Monica A. Coleman's Blog, page 9

ordinary saints

“It was a boy,” April says.

The woman cries in Jackson’s arms, as they mourn the knowledge that their unborn child has been detected with an incurable disease.

Before I can exhale, I start to sob. I bite my lip, but my body is shaking.

Why do I watch Grey’s Anatomy? It always makes me cry.

I hear April’s words again. “It was a boy.”

Inside my head, I hear my obstetrician’s question. “Do you want to know if it was a girl or a boy?”

It’s a week after the operation conducted to clear my uterus of the...

Failure or Adaptation?

New Wineskins

2014 contained many surprises and challenges for me. I blogged bit about them here and here. I wanted to write more. I wanted to share with my online community because you all are so often a source of encouragement and resonance for me. But I was mainly paralyzed by grief and disappointment. I did not accomplish many of the goals I set out for myself. I pared my life down to the most basic of needs: physical healing, care for my child (potty training, anyone?!) and family, meetin...

Lenten Reading Group

Lent is one of my favorite seasons in the traditional Christian calendar.In early Christian communities, new converts to Christianity were often baptized on Easter Day. Lent was the 40-day season before Easter when they learned more about their faith and faith communities.

Like many people, I have often thought of Lent as a time to give something up – like chocolate. The idea of sacrifice or giving something up helps us to let go of things that may stand between us and a closer relationship t...

Faith and Depression at Christianity 21 Phoenix #C21PHX

Monica A. Coleman #C21PHX

I had a great time speaking at Christianity 21 onJanuary 22, 2015. Christianity 21 discusses ways to live a better faith through 21 big ideas presented by 21 voices in 21 minutes each. It was an amazing experience where I talked about how Christianity does and does not address the experiences of those who live with depressive conditions. Many people were honored to hear their experiences – and the experiences of people they love – discussed in a church setting. For mo...

Hear me at Christianity 21

Christianity 21

I’m looking forward to speaking at Christianity 21 this weekend, January 22-24, 2015. You can hear me in the opening session on Thursday, January 22. We’ve been asked to speak about – in 21 minutes – what is the most pressing issue in Christianity today. I could tell you what I think, but then you might not come by and check it out! For more information about it all, click here.

Grief is not Depression …

Many writers say thatdepression is like grief, but deeper, longer, worse somehow. “Depression is grief out of proportion to circumstance,” says National Book Award winner, Andrew Solomon in Noonday Demon: an Atlas of Depression. I’ve always doubted that somehow. I think of grief as a response to loss. There is an identifiable cause. There are stages – thank you Elisabeth Kubler-Ross – even if they aren’t linear. There is something that causes sadness.

Don’t get me wrong. Grief sucks. Grief is...

What I Wish People Knew About Depression

My colleague Therese Borchard recently wrote this brilliant post on what she wishes people knew about depression. It’s great. i could not have said it better myself. Check it out:

I wish people knew that depression is complex, that it is a physiological condition with psychological and spiritual components, and therefore can’t be forced into any neat and tidy box, that healing needs to come from lots of kinds of sources and that every person’s recovery is different.

I wish people knew that depr...

Online Altar Rails

I continue to blog for the New Media Project where we help religious leaders become theologically savvy about technology. For the series on community formation and social media, I write about a recent loss, and turn to online communities for support.

Here is an excerpt:

Here, I’ve knelt for as long as I’ve needed—30 seconds to ten minutes—pouring my heart out before God. I can kneel and pray at home, but doing so at an altar rail reveals that I’m also pouring my heart out in front of and with m...

The Black Church and Sexual Assault

Ebony.com recently featured a series on Sexual Assault and African American communities organized by colleague and survivor, Lori Robinson. Lori has written an important book about surviving and healing from sexual assault. She conducted an interview with me where I talk about how black churches can best respond to sexual assault in the community.

Here is a sample of the questions I answer:

How well do black churches deal with sexual assault?

What’s different for black churches?

How are Black chu...

Interview with Dr. Wizdom Powell Hammond

This Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, I’m interviewing Wizdom Powell Hammond, Assistant Professor of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I met Wizdom Powell years ago at a conference. We quickly realized that we had several friends in common, and we starting chatting about work in the academy and community. As I’ve dared to share more about my health experiences, I’ve reveled in watching Wizdom’s star rise in her import...