Br. Keith Nelson, SSJE
Keith Nelson, SSJE grew up first in New Jersey, then in Alabama. He studied at Kenyon College and Harvard Divinity School. Prior to his arrival at SSJE in 2014, he worked in secondary and adult education, as well as in church administration. He was life professed in 2019, and has served the community as Assistant Superior, Novice Guardian, and director of the Monastic Internship Program. He enjoys drawing and painting, journaling, hiking, spending time with trees, and foraging (a new hobby!).
Learn more about Br. Keith's Catch the Life journey to monastic life >
Selection of Br. Keith's teachings from "Brother, Give Us a Word"
Family
Jesus loved and obeyed his earthly parents. But he also understood God to be his ultimate Father. Similarly, we can strive to love our families as wholeheartedly as we are able, while patiently trusting that “God is doing more” for each of them “than we can ask or imagine.” We can accept that we cannot…
Read MoreServe
The gift of love is often the most valuable gift in any act of service. Each time we feel more empowered, more dignified, or more understood in our encounter with another person, part of our humanity is restored. To offer loving service is to participate in the divinization of humankind, the manifestation in our lived…
Read MoreSelection of Br. Keith's writing
“It is quite easy to heap up empty phrases. In such moments, what hope do we have? For me, it is the Lord’s Prayer.”
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“It is humbling to know and feel that we belong: that the threads of our being are woven into a fabric so much bigger than we can comprehend, and all for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.”
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“What if the awakening of our conscience to profound new layers of the world’s pain is a sign – not of God’s absence, but of the Spirit of God excavating strata of our personhood and our collective attention that we are now called to engage? And what if the path of grief thus sensed could become a sober and conscious choice – claimed and lived, come what may, as the cost of our full becoming?”
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