The Cosmic We Podcast
Emptying Ourselves Into Fullness with Gigi Ross
Introduction
On this week’s episode, Dr. Barbara and Dr. Donny has a conversation with the Center for Action and Contemplation’s Living School manager and spiritual director Gigi Ross (whose bio is at the bottom of this page) about ways to embody contemplation when our paths of discovery and growth make unexpected shifts.
Housing Insecurity
Ross shares a challenging part of her journey that has been part of the story for many Black women - homelessness. As Ross describes her housing insecurity, she was not someone you passed on the street who begged for change, but she was someone whose housing was not stable for several years. Interestingly, Dr. Barbara Holmes shared her own time of housing and financial precarity.
The Ethics of Making Room
As more and more Black women are pushed to the outer periphery of religious academics and religious leadership, being focused on their "call" might very well mean living with these challenges. Ross, like many, came through to a more stable life. But, the years of precarity cause "weathering" for a lot of Black women.
Kenotic Love - and Self Requirement
Further, it means they have less access to funding when time to retire. Ross describes this part of her journey as a form of "kenotic love." The term kenosis refers to Jesus' self-emptying out. In the same way that Jesus is said to have emptied himself of his divine power and glory, so also many Black women empty out their own sense of divine power by leaning in to this material ambiguity. In the same way that Jesus should not have literally died to demonstrate love, so also Black women should not have to die or become worn down through emptying out of ourselves.
The Heart of the Struggle
At the heart of this struggle, we must wrestle with the material conditions that often force Black women to endure this ambiguity. When we are overlooked for job interviews, fellowships, and are not given support to advance our research agendas, then how else can we survive? Even when we pursue our calling while homeless, academics among us will find it challenging to complete book proposals, submit articles accepted for publication, and to follow through with requests for speaking. It is not merely the disruption to our routines - it is the internal weathering, the wearing down of our inner resources that takes a toll.
Strategies for Support
These are questions which are challenging - not easy to resolve. When asked how she survived, Ross indicated she was embraced by community. Survival is more likely when the scholar and her community work together to ensure her safety and security.
Strategies to provide safety and support from individuals include: 1) financial and housing support such as "work for duty" options (popular in the UK) where pastors can work in exchange for their basic needs; 2) listen to those vulnerable women who are independent scholars in your midst - find out if you can provide inexpensive housing, or housing in exchange for assistance with something.
Institutions of higher learning including research institutes, fellowships, and schools within universities must begin to invest in overlooked scholars by creating a cohort of independent scholars who are brought in for at least a basic wage and supported for a minimum of two years. Less than this puts scholars in the position of choosing whether to complete their writing or look for the next paid post.
Ross also employed strategies of her own including housesitting and caring for those who are elder/dying in exchange for housing. Some have a spouse or family member upon whom they can rely while fighting to submit dossiers, research proposals and meet other requirements. Many do not. While her analysis of kenotic love is a helpful one, it should not absolve us of the responsibility of caring for those scholars who literally put their lives on the line to contribute to religious scholarship. Listen below, and let us know your thoughts!
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