Rev. Otis Moss III recently released his informative new book, Dancing in the Darkness: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times, which is a guide to uplift our spirits as we work for justice in these politically turbulent times.
Moss spoke with rolling out about his book and what inspired him to create it.
What inspired you to write this book?
I noticed over the years that people were attempting to … scratch a spiritual itch, whether it was using scrolling, clout chasing, or materialism, but they found out after they tried to use those resources that they ended up empty. One of the ways to deal with the itch or emptiness that we sometimes find in our lives is [by] merging two spiritual pillars – love and justice. [They] are central to our internal development, and to the transformation of our democracy. Love without justice is just sentimentality. Justice without love becomes brutality or legalism. When you merge the two, they walk down the aisle and get married and they have two children, one named transformation, and the other child named liberation. If we are going to be transformed and if we’re going to liberate this nation, we need love and justice working together.
When did you know that it was the right time to write this book?
It’s been probably the last few years we’ve seen the fraying of our democracy. After the election of Barack Obama, we then witnessed America take a completely different turn in electing someone who was completely opposite of him in terms of communication stature.
Americans have been fighting ever since the country was conceived, and have been fighting to figure out who it is. There have been some who have been fighting for the soul and then there have been others who have been fighting to hold on to a myth of what America used to be. That’s the fight right now. One group is wanting for the soul to flourish, meaning that each and every human being in this country has space to be able to grow and flourish. And another wants to go back to a mythic America, where people like yourself and myself, were considered to be just three-fifths of a human being, or we were segregated in portions of this country, because we were not considered to be valuable, except for our labor.
What is the key to spiritual wellness?
I believe that it’s important along with the typical things that people mention such as prayer. We have to learn how to pause, slow down, and also be silent. Pause, slow down, be silent, and spend time in spaces where we can witness the wonder of God … and be in spaces where people affirm us so that we can discern the call that God has on our lives.
