At last, I finished! I received my Doctor of Ministry (DMin.) degree from Pacific School of Religion (PSR) in Berkeley, CA. The last six months were difficult, but as anyone who has done a doctorate knows, the tenacity and mental focus it takes to push to the finish can be overwhelming. Thus, I have not written anything on my webpage for quite some time. So, I’m back…again! (I know I’ve probably said that before-LOL.)
My original plan was to finish in August 2024, then I pushed out to December of 2024. Trust me, I HAD a plan; then life happened. There’s a saying going around now, “life be life-ing!” Well, it was truly LIFE-ING! There comes a time when one must surrender to the divine flow. That’s what I chose to do…surrender. Even with what seemed setbacks, I believed I was in divine timing and stayed on course with my divine assignment. I just knew God would see me through it all.
I don’t mean to sound flippant or easy, because it wasn’t. I DO, however, intend to emphasize celebrating and accentuating the accomplishment! God would not have placed this vision in my heart if the vision was not going to be brought into completion. Regardless of appearances, I kept hearing the still small voice saying “keep going and trust.”
Feeling the Call
My heart had been pulling me in this direction toward justice work for quite some time. Even as I was leaving seminary in 2016 with a Masters of Divinity and becoming an ordained Unity minister, I felt the pull to go farther, but I didn’t have all the pieces how it would unfold. I remember leaving teary-eyed out of my advisor’s office feeling like there was more to do. I felt like I had just scratched the surface.
Something more was opening up for me. The world was changing fast. I watched the dismal newscasts on Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, the Charleston Mother Emmanuel parishioners, and more. I felt called to do something outside of a brick and mortar church, and something related to joy and hope. I sing, and singing has always allowed me to share joy with others. So, I ventured into setting up a joy ministry, singing and speaking at various churches, while also facilitating inclusivity workshops.
Fast forward to 2020, following the murder of George Floyd. As much as I wanted to share a joy ministry online, I also felt pulled toward more social justice. I wrestled with how to bring both joy and justice together. I found very few people talking about joy back then, other than the commercialized happy pink bubble joy. I’m not labeling that kind of joy as “bad.” There was just something deeper I believed needed to be explored. I enrolled in Pacific School of Religion’s doctoral program to dig at the heart of it.
My first continuing seminar with my doctoral cohorts in January 2021 was on Zoom and was suddenly interrupted when a classmate in Washington, D.C., had to leave class abruptly due a serious emergency on Capitol Hill. It turned out to be an insurrection! Oh, and did I mention we were in the middle of a global pandemic? So, my journey out the gate was turbulent. How would I maintain my joy?
Connecting Justice and Joy
Eventually, I found a spark that resonated in my soul and my bones when I discovered Dr. Barbara Holmes’ book, Joy Unspeakable–Contemplative Practices of the Black Church. I understood more of the deeper joy that is derived from contemplative practices. When accessed and reclaimed, joy is a sustaining energetic force while advocating for peace, justice, and equality, principles aligned with the divine will of God. Over the centuries, African Americans have tapped into this deep wellspring of joy in various ways as they encountered the forces that sought to diminish and de-humanize their lives and their very existence.
Joy counters despair. It is not a spiritual bypass ticket; i.e., something in which we involve ourselves or spiritualize in order to keep from dealing with the realities around us. When challenges and the myriad forms of oppression seem overwhelming, joy is always present and readily available to strengthen and steady us in many ways: through nature, dance, music, poetry, art, and contemplative practices, just to name a few.
I am a child of the 60s, and I remember the marches and rallies during the Civil Rights movement. There was always some music. During this time, the church in which I was raised had overnight “shut-ins” in which we prayed all night. These were two key aspects of my lived experiences that signaled to me that contemplative practices generate life-sustaining joy and is crucial to our well-being during challenging times.
Grief in the Final Months
Toward the end of my program, my champion and constant inspiration and encouragement, my dad, Elder George Taylor, Jr., passed away in early February. Needless to say, that whole month was heavy…it felt like one big blur. However, I distinctly felt Daddy’s presence pushing me to finish throughout March and April.
A week after returning from my Dad’s funeral, another one of my champions passed away. My professor, Dr. Dorsey O. Blake, presiding minister of The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, a true justice advocate, mentored by the late Howard Thurman, passed away on March 2. Once again, this grief hanging over me. Now, I had two angel guides to help me finish, Daddy and Dr. Blake. And yes, even through seasons of grief, I knew a very real Presence, the Spirit, was undergirding me, for which I was extremely grateful.
Crossing the Finish Line
On May 1st, I successfully defended my dissertation with my committee: Dr. Aaron Brody, Dr. Leonard McMahon, and Rev. Dr. Jesse Tanner. Thank you! My thesis title was: ” Justice and Joy: African American Spiritual Leaders Engaging Racial Justice and Equity in the Unity Movement.” I sought to amplify the voices of African American spiritual leaders who were championing justice and how they maintained their joy in their spiritual communities, the Unity movement, and the world.
The PSR commencement celebration on May 25th was the icing on the cake!! I was so very grateful to my family, friends, and all who supported me in PERSON and VIRTUALLY, AND of course, my angel guides (including Mama), my ancestors, and a great cloud of witnesses!
Stay tuned. I’ll have more to share as my work continues in this “all hands on deck” moment in history. We cannot be silent and complicit. Let us do what we must as we are led by the Spirit to be on the side of justice, divine love, and joy. Remember that setbacks can be reminder to re-set and re-focus. I close with the words of Howard Thurman that I hope we can all embrace::
“Keep before me the moments of my high resolve, that I fair weather or foul, in good times or in tempests…I may not forget that to which my life is committed.”
Blessings to you! Please share with me how you access joy, and remember:
- If there’s a dream in your heart, act on it. It’s not too late.
- Make a plan and execute it.
- Surrender to divine timing even when it seems like there are setbacks.
- Be grateful for the love and support of those who support you.
- Trust and keep going.
- Celebrate the accomplishment!
Grace, peace, love, and unrelenting joy,
Rev. Dr. Dinah Chapman, DMin.
