Mary Emily Wells

Submitted by Stephanie Wert ... on April 19, 2007 - 10:19pm.

Convener, Yale Divinity School

People often ask me what I’m going to do with degrees in Philosophy and Theology. For a while I tried to explain my academic focus on what I call the practice of imagination—theological, ethical, and literary—and how imagination shapes faith formation and public life. But that’s too much for most conversations, so for now I’ve taken to a two word answer: “Cause trouble.” For some reason it seems to make people itch.

Causing trouble is at the heart of the Christian mission because it is at the heart of what God is doing in the world. Not trouble for trouble’s sake, but trouble for the sake of transformation. The Beatitudes Society at Yale Divinity School engages this kind of transformative trouble. We gather as struggling disciples to challenge and bless one another in a way of life that “troubles the waters” in classrooms, in parishes, on the steps of the state capital, in the struggling neighborhoods of New Haven. We partner with other social justice and peace groups on campus, but the Beatitudes community is our refuge, the people to whom we return to reflect on the difficult and risky work of living an upside-down life in a right-side-up world.

For me, the days following Good Friday exemplify this mission. On Good Friday, I participated in an act of civil disobedience at Groton nuclear submarine base and was arrested. Our group has a diversity of opinions about the good of this kind of witness, but they supported my discernment, my physical and personal needs, and we have since had the opportunity to reflect together about the experience.

It’s hard to say where “causing trouble” will take us exactly. It’s hard to say where following Jesus will lead. We’re in it together though, and that is why I am not afraid.

Strengthening the progressive Christian network for justice, compassion, & peace