“Loving our neighbor as ourselves sounds easy, until they break our heart. ”
In 2020, I received a Program Officer’s Grant from the Lilly Endowment to build "Questing with the Questions," a theologically informed leadership development program emerging from the wisdom of Howard Thurman’s corpus. In the past 5 years, nearly 5,000 North American clergy and laity have undergone this training. Growing in Love to Heal the Fractured Heart is the next evolution of this project. Inspired by Thurman’s three-part sermon series, “Growing in Love of Self, Other, and God,” this project offers multidimensional experiences through three learning platforms. First, the manuscript, tentatively entitled Growing in Love with Me, You, and God, features original essays, prayers, meditations, poems, and penetrating questions that contemporize Thurman’s insights for leaders today. A companion journal will accompany the book, inviting leaders to engage in introspection on matters of individual and communal wholeness. Second, to build bonds of sacred trust across age, race, and denominational lines, an immersive, synchronous Bible study will uplift themes of growth, love, and wholeness. Finally, invited musicians will score Thurman’s writings and my original meditations, transforming them into rhythmic devotions that will be performed before a live audience and shared widely across social media. While each learning platform is distinctive in approach, they share a common tripartite goal of cultivating repair, collaboration, and renewal.