Contemplating Now

Episode 12: The fierce call of love  | A conversation with Jacqui Lewis

"Is there a loving way to call people in, not out?"

 “Love is the call on our lives, and it’s a fierce call, a fierce love, and I believe that if we could speak more about that, we could build a revolution that included people of faith and people of no faith.”

Jacqui Lewis—author, activist, and public theologian—is the first female and first Black senior minister to serve in the progressive Collegiate Church, which dates to 1628. A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, Lewis and her activist work have been featured by the TODAY Show, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post, among many others.  

I talked to Dr. Lewis about the role of contemplation in everyday life, the ways mysticism shows up in unexpected places, what it means to slow down, love’s role in changing the world, and the power of story.

“No matter what your faith is," she said, "can we talk about love as the ground of our being?”