Maki Ashe Van Steenwyk
City: Minneapolis
State: MN
Languages: English
Personalized Affiliation: Christianity
Spiritual Spheres: Christianity, Interspiritual, Spiritual but Not Religious, Spiritual Independent
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Email: [email protected]
Phone: 6129616444
Website: http://www.propheticimagination.org
Focus Area: Creative Arts, Dreamworker, Ecospirituality/Nature-based, Education, Group Spiritual Direction, Homeless/Low Income, LGBTQIA+, Mindfulness/Meditation, Young Adults
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Profile: I come to the vocation of spiritual direction as an activist and mystic. And as a trans woman. I am particularly interested in the intersections of spiritual formation, social justice, and creativity. I bring with me a recognition that oppression stifles spirituality—that the dominant myths of our society (which are tied up in capitalist systems, white supremacy, patriarchy, heterosexism, etc) are barriers to liberation of our bodies and spirits. My experience helps me notice things that other spiritual directors may not understand or might miss. Other things about me: I am the Executive Director of the Center for Prophetic Imagination in Minneapolis, Minnesota. You can find out more about my approach to spiritual direction on our website. I am the author of of handful of books, including A Wolf at the Gate, unKingdom, and That Holy Anarchist. I've contributed to other books and have been published in magazines like Sojourners, Geez Magazine, JesusRadicals.com, Leadership Magazine, the Mennonite, and Mennonite World Review. My work has been featured in the Minneapolis Star Tribute, the Boston Globe, and on CNN.com. Most of that stuff tends to show my work under my old name, when I was doing intentional community work in the vein of the Catholic Worker. Educationally speaking, I have a B.S. in Ministry from the University of Northwestern, an M.Div. from Bethel Theological Seminary, and a graduate certificate in Spiritual Direction from the University of St. Catherine. I am currently currently working on my doctoral dissertation at United Theological Seminary, developing a socio-spiritual model of discernment. Most of my work exists at the intersection of spirituality and justice. Because of that, I consider my vocation deeply prophetic. Folks often assume a prophetic vocation is at odds with a pastoral one: that prophetic means angry and pastoral means tender. I believe this is fundamentally false. To me, a prophetic perspective is just a contemplative gaze turned outward. It is to see the nature of society, with its myths and systems. And to notice the way these systems and myths find their way into our imaginations, where they become the stories that we tell ourselves, the stories that imprison us. The compassion that makes me want to help the person in the seat across from me find complete liberation and freedom is the same compassion that delighted in seeing the third precinct burn after George Floyd's death. That last paragraph should give you a sense of what sort of spiritual director I am.
