Sacred Words: Writing as a Healing Practice

Facilitated by Debie Thomas

Theologian and priest Henri Nouwen described writing as a “true spiritual discipline” that can help redeem experiences of pain, hardship, and suffering.  Through writing, we can reflect on difficult experiences, clarify our thoughts and questions, integrate our emotions, and offer up our words and stories to God, who is the Living and Loving Word.

In this workshop, we will consider what it means to write as a practice of healing.  Guided by free-writing exercises and prompts; meditations on scripture, nature, and visual art; and collaborative conversation, we will practice shaping our experiences into writing that draws us closer to what is real and sacred.  We will explore how spiritual writing can help foster resilience and wholeness in a chaotic world.  At the conclusion of our time together, attendees who wish to share a brief piece of their writing will be welcome to do so during an informal “open mic” reading.  No previous writing experience is necessary.

Fee: $45, includes light breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

Part of the Wisdom School 2026-27 season

Debie Thomas is the author of A Faith of Many Rooms: Inhabiting a More Spacious Christianity, and Into the Mess and Other Jesus Stories: Reflections on the Life of Christ. She’s also a columnist and contributing editor for The Christian Century.  From 2014 to 2022, Debie worked as a staff writer for Journey with Jesus: A Weekly Webzine for the Global Church, and from 2014 to 2024, she served as a lay minister for formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, CA. Debie studied English Literature at Wellesley College and Brown University, and earned an MFA in Creative Writing at The Ohio State University. She was ordained an Episcopal priest in June 2026 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.

Debie was born in Kerala, South India, and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. Like many children of immigrants, she grew up juggling a complicated and often confusing mix of identities: South Asian, New England suburban, evangelical, and feminist. She writes: “In the murky “in-betweenness” of those identities, I learned that life is far more varied and messy than it is neat or certain, and that faith is not about finding once-and-for-all answers, but about delving deeper and deeper into mystery. I was a preacher’s kid and a church nerd, but also the annoying little brat who asked all the “wrong” questions about God, faith, doubt, life, and the Bible. I started writing as soon as I learned to read and spell. I was lucky to have a mom who introduced me early to the treasures of language and literature, and writing soon became my way of processing my world. Whenever I felt awed, bewildered, frightened, or joyful, I turned to pen and paper for refuge and grounding, and found that the “Word made flesh” is closer and more loving than I can ever imagine. I write about faith because faith is both hard and life-giving, both beautiful and bizarre. I write because I don’t know, and because God somehow meets me in that unknowing.  I find solace in wrestling and seeking blessing on the page, and I hope that my journey gives others permission to wrestle, too.”