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| ix Acknowledgments Delays occur and projects that are meant for completion linger, half developed in a folder on the desktop. This book was one such project. Jennifer Hammer and Peter Paris showed great patience, encouragement, and insightful suggestions for improving the project. Thank you for your encouragement and support. I must also thank the external readers for their careful review of this manuscript. What they suggested in terms of revision proved extremely helpful, and I am grateful for the time and energy they put into reviewing the initial manuscript. In addition, I would like to thank Despina Papazoglou Gimbel and Mary Sutherland for their hard work on preparing the manuscript for publication. Some time has passed since those days, but I remain grateful for the brilliant insights of Richard R. Niebhur and Margaret Miles. As a student in their classes, I first developed an interest in embodied religion and the significance of the arts for study of embodied religion. It has taken time for me to express that interest in the terms presented here, but what they taught me shadowed all my work. Conversations with James Cone also helped me to think through the purpose behind my theologizing, and I am grateful for his assistance. I would also like to thank Caroline Levander, Katie G. Cannon, Juan and Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Ramón Rentas, Benjamin Valentin, Eli Valentin, Ed Cox, and Alexander Byrd for their good humor and solid friendship. Since my arrival at Rice University as the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities, I have had the good fortune to work with excellent graduate students. They challenge me, encourage me, and in so many ways force me to sharpen my thought. Their deep passion for the study of African American religionisinspiringandkeepsmefocusedwhenthelesscompellingdemandsofaca demic life attempt to take center stage. To these students I dedicate this volume. InparticularImustsayawordofthankstoMargaritaSimonGuillory,oneofmy graduatestudents,whoprovidedathoughtfulandinsightfulreadofthisbook.In makinghersuggestedrevisions,Ibelievethebookhasbecomemoreprecise. ...

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