We’ve all heard the expression: God works in mysterious ways. It sounds a little cheesy, a little trite. But the conversation you’re about to hear is a result of exactly that mystery at work.

It was not a small amount of serendipity that saw guest host Eric Clayton talking with dr. timone davis at such a crossroads moment: the end of Black History month and the beginning of Lent. And as they delved deeper into their conversation, dr. davis’s own research interest—storytelling and the Black Catholic experience—served as an organic, helpful link between these two significant moments in time.

dr. davis is an assistant professor in the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago. She serves as treasurer of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium. And she runs PEACE centered WHOLENESS with her husband, where they blend clinical counseling with spiritual companioning.

An excerpt from timone's bio provides helpful insight into how her story is accessible to all: “timone davis is a cradle Catholic who was a “pewster” until she discovered that the uselessness of the Church was because she wasn’t giving anything of herself. After committing to do something, her life changed.”

Ultimately, this conversation led to an idea that might be termed "Ignatian storytelling": a reflective effort to put ourselves into stories to encounter God and one another, to heal, to reset power and privilege and ultimately to build bridges in the real world.