My Joy & My Delight | Horizons Fellow Ashley Prillerman '24

To know God and trust in His plans. To seek the place where He dwells and make a place for Him in my life. To make Him my joy and my delight.

This statement stems from Psalm 43:3-4:

“Send me your light and faithful love, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Then I will go before the altar of God, to God my joy and my delight.”

I have been meditating on this Psalm for a couple weeks, thinking about how it reflects my relationship with God. It recounts moments of blessing from God while pursuing a desire to be closer to Him. It shows admiration and devotion to Him as I seek His glory before the altar. It desires to make Him my joy and my delight. So what if my relationship with God? A mere following of His commands, an adherence to His Word? I think a relationship confined to that lacks love. God commands us before all else “Love the Lord your God”. To love Him leads to delight in His commands. To love Him means to delight in His wonder. To love Him means to delight in His love for me.

Ashley Prillerman was a Horizons Fellow ‘23-’24.

Forlorn Beauty | Perkins Fellow Lauren Campbell '24

In this world of forlorn beauty, may I seek the Creator, love His creation, and listen to His creatures. Always abiding in grace and Kingdom courage as I learn and unlearn. 

As I reflect on my time with Perkins Fellows, I am encouraged by the questions, curiosities, service, truth, and community we pursued together. I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss hard social issues in a space where Christ is proclaimed and biblical justice is sought. I now have such a richer understanding of how Jesus’s ministry is for the marginalized and our communal role in delighting in this vision.

From CCDA to monthly book discussions to weekly crafting with kids, these moments have uniquely shaped my desire for my future work to intersect with education, creativity, and community development. This summer, I will begin my journey in preparing to be a future educator. It is my prayer that a posture of humility and hope would permeate my teaching philosophy and engagement. The lessons and stories I have gathered within Perkins Fellows will certainly carry with me.

Grit is needed. Grace is essential. Restoration and flourishing is happening.The Lord is faithful.

Our Common Calling | Dagim Tekle '24

We are all different individuals, each wonderfully and uniquely created by the Father. Thus, it follows that if we are unique, then everyone has unique purposes. This sounds about right. Not everyone is an Engineer, Artist, Architect, Lawyer, Doctor, Minister, Parent, etc. Each person has unique callings and gifts. But it would be a grave error to suggest that since everyone is unique, there is no such a thing common calling. 

I have spent a great deal of time thinking and overthinking about who I will become, and what unique callings are placed on me. But I have often done so in ignoring the common callings found in the Scriptures. In other words, I have neglecting reading and applying the very words of God in favor of waiting for a voice (that sounds like Morgan Freeman’s) to speak to me from above. Although I believe the Lord can do that, I heard someone say something like: “If I want to direct access to God’s words, read the Bible.”

In reading the scriptures, I found that several scriptures provide simplifications and elaborations of what it means to live the good life—a life full of meaning, joy, and purpose. One of these is the teaching of Jesus where he says “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and everything else will be added onto you.” In other words, prioritize my ways and my kingdom, and I will take care of the rest. Not gonna lie, that’s a pretty sweet deal!

So how do we seek first the kingdom of God? Jesus answered a similar question when a Pharisee asked him what the greatest commandments were: Love God, Love people. Of course, he elaborates, love God with all your heart (affection), mind (attention), and strength (action), and Love your neighbor as yourself. Simple, but not easy. And the more I think about it, the more I see how this common calling is foundational in other common callings like the great commission.

So, though I do not have this voice-from-God calling in my life, I do have common calling from God’s word. As I begin my career in Software Engineering, I’m excited for the plethora of ways I can love God and my neighbors.

The Fitting Room of Calling | Sam Kipps '23

My “vocational calling” turned out to be (as if always, one day, one’s calling is simply stumbled upon) not a specific job: not a journalist, nor a financial planner, nor a missionary, nor a tent-maker—but rather—just an extension of myself. A collection of my gifts and desires bundled together.

Now, think of these gifts and desires as a person or a person’s body, and a vocation as a coat. A good vocation would fit the body well. It would conform to and cover the arms and torso adequately; it would not be too long nor too short when coming to the waist; and it would provide a certain level of warmth and protection from the elements. It would be a coat that one would feel a sense of pride slipping into most days of the week. 

And, if this bundle of gifts and desires each one of us has were to look like a person, and a vocation to look like a coat, then the person could wear several different coats satisfactorily over their lifetime. Perhaps, they could even wear two or maybe three coats at the same time—though maybe three or more and the load would become too heavy.

A poor fitting coat—that is, one that stops just a little too far above the waist or whose sleeves are a tad too tight or that is thin and ripped in an environment where warmth and protection are needed or that is not water-proof in a climate where it rains often—a poor fitting coat is wearable, and may just do, or have to do for a time, but I think most of us want to find a good coat—a good vocation that is, that fits us well.

So then—for all the times college students get asked by friends and relatives, “What are you planning to do after you graduate?” How can we feel more comfortable and confident, and maybe even take a sense of pride in what we are doing or planning to do in our jobs and careers?

The process that has worked for me has been like testing out a new coat in a department store: “trying on” a variety of occupations, jobs, responsibilities, and positions. Over college, I have put in work as a writer, a researcher, a speaker, a mentor, a house-builder, a waiter, an actor in a movie trailer, a personal-finance blogger, a landscaper, a summer camp counselor and section leader, a politics intern, a reading and math tutor, a cold-calling fundraiser, and a small-business owner. Not all of those “coats” or positions were good fits and being in college, not all of them made money. But each one gave me a sense of what different career paths and industries offer and value. Admittedly, I was too stressed early in college about choosing a major and figuring out my “calling” and “career.” Now though, through those different endeavors, I have come to a sense of peace knowing my gifts, desires, and interests much better, and knowing that I have the ability to be comfortable wearing a variety of different “coats.” 

So, I am very grateful for my time as a Horizons Fellow. I learned much about the concept of vocational calling and that God’s will for my life transcends the day-to-day roles and responsibilities of any one job. Certainly, there are some occupations where my gifts will be used better than others and my interests more nourished, but I have learned through TH, that following the greatest commandment—to love God above all else and to love others as myself—is meant to be lived out all the time, and can be done wearing most any “coat.”

Loving Strangers | Fellow Noah Plott '24

It is no secret that the Church in America today has an image issue. Christians are called to love their neighbor, to love their enemy, and to be the hands and feet of Christ, yet, Christianity has recently become synonymous with a variety of forms of bigotry. This is not always a valid criticism of the American Church, but its prevalence amongst non-Christian and ex-Christian audiences necessitates a response.

In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, he writes “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality” (Romans 12:13). This simple encouragement has proved timeless and effective for us today who continue to flounder in our commitment to love our neighbor. This command has two subjects: first, the believer or Christian; and second, the stranger. This second portion of Paul’s command is what I believe is relevant to us today. 

The word translated to English as hospitality appears originally as philoxenia in Greek, a compound word comprised of philo (friend, love) and xenos (stranger). Interestingly, then, hospitality necessarily refers to a love of strangers; a display of friendship to those considered least deserving. It should be noted that philoxenia appears as the direct negation of xenophobia, which when taken more generically, encompasses the entire spectrum of disdain and dislike for strangers, from homophobia to islamophobia. 

Hospitality is more than simply not hating others, it is the radical extension of love and friendship to those different from ourselves. I believe Paul explained how to do this in his first letter to the Corinthians, writing “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 13:22b). Paul did not become like the Jew or the Gentile in belief or thought, but in custom and deed. Paul asserts that Christians have the liberty to live amongst strangers, amongst sinners, and to reveal the blessings of Christ free of charge. 

Whether linguistic hospitality or physical invitation, loving strangers takes conscious effort. We may not be able to shift the popular image of the Church overnight, but we do have the ability to show the image of Christ to those in our immediate vicinity.

Photo of Noah, his fiancé and some international student friends.

Scoper Lecture '24 Videos & Next Steps!

Dear friends.

We are basking in the light of being together, making new connections, and having good though challenging conversations. We had a full house at Old Cabell Hall to listen to David Brooks in conversation with Melody Barnes and then several hundred of you joined us afterward in the amphitheater to sit down, eat pie and listen to one another. See below for videos, photos & next steps!

Know Better: Deepening the Bonds of Communal Life
with David Brooks, in conversation with Melody Barnes.

Surprised by Stories: How Movies Keep us Human

A filmmaker conversation with Nicholas Ma and Matt Weber.

Cultivating Curiosity: The Power of Storytelling to Mediate Messy Conversations

A panel discussion moderated by Anne Snyder Brooks, featuring Jocelyn Diaz, Ian Solomon, Gayle Jessup White and Greg Kahlil.

---

SERVE & LEARN

Over the years, we have developed trusted relationships with many in our community doing the daily good and hard work of seeing and caring for those often overlooked. Many of these organizations host our Perkins Fellows who serve & learn weekly. Click on the button below if you’d like to get proximate and serve or otherwise support these wonderful organizations.

HOST A WELCOME TABLE

Did you experience warm hospitality while eating pie at the Welcome Table reception? We’d love for this to inspire more welcome tables throughout our city and beyond. Click on the button below if you’d like us to send you a Welcome Table Conversations Guide as well as table question prompts so you can host your own welcome table.

SUPPORT TH TODAY

As we work to support Christians and seekers in the heart of academia and beyond, we’d love your partnership! Donate today, no gift is too small, and your money will be doubled as we work to continue this ministry of welcome.

SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK!

We’d love to hear how you experienced the Scoper Lecture, Welcome Table Reception and any companion events. Take a moment to fill out our anonymous survey below.

Widening Justice | Perkins Fellow Kaya Lynch, '25

If you asked me a year ago what my approach to biblical justice is, I would have given an answer that was both uninformed and lacking in detail. However, in my first year as a Perkins Fellow, I have confronted myself about the true meaning of biblical justice, its impact on my own faith, and how I can contribute to the vision of an equal world for all. And part of that has been being surrounded by passionate, inspired Christians, who are not afraid to push themselves out of their comfort zones. By witnessing their example, I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone this year.

Before CCDA came around, I was nervous. I had never been to a Christian conference before, and I wasn’t exactly sure what would be discussed there. However, it was at CCDA that my own comfort zone was shattered and my eyes were opened. As a black woman, I am aware of racial tensions and the struggles of African-Americans as pertaining to the American church. Yet, it was at CCDA that I realized just how little I had thought about and actively cared for my disabled brothers and sisters in Christ. Or my indigenous brothers and sisters in Christ. Or my incarcerated ones. That list extends on and on. This revelation shook me to my core, and brought me to my knees before God asking for a change in my life. I had never realized how selfish I had been until pushed away from what I was most comfortable with, and I am all the better for it.

Volunteering with Abudant Life has been such a highlight of Perkins Fellows. Even in the throes of sickness and exhaustion in the midst of a busy semester, giving my time to tutoring the children at Johnson Elementary School has been an incredible blessing. Even though we don’t talk about faith directly to the children in that setting, it is a joy to connect with the kids, play outside with them, and help guide them in their learning. Taking the time to truly connect with a younger generation has been another lesson for me when it comes to selflessness and humility.

Over the past year, I have had a front row seat to witnessing how my faith has changed. I’ve seen firsthand the powerful nature of Christ’s love, and how we are called to care for others in so many ways that each look different. Through Abundant Life, I’ve had the privilege of walking alongside my peers as we simple engage with children who don’t always have opportunities that more well-to-do kids have. I’ve learned so much from these kids about how to form lasting friendships, and admired their strength even in difficult circumstances. Tutoring them taught me just as much as it taught them, albeit in a different way. CCDA was another aspect of this, and contributed to my feeling called to walk alongside those who Jesus would notice and others might ignore. The Lord is endlessly faithful!

Perkins Fellow Reflection | Fionette King '24

What would it be like if kids in the Charlottesville community struggling with housing, economic inequality, and violence had artistic outlets and healthy ways of forming community? How can we work to give hope to kids who have too often been let down by the institutions in their city? And what is our role, as UVA students and faculty, in raising awareness and supporting the community?

This school year, I have reflected on these questions through my conversations with kids and faculty at the Music Resource Center (MRC). The MRC provides a safe place for kids in the Charlottesville community to explore their musical passions, learning useful skills and promoting personal growth. Listening to the music these young artists produce and watching them perform on stage has exposed me to both their talent and grit as many of them come from challenging backgrounds. Through this experience, my understanding of systemic structures of inequality in this city and UVA’s role in it has grown tremendously. More broadly, my understanding of community development and global justice issues has shifted to one that values a grassroots perspective and prioritizes experience and cultural understanding. 

My experience with Perkins Fellows has inspired me to engage in an intentional way with the people around me, taking opportunities to serve and listen. I have been moved by the discussions we’ve had, from the speakers we’ve heard, and from the moments we’ve shared growing in our understanding of the world. I am excited to continue my journey as a Perkins Fellow next year, following the will of God in love and peace. 

At the end of the Academic Year

"Then Samuel took a stone, set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and said, ‘The LORD has helped us all the way’ --and he named it 'Stone of Help.'”

1 Samuel 7:12
Good News Translation

GREETINGS, FRIENDS.

This month we say goodbye to many beloved students and celebrate the important milestone that is graduation. These rituals for both endings and beginnings and the in between times are so vital to a life of faith. What milestones or memories of God's faithfulness can you pause and celebrate this month?

-Christy Yates, Associate Director

At The End Of The Year

As this year draws to its end,
We give thanks for the gifts it brought
And how they became inlaid within
Where neither time nor tide can touch them.

The days when the veil lifted
And the soul could see delight;
When a quiver caressed the heart
In the sheer exuberance of being here.

Surprises that came awake
In forgotten corners of old fields
Where expectation seemed to have quenched.

The slow, brooding times
When all was awkward
And the wave in the mind
Pierced every sore with salt.

The darkened days that stopped
The confidence of the dawn.

Days when beloved faces shone brighter
With light from beyond themselves;
And from the granite of some secret sorrow
A stream of buried tears loosened.

We bless this year for all we learned,
For all we loved and lost
And for the quiet way it brought us
Nearer to our invisible destination.

(c) John O’Donohue To Bless The Space Between 

The Value of Loving Others | Jase Banks '24

Slavery, The Jim Crow era, Separate but Equal…it goes without saying that the world is not the way it should be as illustrated through concepts such as racism. Racial injustices can be seen throughout American history through the form of segregation and police brutality to name a couple. Throughout the years, several efforts in improving race relations in America came through the form of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the question around cultural appropriation in regards to black face. Despite all the importance we have made in creating an anti-racist society, there are still better solutions. 

In Dear White Peacemakers: Dismantling Racism with Grit and Grace, Osheta Moore talks about addressing racism in America through a biblical lens. Moreover, through pointing to Jesus, Moore is able to offer solutions that will in turn have the most positive influence on our society. For example, she points out that we should embrace anti-racism given that the Lord calls us to live a peaceful life, Shalom. I interpret the term ‘Shalom’ as the Lord has called us to live in peace amongst all brothers and sisters across race and nationality because the Lord is the Prince of Peace. Despite the benefits of this approach, it is in a lot of ways easier said than done. 

In order to effectively address an issue we must first examine our hearts and minds and try to understand the person who has hurt our perspective as well. In Chi Alpha at UVA, there is a coined phrase that we often use called ‘care fronting’ which is a method of communication that entails caring enough about one’s self, one’s goals and others to confront conflict courageously in a self-asserting, responsible manner.(1) Moore illustrates this approach when addressing white supremacy through praying for them, encouraging them to do better, and setting healthy boundaries. She doesn’t describe the person themselves as racist but rather that they have been influenced from racist ideologies that has plagued the west for several centuries. As Ephesians 6:12 states, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” therefore I believe that when we through tearing down the walls that society and America has built up through white supremacy, we can see people for who they trully are. 

Moore’s emphasis in her work that we are all one in the kingdom of God which is the Lord’s, which reminds me of the phrase ‘Imago Dei’. This idea of ‘Imago Dei’ further srves as a reminder of how much the Lord holds each and everyone of us in such high regards. In fact, God states that, “he created them in His own image, in the image of God He created them.” (2) I understand this to mean that while my physical identity is black, my true identity is found in Christ given that I am his creation. This idea of everyone being the creation of God is the ultimate solution to addressing the racism that has plagued America for centuries. 

1“My Loved One Is Addicted! Part 5 – Confronting vs Care-Fronting.” Adult & Teen Challenge Central Canada, 6 Dec. 2022.

2 Genesis 1:27 NIV

Calling all Illuminators!

In our dark, divided time, Jesus calls us to be Light-bearers: welcoming and generous people who draw others to God, the source of our light.

David Brooks writes that “above almost any other need, human beings long to have another person look into their faces with love and acceptance.” Whenever we see and tend to another, we embody our caring Christ, who enlightens the needy world.

Theological Horizons is committed to the healing work of seeing and being seen, knowing and being known, in Jesus’ name. This is a season brimming with encounter as David Brooks’s Scoper Lecture in Christian Thought, “KNOW BETTER: Deepening the Bonds of Communal Life,” brings people together in-person and online for rich immersive, intergenerational experiences.

From the Charlottesville Welcome Table, book discussion groups, Rotunda Dome Room panel and filmmaker conversation…to fireside student Vintage Lunches, Bible study and leisurely meals with Fellows – in all of these moments the Light of Jesus Christ burns brightly.

Will you help us keep an open house by giving generously – that we might continue to be Light-bearers and to shine where the Gospel witness is needed most? And good news! Each and every gift you give to the ministry of Theological Horizons through June 30 will be matched, dollar for dollar, thanks to the kindness of other “Illuminators.”

As Jesus reminds us: we are here to be light, bringing out the God-colors of the world.

So let’s shine – together!

Karen Wright Marsh, Executive Director

“Shine! Keep an open house;

be generous with your lives.

By opening up to others,

you’ll prompt people to open up with God,

our generous Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:16, The Message

Essential Photovoice Spring 2024

Essential Photovoice Facilitator Cohort

SPRING 2024

For 4 weeks in October, a group of 5 folks met and participated in a series of facilitated conversations about community using the Essential Photovoice (EPV) dialogue format. EPV is a recent pilot project of TH’s longtime dialogue consultant and friend Essential Partners in collaboration with Interfaith Photovoice (see below). The concept is simple: take photos responding to prompts each week, then come together to share and ask each other questions about the photos.

We had different sharing prompts each week:

• Session 1: A picture to help people understand something about you, and a picture that would help people understand something about your community.

• Session 2: How and where is your community growing and flourishing?

• Session 3: What are your community’s deepest challenges?

• Session 4: What has been done to address your community’s challenge(s)? What could be done to address your community’s challenges?

During the last session, the participants had time to create a final culmination of their learning over the month they spent together. They were prompted to flesh out a narrative or theme from all the photos they had taken and present it in a way that made sense to them, or make an emblem that represents the ideal community they would like to strive to create.

Feedback

All 5 of the facilitators gave the training experience a 4/4 rating. When asked “What stands out as the most significant thing you learned in this workshop? what surprised you most about what you learned?,” they responded:

• “I learned to notice my surroundings and intentionally reflect on my role within my community.”

• “The willingness to share, as well as common concerns and experiences.

• “It was surprising that we are all a part of the Charlottesville community and yet our experiences are so varied and none of our pictures are the same, even if we hoped to use pictures to speak to the same issues or topic.”

When asked “how did this experience impact the way you feel about yourself or your community?,” they responded:

• “I think I’ve come to see how I am a piece of my communities and can impact others uniquely through my own experiences and the lens that I see things.”

• “It was impactful for me to be able to share my emotions about different events in my life that I didn't even know I had beforehand.”

• “I felt that this experience caused me to treasure the joyful moments within my communities more than I have been.”

More about Essential Photovoice

Essential Partners was founded in 1989, with the mission of helping equip people to live and work better together in community by building trust and understanding across differences. Their trademark approach -Reflective Structured Dialogue- empowers people to have healthier, more complex, more inclusive conversations about polarizing differences of values, beliefs, and identities. 

Interfaith Photovoice has been around almost as long as EP. It is an arts-based approach to understanding that invites participants to respond to a series of prompts with their own photographs. These photos are used in a series of meetings as the basis for small and large group discussions. At the end of a project, the visuals and narratives are used to engage a broader audience. 

Essential Photovoice combines the concepts and methodologies of both approaches to bring more richness to connecting around or across a social issues, and to illuminate and illustrate what is important to those impacted (or inspired!) by curating an exhibition, hosting an event, or collaborating on a tangible item through which other people can engage or better understand that topic. 

Faith & Work Forum with Sheri Winston

The Faith & Work Forum is a conversation series on Grounds that discusses the interplay between faith, work, and life. Each semester we feature guest speakers with leadership experience from across a wide range of vocations, who bring authentic stories about seeking a meaningful, purpose-driven life.

On March 28th, we gathered at the Bonhoeffer House to hear from Sheri Winston, the beloved Director of the Rotunda and University Events. Ms. Sheri talked about the different inspiring, weighty, and mundane moments that she has witnessed during her decades in the Rotunda. Whether it’s meeting influential politicians, hosting musical performances, or providing an ear to listen to her team of student staff whenever they need it, Sheri meets the needs of her position and community with the rested assurance of her faith in Christ.

Easter 2024 | An Invitation to Go, Rejoicing, and Tell!

“He is not here; for He is risen…”

— Matthew 28:6

AN INVITATION TO GO AND TELL

At dawn, the grieving Marys arrive at Jesus’ tomb as a violent earthquake announces the descent of a lightning-white angel, a dazzling being who rolls back the massive stone and sits upon it, paralyzing the terrified guards. To the women, the angel offers assurance and speaks invitation, “Do not be afraid…Jesus is risen…Come and see...then go quickly and tell….”

Filled with joy and fear, the women begin to run. Then, suddenly, Jesus himself is before them. “Greetings!” he says. The women rush to Jesus, falling to clasp his feet and worship this beloved one whom they saw die, crucified. To these astonished friends, Jesus echoes the angel’s words: “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers…” And off they hasten, rejoicing.

On this Easter day, the risen Jesus speaks to us, along with the whole host of heaven:

Do not be afraid. Go, rejoicing, and tell.
The wintery days of fearing and fasting are past.
The feast of Christ’s resurrection is here.
Let us go, rejoicing, and tell!

“Rejoice and sing now, all the round earth,
bright with a glorious splendor,
for darkness has been vanquished by our eternal King.” (Book of Common Prayer)

The air is like a butterfly
With frail blue wings.
The happy earth looks at the sky
And sings.

(“Easter” by Joyce Kilmer)

the green of Jesus
is breaking the ground
and the sweet
smell of delicious Jesus
is opening the house and
the dance of Jesus music
has hold of the air and
the world is turning
in the body of Jesus and
the future is possible

(“spring song” by Lucille Clifton)

So do not be afraid. Go, rejoicing, and tell:
Alleluia. Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Singing Better Songs | Lilly West '23

“My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth’s lamentation,
I hear the real, tho’ far off hymn
That hails a new creation;
Thro’ all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul–
How can I keep from singing?”

— Anonymous Hymn

Since this summer, when I interned as a Research Fellow for the Project on Lived Theology, I’ve had one line from my reading echoing within me. Charles Marsh, in his work Welcoming Justice with John Perkins, argued that we must learn to “sing better songs with our lives”1. This year of discernment and decisions has felt like one long question: what song can or should I sing with my life?

When I zoomed into RUF large group from my dorm room as a first year, I heard what I’ve since learned was our grounds minister’s annual welcome sermon: “Who are you becoming?” At its core, this sermon said something like this: these four years are powerful years, what are you seeking and how will it shape you? Reflecting on these words now, they take a different shape in my imagination than they did when I was a first year because my life and priorities look very different (mostly in a good way, I hope). These years have been powerful years, growing, stretching, and teaching years, which have left me (again–hopefully) more in the shape of the Lilly I’m created to be.

This year, my wonderful mentor, Jane Grizzle, gave me Henri Nouwen’s The Inner Voice of Love. In it, Nouwen writes a reminder that we are designed to “enter a new country, where [our] Beloved dwells,” and that this transition “requires the death of what has become so precious to [us]: influence, success, yes, even affection and praise.”2 Our Horizons Fellows summer reading, A Sacred Voice is Calling, argued that “remembering death helps us to get our priorities straight.”

While I agree, I might argue more specifically that as Christians, we must remember not our death, but Christ’s death. Christ’s death and resurrection means that we look forward to union with Christ in the new country3 after we die and that the new country is already peeking through into our lives now so we can be in union with Christ today. We live remembering our death to this world, our death to the old country.

Do not hear in these words an argument to disengage with the world or a call to apathy; it is the opposite. “For freedom Christ has set us free.”4 The body of Christ should reshape our social existence to reflect this liberation and carry it out in the context of our communities. So then, as Martin Luther King, Jr. put it in Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “[t]he question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?”5 The freedom of the new country rings out over our fallen land, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”6

Since Christ is Lord of heav’n and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

As Christians, we are heirs7 with Christ of the promised new creation. This means our lives are hidden, or anchored, with Christ in the new country even as we exist in the old country. We have an incarnate God and an incarnate faith. “Sing[ing] a better song with our lives”8 means that our lives in the old country are cruciform, bearing the image of Christ to individuals, communities, and systems we encounter. We “put off the old self with its practices and ...put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.”9

Here’s where I’ll make a public confession: I am too weak to walk in the new country on my own. I am too weak to put off my old self. So, as I’m thinking this year with the other Horizons Fellows about calling, constraint, and commitments, I confess that I’ve been, more than anything, afraid. As Nouwen explains, the new country is “where [we] are called to go, and the only way to go there is naked and vulnerable.”10 He testifies that the new country is the source of joy, true joy, and of life, but that he keeps “crossing and recrossing the border.”11

During my time in Charlottesville, surrounded by mentors and friends who’ve invited me to “sing beautiful songs” with them, I’ve felt the joy of the new country peeking into the old. I fear that physical distance from these friends and this place next year will make me forgetful of this joy. I worry, like Nouwen, that I’ll “feel afraid and start longing for all [I] left behind, so [I’ll] go back to the old country,” but I confidently hope that his conclusion is true; that if I venture away from the new country, I’ll “discover that the old country has lost its charm.”12 Looking around at our Horizons Fellows cohort, a group which once felt unfamiliar and intimidating, I see brothers and sisters in Christ who are singing such beautiful songs that I can’t help but sing along with them. Throughout this transition I’ll “risk a few more steps into the new country, trusting that each time [I] enter it, [I] will feel more comfortable and be able to stay longer.”13

“I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smooths,
Since first I learned to love it.14”

---

1 Charles Marsh, Welcoming Justice, “The Power of True Conversion” (78)
2 Henri Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love, “Entering the New Country” (21)

3 “Age to come” (Eph. 1:21)
4 Gal. 5:1

5 Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

6 Matt. 4:17 (emphasis mine [but also Jesus’s I think])

7 Gal 3:29

8 Ibid. Marsh

9 Col. 3:9-10

10 Ibid. Nouwen

11 Ibid. Nouwen

12 Ibid. Nouwen

April Prayers | For our Scoper Lecture

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. ”

— Romans 12:9-12

DEAR FRIENDS,

This month we’ll be welcoming David Brooks with Melody Barnes for our April 21, 2024, Scoper Lecture, “Know Better: Deepening the Bonds of Communal Life.” The lecture will be followed by flash pop up tables in the ampitheater for 600 people to eat pie and practice getting to know one another better. Then, on Monday in the Dome Room, we’ll hear from a panel of wise leaders who are using stories to help bring social healing.

Throughout all of these events, we pray for God’s spirit to be alive and active in fresh ways. We pray for each one of us to know in our bones our belovedness as we enter into these spaces with others, helping us to cross old divides and build new and lasting connections.

Please join us as we pray!

“When we love and allow ourselves to be loved, we begin more and more to inhabit the kingdom of the eternal. Fear changes into courage, emptiness becomes plenitude, and distance becomes intimacy.”

— John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: 25th Anniversary Edition

Loving our Neighbors through Place | Tabi Summers '24

Editors’ note: Horizons Fellows wrestle with questions of faith & vocation within a small cohort during their 4th year. One of the questions we wrestle with is: What does it look like to love our neighbors through our particular places in which we find ourselves? Tabi reflects on that here.

What does place mean to me? How has it shaped me and how do I think of it in relation to my calling? How do my daily habits and attention towards my neighborhood and the land affect my calling?

My dad is a skilled carpenter, but he deferred the career, and the salary, that he could have had, and arguably needed, raising four children on one income. For 35 years, my dad has preferred to devote his high-quality carpentry to people who could not otherwise afford decent home improvements. He has committed himself to offering noble construction at accessible and flexible rates, consistently doing odd tasks and small projects free of charge. My father’s service through place has extended into our own home, opening our home as residence to a series of young men as they find their own footing. 

My father’s craft made me aware of my interest in architecture; his honest realization of vocation has inspired my own. As a student of architecture, place means more to me than it does to most people. It can be commonly understood that architecture aims to create place, it is also deeply affected by place. The ways in which architecture responds to place is my primary preoccupation within the study. Architecture is necessarily rooted in site: this includes local and non-local ecologies, accounting for the systems surrounding the design intervention, but architecture also demands consciousness of its resource consumption, and the ecologies impacted by material sourcing. Site also must consider stakeholders, building occupants, and even more temporary observers. 

Place is too often misunderstood as static. When people argue that architecture should create a sense of place, they are often asking for the architecture to conform to a historic trend, to preserve a visual sense of place. Place is rarely static, especially when considered in the context of neighborhoods and the community of a place. Relationships and individuals are constantly changing, shifting, even entering and exiting. I found a meaningful motif in John Perkins’s community development ministry. While Perkins refers to these values as the “3 Rs:” Relocation, Reconciliation, and Redistribution, I was struck instead by the repetition of “Re.” In each case, “Re” seems to imply that community development efforts should be cyclical. We should continually return to the efforts that enrich our places. We should maintain a pulse on our community, our place, and its needs. 

For example, Jesus relocated among us; Perkins implies that relocation calls us to move outside of our comfort zone to be in proximity, immersed, in communities we aim to serve. My father’s invitation of young men into our home reminds me of this “R.” My father’s continual practice of opening our house to a series of young men, even after difficult experiences with each, reminds me of the “Re” component of this “R.”

Altogether, my attention to place, neighbors, and land, must not be an effort of creating or preservation, but of continual recommitment to vocation, and a cyclical understanding of my aspirations and actions. 

Lent VI | To Fast from Certainty

“Why spend money for what isn’t food, and your earnings for what doesn’t satisfy.
Listen carefully to me and eat what is good; enjoy the richest of feasts.
Listen and come to me; listen, and you will live.
”

— Isaiah 55:2-3

AN INVITATION TO FAST FROM CERTAINTY…

“When my mother suddenly died, I was thrust into the desert,” spiritual author Christine Valters Paintner recalls. “All of my certainties about God and life were stripped away and I was left raw and frightened. Many people offered trite words and shallow comfort in my grief. They were not willing to sit with my in the darkness, but only hoped to rush me through a place of light.” Have you ever been in such a place?

By journeying into the desert, Jesus showed us how to dwell in life’s border spaces where questions overwhelm answers, where Jesus depended solely “upon every Word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

Patience abides in the wisdom of those ancient Christians who lived in the wilderness --- who tell us to let go, let go, let go, and let go some more, on every level of our lives, to everything we cling to, including, or especially, our ideas about God.

In the book of Job, God challenges Job’s desire for surety and asks, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” (Job 38:4) For God is never a set of concepts to be grasped, even tamed, but a relationship to encounter.

… AND EMBRACE MYSTERY AND WAITING

Traveling through the unknown requires humility. It requires loosening our attachment to images of who God is and how God works in the world. Ultimately, the Lenten desert sojourn demands that we open ourselves to the God who is far more expansive than we can behold or imagine.

This sixth week of Lent, you are invited to fast from the places in your life where you crave certainty and sure outcomes and release them to the great Mystery: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Celebrate a God who is infinitely larger than your imagination and rest in the company of Jesus, who himself once inhabited the wilderness.

This reflection is adapted from A Different Kind of Fast: Feeding our True Hungers in Lent, Christine Valters Paintner.

The Scoper Lecture with David Brooks | Overview

Renowned author and New York Times commentator David Brooks will deliver the 2024 Scoper Lecture in Christian Thought at UVA: the anchor event of an in person and livestreamed community-wide, intergenerational experience.

On Sunday, April 21, David Brooks will speak on the topic “Know Better: Deepening the Bonds of Communal Life” drawing on his book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen and exploring his sources in Christian thought. The academic lecture will illuminate Brooks’s foundational work on the complexities and urgencies of living well in a democratic society.

Melody Barnes, Executive Director of UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, will then join Brooks onstage to investigate the implications of Brooks’s premise that “there is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person...or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.”

The onstage lecture and conversation will be framed by music from The Porter’s Gate, a sacred ecumenical arts collective whose projects include “Neighbor Songs” and “Table Songs.”

The Charlottesville Welcome Table
Sunday, April 21, 4:45pm-5:45pm | Amphitheater | free

Calling all Scoper Lecture guests to enjoy the Charlottesville Welcome Table reception: a special event in the UVA Amphitheater. Gather with us for warm conversations and delicious homemade pie. Let’s reflect on the keynote, practice the art of listening, and turn strangers into friends to deepen the bonds of community.

“Leap of Faith” Filmmaker Conversation
Monday, April 22, 10am-11am | Dome Room | free

Award-winning director Nicholas Ma will speak with UVA’s Chief Creative Ocer Matt Weber as he presents exclusive glimpses of his forthcoming film, “Leap of Faith,” a documentary following pastors who test the power of Christ’s call to love God and neighbor — even across deep dierences. Ma’s earlier film “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” explored the life of Mr. Rogers.

“The Stories That Shape Us: How Sharing Experience Fosters Connection” Monday, April 22, 11am-12pm | Dome Room | free

A panel featuring

• Jocelyn Diaz, career film and television executive at Disney, HBO and ABC TV, and executive producer of House of the Dragon

• Greg Khalil, co-founder of peacemaking nonprofit Telos and founding member of Narrative 4, a story-centered educational initiative

• Ian Solomon, dean of UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, committed to negotiation and conflict resolution

• Gayle Jessup White, Monticello’s public relations and community engagement ocer and author of Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jeerson, and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's Lasting Legacy

moderated by Anne Snyder, editor-in-chief of Comment magazine hosted by Sheri Winston, associate director for the UVA Rotunda and Major Events with a “flash” story by Abdallah Aljerjawi, UVA nursing student

Book Discussion Guide

Get the conversation started with our free discussion guide to How To Know A Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, created by the team at Theological Horizons. Find it on our website.

At Theological Horizons, we create communal and individual experiences that bring together rich intellectual ideas with an immediate practice of attention and compassion, drawing on the riches of Christian thought – that we trust will yield a measure of personal and spiritual knowing, even as we stand, quite literally, amidst the complex legacy of one of America’s greatest Universities.

The Scoper Lecture in Christian Thought is an annual series that brings eminent speakers to the university to deliver public lectures exploring the breadth of Christian expression in the arenas of scholarship, science and medicine, the arts, and culture. The series is an initiative of Theological Horizons, a community-campus not-for-prot, in partnership with The Project on Lived Theology at UVA.

Lent V | To fast from Planning & Deadlines

“Why spend money for what isn’t food, and your earnings for what doesn’t satisfy.
Listen carefully to me and eat what is good; enjoy the richest of feasts.
Listen and come to me; listen, and you will live.
”

— Isaiah 55:2-3

AN INVITATION TO FAST FROM DEADLINES AND PLANNING…

I love a to-do list, a plan. But when my noisy mind is chattering with details, deadlines, and agendas, I easily miss the voice of God actually speaking into my life – calling me into things better than those my planning mind intends.

We who are always moving into our imagined futures lose the opportunity to notice new visions from Jesus; we fail to receive guidance toward new directions we haven’t expected. Looking ahead, we don’t look down to see the fresh, green life unfurling at our feet – quite literally, on this early spring days.

… AND EMBRACE UNFOLDING AND RIPENING

“I am the true vine,” Jesus says. “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches.” Jesus reminds us of our organic nature. Branches don’t design their own futures; they grow, unfold and bear fruit by abiding. We too are rooted in the One greater than ourselves --- and in this rooting we receive nourishment to ripen in the world. For Jesus reminds us, “Those who abide in me and in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-5)

This fifth week of Lent, you are invited to fast from your desire to control the direction of your life. Open yourself to the grace of silence, in which beauty comes alive and you see, with open eyes, things already emerging.

You might respond to this invitation by stepping outside. Take time for a slow, contemplative walk –without any destination or time constraint. As you walk, stay alert for the shimmering moments around you; allow yourself to pause. Pay special attention to how the world is budding, unfurling, emerging around you. In silence, listen for God’s voice speaking love and blessing over you. Abide in Him.

This reflection is adapted from A Different Kind of Fast: Feeding our True Hungers in Lent, Christine Valters Paintner.