Season 4, Episode 3: Vicki Marie & Shauna Kubossek

Send us Fan MailOn this episode we speak with Vicki Marie and Shauna Kubossek, two contributors to the Spring 2024 issue of The Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health, and Disability on Trauma and Resistance.About her poem, "To Know and To Grow," Vicki shares: I attended Catholic parochial school in the early 1950’s and was the only African American there for six years.  It took me years to dispel the idea that only white people were holy; that only white people were saints.  This wasn’t taught overtly but the messages I received were clear.  This work is about my struggle to believe that God loves me and an invitation for you to love those in your life that are considered outsiders.  Find the full text here: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cjtmhd/article/view/42980About her article, "“I Am Weary with Holding it In”: Fight, Flight and Freeze in Jeremiah’s Final Confession," Shauna shares: Over the years I have experienced the tendency of some Christian communities to ignore (at best) and demonize (at worst) those who experience dark nights of the soul. Rather than being embraced, these Dear Ones are told that they must have more faith, that their suffering is God’s will, or (heaven forbid) that they have brought this pain on themselves. I have also seen the church’s deep engagement in the lives of those experiencing trauma. I have heard preachers contend with the difficult parts of Christian scriptures and have seen Christians battle with how to live well while looking the suffering of the world directly in the eyes. This article is an attempt to participate in the latter efforts, to engage theology with and for those experiencing trauma, and to intentionally engage my own pain and the pain of others not only with generosity, humility and kindness, but with deep reflection on the sacred texts of my beloved tradition. I hope that this article contributes to a positive articulation of Christian theology which engages pain rather than overlooks it, one that takes experience and practice seriously, and rejects tradition when engagement with those who suffer requires it. Find the full text here: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cjtmhd/article/view/42976Follow us on Facebook and/or InstagramRead the Journal