Dancing in the Darkness, Otis Moss, III
Dancing in the Darkness, Otis Moss, III
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Dancing in the Darkness
Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times

Author: Otis Moss, III, Michael Eric Dyson, Greg Lichtenberg

Narrator: Otis Moss, III

Unabridged: 5 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/03/2023


Synopsis

A “deeply spiritual and socially radical” (Dr. Obery Hendricks, PhD) guide to uplift our spirits as we work for justice in these politically turbulent times—from Reverend Otis Moss, III, Senior Pastor at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ and one of the country’s most renowned and beloved spiritual and civil rights leaders.

Once again, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first observed in the 1960s, it is midnight in America—a dark time of division and anxiety, with threats of violence looming in the shadows. In 2008, the Trinity United Church in Chicago received threats when one of its parishioners, Senator Barack Obama, ran for president. “We’re going to kill you” rang in Reverend Otis Moss’s ears when he suddenly heard a noise in the middle of the night. He grabbed a baseball bat to confront the intruder in his home. When he opened the door to his daughter’s room, he found that the source of the noise was his own little girl, dancing. She was simply practicing for her ballet recital.

At that moment, Pastor Moss saw that the real intruder was within him. Caught in a cycle of worry and anger, he had allowed the darkness inside. But seeing his daughter evoked Pslam 30: “You have turned my mourning into dancing.” He set out to write the sermon that became this inspiring and transformative book.

Dancing in the Darkness is a “life-affirming” (Dr. Teresa L. Fry Brown) guide to the practical, political, and spiritual challenges of our day. Drawing on the teachings of Dr. King, Howard Thurman, sacred scripture, southern wisdom, global spiritual traditions, Black culture, and his own personal experiences, Dr. Moss instructs you on how to practice spiritual resistance by combining justice and love. This collection helps us tap into the spiritual reserves we all possess but too often overlook, so we can slay our personal demons, confront our civic challenges, and reach our highest goals.

About Otis Moss, III

Otis Moss III built his ministry on community empowerment and social justice activism. As senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Moss spent the last two decades practicing and preaching a Black theology that unapologetically calls attention to the problem of mass incarceration, environmental justice, and economic apartheid. Hailed as one of the “twelve most of effective preachers in the English-speaking world” by Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, he has been cited by Chicago Magazine as one of the city’s thirty most influential people. He is an NAACP Image Award recipient, award-winning filmmaker, poet, and professor of homiletics at Mercer University McAfee School of Theology. He is married to Monica Brown, and they are the proud parents of two children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Daniel on July 03, 2023

I first heard of this book on one of my favorite podcasts, Pass the Mic, and I am glad I decided to pick this up. This book is encouraging, inspiring, insightful, powerful. The story from which the book takes its title is especially poignant. I want to read, listen, (and watch!) more by Dr. Moss.......more

Goodreads review by Elle on January 11, 2023

This book is one that is perfect for starting the year or restarting the year. In these trying times, this book is the balm that we all need. The book nicely frames a hopeful perspective from lived experience and through the lens of civil rights and social justice. For anyone who reads the news, fol......more

Goodreads review by Sharon on January 09, 2023

When an amazing book it was really interesting and very light alignment to a lot of stuff going on in the black world. Otis Had a lot of great ideas and I love how How he was raising his children. Give me a lot of good points too like look at every situation And analyze them and see how the outcome......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on April 13, 2023

This book offered helpful insights for confronting and overcoming obstacles in our lives through love and compassion as well as some facts about Black history in the United States that I didn't know before.......more

Goodreads review by Sara on April 12, 2024

Very much in the tradition of MLK, a work from a leader in the Black Church that brings pop culture, current challenges, and personal stories together with theology and deep spiritual grounding.......more