Looking for God’s Transformation in All the Right Places
By Rev. Arionne Yvette Williams, Contributing Writer
Have you not known? Have you noticed the move of God lately? Have you witnessed all the amazing ways that God is showing up all over and in the most unexpected of places? I have watched quietly for the past few years and I’ve seen what can only be God’s spirit moving through and motivating people to create those open, honest, and unconventional spaces of healing, growth, and restoration that are so desperately needed in our world. In the church, we often think of our four walls—and especially our worship on Sundays—as the center of such vital, life-giving activity. Indeed, it is that but God’s power has never been limited to our sacred gathering places (physical). Rather, it always manifests in the hearts of those people who desire to be willing vessels and agents of change, the real salt all over the earth.
Just like God was willing to meet our enslaved ancestors secretly in the hush harbors of the South, and the Holy Spirit came through and regularly wrecked (in a good way) the meetings of the Invisible Institution to sustain, empower, and ultimately liberate our people, God still finds God’s way inside and outside of the institutional church, working to heal, deliver, and set free all who are yearning for transformation.
One instance of these God-sightings in unlikely places is the healing and truth-talking taking place with Jada Pinkett-Smith; her daughter, Willow Smith; and her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris. They came out swinging last year when they launched their Red Table Talk (RTT) series on Facebook. Initially released as a special Mother’s Day video back in 2012 (around Willow’s “Whip My Hair” days), RTT was always about bringing people together to speak their truths and tell their stories as a way of healing their wounds. Deemed a communal space where accountability, listening, and vulnerability were core values and practices, on the show, the red table has become a symbol of transformation and honesty where real healing can and does happen.
Since relaunching as a fully fleshed out Facebook series last year, the three generations of women serve as co-hosts, guiding their guests through courageous truth-telling and dialogue as they explore extremely touchy subjects, all the taboo topics that we so often avoid in our families and communities. They have tackled blended families, abuse, addiction, sexual identity, heartbreak, marriage, racism, sexism, intimacy, and forgiveness, just to name a few. These women have, metaphorically, put it all on the table. Yet, the most powerful part is the way they are inspiring their audiences to do the same.
When we encounter people at work, church, or wherever, we often have no idea the pain they are carrying. It can be easy to overlook some of the signs that people are struggling emotionally. The RTT example shows us how valuable it is to tell our stories and to listen to each other and it also models, so beautifully, what can happen when we do just that. We can mend relationships, get clarity, let go of pain, forgive, grow, and heal. What if we took a cue from Jada and learned how to create honest, healthy dialogue around our own figurative red tables and gave people the tools to experience the transformation God so deeply desires to cultivate in us all?
Another instance of these God-sightings is in the marriage between Beyoncé and Jay-Z. In summing up her experience at last summer’s On the Run Tour II, one Facebook commenter very rightly said, “This is a marriage conference set to music.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. The tour was the culmination of years of soul-searching and creative work for the two artists as they fought to save and rebuild their marriage and then decided to tell that heart-wrenching story in their music.
First was Beyoncé’s Lemonadein 2016, followed by Jay-Z’s 4:44the next year, and ultimately their joint album, Everything Is Love, in 2018. Lemonade, both an album and film, beautifully explored the levels and layers of emotional turmoil that Beyoncé experienced in the wake of her husband’s infidelity by situating Black women’s journeys—in all their beauty, pain, failure, and glory—at the center of the storytelling. 4:44(and its accompanying documentary-style short films and related promo) took a confessional tone, giving Jay-Z and several other Black male celebrities a chance (like never before) to talk through their darkest moments, pains, and insecurities, but most importantly their epiphanies, breakthroughs, and moments of growth and overcoming.
Separately, the projects were powerfully reflective of what is possible when someone decides to do the important internal work necessary to heal their broken places and choose to fight for the life they want. Together, and put to incredible music and shaped into high-energy live performances, they make a powerful push for the value of marriage, commitment, family, and forgiveness. Moreover, the live show and joint album unveiled a blueprint for reconciliation and rebuilding after the worst kind of storms, pointing to God and spirituality as the centerpiece and driving force in that new-life-giving transformation.
In my view, these God-sightings are causes for celebration and gratitude, rooted—not in fandom or celebrity-obsessing—in people using their stories and platforms in ways that foster healing, making others hopeful of securing their own. Though these particular examples are big ones, backed by billion-dollar budgets and big names, we don’t need any of that to allow God to guide us in doing the same. Whatever the size of our platform, we too are called to be vessels for transformation. Luke 4:18a says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon” us. How can we align with the move of the Spirit? What tables can we build and what lemonade can we pour that yields change and healing for those we are called to serve?
The Rev. Arionne Yvette Williams is an ordained elder in the AME Zion Church and the author of Love Like I’ve Never Been Hurt: How To Heal From Heartbreak. She currently serves as an associate chaplain at the University of Indianapolis. You can connect with her at ArionneYvette.com and on all social media platforms @msarionneyvette.
