By: Debbie Owen on November 7, 2024
Jesus said, ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on…
By: Joel Zantingh on November 7, 2024
In his trusted work in reconciliation, mediation, and conflict resolution, Dr. Vern Neufeld-Redekop refers to an idea in his ‘third-party-neutral’ approach called “the adjacent possible”, an option for breakthrough that only comes when we allow divergent voices and ideas to be presented together, and give space for emergent possibilities to reveal themselves [1]. It takes…
By: Diane Tuttle on November 6, 2024
Since returning from Washington, my work life has been turned upside down. For different reasons, we had several people resign within weeks of one another. Add our need for added funding and it was a perfect storm, literally. The conversations have been difficult, hours long, and emotions on the edge. I am exhausted. Reading Mindset…
By: Shela Sullivan on November 6, 2024
Introduction This week’s reading assignment is based on “Mindset: Changing the Way you think to fulfil your potential” by Dr. Carol Dweck.[1] “Becoming is better than being.”[2] This quote highlights the importance of growth mindset, emphasizing the importance of the journey of learning and development over simply achieving a static state of success. Exploring the…
By: Jennifer Vernam on November 5, 2024
Colonialism and Slavery- What Do I Believe and Why? I believe that humans are predisposed to try to dominate each other in a misplaced attempt to have dominion over the earth. It is an extension of our miss-ordered loves- a belief that if in charge, we can do it better, and deserve to be at…
By: Pam Lau on November 5, 2024
What I Believe Through Story My understanding of slavery and colonialism has been shaped over the years through the lens of literature—both as a student of English literature and as a teacher of it. Writers like George Orwell,[1] Malcolm X,[2] Maya Angelou, Russell Baker, and Flannery O’Connor[3] illuminated the complex dynamics of colonialism, revealing the ways in which…
By: Cathy Glei on November 5, 2024
This week, I set aside time to reflect deeply on the complex histories of slavery and colonialism, revisiting both my education and early teaching experiences as a fifth-grade teacher. Teaching these topics early in my career required me to navigate difficult historical truths while fostering an environment where young students could begin to understand the…
By: Esther Edwards on November 5, 2024
To summarize my current convictions and deeply held beliefs regarding colonialism and slavery before the reading, I had to reflect on my early years. I was taken back to my 6th grade class, and I distinctly remember my time in the library with a class assignment to create a booklet of one-page summaries on quite…
By: Kim Sanford on November 5, 2024
As I sit down to reflect, a few thoughts come to mind. Slavery is unequivocally wrong because it cruelly dehumanizes one who is made in the image of God. A worldview which allows for one people group to dominate, control and enslave another does not truly uphold the dignity of each human as a bearer…
By: Scott Dickie on November 4, 2024
I found this to be a difficult assignment for a variety of reasons. First, it was difficult to determine how much depth and detail I should include concerning my beliefs about colonialism and slavery. Second, it was perhaps more difficult to articulate where those beliefs emerged from. Third, neither author, but particularly Black, had a…
By: Jeff Styer on November 4, 2024
Before I could even start reading Carol Dweck’s Mindset book, I simply mentioned the title to my wife.[1] She, an educator, replied that is the big buzz word in education, everyone knows that book, there are lesson plans and bulletin board, etc. all focused around Dweck’s mindset theory. This statement was verified by the bulletin…
By: John Fehlen on November 4, 2024
What is a summary of your most deeply held convictions before the readings? To answer this question, I need to quote myself from a recent blog post: “I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. By small, I mean less than 1500 people. We were an hour from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I mention that because…
By: Tim Clark on November 4, 2024
My most deeply held convictions about slavery were probably formed from a combination of my upbringing, my understanding of history, my grasp of the Bible, God’s heart for people, and my exposure to a global community. The brief one-sentence version of that conviction would go like this: “Slavery is always bad.” To unpack that a…
By: Kally Elliott on November 4, 2024
My most deeply held convictions before the readings were that both, colonialism and slavery were and are harmful, and frankly, evil systems that continue to cause immense suffering for those they oppress. I believe we need to take a hard look at our history, owning up to our collective and personal failings, and roll up…
By: Jenny Dooley on November 4, 2024
My Current Beliefs and Convictions Slavery I believe slavery is a dehumanizing evil because it deprives human beings created in the image of God of their basic human and universal legal rights that restrict their freedom of movement, self-determination, and dignity. I know slavery comes in many forms, including sexual, chattel, bonded, and forced labor.…
By: Glyn Barrett on November 4, 2024
Carol S. Dweck is a psychologist and professor at Stanford University, best known for her research on mindsets, whose work explores how beliefs about intelligence impact motivation and success. Despite her success in an academic context, I am struck by her down-to-earth, easy-to-reach manner and application of the work contained within the book Mindset:…
By: Travis Vaughn on November 4, 2024
I will first unpack the why and what of my beliefs about colonialism and slavery, primarily from a theological standpoint. Then, after I look at the two texts, I will summarize why and how my beliefs were both affirmed and challenged. Before reading Nigel Biggar’s Colonialism and Jeremy Black’s A Brief History of Slavery First,…
By: Adam Cheney on November 4, 2024
Over the last few months, life has been pretty hard in our household. In fact, there was one point while in Washington D.C. that I almost had to catch a late-night flight and return home early. Navigating adoption trauma with our son has been harder on our whole family than I ever imagined it to…
By: Russell Chun on November 4, 2024
Cyrillic: Большинство всегда угнетает меньшинство. Romanized: Bol’shinstvo vsegda ugnetayet men’shinstvo. The Majority always victimizes the minority. Part 1, Summary Part 2 What I learned Epilogue Part 1, Summary – The majority ALWAYS victimizes the minority in EVERY country. The sin of Pride in the majority looking down on the minority who look, act, and…
By: Noel Liemam on November 3, 2024
“How To Lead When You’re Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence when You Lack Authority, “by Clay Scroggins and forwarded by Andy Stanley. Clay Scroggins was an author, speaker, and the lead pastor at North Point Community Church. His background is undergraduate engineering degree from Georgia Tech and Masters and Doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary. This…
