Crisis Contemplation

by Barbara A. Holmes

In Crisis Contemplation, the Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes addresses two entry points into contemplation which have seldom been addressed: contemplation during crisis, and how we contemplate as community. Engaging deeply with both history and current events, Holmes addresses the emergence of crisis contemplation, especially through the lenses of BIPOC peoples. After exploring existing communal contemplative experiences and several types of crises (pandemics, earthquakes, and systemic abuses), she examines the resulting traumatic wounds which manifest across generations. In the second half of the book, she shifts toward a village response to crises, addressing communal formation, belonging, resistance, and resilience. A deeper look at healing through memory and story, culture and ritual, leads to a final chapter on envisioning different futures through liminality and bio-spiritual resurrection. Included reflection questions and practices engage readers and groups at multiple levels. Paperback, 148 pages

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction

138 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Drick]

Barbara Holmes addresses the multiple crises facing the U.S. right now and especially People of Color and particularly people of color - COVID-19, police brutality, historic racism and the traumas caused by all of them. She suggests that our nation is going through its national dark night of the soul, and this is a time for pausing and taking stock of what the Spirit is saying to us. Drawing on several womanist (black feminist) authors she calls us to a communal contemplation for the traumas we are facing. Each chapter ends with suggested reflective exercises. Even though as a white male, I was not her primary audience, I found much of what she shared caused to reflect on what my role and responsibility as a beneficiary of the white supremacist system of which we are all apart and how I can be a better accomplice for racial justice.

[Anna]

I’ll definitely be returning to this text over and over again over the years, rediscovering what it means to be contemplative in the middle of a crisis and as we care for others.

[Elizabeth Andrew]

The word "contemplative" often conjures the image of (white, male) Christian monks cloistered in silent prayer. Any author who explodes our traditional assumptions about contemplation, as Barbara Holmes does steadily and with great authority, is worth celebrating. JOY UNSPEAKABLE reframed common practices in Black churches like gospel singing and collective moaning as essentially contemplative in nature. RACE AND THE COSMOS builds a new paradigm for equity work on contemplative roots by using what we now know about quantum physics and the vastness of the universe.

CRISIS CONTEMPLATION puts another crowbar into contemplative stereotypes by exploring how contemplative "thin places" can arise during the most intense aspects of a crisis. Don't we need this good news NOW, in the midst of a pandemic, a threatened democracy, and climate disruption? "When crisis breaks us open, we plummet into a contemplative space that does not rely on our effort, but strengthens our collective desire to grow toward God together." (Insert the word "love" for "God" if that's a sticky point.) She embraces collective trauma as the place of collective healing and connection to our Source. "It is through the wormhole of those wounds that we travel to arrive at the peace that surpasses all understanding." In the end, Holmes invites us into "a deep dive into unknowing, a trusting, and a liminal float in spiritual depths that sustain our collective wellbeing." I consider her a prophet of our times.

[Dustin Wright]

Best book I’ve read yet about how communities can heal from collective trauma.

[Jacob]

This book is about an important topic, but I find it to be disorganized and sporadic. I love that QM is graffitied all over it.

[-kevin-]

This book covers a lot of territory. It does it rapidly and with good flow and reference. I will return to carefully follow the guided practices.

[Cassidy Hall]

Such a timely book.

[Shelley]

Amazing Black Mystic who reminded me of how I loved Howard Thurman about 20 years ago.

[Martha Ndegwa]

Very timely- will be rereading this over the next few years as I fight fascism. What does it mean to be contemplative? What does Black mysticism look like? This is a book centered on BIPOC folks, but all are invited to read it.