{"id":14595,"date":"2023-03-13T07:30:02","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T12:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?p=14595"},"modified":"2023-03-08T17:31:41","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T22:31:41","slug":"wise-women-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Wise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E."},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, Helen Blier shared the origin story of the Seminary’s Wise Women’s Work continuing education series. This week, Jen Rooney\u2014a participant from the very beginning\u2014shares what Wise Women has meant to her.<\/em><\/h4>\n

Hope is the word that readily comes to mind as I reflect upon being a member of the Wise Women community. For the past three years, we have met virtually once a month from October to April. Women from across the country and internationally have come together to hold space for one another, to listen, learn, grow, connect, and transform. The remarkable diversity of topics\u2014from “Fierce Love” to “Playing with Dirt” to “Breath Prayer”\u2014have each contributed meaning, added value, and nourished our community. Yet regardless of the topic, HOPE is the constant thread that weaves our beautiful tapestry of Wise Women.<\/p>\n

As we have all witnessed and experienced, the last three years have brought chaos, challenges, grief, calamities, and change. Yet amid these circumstances, we have cultivated a community of H.O.P.E. I see hope in a participant\u2019s smile. I hear hope in the passion of a presenter\u2019s words. Hope swells in my heart as I read a woman\u2019s reflection in the virtual chat. In our gatherings, hope is ever present and alive!<\/p>\n

Four key pillars constitute our community of H.O.P.E.:<\/h2>\n

Heart\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

This is the foundational core of our Wise Women community. Even though we come from diverse backgrounds, cultures, ages, and life stages, we connect and unite through love. As a community of hope, we have one heartbeat. Our collective heart beats with love\u2014love for God, ourselves, each other, our neighbors, and the world. As the Rev. Fred Rogers, beloved alumnus of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cEach one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That\u2019s one of the things that connects us as neighbors\u2014in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My heart expands with love as my gifts are graciously accepted by our community, and my heart is filled with HOPE as I receive blessings from my fellow Wise Women.<\/p>\n

Openness<\/h3>\n

We have created a sacred virtual space and a culture built upon mutual respect and openness. When we come together, our eyes, ears, minds, hearts, and hands open. This allows our souls to open and be receptive. From this openness, something beautiful occurs: We are real with ourselves and with each other. As the Skin Horse so wisely shared in The Velveteen Rabbit<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don\u2019t matter at all, because once you are Real you can\u2019t be ugly except to people who don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I give thanks and celebrate that our Wise Women community understands and appreciates me for who I am. This blessing fills me with HOPE!<\/p>\n

Perseverance<\/h3>\n

Our community provides the strength, courage, and fortitude to persevere. I know that I am not journeying alone in my faith walk and my daily work. I am standing upon the shoulders of the women who came before me. As a community, we persevere for our fore-sisters, for ourselves, and for future generations. Our gatherings provide the nourishment for perseverance so that we can continue to journey forward with love and HOPE.<\/p>\n

Energy<\/h3>\n

Spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical energy is the fuel in our gas tanks that help us persevere. While I may arrive at our virtual gatherings with low energy after an exhausting day, I always leave infused with energy. Wise Women renews, refocuses, and refreshes me. My gas tank is filled! I am ready to continue on in my journey and share this renewed energy and HOPE with others.<\/p>\n

As the third year of Wise Women concludes, I offer you this blessing:<\/h2>\n

May your Heart<\/strong> be nourished,<\/p>\n

may your Openness<\/strong> allow you to be real,<\/p>\n

may your Perseverance<\/strong> strengthen you and provide courage,<\/p>\n

may your Energy<\/strong> be renewed,<\/p>\n

as you continue to journey forward with Love and H.O.P.E<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jen Rooney, M.A., is a professional development consultant and founder of C2 = Creative Consulting.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read last week’s post on the origins of Wise Women’s Work<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, Helen Blier shared the origin story of the Seminary’s Wise Women’s Work continuing education series. This week, Jen Rooney\u2014a participant from the very beginning\u2014shares what Wise Women has meant to her. Hope is the word that readily comes to mind as I reflect upon being a member of the Wise Women community. For…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[393],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-14595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seminary-and-programs"],"yoast_head":"\r\nWise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E. - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jen Rooney reflects on how participating in the Wise Women community gave her HOPE in the midst of the pandemic.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E. - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jen Rooney reflects on how participating in the Wise Women community gave her HOPE in the midst of the pandemic.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-13T12:30:02+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772-1024x844.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"844\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ptsblog\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ptsblog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ptsblog\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f\"},\"headline\":\"Wise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E.\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-13T12:30:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":733,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Seminary and Programs\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Wise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E. - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-13T12:30:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f\"},\"description\":\"Jen Rooney reflects on how participating in the Wise Women community gave her HOPE in the midst of the pandemic.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772.jpg\",\"width\":1715,\"height\":1413},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/wise-women-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\",\"description\":\"Grounded in Faith, Formed in Community\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f\",\"name\":\"ptsblog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ptsblog\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pts.edu\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/ptsblog\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E. - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","description":"Jen Rooney reflects on how participating in the Wise Women community gave her HOPE in the midst of the pandemic.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E. - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","og_description":"Jen Rooney reflects on how participating in the Wise Women community gave her HOPE in the midst of the pandemic.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/","og_site_name":"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","article_published_time":"2023-03-13T12:30:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":844,"url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772-1024x844.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ptsblog","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ptsblog","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/"},"author":{"name":"ptsblog","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f"},"headline":"Wise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E.","datePublished":"2023-03-13T12:30:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/"},"wordCount":733,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772.jpg","articleSection":["Seminary and Programs"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/","name":"Wise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E. - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772.jpg","datePublished":"2023-03-13T12:30:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f"},"description":"Jen Rooney reflects on how participating in the Wise Women community gave her HOPE in the midst of the pandemic.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772.jpg","width":1715,"height":1413},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wise-women-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wise Women: A Community of H.O.P.E."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/","name":"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","description":"Grounded in Faith, Formed in Community","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f","name":"ptsblog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ptsblog"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/author\/ptsblog\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Jen-Funny-photo-e1677780393772.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4MvlM-3Np","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14595"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14659,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14595\/revisions\/14659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14595"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=14595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}