Writer Ellen Morris Prewitt Blog

American Racism

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 24, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 8 Comments on American Racism

If you think racism in America is a Southern problem, you are not paying attention. American racism has never been a Southern problem. Our federal government has always enforced racist norms. When Nat Turner rebelled, the federal government sent in the United States Navy to stop the uprising. Both the American Navy and Army were used to crush perhaps...

My Attachment to Things, So Embarrassing

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 10, 2023. Posted in General, LOVE. 10 Comments on My Attachment to Things, So Embarrassing

When Daddy Joe died—killed by a train in what the responding officer called as clean a t-bone as he’d ever seen—Mother said she stopped caring about things. Only people mattered. I always took this to mean that attachment to things was shallow. Yet. I love my new burnt sienna pillow cases in wrinkly linen. I love my 1950s TV trays I’m...

How Long Has It Been?

Written by novagiant on August 7, 2023. Posted in In the Name of Mississippi novel, Writing. 21 Comments on How Long Has It Been?

Oh, my goodness! It’s been forever since I’ve spoken with y’all. Okay, about a month but when was the last time I went a month without blogging? The long hiatus means I’ve got a lot to talk about. First—because I’m sitting in front of the window watching the weather arrive from Arkansas—we have re-established a presence...

The Howard Thurman Walk

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 4, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, GOD. 6 Comments on The Howard Thurman Walk

I started this July the 4th morning with a walk. A join virtual walk. My Contemplative Justice group yesterday decided to walk together wherever we were at eight o’clock this morning. We’ve been reading the work of the mystic Howard Thurman, whose original entry to God was leaning against the trunk of an oak. This morning, we would do...

Releasing Those We Love to God

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 2, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, GOD. 6 Comments on Releasing Those We Love to God

We read the “Abraham almost kills Isaac” story in church today, and I have thoughts. Mostly on what this Genesis story says about releasing those we love to God. Mother, her children, and God When my mother was a young widow, she had her children baptized. She had returned to her native Mississippi where she’d given birth...

What Makes You Come Alive?

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 24, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 4 Comments on What Makes You Come Alive?

It dawned on me (ha, ha—pun alert) sitting here staring out the window at the breaking morning light (what has happened to me? why am I waking up so early? who the hell knows): I have sorta/kinda become the family historian. How can I not admit this when I recently THREE times told to family members the story of the Mississippi ancestors, a story...

Mississippi on LGBTQ+ Rights

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 8, 2023. Posted in General. 6 Comments on Mississippi on LGBTQ+ Rights

I was standing in the line to the canteen on the City of New Orleans train. The news was still fresh: our armed services had lifted their “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Now official policy would allow LGBTQ+ folks to serve their country without lying about who they were. A sailor wearing his white uniform stood two people...

Death is a Comma

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 7, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, LOVE. 9 Comments on Death is a Comma

When you lose someone you love, it frightens you. Not just for the loss of them. Your grief opens up the possibility that you will lose everyone you love. But if everything is process, nothing is broken, and maybe nothing needs to be fixed. Rachel Naomi Remen We humans give tiers to love. Those that are more important, and even most important....

White Christian Fear of Racism

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 4, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, GOD, Racism to Reconciliation. 7 Comments on White Christian Fear of Racism

I’ve hit a conundrum I can’t understand. I’ve been Christian since the moment my mother hit her knees and, against every fiber in her being, gave up her motherly control over me to have me baptized as “God’s own forever.” As such, I know sin as separation of God. I also know the good news that repentance leads...

The Bishop Came to Our House

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 1, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, GOD, LOVE. 8 Comments on The Bishop Came to Our House

Yesterday, in church, the Bishop came to our house. She wore her gold hat and white robes. She carried a carved shepherd’s crook, because she is the shepherd of our souls here on earth. At her side stood a tiny woman called the Bishop’s chaplain, as if the Bishop gets to travel with her BFF spiritual friend always. The Bishop was...