09/29/2026
"We already have liturgies in everyday life," Polaris leader Ray'Chel Wilson writes, "the way we begin our mornings, the messages we repeat to ourselves when we are stressed, the routines we follow when money feels tight, and even the habits we turn to when we are overwhelmed. Some of those patterns help us move forward. Others can keep us stuck in fear, shame, avoidance, or scarcity."
Ray'Chel's research in financial trauma and financial spiritual care addresses the stories we carry and repeat to ourselves about money. She'll be sharing her work at the upcoming Faith and Flourishing Conference next month.
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A co-founder of the fintech platform ForOurLastNames, Ray'Chel uses micro-liturgies to describe "short, repeatable practices that help people pause, reflect, and take one meaningful next step" as a tool to confront the negative messages we often repeat to ourselves.
"Many of us have learned messages such as, 'I am bad with money,' 'I will never have enough,' 'Looking at my bank account will make things worse,' or 'My worth depends on what I earn,'" Ray'Chel says. "These messages can shape whether we open the bill, ask for help, build a budget, apply for resources, save what we can, or avoid money altogether."
Ray'Chel says that the "ForOurLastNames' trauma-aware micro-liturgies... create a gentler path forward." The micro-liturgies ("Money Mindset Meditations" in the app, currently in development) help users find grounding in just a few minutes, allowing space for reflection and the ability to take steps toward financial wellness.
"These practices do not pretend that meditation alone can solve debt, job loss, rising costs, systemic inequality, or financial hardship. Instead, they create a moment of care before action: a way to move from overwhelm toward clarity, from shame toward dignity, and from avoidance toward one manageable step. Over time, those small practices can help people build greater stability, agency, and generational abundance."
Read more about Ray'Chel's work in the Polaris Substack blog: https://substack.com//p-216341093
