All Life, Embodied Faith, and the Decolonization of Spirit | Rev. Dr. Tomeka Jacobs

In this powerful and deeply moving conversation, Dr. Habib Boerger is joined by Rev. Dr. Tomeka Jacobs, theologian, former chaplain, and author of Ecocosmological Spirituality of Southern Queer Black Women: Remembering and Reconnecting Identity. Together, they explore spirituality beyond rigid categories—toward embodiment, wholeness, justice, and belonging.

Dr. Jacobs shares her spiritual journey from Baptist–Pentecostal roots to an expansive understanding of the Divine as All Life—a sacred, interconnected reality that transcends gender, doctrine, and religious boundaries. Drawing from chaplaincy, womanist and feminist theology, mysticism, ecology, and lived experience as a Southern queer Black woman, she reflects on deconstructing oppressive theology, reclaiming ancestral wisdom, and remembering the sacred goodness of the self.

This episode touches on:

• The difference between religion and spirituality

• Decolonizing the spirit and reclaiming embodied faith

• Queerness, race, gender, and divine belonging

• Mysticism, unitive love, and compassionate justice

• Spiritual practices rooted in nature, stillness, and everyday life

• Activism as love, presence, and communal liberation

This is a conversation for spiritual seekers, soulful misfits, and anyone who has ever asked: Does God love me as I am? Is my embodiment enough? Is there more?

Whether you call the Divine God, All Life, Mystery, Love, or are still searching for language, you are welcome here.

All Life, Embodied Faith & the Decolonization of Spirit Transcript