibitions on both the East and West Coasts, ranging from cathedrals to art galleries. His photographs have been published in journals such as Reflections (Yale Divinity School), Image Magazine: Art • Faith • Mystery; and Presence, An International Journal of Spiritual Direction. Photography for Wilfredo has become a contemplative practice, and most recently, he’s conducted webinars on Contemplative Photography and Visio Divina (Divine Seeing) using photography as a tool for inner exploration.   He published two photography books: Pathways to the Soul: Contemplative Photography and Poetry and Theatre of Death: The Roman Coliseum.  Some of his photography and poetry can be viewed @ www.ReligionIsGarbage.com. He is currently developing a new photography website: www.LuxContemplativa.com. 

Robert Benson

Robert Benson is the author of twenty books, including Between the Dreaming and the Coming True, Living Prayer, Venite, The Echo Within, The Game, and Dancing on the Head of a Pen — a book about the search for the Holy amid our ordinary lives. As a retreat leader and workshop teacher, Benson speaks on the life of prayer and contemplation, the disciplines and rituals of Christian spiritual practice, and the art and craft of writing. He is an adjunct faculty member for the Academy for Spiritual Formation, was named a Living Spiritual Teacher by Spirituality and Practice, and is a member of The Friends of Silence & of the Poor, an ecumenical prayer community. Benson’s roots are in Nashville, Tennessee, though he spends his time traveling, writing, and speaking these days. He does dance on the head of a fountain pen every day, no matter where he happens to be.

Donna Coletrane Battle

Donna Coletrane Battle is a spiritual practitioner, soul coach, and educator focused on justice as it relates specifically to the intersection of race, gender, and spirituality.  Donna is a mother, wife, sister, and friend who also coaches leaders, pastors those without a pastor, partners to cultivate healing in relationships, and commits every day to a life of being present, though not always successful! She holds a BA in Public Relations from NC A&T State University, an MDiv from Duke University, and a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Eastern University.

Lib Campbell

Rev. Lib Campbell is a Retired Elder in the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, named Pastor Emeritus of Spiritual Formation at Saint Mark’s UMC in Raleigh, NC. She and her husband, Tom, have been married for 56 years. They are parents of two children and four adult grandchildren. Lib has a BA in Religion from Meredith College and an MDiv from Duke Divinity School. Lib and Tom led the North Carolina Academy for Spiritual Formation for 9 years. Lib is a frequent retreat leader, labyrinth facilitator, teacher, and preacher. Lib has written for the Journal of Worship Resources, Upper Room Disciplines, and Discipleship Resources. She writes at http://www.avirtualchurch.com. 

Leslye Colvin

Teslye Colvin is a contemplative activist, spiritual companion, and writer. Inspired by the Catholic social justice tradition, she is passionate about encouraging diversity of thought. She has extensive experience promoting missions and expanding outreach, including faith-based non-profit, government, corporate, and academia. She has been published by the National Catholic Reporter and interviewed by America Magazine, Radio Veritas, U.S. Catholic, and Vatican Radio on the construct of race. Leslye is in the apprenticeship program of the Guild for Spiritual Guidance and is a graduate of the Living School for Action and Contemplation and the spiritual direction program of the Haden Institute. She holds an M.A. in Communication from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an undergraduate degree from the Xavier University of Louisiana. A native of Alabama, the land of the Muscogee, she writes her blog, Leslye’s Labyrinth, from her African-American Catholic heart. She is also the author of “Seeking Wisdom’s Light: Reflections for Advent and Christmas 2024 ( Pax Christi USA).

Claire Cox-Woodlief

Claire Cox-Woodlief is the founder and CEO of CCW Transformation Ministries, LLC, and is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of the North Carolina Institute for Spiritual Direction and Formation.  She is the Director of Operations for White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, NC. She is a Spiritual Director, a certified facilitator of Sacred Conversations to End Racism (SC2ER), a Conflict Transformation Minister, and a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a tool that helps individuals and organizations develop intercultural awareness and competence.  She graduated from Academy 41, a Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation, and is the Retreat Leader for the North Carolina Academy for Spiritual Formation. She offers cultural humility training and co-facilitates Race, Church, and Healing workshops and other diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging training with Bryana Clover, LLC.  She is an active member of Saint Francis UMC in Cary, NC, a reconciling congregation, and a member of One Wake. She serves on the Board of NC United Methodist Camping and Retreat Ministries, the Board of The Thrive Resource Center in Wilson, NC, the Board of Church and Society for the NC Conference of the UMC, and the Board of Lay Servant Ministries in the Fairway District of the NC Conference of the UMC. Claire’s call is to be a disrupter of unjust systems and is involved in anti-racism efforts in local churches, districts, conferences and is on Discipleship Ministries (UMC) Anti-Racist Design Team.
 
Claire is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend and enjoys reading, cooking, and boating in her spare time. To learn more, visit: https://ccwtransformation.com/

Mary C. Earle

Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, author, poet, retreat leader, and spiritual director. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored ten books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, the rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Her latest is a book of her poetry, Did You Sing Your Song?

Mary has offered presentations and retreats in various ecumenical settings, including the Academy for Spiritual Formation conferences, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society, the Oblate School of Theology, and hospice organizations. She has written articles for various journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice. She is a member of the core faculty for the Forest Dwelling program at Oblate (spirituality for the wisdom years) and the Mystic Heart Wisdom School of Seton Cove in Austin, TX. She and her husband, Doug, live in San Antonio with Fiona, a border collie, and Xochi, a tabby cat. Their son Jason is a French professor at Sarah Lawrence College. Website: http://www.marycearle.com

Jessica Felix Romero

Jessica Felix Romero has over 15 years of experience in social justice advocacy, organizing, and communications. She has served as a communications expert on various issues, including labor rights, health, the environment, corporate social responsibility, peacebuilding, and agriculture. With a doctorate in conflict analysis and resolution, she integrates holistic system analysis and transformative design to help nonprofits advance social change.

Jessica loves all things related to food and spirituality. Her pioneering doctoral research in El Salvador documents the transformational possibilities of conflict-resolution-oriented food systems that feed people and nurture peace. She is a student of somatic writing and a practitioner of embodied leadership. Her current work explores the intersections of spirituality, ancestral wisdom, and Christianity.

Kit Ford

Social entrepreneur, spiritual director, and autism advocate Dr. Kit Evans-Ford is a woman who is passionate about serving others.  She has been a trainer and activist for 20 years, working relentlessly in the areas of nonviolence education and assisting people in healing from violence. Born in Mebane, North Carolina, education became a positive outlet for her.  Kit holds a MA in Teaching: Special Education, an MA in Social Justice and Community Development, an MDiv degree, and a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Spiritual Direction from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. Dr. Kit is a Teach for America and United States Peace Corps Alumni.  She has studied, worked, and served in England, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Saint Lucia, and Saint Kitts.

Kit is a certified spiritual director and the founder of Argrow’s House of Healing and Hope in Davenport, Iowa, and Moline, IL. Argrow’s House is a safe space where free services are offered daily for women healing from violence in the Quad Cities Region.  Argrow’s House is a successful social enterprise where women healing from violence create beautiful bath products that provide a living wage for themselves in a safe space that celebrates who they are. Additionally, Dr. Kit is the founder of Autistic & Loved, LLC. With a team of graphic illustrators and engineers, she created food-grade silicon pendants called chewelry for children with autism spectrum disorder and sensory processing disorder. Her pendants are the first invented that celebrate the beauty and diversity of autistic children and their families. 

Dr. Kit is the author of 101 Testimonies of Hope: Life Stories to Encourage Your Faith In God and A Children’s Book on Bishop Richard Allen: A Nonviolence Journey. Her distinguished awards include the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Public Service Benefiting Local Communities and the Tom Locke Innovative Leader Award.

Dr. Ford resides in Davenport, Iowa, with her husband, Pastor Dwight L. Ford, and children, Imani and Justice. 

Mary Kay Glazer

Mary Kay Glazer is a spiritual director, retreat leader, Life-Cycle Celebrant, and writer. Having been raised in the Roman Catholic tradition, she has been a Quaker since 1989. Her background includes a master’s degree in Spiritual Formation and Leadership from Spring Arbor University, Shalem Institute’s Spiritual Guidance Program, and School of the Spirit’s Spiritual Nurture Program. She once was a television news producer, then worked in public relations for various places, including the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester, NY. She lives in Greenville, NC, with her husband. Learn more at www.mkglazer.com and www.soulsongceremonies.com. 

Vanessa Hawkins

Vanessa Hawkins (Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union) is originally from Henderson, North Carolina. She is a Presbyterian (USA) minister who previously served as a Mid-Council leader at the Presbytery of New Hope in Raleigh, North Carolina. Vanessa is committed to supporting the congregational use of spiritual practices as transformative tools in decision-making processes.

Her journey into spirituality was sparked during her seminary studies and her time as a mission partner at an Anglican seminary in South Africa. The seminary’s approach to spiritual formation arrayed before her a rich tapestry of spiritual practices that moved her to pay closer attention to God’s presence in her life. She received her training as a Spiritual Director from San Francisco Theological Seminary. As a spiritual director, she offers retreats, workshops, and spiritual direction for those seeking to tap into inner knowing—a deeper intuitive knowledge that enables one to follow the blowing of the Spirit.

Marsha Holmes

Marsha was a Vocational Deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, a spiritual director, mentor, and devoted advocate for racial healing. She completed the Spiritual Direction Intensive at the Haden Institute, regularly attended its Dream Conferences, mentored spiritual direction students, and maintained a spiritual direction practice.Before entering this season of ministry, Marsha spent nearly thirty years in corporate America, retiring as a vice president of a major telecommunications company. Following her retirement, she devoted much of her life to pastoral care and community service. Her outreach reflected a particular concern for Black and Brown children and included ministry with orphanages in Bolivia and Uganda.Marsha served on the board of OneJax, a Jacksonville-based organization committed to racial equity and healing, and on the Steering Committee for a racial healing ministry at Christ Church in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. She also served faithfully as a Vocational Deacon at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Jacksonville.Marsha believed that the church has a responsibility to speak truthfully and courageously about race and love. Her formation at the Haden Institute deepened both her inner life and her ministry as a deacon. Dreams had always been an important part of her spiritual journey, and in her later years, she embraced dreamwork more intentionally as a source of insight, healing, and spiritual understanding.Although Marsha has passed from this life, her compassionate presence, courageous commitment to racial healing, and faithful service continue to live through the many people and communities she touched. Words cannot express adequate gratitude for her contribution to this volume.

Sophia Park

Sophia Park, S.N.J.M.; Ph.D. She is a professor emerita in Religious Studies and Philosophy at Holy Names University in Oakland, California. Her field is biblical spirituality, and she pursues it from a global and postcolonial feminist perspective. She published many books and articles in Korean and English, including Conversation at the Well: Emerging Religious Life in the 21st Century Global World and An Asian Woman’s Religious Journey with Thomas Merton (forthcoming). She offers lectures, workshops, and spiritual directions to global sisters and brothers with joy.

Imam Jamal Rahman

Imam Jamal Rahman is a popular speaker and author on Islam, Sufi spirituality, and interfaith relations.  Along with his Interfaith Amigos, he has been featured in The New York Times, CBS News, BBC, and various NPR programs.  Jamal is a co-founder, Muslim Sufi Imam at Interfaith Community Sanctuary, and an adjunct faculty at Seattle University.  He travels nationally and internationally, presenting at retreats and workshops.  Jamal’s passion lies in interfaith community building and activism.​

Karen Simms Tolson

Karen is a Spiritual Director and Educator with over 35 years of experience in teacher education, social justice program development, and community outreach. She is the editor and author of this volume. She has extensive experience working with local and national non-profit organizations, including the Board of Directors for the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME). She serves on the Justice and Advocacy Commission of the Kentucky Council of Churches and the Board of Directors for Spiritual Directors International (SDI). Karen is a native of North Carolina and actively participates in the Louisville, KY, community.

She graduated from Winston-Salem State University with a B.A. in English, North Carolina A&T State University with an M.S. in African American Literature, and the San Francisco Theological Seminary, where she earned a diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction. She has completed further studies at Iowa State University, Fordham University, the University of London, and the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. She has extensive experience as a spiritual director, workshop presenter, and retreat leader, including certification in Mindfulness-Based Education and facilitation for “One Life Maps.” She offers her Spiritual Director knowledge to non-profit, corporate, and community members.

Karen is a Holmes Scholar and member of the Holmes Scholar’s Network. During her career, she has worked in several capacities, such as Division Director for Equity with the Kentucky Department of Education as a project consultant with the Kentucky Educational Television (KET) on web-based learning for multicultural, diversity, and social justice curriculum development: for Sage Publications on the implementation of web-based learning projects for higher education; for the Simon Wiesenthal Museum and Center on the development of the “Teaching Steps to Tolerance” program; with the United State Department of Education as a reviewer for grants; and as the Director for the Scholar Developing Scholars program for Georgetown University. She has also worked in the School of Education at Indiana University-Southeast and as an online instructor for Quinnipiac University. As a presenter, Karen has also presented for the XXV Anniversary Congress of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health at the Università degli Studi di Siena Università and the XXX Anniversary Congress of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health, the Sorbonne, Paris.

Grace Song

Grace Song is an ordained Won Buddhist Kyomunim, meditation teacher, and advocate of interfaith dialogue. She’s the Won Buddhist Studies Department Chair at the Won Institute of Graduate Studies and Buddhist Chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2020, Grace became a member of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs and recently joined the Steering Committee of the Won Buddhism to the United Nations Office. She’s also a board member of Presence Collective, which is a community dedicated to personal transformation, social justice, and collective liberation. 

Grace’s spiritual training began in Philadelphia at the Won Institute. From there, she moved to Korea to train under several senior Won Buddhist teachers. After a decade in Korea, Grace decided to return to the US and join the Won Institute faculty. Over the last fifteen years, she has traveled to many countries to present and lead workshops and retreats on interfaith dialogue, social justice, mindfulness in education, and spiritual practice in daily life.

Grace holds a Ph.D. in Won Buddhist Studies from Wonkwang University, an MA in East Asian Philosophy from Seoul National University, and a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Toronto. She leads monthly meditation sessions for The Institute of Korean Studies at Penn State University and meditation retreats at the Won Dharma Center, Claverack, NY. Her research interests include mindfulness in education, Buddhism, and social justice, and she’s currently working on a project that examines the impact of mindfulness and mindful inclusion on the retention of the underrepresented population in STEM higher education. Her writings and online teachings have been featured in Tricycle, The Buddhist Review Magazine.

Grace holds a Ph.D. in Won Buddhist Studies from Wonkwang University, an MA in East Asian Philosophy from Seoul National University, and a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Toronto. She leads monthly meditation sessions for The Institute of Korean Studies at Penn State University and meditation retreats at the Won Dharma Center, Claverack, NY. Her research interests include mindfulness in education, Buddhism, and social justice, and she’s currently working on a project that examines the impact of mindfulness and mindful inclusion on the retention of the underrepresented population in STEM higher education. Her writings and online teachings have been featured in Tricycle, The Buddhist Review Magazine.

She is committed to embodying the truth of interconnection and invests her time putting into practice her belief that renewing society starts with renewing our inner lives.

Connect with Grace on Instagram: @the.chicmonk

Jason Villegas

Jason sees himself as inhabiting the borderlands between culture and language. Born in Colorado Springs, CO, he was raised in a multiracial family. He has tried to reconnect and reckon with his European (Spanish, English, French, and Scottish) and Native American (Chichimecas) ancestry. He has called himself a “Methobapticostal,” reflecting his Pentecostal upbringing, time in the Baptist Church, and eventual settling in the United Methodist Church, where he is an ordained elder. He sees it reflected in his experience within the wisdom of Maya Angelou that when you belong to yourself, you belong everywhere and nowhere in particular. To this extent, Jason loves making friends with people from different traditions. Educationally, he went to Chowan University and then Duke Divinity School for two degrees, both of which were part of the “Rural Ministry Fellowship.” Jason has a particular vocational connection with the disadvantaged areas of eastern North Carolina. However, he is fond of calling the institutional church towards a greater faithfulness insofar as hegemony and supremacy exist at all levels of our culture. Even feeling drawn to such lofty ideals, Jason realizes that he is very much a work in progress, a sinner saved by the gift of Divine grace.

Deborah A. Wade

Deborah A. Wade, AINS, KACSR, CPIW, CTM. was born and raised in the Roman Catholic Church and became very aware of the spiritual nature of her being from a very early age. God continued to call her through various avenues and ways to listen to people of faith. These listening avenues were not only in the hallowed halls of the house of God but in the supermarkets, shopping centers, and gas stations where people needed to be heard by someone, and God would tell them – “…go, speak to her.” She holds certification through the Ministry Formation program of the Archdiocese of Louisville, a two-year program of ministry works and faith formation. During one of these classes, she was exposed to the art of spiritual direction by Steve Thiemann and his reflections on a Zen Garden. After spending the summer break in a spiritual direction group, she discerned the call to become fully certified as a spiritual director through the Archdiocese of Louisville. Deborah was trained by Fr. Jim Keegan, SJ, Linda Reynolds, and Jenny Schaefer. Upon graduating in 1999, she opened her practice and began welcoming people to listen to the soft whisper of God within their selves. In 2010 she joined the Sycamore Spirituality Center (SSC), Inc. as a facilitator and teacher. At SSC, she developed a program to help people become more contemplative in their everyday nature and worked with the students throughout their three-year experience teaching courses on how to begin listening as a spiritual director. She is still a working member of SCC, which hosts workshops and enrichment seminars for those who have been trained as spiritual directors throughout the Ohio Valley. In 2011 she began to serve on the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary campus as a spiritual director, meeting students where they were in their life journey. She still has relationships with several students that have graduated from this seminary. She has been a retreat leader for men and women, parish councils, teaching facilities, and committee members looking to have a time away – leaving the ordinary to encounter the extraordinary of God. It is her continued belief that God calls her forward to help fellow sisters and brothers draw closer to God.

Sheila Peltz Weinberg

Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg served as a congregational rabbi for seventeen years.  She has also worked in the fields of Jewish community relations, Jewish education, and Hillel. She has published widely on such topics as feminism, spiritual direction, parenting, social justice, and mindfulness from a Jewish perspective and has contributed commentaries to Kol HaNeshama, the Reconstructionist prayer book.

Rabbi Weinberg has taught mindfulness meditation and yoga to rabbis, Jewish professionals, and lay people in the Institute for Jewish Spirituality context. She serves as a spiritual director to various Jewish clergy, including students and faculty at HUC-JIR in New York.  She is the creator and co-leader of the Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training Program. She is married to Maynard Seider, and they have three married children and six grandchildren.

Eric Wilson

Eric Wilson serves as the Lead Teaching Minister of the University Church of Christ in Malibu, Ca. Wilson is a certified Spiritual Director, Executive Coach, and religion blogger for HuffPost. He is also an award-winning playwright and theatrical director. His work has been published and performed around the country, including the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Eric is a spoken word artist with the 9 Beats Collective, an international group of musicians and thought leaders reimagining the teachings of Jesus for a new generation. Eric’s work attempts to leverage contemplative practice, the arts, and soul care for the purpose of fostering social justice in the world. Wilson’s book, Faith: The First Seven Lessons, was released Fall of 2016.