Seeds of Racial Healing

A Spiritual Journey Toward Healing and Justice for Christians of Color

You are born from a seed that cannot die.

In a world filled with discrimination, racially motivated violence, and miscarriages of justice, hope and joy can feel unattainable, and lies denying your personhood try to dim the truth that you are created in the image of God.

In Seeds of Racial Healing, counselor and spiritual director Sheila Wise Rowe offers you a season of rest and restoration. Her spiritually formative approach enables you to deepen your faith as you pursue healing from racial trauma, past and present.

Anchored in daily Scriptures, these fifty-two devotions help you become more aware of God every day, even as you confront interpersonal racism and systemic oppression. In each devotion, Rowe inspires readers to share your stories and reminds your weary soul that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

In these devotions, you'll find



- personal stories,

- prayer and encouragement,

- Scripture passages,

- questions for reflection, and

- actionable steps to help you pursue both healing and justice.

If you're a Christian of color looking for a an accessible, trauma-informed devotional, Seeds of Racial Healing will help you confront challenges, embrace your worth as a child of God, and sow seeds of healing and transformation, whether on your own or as part of a group. You'll find encouragement to employ rest, resilience, and the power of faith to nurture growth in yourself and your community.



Sheila Wise Rowe (Tufts University, Cambridge College, M.Ed.) is a truth-teller who writes about faith and emotional healing. She advocates for the dignity, rights, and healing of abuse and racial trauma survivors and offers training and support to them and also emerging and established leaders. Sheila has lived in the USA; Paris, France; and Johannesburg, South Africa. For over twenty-five years she's been a counselor, educator, writer, spiritual director, and speaker. She's a member of the Community Ethics Committee of Harvard Medical School, a resource for its teaching hospitals. Sheila is a member of Entrusted Women, Spiritual Directors of Color, and Redbud Writers Guild. Her book Healing Racial Trauma was awarded a 2020 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award, Christianity Today Book Award, and a Publishers Weekly starred review. Her other books include Young, Gifted, and Black; Healing Leadership Trauma (co-authored with her husband, Nicholas Rowe); and Seeds of Racial Healing.



Introduction

Part 1: The Sower and the Seeds, Days 1-10



1. Imperishable Seed



2. The Sower



3. Rooted in God



4. Seedbed



5. Seeds of Welcome



6. Crossroads



7. Seeds of Promises



8. Seeds of Trust



9. Seeds of Hope



10. Gathering Straw

Part 2: The Soil of Your Story, Days 11-21



11. The Condition of the Soil



12. Toxic Soil



13. The Footpath



14. Rocky Places



15. Among Thorns



16. Grains of Responsibility



17. The Root of Thoughts and Feelings



18. Pulling the Weeds of Shame



19. On Being



20. Sustenance



21. Seeds of Wounds and Wonder

Part 3: Weeds Among the Wheat, Days 22-32



22. Uncovered



23. Seeds of Safety



24. Wheat and Weeds



25. Germination



26. Seedlings



27. The Fruit of Surrender



28. Dormancy: Grief and Mourning



29. The Fruit of Forgiveness



30. Cultivating Justice and Repair



31. Seeded: Community



32. Seeds of Value

Part 4: Becoming Grown, Days 33-42



33. The Vine and the Fruit



34. Growing Perseverance



35. Pruning



36. Blossoming Peace



37. Deeply Rooted Rest



38. Seeds of Gratitude



39. Growing Humility



40. The Fruit of Truth



41. Bedrock



42. Waiting for the Harvest of Blessing

Part 5: Sow, Tend, and Harvest, Days 43-52



43. Planted for God's Glory



44. Mustard Seed Faith



45. Well-Watered Garden



46. Flourishing



47. Cultivating Good Fruit



48. Securing Pleasant Places



49. Fields of Abundance



50. Tending with Peace and Joy



51. Walking the Fields



52. Fruit That Lasts



Acknowledgments



Notes