The Other Journal

This special issue of The Other Journal features Esther Meek’s work alongside creative responses authored by a member of the faculty or staff at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. The range of theological and psychological reflections includes intersectionality, decolonization, epistemology, Lacanian perspectives, social location, and hospitality. We invite you to join the discourse and dialogue in Issue 38.5: Esther Meek, and at this time, we have made this special issue accessible to all: https://theotherjournal.com/issue/38-5-esther-meek/

In this time of reflection and contemplation as the new year begins, join Richard Jackson on an evening walk through reading this profound poem from our newest issue. https://theotherjournal.com/2024/12/conversation-with-myself-during-an-evening-walk-about-a-truth-beyond-words/

Conversation with Myself during an Evening Walk about a Truth beyond Words - The Other Journal For it is not knowing much, but realising and relishing things interiorly, that contents and satisfies the soul.            ―Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises You might approach the Jerusalem of the heart.             —Scott Cairns, “Hidden City” This is my C...

“I believe that we’re all a little like Joseph; we all limit ourselves by our tried-and-true ways of doing things. We each have our own ways of dealing with personal, spiritual, and professional matters, our own ways of moving through this demanding season of the year.”

Feeling a little like Joseph? Spend some time this Advent season with the restorative and contextual exploration (and exhortation) shared by Melissa Skelton in “Do Not Be Afraid: A Meditation on Matthew 1:18-25.” https://theotherjournal.com/2011/12/do-not-be-afraid-a-meditation-on-matthew-118-25/

Do Not be Afraid: A Meditation on Matthew 1:18–25 - The Other Journal In this meditation on Joseph's discovery of Mary's pregnancy, Melissa Skelton urges us to embrace the voice of God speaking in the depths of our souls, and to not be afraid.

Issue 38: Money has launched! “Whereas money has led its logic to the structuring of doctrinal thought, theology has offered its prestige and mystique to monetary exchange. So the question of Christianity’s relation to and treatment of money is complex, contested, and ongoing.” Join us in exploring these complex conversations: https://theotherjournal.com/

From our Advent issue in the archives, Nathan A. Smith asks “What does it mean to be a people of waiting and how does one wait faithfully?”

“In this season of Advent, we recall the future and wait in hopeful longing for the fullness of Christ to be revealed. Still, one may ask, like the Thessalonians, what does it mean to be a people of waiting and how does one wait faithfully? [...] To answer this question and to avoid the pitfalls of thumb-twiddling, antagonism to creation care, and hypersensitivity to the assumed changes in the eschatological winds, I suggest the Eucharist….”

https://theotherjournal.com/2017/12/advent-future-waiting/…

Advent and the Future of Waiting - The Other Journal Nathan A. Smith encourages Christians to identify themselves with the waiting that is commemorated during the season of Advent.

Heading into a holiday weekend with some travel time, and looking for book recommendations? Or are you eager to share the recent read you enjoyed? Please join the conversation in the comments. To begin, here is a book review shared earlier this year from our Editor in Chief Zac Settle, one example of the writing and reviews in The Other Journal.

“...the subtitle is “Fifty Entries Against Despair,” and so it should be no surprise the text is such a joy to read. As a priest and editor who spends a lot of time reading theological writing, I find Wiman’s reflections on faith to be a breath of fresh air. He’s pushing himself and his readers to move beyond modes of faith that simply drive toward understanding and answer, as though we can ever arrive at some single, authoritative understanding of ourselves, God, or the mystery of the world itself.”

Take a look at The Other Journal archives for relevant content that explores questions of our time in poems, reviews, and creative art. theotherjournal.com

"They are the whole congregation
suspended, still, holding their breaths,
bathed in light of the noon-time sun,
their shadows under their feet

forever. Maybe forever.
They look to their brethren, in white,
and the preacher in the river,
waiting on the Holy Ghost."

"Take Me to the Water," Blake Leland's poem from our latest issue on Church, dives into a moment of sacrament captured on film. Read the whole piece on our website: https://theotherjournal.com/2024/07/take-me-to-the-water/

Take Me to the Water - The Other Journal from the collection of Jim Linderman It is a book of photographs, postal cards some of them, of people gathered at a river to witness and to be baptized. In this one, nothing at the horizon rises higher than the dark, open umbrellas, like little clouds, some ladies hold against the sun. At least a [...

“It is my hope that Christians today, especially those of us who want our holy book to influence the creation of American laws, will commit to a revolution of values by reading the Bible with intelligence and compassion. Like Ambrose, may we understand and interpret Scripture in such a way that we see all people as children of God who are worthy of the right to live with respect and freedom. Like Thurman, may we come to experience Jesus as a first-century Palestinian Jewish carpenter who led a movement to free himself and others from hunger, sickness, and other forms of oppression. Let those of us who are inspired by the Bible and the history of the Black church ensure that laws and policies are created, passed, enforced, and executed with the love and compassion that God demonstrates for all of creation from Genesis to the Revelation.”

Historian and professor Tejai Beulah explores the theology of Howard Thurman and the influence of his grandmother, a former slave, scholarship that encourages intelligent action, transformation of societies, and liberation in heaven and on earth. Read more in our archives: https://theotherjournal.com/2021/12/interpret-scripture-intelligently-civil-rights-human-dignity/

To Interpret Scripture Intelligently: The Bible, Civil Rights, and Human Dignity - The Other Journal Tejai Beulah explores US Christianity from the perspective of a formerly enslaved grandmother.

Grin and laugh through this surprising and amusing poem, written by Rebecca D. Martin and inspired by Ross Gay, published in our Issue 37: "The Second Time I Laughed during Holy Communion"

The Second Time I Laughed during Holy Communion - The Other Journal after Ross Gay’s Inciting Joy the whole right half of the sanctuary the people sliding their hands along the hard smooth polished backs of pews couldn’t figure out how to shuffle down the aisle at the right time one section lining up all the way to the door the other side forgetting to join them...

“Just as the nested reality of a game is constantly affected by the real of the players and the world external to it, so too are we lost in our own imaginary-symbolic reality in which we are constantly being affected and moved by the real beyond us while also being unable to fully symbolize it. Games, thus, give us a chance to straddle two realities, inviting us to do the same with our material lives.” Read more by Paul Hoard in“On Pleasure and Games” from our latest issue.
https://theotherjournal.com/2024/07/on-pleasure-and-games/

On Pleasure and Games - The Other Journal Over the past couple of decades, the board game industry has exploded. Game-related stores, cafes, bars, and conventions have been popping up all over the world, and the game industry produced about $18 billion in revenue for 2022, a number that is expected to steadily rise.[1] Although this growth....

What is The Other Journal? Our common commitment is to being a progressive, constructive, and charitable Christian voice that resources readers to love God, love neighbor, and invest in the hope that our world would be further characterized by justice and peace. Our next issue is focused on Money and will include writing in a variety of genres from essays to book reviews, poetry, interviews, and original art. Our goal is to provide readers with provocative and challenging, and nuanced Christian writing on social issues, politics, and theological ideas. Learn more about the journal:

https://theotherjournal.com/about/

“I can’t stop seeing Zebulon on the steeply, hearing his call singe the sky.
I can’t stop knowing my own ancestors enslaved him.”

Poet Nancy L. Meyer wrestles with the past and its consequences through imagination and historical record woven into this creative piece featured in Issue 37 on Church. Read the whole poem here: https://theotherjournal.com/2024/07/zebulon-on-the-steeple/