Following in a Better Way by Kevin Ritter-Jung
Feb 12, 2026
In my office, sandwiched between a print of a larger-than-life pigeon and a hand-drawn map of New York City, I’ve hung a poster of Sister Corita Kent’s list of rules for the Immaculate Heart College Art Department. After entering the religious order of Immaculate Heart at 18 years old, she became an art teacher and created drawings and prints that drew on religious themes and imagery as well as the visual vernacular of advertising. Most people who spend time with Sister Corita’s rules have a favorite one. Mine is Rule 5:
Be self-disciplined. This means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self-disciplined is to follow in a better way.
Whenever I read this rule, I find myself confused in a productive way. “Self-discipline” sounds so solitary, as if I will be rigidly following tedious routines of my own creation (worthwhile but also: bleak!). But in the Immaculate Heart Art Department, “self-discipline” looks outward, calling us to follow those who lead us in Christlike practices.
Over the course of recent weeks, the relentlessly alarming news coupled with seemingly endless cold weather have left me, at times, feeling immobilized and discouraged. With obstacles so numerous that I won’t list them here, it feels hard to even know where to begin.
But luckily, as disciples of Christ, we don’t have to go it alone. In the face of so much darkness, we can look to the people who have worked to build God’s kingdom of justice in times predating our current crisis. For me, I have been blessed to look to my own community — my pastors, neighbors, and friends — to provide a model of discipleship. A group of organizers near my home have posted “Know Your Rights” fliers around the block; friends accompany other friends to immigration court hearings.
This work for justice spans both times like right now when so many people are holding migrant and other marginalized communities in their prayers, but also at times when public attention has not been focused on these still-pressing issues. And in our neighborhoods and communities, we have so many disciples who have long provided meals to the hungry and beds to the weary. We need not invent a discipleship practice from scratch. We can look to those — both present and past — who have long done this work. (As one of my favorite scholars of technology and justice, Dr. Ruha Benjamin, said, “Perhaps a lot of our future is behind us.”)
In the midst of a brutal present, truly following the teachings of Jesus (not just saying you are) can feel like a lonely road to walk. But we have the tools to do it — we just have to look for those to follow, and follow them well.