Howard Thurman is Giving Me an Anchor of Hope This Week.
Dear friends,
How are you doing? A friend messaged me to check in today:
I must admit, I have all sorts of emotions. Trying not to delude myself from the gravity of what seems to lie ahead while racking my brains how to be an active support to those who need it most.
In the midst of it all, what's keeping me grounded is the legacy of our ancestors.
Because fearing for the well-being of the most vulnerable is nothing new. Our ancestors faced troubled times–and sometimes those troubled times transformed them into radiant mystics and prophets.
The one that’s standing out the most right now is Howard Thurman, after Lerita Coleman Brown’s mesmerizing class on him earlier this month. His teachings are serving as my anchors of hope this week. I offer them to you, in case you’re in need of an anchor, too.
1. Don’t let them enslave your mind
One of Thurman’s most profound teachings was about inner authority. If we allow others’ actions to disturb our peace, they have already won. Your mind is enslaved.
These are strong words coming from a Black man in the 1940s. As he wrote in Jesus and the Disinherited:
“Anyone who permits another to determine the quality of his inner life gives into the hands of the other the keys to his destiny. If a man knows precisely what he can do to you or what epithet he can hurl against you in order to make you lose your temper, your equilibrium, then he can always keep you under subjection. It is a man’s reaction to things that determines their ability to exercise power over him.”
In today’s world, it’s all too easy to let the news control our inner peace. Thurman’s reminder is clear: we must guard our inner lives. Who holds the power to throw you off balance? Who dictates how you feel?
Protecting our inner authority means choosing how we engage with the world. This doesn’t mean that we cannot have strong emotions–Thurman said some hate can be helpful, but too much can be toxic to the soul. So instead, we must maintain our agency and choose how we will respond.
If that sounds impossible, I recommend Viktor Frankl. If a person can maintain their inner freedom in a concentration camp, I have to believe it’s possible for all of us.
Who has control of your inner life?
2. Send Support with Your Life
We are all deeply connected. Nature makes this reality visible: one need only glance at the careful network of ecosystems to see how we impact each other.
My favorite image of our interconnectedness is the mycelial network that connects the trees of a forest. Trees send each other nutrients: those that cannot reach the sun or water can be sustained for years by the hidden network that undergirds them all. When a fellow tree faces fire, disease, or trauma, they are able to transmute sunlight and water into tangible help from long distances away.
This is how we are. In some hidden way, we are deeply intertwined. Thurman realized it at a young age:
We are all one lung. And together, we can transmute the air we breathe to support other parts of the body.
This unity is what makes prayer so powerful. By offering up your “yes” to life, we can support others in a real but mysterious way.
Whatever life is giving you right now–worry about the news, cooking dinner for your family, missing your family you used to cook for, the thousand little errands that make up our waking hours–offer your yes to carrying that. Be fully present to it. Offer your chopped onions and your dental filling as a prayer, like shamans of old, a sacrifice upon the altar of your life, trusting that the goodness and acceptance in your own heart is like that sunlight and water, transmuted into nutrients for others.
…And then, like Thurman, go talk to your favorite tree. :)
3. We are all children of God
Thurman insisted on the dignity of every human person. In the face of dehumanizing racism, he clung to the knowledge that he was a child of God.
Even more amazing was his insistence that the perpetrators of injustice are children of God as well.
How in the world do we do that? For me, it’s easier to tap into compassion: we know that hurt people hurt people. When others inflict harm, they are revealing to us their traumas. While this does not condone their actions, it helps me find love in my heart instead of only anger. They, too, are luminous children of God.
This kind of love, in Thurman’s view, is the most powerful force we can wield in the face of adversity.
4. What is yours to do?
Thurman was criticized by some in the Civil Rights Movement for not being on the front lines with them. He simply replied, “I know what my role is!”
A movement requires many roles. Just as a body has many parts. In the Civil Rights Movement, there were leaders and marchers, but there were also cooks, hosts for the marchers, poster-makers, and spiritual advisors like Thurman.
Each of us is called to restore God’s Beloved Creation. This will look different for each person on the planet. What is yours to do?
As we face the uncertainty ahead, remember that we are together in this. We are not alone. There is a hidden fabric that holds us all together. And our ancestors, who have lived through injustice and turmoil, give us examples for how to offer a “yes” to the unique calling laid in front of us.
If you’re feeling uncertain or disconnected, we invite you to join us in walking with 12 of these ancestors this year. You’ll meet Mystics & Prophets like Mother Maria Skobtsova, who found unconventional ways of resisting fascism (like hiding Jewish children in trash cans to escape the Nazi raids!). Or Charles de Foucauld, who fought colonialism and the enslavement of indigenous people through his quiet life as a hermit.
These mystics didn’t just witness the world’s suffering—they responded with a love so boundless, it created ripples of healing that inspire us today.
If you’re ready to deepen your connection to the divine and find your path in these uncertain times, I’d love for you to join us.
Kelly Deutsch specializes in audacity. Big dreams, fierce desires, restless hearts. When seekers are hungry for unspeakably more, she offers the space to explore contemplative depths and figure out where they fit in the vast spiritual landscape. She speaks and writes about divine intimacy, emotional intelligence, John of the Cross, trauma-informed spiritual practice, and neuropsychology. Kelly offers spiritual direction, coaching, contemplative cohorts, and retreats. She is the bestselling author of Spiritual Wanderlust: The Field Guide to Deep Desire. When she isn’t exploring the interior life, you might find her wandering under Oregonian skies or devouring red curry.
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