In this week’s Religious Socialism blog post, we excerpt and link to the wonderful article by DSA and Religious Socialism Working Group activist Sarah Ngu on “The Spiritual Journey of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” published in full by Religion & Politics:

The (Standing Rock protests) experience left her with a sense that she was being prepared for something—but she didn’t know exactly what. “I remember leaving that camp and thinking, ‘Lord, just do with me what you will. Allow me to be a vessel.’”

Up until this point that morning, she had described her spiritual journey without any explicit reference to God or a particular religion. As she referenced the Lord, her words echoed many biblical verses involving vessels and Christian songs, such as “Lord Make Me a Vessel,” whose first line goes, “Use me Lord to do your will.” . . .

(T)he prioritization of commitments over plans is a key pillar in Ocasio-Cortez’s political theory of change. During the breakfast, she remarked that the real problem that befalls Washington, D.C., is not a lack of plans, but a lack of sufficient commitment to the poor, to working people, and so on. “When we have the commitment, we will make the plan together,” she said.

Read the entire article at Religion & Politics: https://religionandpolitics.org/2020/03/17/the-spiritual-journey-of-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/

Photo by NRKbeta, CCA BY-SA-2.0