Discover Advent in Everyday Moments: Joy

Discover Advent in Everyday Moments: Joy

In this video, we interact with some inspirational figures - Dr. Sharon Runge, Executive Director of Kenya Connect (USA), Reverend Henrietta Wiley, Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Towson, Maryland, and Markiesha E. Wilson, a human capital consultant. Dr. Runge speaks about the work her organization is doing in rural Kenya and her personal journey of embracing opportunities. Reverend Henrietta Wiley, shares her view on joy as a divine gift and expresses how her priesthood opened a 'floodgate of joy' for her. Finally, Markiesha E. Wilson emphasizes the role of faith in overcoming life's challenges, her experiences navigating the corporate world, and the journey of writing her book, 'In the Climb, Eight Audacious Actions to Overcome Life and Climb the Corporate Ladder with Joy.' Join us to learn from these women as they recount their experiences and share their insights.

00:15 Introduction to Dr. Sharon Runge and Kenya Connect

01:06 Personal Experiences and Impact of Kenya Connect

01:58 Cultural Exchange and Connection with Kenya

04:56 Introduction to Reverend Henrietta Wiley

05:42 Joy and Spirituality in Henrietta's Life

11:45 Introduction to Markiesha E. Wilson

12:57 Faith and Spirituality in Markiesha's Life

13:54 Markiesha's TED Talk Experience and Her Faith

15:27 Markiesha's Book and Final Thoughts

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Listening for Clues invites you into conversations that discover clues, rather than solutions to life’s problems. Join the journey with Jon Shematek and Lauren Welch, Episcopal deacons, as we explore whatever lies ahead. Check our website Listening for Clues.

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Episode Transcript

Jon (00:40):
Our special guest today is Dr.
Sharon Runge, who is the ExecutiveDirector of Kenya Connect (USA), a
nonprofit that's working in ruralKenya with the mission of enriching
and engaging students and teachers with21st century skills through an array of
programs at 63 partner government schools.

(01:04):
In this position, Sharon works withKenyan-led staff to develop partnerships,
raise funds, develop and expand programsand lead volunteer trips, which sounds
interesting to me right off the bat.
Yeah, I was gonna ask youwhat this has meant to you
personally, but you just answered

Sharon (01:21):
Yeah, yeah.
I, I mean, it's been it's beena, such a gift to me and, I'm so
grateful that Tim invited me togo to Kenya and that I said yes.
Sometimes when I reflect back onmy experience with Kenya Connect,
I think sometimes in our lifewe're offered opportunities and
sometimes we say no just because wethink it's too much of an obstacle.
Like, you know, will thekids be okay without me?

(01:44):
Mike's working full-time.
Will he manage, is this reallythe prudent thing to do?
And for some reason, myinner voice said, go.
And, my husband was incredibly supportiveand, and I went and, I never would've
guessed at that point that this iswhere I was gonna be and, and really
become, Maybe the most important lifework I I've done besides raising kids.

(02:05):
It's just been such adream for me personally.
When I've brought volunteersover, they feel like they're part
of, the Kenya Connect family.
I mean, when we go there we actuallyget Kamba names and Kamba is one
of the ethnic groups in Kenya.
And the first visit when ReverendRosemary and I were there, we went
to visit our partner school, . Andthere were 300 children there.

(02:28):
And.
We're being introduced and allthese children are, looking at us.
You know, sometimes when peoplefrom the US come, it's the first
time they've ever seen an American.
And so we're, we're standing infront of the school and James
Musyoko says to the children,well, what should their Kamba be?
And suddenly, , there was thismurmur with the children and

(02:49):
they were all like chatteringand suddenly a name comes forth.
And I was given the name.
Mutanu which means joyful.
I think the whole time I was inKenya, I never stopped smiling.
Every volunteer that's come over to,Kenya Connect gets a Kamba name, . It's
special to bestowed something like that.

. Jon (05:07):
today we have a special guest, the Reverend Henrietta Wiley.
Henrietta is Rector of TrinityEpiscopal Church in Towson, Maryland.
She is brilliant, which we all agree with.
Funny, meaning she hasa great sense of humor.
I hope that's what funny means here.

(05:28):
Also in your bio, Henrietta,you said you were fat.
Pink haired, which I do see.
Middle aged, you are a lesbianpriest with the world's best
spouse, whom we also love, Mary.
. . And two madcap cats who maymake an appearance at any

(05:49):
point during this presentation.
Having known you for a number of yearsand having literally experienced very
profound and deep Joy, particularlywhen we were in our cathedral years
at the Cathedral of the Incarnation,when we were at the altar together.
You you, to me, have alwaysbeen just wrapped in joy and

(06:15):
the personification of joy.
And I'm just wondering if you havea word to say to those of us like
me, not Lauren so much, but me, whotend to take myself so seriously.
And want to know what do youhave a secret about that?
How do we

Rhetta (06:29):
what, yeah.
All right, so this shocks me to hear,Jon, because as I recall, we needed to
be separated at the cathedral becausewe made each other laugh so much.
That's my memory.
Maybe I made that up.

Jon (06:44):
No, you're right.
You're right.

Rhetta (06:46):
That's true.
I remembered.
So, I consider joy to be a gift of theHoly Spirit, and and it is rooted to me
in a sense, an unshakable sense of God'slove, an unshakable sense of God's love.
And that As Kingsley said we have tolove people, but we get to love people.

(07:11):
And when we do it well, it's awesome.
It's so much fun.
It's so much fun.
And and so it springs from a sense ofbeing loved and from a sense of gratitude
a habit of gratitude maybe which iswhich may be a little bit trite at this

(07:32):
point, but when you realize how preciousand wonderful everything is around you,
even when things are pretty crummy,there's always something beautiful.
There's always someone who says goodmorning to you at the right time, but
most importantly, there is always Jesus.

(07:53):
It is much, much easierfor me to access that joy.
I would say it's also connected tomy vocation, my sense of vocation,
which is as some of you may know,I, I started out as an academic.

(08:15):
And my academic field ofstudy was the history and
literature of the Hebrew Bible.
And I loved that, and Icontinue to love that.
But I felt hobbled.
And what I mean by that is thatI was hopping around on one
leg, and I was missing a leg.
And I didn't know what itwas, and it was sacrament.
And once I started practicing mypriestly ministry, it opened a

(08:42):
floodgate of joy for me, becauseworship is so real and powerful for me.
Our forms, which can be stodgy, butdon't have to be our forms for me
are Exquisite channels of glory andlove and power and presence of God.

(09:12):
And so it makes it much easier forme to access joy, which I think
we all have the capacity for.
But remembering how loved we are,being grateful for that and allowing
ourselves the vulnerability.
Joy is a very vulnerableemotion, actually.

(09:33):
So allowing ourselves to bevulnerable enough to experience
joy is tremendously rewarding.

Jon (11:56):
today we have a very special guest with us, Markiesha E.
Wilson.
Markiesha is a human capital consultant,a leadership coach, An author and
an expert in change management.
In her bio that she provided for a TEDxtalk that she's given about forgiveness

(12:16):
as a powerful tool in the workplace,this is how she describes herself.
Being an authentic leader is difficult andespecially difficult if you are a woman.
Even more challenging ifyou are a woman of color.
She is a human capital professionalwith over 15 years of proven experience

(12:38):
in strategizing and partneringwith leadership teams to design
and empower dynamic workforces.
Markiesha is a leadership coach witha unique ability to ignite growth.
She is an expert level facilitator anddesigner of highly rated interactive

(13:01):
leadership and communicationscourses for adult learners in the
defense and financial industries.
So, you know, the other thing I'm kindof curious about, Markiesha, is you're
totally unashamed about your faith.
You talk about it in yourbook, you have quotations from
scriptures, you paraphrase.

(13:22):
You have an NIV according to Markiesha,something like that at the end of
it I know your faith has sustainedyou through so many difficult times.
How else has your life experienceor your faith as a Christian woman,
kind of informed your spiritual life?
Yeah,

Markiesha (13:42):
it, it is.
It is my, my Christian walkis my whole hope for tomorrow.
It's what gets me through.
It's my source of strength.
It is my blueprint for living.
It is my source of joy.
It is everything to me, right?

(14:05):
If I can just tell you one little thingabout the TED Talk, when there's a rule,
you can't bring up God in a TED Talk.
Wow.
And they said that is one of themany reasons why TED Talks don't
get published because you can doone and they don't publish them all.
I was, I felt blessed that they publishedmine, but you cannot mention God.

(14:28):
And at first I was like,I don't want to do it.
How am I going to not say God?
And I heard God say, listen,you gotta get the word out.
This is, these are ways to get theword out without getting the word out.
Right?
People will watch mineand then they'll find me.
And then they'll find what would sustainme through my childhood, through trauma,

(14:53):
through the death of two parents.
You'll find that it wasGod that enabled me to.
become successful when I shouldn't havebeen, when I graduated college early.
You'll find it was God that enabledme to be the only Black woman
in these spaces and be respectedand make it through disrespect.

(15:14):
You'll find that it was God ineverything that I have done.
So I took the opportunity to do theTED Talk to speak without saying
God, but He's everything to me.
I, you know, when he says Iam, he was talking Markiesha.
I am whatever Markiesha needs.
That was just for me, y'all.

Jon (15:38):
Thanks so much I do want to just kind of and I have it right here, Markiesha.
This is your book.
Oh, that looks familiar!
It looks familiar.
It's called, it's got a very longsubtitle, like most books have these days.
It's called, In the Climb, EightAudacious Actions to Overcome Life and

(15:59):
Climb the Corporate Ladder with Joy.
There's that joy message again