Contemplative Agitator: Tracing the Contours of Pauli Murray’s Black Contemplative Homiletic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15695/hmltc.v49i2.5659Abstract
This article explores the preaching of Pauli Murray (1910–1985), an American poet, activist, attorney, professor, and Episcopal priest. Though aptly described as a renaissance person, Murray’s fundamental vocation was that of bridge builder and preaching was instrumental to this work. Preaching became a means of reframing the tensions and exigencies of the empirical world, allowing them to be examined through a numinous lens. After describing the appeal of contemplative preaching and charting key aspects of Murray’s preacherly formation, I discuss three important hallmarks of Murray’s homiletic. These include: (1) maintaining a posture of wonder and irresolution when exploring human identity, (2) weaving intercessions for the listeners into sermons, and (3) invoking the wisdom of saints and Ancestors.
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