Synopsis
A collection of essays and stories documenting the lived theology and spirituality we need to hear in order to lean into a more freeing, loving, and liberating faith–from the hosts of the beloved Truth’s Table podcast
“The liberating work of Truth’s Table creates breathing room to finally have those conversations we’ve been needing to have.”–Morgan Harper Nichols, artist and poet
Once upon a time, an activist, a theologian, and a psychologist walked into a group chat. Everything was laid out on the table: Dating. Politics. The Black church. Pop culture. Soon, other Black women began pulling up chairs to gather round. And so, the Truth’s Table podcast was born.
In their literary debut, co-hosts Christina Edmondson, Michelle Higgins, and Ekemini Uwan offer stories by Black women and for Black women examining theology, politics, race, culture, and gender matters through a Christian lens. For anyone seeking to explore the spiritual dimensions of hot-button issues within the church, or anyone thirsty to deepen their faith, Truth’s Table provides exactly the survival guide we need, including:
– Michelle Higgins’s unforgettable treatise revealing the way “racial reconciliation” is a spiritually bankrupt, empty promise that can often drain us of the ability to do real justice work
– Ekemini Uwan’s exploration of Blackness as the image of God in the past, present, and future
– Christina Edmondson’s reimagination of what a more just and liberating form of church discipline might look like–one that acknowledges and speaks to the trauma in the room
These essays deliver a compelling theological re-education and pair the spiritual formation and political education necessary for Black women of faith.
The Good
It is definitely the most insightful book of nonfiction I’ve read in awhile.
A. It gave food for thought and added counterpoints to some of popular narratives being pushed at the moment.
B. I believe it has something for everyone in faith to take from. That is to say -for men, women, young, older, those at different points in their faith, and etc. At the same time it is for Black women and speaks to them directly.
C. It has a mind to many of the pressing issues going on in body of Christ.
D. It was a quick read that is accessible to everyone.
The Meh
Does it miss the mark sometimes?
I would have liked it to have went further with a few topics (ex: colorism)
It does not go as far as the whole:
dark/Black=bad
light/white=good
Then again that may be part of disentangling white supremacy and a larger conversation that could be a book in itself.
Thoughts & Feelings
I. When did social justice equate to the opposite of Christ?
II. Is your faith a worship of God or whiteness/men/money/man?
“Christianity predates white supremacy, and it will outlast it.”- 71
attributing everything to whiteness gives whiteness the glory. -55
III. Colorism did not start with slavery/colonialism?
IV. So much of our view is not rooted in God but more so society/worlds hierarchy.
V. Marriage
A. At this point are you having a productive Black marriage/relationship conversation if you ignore realities of what is happening in the Black community with men and women?
B. Putting marriage on pedestal? Putting men on pedestal?
VI. As a Black woman so many expect you to fix everything/know everything which is in opposition to God.
VII. A Reckoning
A. I struggle because at a certain point change has to come from the center/core and you have to be open. At this point a reckoning has to happen on so many fronts.
B. More is required of body of Christ than in past?
C. Is our visions of God being limited by earthly?
VIII. Makes me want to read books about Black worship & history with religion.
IX. Thinking on our humanness/fallibility/just how human we are. Are we afforded grace?
X. Visions of diaspora
Make sure we are not letting the things of this world cloud our vision.
I won this book in a giveaway on goodreads from Convergent Books
themollyweather 