Best Practices

We're grateful to welcome Richard Silversmith as a new Do Justice columnist! 

Perhaps you have heard about the disturbance and engagement between Omaha Native American elder Nathan Phillips and Covington High School student Nick Sandmann on the major news outlets and social media, January 19, 2019.  

But when the time came for her to leave the community, she didn’t want to leave. Not only did she not want to deliver alone far from her community, but she also had 5 young children that she didn’t want to leave behind. I remember the daily stress of worrying that she would deliver the babies before leaving the community.

I’m an artist and I love painting narrative-laden surreal landscapes.

The image of the sperm whale is a recurring motif in my artwork. Its mysterious qualities and daily practices fascinate me. Its survival is dependant on holding its breath and diving very deep, almost three thousand feet below the ocean's surface, to wrestle the giant squid: its sustenance.

I am the pastor of a church that has a lot of people involved in each Sunday morning service. We have a Bible reader, a liturgist, a music leader, an elder, a deacon, and a congregational prayer pray-er each and every single Sunday.

It’s quite the cacophony of voices behind the pulpit each week.

It’s quite the team. It’s quite the cacophony of voices behind the pulpit each week, and I love it. Each Sunday morning before the service we meet to make sure everyone is present and ready. And they always are. Because it’s a good team.

I currently live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the traditional home of the Anishinabe people for thousands of years. I am the daughter of colonizers and settlers, a white, American-born woman on this land. I’m not a first generation settler, but I’m a settler all the same.

Have you ever had the experience of reading something and suddenly all kinds of connections start going off in your head? I had that experience a few years ago when I first read about the Dish with One Spoon Wampum, the covenant that held together the Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes before settlers appeared. This wampum seemed to echo and affirm material that I had been teaching on creation. I would like to explore the parallels and their implications briefly with you.

It’s the beginning of a new school year. I work at a higher education institution, so this time of year means interactions aplenty with parents of new college students, as well as new students themselves.

Strolling along the seaside town of Sai Kung, Hong Kong recently, I had a significant conversation with two of my wife’s cousins, both in their early 30’s. I have been visiting Hong Kong with Yee Lam since the handover of the colony from British control back to China in 1997, visiting with these girls since they were young. We used to visit every two years, but four years have gone by since we last were in Hong Kong. We were talking about how much has changed in both our countries, and our hearts, since we had last talked face to face.

In Hong Kong, two things are very valuable. One is space. There isn’t much of it. Hong Kong has one of the highest population densities on the planet. The Mong Kok neighborhood where we have been staying in Hong Kong has approximately 130,000 people per square kilometre. That is a lot of people.

When I signed up to attend Calvin College's Festival of Faith & Writing, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was hoping for some inspiration, some words of encouragement, some insightful tips to perhaps get me through my ongoing battles with writer’s block.

Instead I left convicted and with rearranged priorities. And I’m thankful for it.