I think they call it an emergency plan. When I emerged from a particularly long and challenging bout with depression, and had the clarity of mind to get my life together, I read about putting together an emergency plan. The emergency plan required talking to my friends about what to do when I feel desperately…
How does it feel to be a problem? W. E. B. DuBois posed this question in the essay “Our Spiritual Strivings” in The Souls of Black Folk. DuBois was referring to the ways in which African Americans were understood by white American society in the early twentieth century. This quote came to mind last week…
I learned from the best. You’ll hear me say that a lot. I’ve been parented well, taught well, mentored well. The late Sallie McFague helped me to fall in love with theology as a field of study. One way she did this was by showing relevance and genuine excitement for every theologian she taught. She…
When I was in high school, I competed in Bach and Sonata piano competitions that took place at the local university. In those days, I practiced piano after school for almost 2 hours a day. I put that time in and memorized the pieces, learned the ways to stretch my hands to cover more than…
Earlier this Spring, a professional colleague reached out to me to ask: “How did you do it? Like, can you talk to me and tell me how you got to the other side? You know, after your mom passed.” Because her mother had passed months before, and she wanted to know. A couple months…
The best thing about Valentine’s Day is the day after Valentine’s Day. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good greeting card holiday. (Do people even send greeting cards anymore?) And it’s not like one is enough for honoring love. I grew up in the Midwest where we have “Sweetest Day” – literally, a Valentine’s…
There are many New Year traditions in which I take part. I do make resolutions – well, mine are more like intentions and plans. Leave me alone too long and I’ll break them down into quarterly goals and objectives and action steps. But I try not to over-think them. For many years, I was at…
There was a season in my life where I moved cross country every 2-4 years. I was making moves for education and career, and I became a packing and moving maven in the process. I had a system with my boxes and labelling and finding movers and laying out my apartment floor plan on graph…
I had two experiences in 2024 that serve as guideposts for me this year. In July, I took my preteen and their bestie to Hershey Park Amusement Park. I drove 2 hours each ways and spent 8 hours at the park. We got full of the junkiest vegan food out there and stood in line…
Blogger Rachel Held Evans invited me to answer questions from her readers in her “Ask a Liberation Theologian” column. Here are my responses: From Benjamin: I grew up in pretty conservative evangelical circles, where liberation theology was generally ignored (or, if mentioned, might have been described as just another version of the “social gospel”). How would…
Dr. Monica A. Coleman is an award-winning scholar, writer, and minister dedicated to the intersections of faith, social justice, and transformation. Through speaking, consulting, and writing, she empowers individuals and organizations to navigate change with purpose and integrity.
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