The Pastor’s Page
The last days of 2010 saw justice delivered to two young African American women who have been in prison for 16 years.
Jamie and Gladys Scott were accused and convicted of a robbery that occurred on Christmas Eve in 1993 in Forest, Mississippi. About $11 was taken and nobody was hurt, but the sisters’ conviction netted them both two consecutive life sentences. The girls were accused of luring two African American men into a situation which resulted into their wallets being taken.
Outrage about the convictions was swift, and activists began advocating for their release almost immediately, to no avail. At the time of their release, all appeals had been exhausted.
At the time of their arrest and conviction, Gladys was 19 and pregnant with her second child and Jamie was 22 with three children. Three teens boys also arrested in the case reportedly said at the outset that the Scott Sisters were not involved in the incident, but were said to be pressured to implicate the young women in a plea deal.
The teen boys received far lesser sentences and the Scott Sisters were sent to prison…for two consecutive life sentences.
On Wednesday, December 29, 2010, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, who is said to be considering running as a Republican presidential candidate in 2012, suspended the sentences of the women. Jamie is seriously ill. Both her kidneys are failing – and Gladys’ release is said to be on the condition that she donate one of her kidneys to her sister.
This case has not received a lot of attention from mainstream media. There have been activists in Mississippi, however, who have been relentless in getting news about the plight of the women national attention. Recently New York Times columnist Bob Herbert wrote about the case, commentary was heard on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, and Ben Jealous, head of the National Association of Colored People, have taken the case on. The Innocence Project also took up the case.
Gov. Barbour’s interest in the case is most likely political. He recently praised the Citizen’s Council, a known white supremacist group, for helping schools in Mississippi integrate quietly.
What the Council did was make sure the schools integrate as slowly as possible, threatening and carrying out actions that intimidated people into not stepping over the color line, federal law notwithstanding.
The report about the release of the Scott Sisters said it would take 45 days for the paperwork for the release of the Scott Sisters to be completed. Once out, they will be allowed to travel to Florida to live with their mother, who has been caring for their children since their incarceration.
I hope that Jamie holds out that long, that she holds out long enough to get to Florida and get the help she needs. I also hope that those who love and demand justice never give up and give out, no matter how hard the journey.
Even as I write this, in the wee hours of December 30, there has been no mention of the case on CNN, the so-called “most trusted name in news.” I guess this doesn’t qualify, not like the blizzard, or like the missionary in Haiti who was released from prison after being accused of kidnapping a Haitian child.
Hooray for the Scott Sisters. Hooray for those who worked tirelessly for their release. And shame on Mississippi for handing out such an inhumane sentence for this crime. We still have a way to go in meting out justice for minorities and poor people.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Christmas and Chanukah Not Seasonal
I read a fascinating article this week which talked about the difference between Christmas and Chanukah.
Rabbi Michael Lerner noted that both holidays, the one celebrated by Christians and the other by Jews, share a message, that it is possible to bring a message of light and hope in a world of darkness, oppression and despair. But he said that ‘whereas Christmas concentrates on the life of a single individual who was supposed to bring liberation, Chanukah is about a national liberation struggle involving an entire people who seek to remake the world through struggle with an oppressive social and political order.”
The political, economic and social order is so oppressive that people will do anything to survive. Women sell their bodies; people sell drugs, even to kids, not caring whose lives they are messing up. Just this week, a 14 year old boy, an American citizen, was arrested for killing four people. He was under the direction of the Mexican drug cartel and was paid to kill people. He said he did it because he wanted to escape the squalor in which he lived, and he said he “loved” killing people.
Surely, there is a need for light in this world. And who but we who love God should be bearers of that light?
We celebrate the birth of the Christ, but as an isolated holiday where the emphasis is gifts to each other, not provision of light to the world. How wonderful it would be if we as Christians would take on the national liberation struggle seeking to remake the world through struggle with our oppressive social and political order?
This week, the Republicans forced a compromise on tax cuts that will allow the most wealthy people to continue to get tax breaks for at least two more years. That was their price for extending unemployment benefits for another 13 months for the long-term unemployed. There was no justice in what they did; the wealthy will only get more wealthy, and the tax cuts for them will add about $500 billion to the federal deficit.
In the end, the poor will bear the brunt of suffering for the spoiled habits of the rich. There is no justice in that.
We need to be the light of Christmas and Chanukah, long after the tree is down and the lights are put in storage. We need to concentrate on being the light to those who live consistently in darkness, from homeless kids to homeless adults to people suffering from HIV/AIDS to inmates trying to make it in a society which is so closed to them to abused women … we need to be the light of Christmas every single day.
I would say that we give food consistently to feed the hungry; the number of homeless and hungry are increasing, not decreasing. We need to make sure we take care of our children, making sure they can read and write and compete in this world. We cannot afford to think that Christmas is a one day a year thing, or that the Christmas season is only a December event.
Not so. There is too much darkness in this world, due to oppression. The tax breaks given to the wealthy does not mean that there will be more jobs for people, or relief for those suffering. We who love God need to take the spirit of Christmas and Chanukah and make it a year long center of everything we do.
We cannot afford to do anything less.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Rabbi Michael Lerner noted that both holidays, the one celebrated by Christians and the other by Jews, share a message, that it is possible to bring a message of light and hope in a world of darkness, oppression and despair. But he said that ‘whereas Christmas concentrates on the life of a single individual who was supposed to bring liberation, Chanukah is about a national liberation struggle involving an entire people who seek to remake the world through struggle with an oppressive social and political order.”
The political, economic and social order is so oppressive that people will do anything to survive. Women sell their bodies; people sell drugs, even to kids, not caring whose lives they are messing up. Just this week, a 14 year old boy, an American citizen, was arrested for killing four people. He was under the direction of the Mexican drug cartel and was paid to kill people. He said he did it because he wanted to escape the squalor in which he lived, and he said he “loved” killing people.
Surely, there is a need for light in this world. And who but we who love God should be bearers of that light?
We celebrate the birth of the Christ, but as an isolated holiday where the emphasis is gifts to each other, not provision of light to the world. How wonderful it would be if we as Christians would take on the national liberation struggle seeking to remake the world through struggle with our oppressive social and political order?
This week, the Republicans forced a compromise on tax cuts that will allow the most wealthy people to continue to get tax breaks for at least two more years. That was their price for extending unemployment benefits for another 13 months for the long-term unemployed. There was no justice in what they did; the wealthy will only get more wealthy, and the tax cuts for them will add about $500 billion to the federal deficit.
In the end, the poor will bear the brunt of suffering for the spoiled habits of the rich. There is no justice in that.
We need to be the light of Christmas and Chanukah, long after the tree is down and the lights are put in storage. We need to concentrate on being the light to those who live consistently in darkness, from homeless kids to homeless adults to people suffering from HIV/AIDS to inmates trying to make it in a society which is so closed to them to abused women … we need to be the light of Christmas every single day.
I would say that we give food consistently to feed the hungry; the number of homeless and hungry are increasing, not decreasing. We need to make sure we take care of our children, making sure they can read and write and compete in this world. We cannot afford to think that Christmas is a one day a year thing, or that the Christmas season is only a December event.
Not so. There is too much darkness in this world, due to oppression. The tax breaks given to the wealthy does not mean that there will be more jobs for people, or relief for those suffering. We who love God need to take the spirit of Christmas and Chanukah and make it a year long center of everything we do.
We cannot afford to do anything less.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Not to Fret ...
We can do all things through Christ.
When I came here, way too many years ago, that scripture from the book of Philippians was our mantra. We had so little; all we had was God. But I was convinced then, as I am convinced now, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
These are not “pie in the sky” words. They are, in fact, a statement of fact. When an individual has the faith that no matter how daunting the task, because he or she believes in the something “greater” than him or herself, all things are possible.
All things? All things that are within the will of God. It is God’s will that we pull through our current financial crisis, and because of that, if we hold onto the truth of the words Paul spoke to the Philippians, we will see God pull yet another miracle here.
What we cannot do is pull back on mission and ministry. We cannot hold our heads in our hands and wail with a sense of hopelessness. We can be frustrated; we can get angry or even anxious, but we cannot go into a tailspin of dismay. Our God is an awesome God- when times are good and easy and when times are not so good and difficult.
I saw a news story this week about a young girl who was in Haiti the day the earthquake hit. She was under literally tons of rubble; big pieces of what looked like a cement building covered her, but she was alive, and a young man heard her cry.
With his bare hands, he began pulling that rubble off her. I don’t know how long he dug, and the story did not indicate that he had any help. He dug, though, with his bare hands; he moved those big pieces of destroyed building with none but God, breathing into him, fueling him, releasing the adrenaline that was obviously being released …and he got her out.
She was alive but badly injured; one of her legs was badly mangled. She was flown back to the United States, and though she lived, she lost that leg.
How about it hasn’t stopped her? How about with one good leg and one prosthetic she is rock climbing in Arizona, and how about, with one good leg and one prosthetic, she is about to run a marathon?
She recently went back to Haiti, to see where she had been trapped and to see the young man who rescued her. She wanted to thank him and she wanted to say “good bye.” The young man who had dug literally tons of debris off a girl with his bare hands stood next to and embraced the young woman who lost her leg yet is rock climbing and is going to run a marathon.
Those kinds of stories fuel me, and it is those types of stories that I want you to think about and even seek out as we pass through this leg of our wilderness journey. If we do God’s work, God will provide for us; money follows mission. Our primary emotion in through here should not be desperation but rather determination to be steadfast and immovable, putting God first. God sees us; God hears us; God loves us.
The way we love God back is to proclaim that we can do all things through Christ …who does and who always has …strengthened us.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
When I came here, way too many years ago, that scripture from the book of Philippians was our mantra. We had so little; all we had was God. But I was convinced then, as I am convinced now, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
These are not “pie in the sky” words. They are, in fact, a statement of fact. When an individual has the faith that no matter how daunting the task, because he or she believes in the something “greater” than him or herself, all things are possible.
All things? All things that are within the will of God. It is God’s will that we pull through our current financial crisis, and because of that, if we hold onto the truth of the words Paul spoke to the Philippians, we will see God pull yet another miracle here.
What we cannot do is pull back on mission and ministry. We cannot hold our heads in our hands and wail with a sense of hopelessness. We can be frustrated; we can get angry or even anxious, but we cannot go into a tailspin of dismay. Our God is an awesome God- when times are good and easy and when times are not so good and difficult.
I saw a news story this week about a young girl who was in Haiti the day the earthquake hit. She was under literally tons of rubble; big pieces of what looked like a cement building covered her, but she was alive, and a young man heard her cry.
With his bare hands, he began pulling that rubble off her. I don’t know how long he dug, and the story did not indicate that he had any help. He dug, though, with his bare hands; he moved those big pieces of destroyed building with none but God, breathing into him, fueling him, releasing the adrenaline that was obviously being released …and he got her out.
She was alive but badly injured; one of her legs was badly mangled. She was flown back to the United States, and though she lived, she lost that leg.
How about it hasn’t stopped her? How about with one good leg and one prosthetic she is rock climbing in Arizona, and how about, with one good leg and one prosthetic, she is about to run a marathon?
She recently went back to Haiti, to see where she had been trapped and to see the young man who rescued her. She wanted to thank him and she wanted to say “good bye.” The young man who had dug literally tons of debris off a girl with his bare hands stood next to and embraced the young woman who lost her leg yet is rock climbing and is going to run a marathon.
Those kinds of stories fuel me, and it is those types of stories that I want you to think about and even seek out as we pass through this leg of our wilderness journey. If we do God’s work, God will provide for us; money follows mission. Our primary emotion in through here should not be desperation but rather determination to be steadfast and immovable, putting God first. God sees us; God hears us; God loves us.
The way we love God back is to proclaim that we can do all things through Christ …who does and who always has …strengthened us.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Let's Read to the Children
Let’s do something beautiful for God …and for our community. Let’s say, “Here we are, Lord, send us.”
I read a disturbing report the other day about the underachievement of African American males being a “national catastrophe.” The report, posted by Richard Prince of the Maynard Institute, quoted a nreport done by the Council of the Great City Schools which said that “black males continue to perform lower than their peers throughout the country on almost every indicator.”
The study said that there has been no “concerted national effort to improve the education, social and employment outcomes of African American males, who are not receiving appropriate attention from federal, state and local governments, or from community organizations.”
Dorothy Gilliam, a journalist who founded a group called Prime Movers, which provides mentors for high school journalists, said that the lapse for black kids starts early. “If young children are not being read to and communicated with at a level that encourages them to be inquisitive and learn, they are behind from the beginning.”
The report cited a host of social realities for black children which contributes to their academic performance.
We know all those factors. We’ve heard them all before.
So, let’s do something. Let’s do something beautiful for God …and for our community.
Beginning in 2011, let’s have a literacy program for young children. Let’s make it simple: having kids here at the church, with those who are so inclined to be here to read to them, get them to talk, open their minds and their natural inquisitive natures.
Let’s read to them stories we have all taken so much for granted. Let’s read to them so that they hear words and notice sentence structure. Let’s read to them so that their little eyes glisten and their spirits yearn for more.
Let’s do this. Let’s be a part of the solution, loving our kids and our community enough to do what we must for our kids. Perhaps the nation, the state, and the city will provide grants for us to build our program. Perhaps if we take one step, the Lord will take two.
That’s what we always say, right?
One of the reasons I always want a 12 foot Christmas tree in front of the church is to make a statement that Jesus is the light of the world…and Advent is the light of the community.
Let’s be a light; let’s serve our children. Let’s do it and set up a quantitative tool so that we can measure our progress and the progress of the kids.
It is a fact that all kids want to do well in school, and when they don’t they get discouraged. They become behavior problems, and eventually, they drop out. Once they drop out and begin to get into trouble, they become food for a greedy and unjust justice system.
So, let’s do something beautiful for God. Let’s make it a goal to help our kids, to keep a few more kids out of gangs, to raise the self esteem of our little black boys and prepare them to be competitors in this world that loses no love for those of our community who fall through the cracks.
Anyone interested, email me. Let’s meet and get this going. Let’s plan it out so that it has substance and form. Let’s set it up to be a success, to draw any kid who needs to come and who wants to come.
Let’s do something beautiful for God …and read to the children.
Pastor Smith
I read a disturbing report the other day about the underachievement of African American males being a “national catastrophe.” The report, posted by Richard Prince of the Maynard Institute, quoted a nreport done by the Council of the Great City Schools which said that “black males continue to perform lower than their peers throughout the country on almost every indicator.”
The study said that there has been no “concerted national effort to improve the education, social and employment outcomes of African American males, who are not receiving appropriate attention from federal, state and local governments, or from community organizations.”
Dorothy Gilliam, a journalist who founded a group called Prime Movers, which provides mentors for high school journalists, said that the lapse for black kids starts early. “If young children are not being read to and communicated with at a level that encourages them to be inquisitive and learn, they are behind from the beginning.”
The report cited a host of social realities for black children which contributes to their academic performance.
We know all those factors. We’ve heard them all before.
So, let’s do something. Let’s do something beautiful for God …and for our community.
Beginning in 2011, let’s have a literacy program for young children. Let’s make it simple: having kids here at the church, with those who are so inclined to be here to read to them, get them to talk, open their minds and their natural inquisitive natures.
Let’s read to them stories we have all taken so much for granted. Let’s read to them so that they hear words and notice sentence structure. Let’s read to them so that their little eyes glisten and their spirits yearn for more.
Let’s do this. Let’s be a part of the solution, loving our kids and our community enough to do what we must for our kids. Perhaps the nation, the state, and the city will provide grants for us to build our program. Perhaps if we take one step, the Lord will take two.
That’s what we always say, right?
One of the reasons I always want a 12 foot Christmas tree in front of the church is to make a statement that Jesus is the light of the world…and Advent is the light of the community.
Let’s be a light; let’s serve our children. Let’s do it and set up a quantitative tool so that we can measure our progress and the progress of the kids.
It is a fact that all kids want to do well in school, and when they don’t they get discouraged. They become behavior problems, and eventually, they drop out. Once they drop out and begin to get into trouble, they become food for a greedy and unjust justice system.
So, let’s do something beautiful for God. Let’s make it a goal to help our kids, to keep a few more kids out of gangs, to raise the self esteem of our little black boys and prepare them to be competitors in this world that loses no love for those of our community who fall through the cracks.
Anyone interested, email me. Let’s meet and get this going. Let’s plan it out so that it has substance and form. Let’s set it up to be a success, to draw any kid who needs to come and who wants to come.
Let’s do something beautiful for God …and read to the children.
Pastor Smith
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Let's Do Something Beautiful for God!
Let’s do something beautiful for God.
That’s what Mother Teresa said to her young novices as they worked and lived with the poor of India. Her demand that they see the poor and suffering as God would see them set a movement in motion that literally spread all over the world.
There is no losing when we as people of God set our sights on serving. There are so many who are in need, and so many willing to ignore them or blame them for their situations. There are young people “out there,” kind of making it on their own. There are old people who live lonely, solitary lives with nobody around to check on them. There are little children in our own community who do not have coats or gloves or food to eat at dinner time. If we as people of God ask for the eyes of God, we are able to see the world as God does, and can easily serve, because the need is so great.
I had a dream not long ago that we, Advent, changed course. We had a short praise and worship service on Sunday morning, and then we hit the streets. We went to the homeless and the hungry and the lonely and the lost, and we gave ourselves. We were identified by tee shirts and hats that said Advent United Church of Christ, but we were more identified by the passion with which we served. We sang to those who would listen; we danced for those who would watch. We hugged those who needed hugging and listened to those who had not been heard.
We served.
With the results of the last election, the need to serve will be even greater, I am afraid. We will have to do more to serve “the least of these” because the gap between them and the wealthy is widening. Not only that, but the rich really are becoming richer; corporations have been posting record profits while the vast majority of us are flailing in deep water with strong currents going against us. If we who love God do not serve, we will have missed an opportunity to show the world that God is real, that God is good, and that God cares.
I am proud to be the pastor of a congregation which, in spite of having few resources, does much with little. God has given the vision to serve and God will provide for that vision. We need only step up with joy and love and eagerness. God will take care of us.
In this upcoming holiday season, the need to serve will be even greater. Let’s do something beautiful for God. Let’s get out and hit the streets and touch people who are too often ignored. Let’s bring them in to get warm and teach them that they matter. Let’s be a light in this community, the likes of which we cannot even imagine. God has kept us this long for a reason, and I think the reason and the season is upon us.
The last election notwithstanding, God is good. Politicians lied to get into office, and will spend their time figuring out how to stay in office and prepare for the next election, letting the very people I’m talking about languish. The people are not their concern; their own lives are. That is just the reality.
The Jewish people have a thing called “Tikkun Olam.” It calls for people to engage in the sacred repair of God’s world; it is the impetus for social action and social justice within the Jewish faith. It is, I think, doing something beautiful for God. Rabbi Judith Jacobs wrote a book, “There Shall Be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice Through Jewish Law and Tradition.” If we who love God will not pursue social justice and tend to the least of these, then who will?
I say that it is our time, our season, Advent.
Let’s do something beautiful for God!
That’s what Mother Teresa said to her young novices as they worked and lived with the poor of India. Her demand that they see the poor and suffering as God would see them set a movement in motion that literally spread all over the world.
There is no losing when we as people of God set our sights on serving. There are so many who are in need, and so many willing to ignore them or blame them for their situations. There are young people “out there,” kind of making it on their own. There are old people who live lonely, solitary lives with nobody around to check on them. There are little children in our own community who do not have coats or gloves or food to eat at dinner time. If we as people of God ask for the eyes of God, we are able to see the world as God does, and can easily serve, because the need is so great.
I had a dream not long ago that we, Advent, changed course. We had a short praise and worship service on Sunday morning, and then we hit the streets. We went to the homeless and the hungry and the lonely and the lost, and we gave ourselves. We were identified by tee shirts and hats that said Advent United Church of Christ, but we were more identified by the passion with which we served. We sang to those who would listen; we danced for those who would watch. We hugged those who needed hugging and listened to those who had not been heard.
We served.
With the results of the last election, the need to serve will be even greater, I am afraid. We will have to do more to serve “the least of these” because the gap between them and the wealthy is widening. Not only that, but the rich really are becoming richer; corporations have been posting record profits while the vast majority of us are flailing in deep water with strong currents going against us. If we who love God do not serve, we will have missed an opportunity to show the world that God is real, that God is good, and that God cares.
I am proud to be the pastor of a congregation which, in spite of having few resources, does much with little. God has given the vision to serve and God will provide for that vision. We need only step up with joy and love and eagerness. God will take care of us.
In this upcoming holiday season, the need to serve will be even greater. Let’s do something beautiful for God. Let’s get out and hit the streets and touch people who are too often ignored. Let’s bring them in to get warm and teach them that they matter. Let’s be a light in this community, the likes of which we cannot even imagine. God has kept us this long for a reason, and I think the reason and the season is upon us.
The last election notwithstanding, God is good. Politicians lied to get into office, and will spend their time figuring out how to stay in office and prepare for the next election, letting the very people I’m talking about languish. The people are not their concern; their own lives are. That is just the reality.
The Jewish people have a thing called “Tikkun Olam.” It calls for people to engage in the sacred repair of God’s world; it is the impetus for social action and social justice within the Jewish faith. It is, I think, doing something beautiful for God. Rabbi Judith Jacobs wrote a book, “There Shall Be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice Through Jewish Law and Tradition.” If we who love God will not pursue social justice and tend to the least of these, then who will?
I say that it is our time, our season, Advent.
Let’s do something beautiful for God!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
On Faith, Captivity and Breakthrough
If ever there was a story about faith, we saw it this week.
After being trapped for 69 days more than 2300 feet underground in a mine, we saw 33 Chilean miners brought to safety.
When the mishap was first reported in August, stating that the miners were all alive, joy was tempered with somber reality when experts said they might not be able to be rescued until Christmas. When they were found to be alive, they had already been trapped in the mine for 17 days.
My heart sank. How in the world would these guys be able to survive?
The painstaking rescue process began, with these 33 men trapped in a space about the size of an average living room.
Reports were issued daily on the drilling efforts that would get them out. Christmas seemed so far away…
And then last week the word came that the drilling had broken through to the men. Rescue efforts were working; with God’s help, they’d be able to lift those men to safety by week’s end.
I sat in awe as I saw that capsule release the first miner, then another, then another. And what struck me most was that all of them gave all the credit for their rescue to God.
Even down in the mine, the messages they sent up was that God was, God is …good.
That would be crazy faith.
The situation made me glad I believe in God, glad that about all I have is faith. Faith works in the darkest, deepest places of our lives. This Chilean mining episode proves that.
The situation also showed that breakthrough is often slow and deliberate, and rescue slow as well. Breakthrough and rescue require faith, but also some adjustments on our part. Once there is breakthrough and rescue, we are not the same.
These miners and their families will soon be hit with that reality.
But what I keep going back to is how these guys kept God front and center, though they were literally near the center of the earth. They kept faith though they were often cold and sometimes, were in knee-deep water, some reports have said.
What a time to show God that their faith was real. It was as though they were living out Job’s statement, “Yet, though he slay me, yet will I believe in him.”
In a world and society where cynics and skeptics doubt God’s presence, and where religious fanatics and hypocrites cast God and how God works in an unfavorable light, it was good to see people standing on the promises of Jesus, the presence of Jesus, and the power of Jesus.
Now, as their breakthrough has come, I, for one, will pray that their lives increase in faith as they remember how God kept them down in that mine…so they wouldn’t let go!
After being trapped for 69 days more than 2300 feet underground in a mine, we saw 33 Chilean miners brought to safety.
When the mishap was first reported in August, stating that the miners were all alive, joy was tempered with somber reality when experts said they might not be able to be rescued until Christmas. When they were found to be alive, they had already been trapped in the mine for 17 days.
My heart sank. How in the world would these guys be able to survive?
The painstaking rescue process began, with these 33 men trapped in a space about the size of an average living room.
Reports were issued daily on the drilling efforts that would get them out. Christmas seemed so far away…
And then last week the word came that the drilling had broken through to the men. Rescue efforts were working; with God’s help, they’d be able to lift those men to safety by week’s end.
I sat in awe as I saw that capsule release the first miner, then another, then another. And what struck me most was that all of them gave all the credit for their rescue to God.
Even down in the mine, the messages they sent up was that God was, God is …good.
That would be crazy faith.
The situation made me glad I believe in God, glad that about all I have is faith. Faith works in the darkest, deepest places of our lives. This Chilean mining episode proves that.
The situation also showed that breakthrough is often slow and deliberate, and rescue slow as well. Breakthrough and rescue require faith, but also some adjustments on our part. Once there is breakthrough and rescue, we are not the same.
These miners and their families will soon be hit with that reality.
But what I keep going back to is how these guys kept God front and center, though they were literally near the center of the earth. They kept faith though they were often cold and sometimes, were in knee-deep water, some reports have said.
What a time to show God that their faith was real. It was as though they were living out Job’s statement, “Yet, though he slay me, yet will I believe in him.”
In a world and society where cynics and skeptics doubt God’s presence, and where religious fanatics and hypocrites cast God and how God works in an unfavorable light, it was good to see people standing on the promises of Jesus, the presence of Jesus, and the power of Jesus.
Now, as their breakthrough has come, I, for one, will pray that their lives increase in faith as they remember how God kept them down in that mine…so they wouldn’t let go!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
People of God Can't be Silent About Bullying
There has been a lot of discussion in the media the past couple of weeks about bullying.
Bullying has always been a problem, but it has been a problem that has been largely ignored. There seemed to be an underlying sentiment that “kids will be kids” and a willingness to ignore it on the part of adults. As for kids, they have been largely quiet because to “squeal” about being picked on would almost certainly lead to more torment.
But times have changed, and the bullying, which now has the ability to be done via the internet as well as in person, has begun to push too many kids to despair to ignore. Kids used to react to the bullying by maybe feigning illness or becoming loners, or maybe becoming behavior problems for teachers and administrators.
But now, more and more bullied kids are resorting to suicide or other means of self-destruction.
By now, everyone has heard of the suicide of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers student who jumped off the George Washington Bridge to his death. Last year, a young girl committed suicide after the parent of a classmate bullied her via the internet. And this week, a story aired about a father, tired of his daughter being bullied on her school bus, confronted her tormentors himself. He was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor. As his daughter, who suffers from cerebral palsy, explained how she had been bullied, she burst into tears.
Enough is enough.
Pray with me, Advent family, as I seek guidance from God on what we can do as a church to address this serious problem. I am sure we have students in our own congregation who have been bullied, and I am sure they have friends who have been bullied as well. If we, the people of God, are silent and inactive in the face of a serious problem, then who can be expected to step up …in the name of this Jesus whom we hail as redeemer? Aren’t we supposed to not only imitate the Christ but represent Him – to do what Jesus would do?
I hardly think Jesus would be silent with this bullying increasing as it is, and with kids being so tormented that they not only hate themselves but are driven to suicide. How many kids are scared to death to say anything about what they are enduring on a daily basis? How many kids’ grades are suffering not because they cannot do the work or are not paying attention, but because they are being bullied and picked on?
Their misery has to be compounded if, when they tell teachers and administrators, little to nothing is done, and they know that to tell parents would mean certain increase of bullying.
It seems that 1) we need to find out in our community how deep is the problem; 2) we need to know what schools in our community are doing and 3) we need to give kids and parents guidelines on how to deal with this problem.
I ask you to pray with me as I deal with this and try to find out how we, as a force in this community, can be beacons of change, or at least beacons of information so that change can come. We need to care about the problem because it affects the children and young adults over whom we are directed by God to provide comfort, direction and guidance.
Kids are bullied because they are fat, skinny, too dark, too smart (whatever that means), because they are sick, or developmentally, physically, or emotionally challenged, because they are gay or someone thinks they are gay, because they don’t wear the latest clothes, because they refuse to “sag” their pants, because they get good grades, because they want to do something with their lives …the list goes on and on.
God asks, “Whom shall I send?” and the prophet Isaiah says, “Here I am, Lord! Send me!”
Send us, dear Lord. Send us. Please, let’s pray together.
Pastor Smith
Bullying has always been a problem, but it has been a problem that has been largely ignored. There seemed to be an underlying sentiment that “kids will be kids” and a willingness to ignore it on the part of adults. As for kids, they have been largely quiet because to “squeal” about being picked on would almost certainly lead to more torment.
But times have changed, and the bullying, which now has the ability to be done via the internet as well as in person, has begun to push too many kids to despair to ignore. Kids used to react to the bullying by maybe feigning illness or becoming loners, or maybe becoming behavior problems for teachers and administrators.
But now, more and more bullied kids are resorting to suicide or other means of self-destruction.
By now, everyone has heard of the suicide of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers student who jumped off the George Washington Bridge to his death. Last year, a young girl committed suicide after the parent of a classmate bullied her via the internet. And this week, a story aired about a father, tired of his daughter being bullied on her school bus, confronted her tormentors himself. He was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor. As his daughter, who suffers from cerebral palsy, explained how she had been bullied, she burst into tears.
Enough is enough.
Pray with me, Advent family, as I seek guidance from God on what we can do as a church to address this serious problem. I am sure we have students in our own congregation who have been bullied, and I am sure they have friends who have been bullied as well. If we, the people of God, are silent and inactive in the face of a serious problem, then who can be expected to step up …in the name of this Jesus whom we hail as redeemer? Aren’t we supposed to not only imitate the Christ but represent Him – to do what Jesus would do?
I hardly think Jesus would be silent with this bullying increasing as it is, and with kids being so tormented that they not only hate themselves but are driven to suicide. How many kids are scared to death to say anything about what they are enduring on a daily basis? How many kids’ grades are suffering not because they cannot do the work or are not paying attention, but because they are being bullied and picked on?
Their misery has to be compounded if, when they tell teachers and administrators, little to nothing is done, and they know that to tell parents would mean certain increase of bullying.
It seems that 1) we need to find out in our community how deep is the problem; 2) we need to know what schools in our community are doing and 3) we need to give kids and parents guidelines on how to deal with this problem.
I ask you to pray with me as I deal with this and try to find out how we, as a force in this community, can be beacons of change, or at least beacons of information so that change can come. We need to care about the problem because it affects the children and young adults over whom we are directed by God to provide comfort, direction and guidance.
Kids are bullied because they are fat, skinny, too dark, too smart (whatever that means), because they are sick, or developmentally, physically, or emotionally challenged, because they are gay or someone thinks they are gay, because they don’t wear the latest clothes, because they refuse to “sag” their pants, because they get good grades, because they want to do something with their lives …the list goes on and on.
God asks, “Whom shall I send?” and the prophet Isaiah says, “Here I am, Lord! Send me!”
Send us, dear Lord. Send us. Please, let’s pray together.
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Dr. Martin Luther King once said that “power without love is reckless and abusive and love without power is sentimental and anemic.”
I have thought a lot about that quote as I have listened to and read the developing story about Bishop Eddie Long.
Surely, Bishop Long is a powerful man. His congregation numbers over 25,000 ( a number which staggers my imagination!). He has met and eaten with presidents and past presidents of this country. He has preached all over the world.
Yet, it seems that he, as so many of us do, exercised power without love – meaning that he became more impressed with the power than with the love that his office – and mine – dictate that we exercise.
Corporations, which are already wealthy enough to hoard money while this society clamors for relief, want only to make more money. Chambers of Commerce all over this country sit and think about not how to get jobs for those on the lowest levels of our society’s ladder, but instead, how to create jobs that will bring them millions more dollars. They seem to exercise power …without love…leading them to become reckless and abusive.
On the other hand, Dr. King noted that love without power is sentimental and anemic. What good is it to love God’s people, the so-called “least of these,” if you have no power to help them? I remember my mother saying that “love don’t pay the bills.” Touché. When we can see a problem but can do nothing about it, we become frustrated, and instead of hurting others, as those with power without love are apt to do, we often turn our frustration inward, hurting ourselves.
The trick is to get the balance. We have lots of love here at Advent UCC; we need some power. We need to recognize the power we do have and use it, and work to get more power so that we can do effective ministry. How do we do that? By stepping out of comfort zones of shyness and timidity and walking bolding in our relationship with the Christ so that we can see where the Christ is leading us. I do believe Jesus is leading us, and has been, but we have been way too reticent and way too laid back to see where He is pointing us.
If the arc of the universe is long but indeed does bend toward justice, then we who love ought to reach for the power that Jesus will give us to make that justice happen. God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of …power, of love, and of sound mind.
Who we are and what we were put here to do has not yet come to fruition. I am suggesting that in love, we seek the power that God wants to give us.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
I have thought a lot about that quote as I have listened to and read the developing story about Bishop Eddie Long.
Surely, Bishop Long is a powerful man. His congregation numbers over 25,000 ( a number which staggers my imagination!). He has met and eaten with presidents and past presidents of this country. He has preached all over the world.
Yet, it seems that he, as so many of us do, exercised power without love – meaning that he became more impressed with the power than with the love that his office – and mine – dictate that we exercise.
Corporations, which are already wealthy enough to hoard money while this society clamors for relief, want only to make more money. Chambers of Commerce all over this country sit and think about not how to get jobs for those on the lowest levels of our society’s ladder, but instead, how to create jobs that will bring them millions more dollars. They seem to exercise power …without love…leading them to become reckless and abusive.
On the other hand, Dr. King noted that love without power is sentimental and anemic. What good is it to love God’s people, the so-called “least of these,” if you have no power to help them? I remember my mother saying that “love don’t pay the bills.” Touché. When we can see a problem but can do nothing about it, we become frustrated, and instead of hurting others, as those with power without love are apt to do, we often turn our frustration inward, hurting ourselves.
The trick is to get the balance. We have lots of love here at Advent UCC; we need some power. We need to recognize the power we do have and use it, and work to get more power so that we can do effective ministry. How do we do that? By stepping out of comfort zones of shyness and timidity and walking bolding in our relationship with the Christ so that we can see where the Christ is leading us. I do believe Jesus is leading us, and has been, but we have been way too reticent and way too laid back to see where He is pointing us.
If the arc of the universe is long but indeed does bend toward justice, then we who love ought to reach for the power that Jesus will give us to make that justice happen. God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of …power, of love, and of sound mind.
Who we are and what we were put here to do has not yet come to fruition. I am suggesting that in love, we seek the power that God wants to give us.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Dare We NOT Vote?
There is a spirit of malaise and fatigue amongst Americans, too many of whom are struggling to survive in this economy, but with the upcoming mid-term elections coming up, I have to urge you: vote.
Vote if you’re tired. Vote if you’re angry. Vote if you’re skeptical. Vote. Why?
Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, as African Americans, too many of our people gave up their lives and suffered great pain and injustice to get for us the right to vote. I wish you would all read Taylor Branch’s books on the work of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The work Dr. King and the Civil Rights workers did, the obstacles they faced, the murders of innocent people which went unmentioned, unknown, or glossed over, is hard to digest. Most of us have no idea. We are like people sitting in a concert. We see an hour or two of a performance and have no idea how many days, hours, months and years it took to get to that point. We are enjoying the work of our ancestors and predecessors. They could not vote. It was illegal for them to vote. They were kept powerless while they were made to pay taxes and fight for this country …They knew that phase one of them becoming real citizens of this country was securing the right to vote. They did it for us. We owe it to them to take the gift they gave us.
The second reason to vote is because NOT voting will help usher in, perhaps, people and policies which do not help us. It is foolhardy to believe that years of reckless spending done by the previous administration could be or would be corrected in two years! There have been policies set in place that will help this country and this world get out of the hole we are in now. But to stay home, pouting, mad because “change you can believe in” didn’t come soon enough, deciding not to vote, will not bode well for the majority of people in this nation.
By this time, I am not sure if Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative, political titles that we throw around, make much difference, but I am sure that we who believe in justice have, really, only one tool to help make sure that justice flows like an everlasting stream …and that is to vote. Most of you have received absentee ballots. Use them. Fill them out and send them in. Encourage your friends and family to do the same. Help be a part of a groundswell of quiet determination that we WILL be heard, and we will NOT let anyone or any party be the boss of us.
Our predecessors and ancestors died …and suffered …and struggled …for such a time as this. I would hope that we would honor their work and their love for us by making sure we use this most precious gift they gave us, a gift this nation promised to all but kept from so many for too long.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Vote if you’re tired. Vote if you’re angry. Vote if you’re skeptical. Vote. Why?
Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, as African Americans, too many of our people gave up their lives and suffered great pain and injustice to get for us the right to vote. I wish you would all read Taylor Branch’s books on the work of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The work Dr. King and the Civil Rights workers did, the obstacles they faced, the murders of innocent people which went unmentioned, unknown, or glossed over, is hard to digest. Most of us have no idea. We are like people sitting in a concert. We see an hour or two of a performance and have no idea how many days, hours, months and years it took to get to that point. We are enjoying the work of our ancestors and predecessors. They could not vote. It was illegal for them to vote. They were kept powerless while they were made to pay taxes and fight for this country …They knew that phase one of them becoming real citizens of this country was securing the right to vote. They did it for us. We owe it to them to take the gift they gave us.
The second reason to vote is because NOT voting will help usher in, perhaps, people and policies which do not help us. It is foolhardy to believe that years of reckless spending done by the previous administration could be or would be corrected in two years! There have been policies set in place that will help this country and this world get out of the hole we are in now. But to stay home, pouting, mad because “change you can believe in” didn’t come soon enough, deciding not to vote, will not bode well for the majority of people in this nation.
By this time, I am not sure if Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative, political titles that we throw around, make much difference, but I am sure that we who believe in justice have, really, only one tool to help make sure that justice flows like an everlasting stream …and that is to vote. Most of you have received absentee ballots. Use them. Fill them out and send them in. Encourage your friends and family to do the same. Help be a part of a groundswell of quiet determination that we WILL be heard, and we will NOT let anyone or any party be the boss of us.
Our predecessors and ancestors died …and suffered …and struggled …for such a time as this. I would hope that we would honor their work and their love for us by making sure we use this most precious gift they gave us, a gift this nation promised to all but kept from so many for too long.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Money, Mission and God
Money follows mission.
Whenever a church or a group does mission, money follows. You almost don’t have to ask. People see what you’re doing and they want to help; I think it’s natural for people to want to help. That means people naturally want to give money, but they have to see the mission first.
With that in mind, a couple of things hit me: one, as much as we work on outreach, we still have not gotten or done a clear-enough mission project. There is so much we can do and need to do. We could teach English as a second language classes, or have a program where we work on improving the literacy of the children in our community. We could have regular parenting classes for young mothers, or support groups for grandmothers who find themselves raising their children’s children. We could reach out to African American youth who are on a fast track to nowhere, providing them education and exposure to all kinds of things, with the intent that such work often changes lives.
Second, it hit me that as we become more mission minded, we will not have to worry about money. If God gives the vision, God gives the provision. That’s how God works.
To that end, I am going to have a “mission meeting” on Thursday, September 30, at 7 p.m. I want you all to be in prayer, not only about mission, but about your role in making the mission come to fruition. If we have just one mission to add to, say, our sandwich makers outreach, we will be closer to doing God’s work and will than we are right now.
I am going to ask those who can to fast that week, from 6 a.m. from 6 p.m. Nothing to eat or drink for 12 hours a day that week. I am thinking of having brief prayer every day that week at 6 p.m. where we pray and break the fast together. Not only will we pray about our mission, but about where we want to be by this time next year. The praying and fasting should make the vision clear. I am going to need for those of you who will participate in this project to let me know, via the church office.
God did not put us here or keep us here to flounder. God put us here to thrive and be a witness and a light to this community, this city and this state. God put us here to let people know that God never fails, and that God sustains and supports those who trust in Him/Her.
We come to worship, but we must leave to serve.
God would have it no other way.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Whenever a church or a group does mission, money follows. You almost don’t have to ask. People see what you’re doing and they want to help; I think it’s natural for people to want to help. That means people naturally want to give money, but they have to see the mission first.
With that in mind, a couple of things hit me: one, as much as we work on outreach, we still have not gotten or done a clear-enough mission project. There is so much we can do and need to do. We could teach English as a second language classes, or have a program where we work on improving the literacy of the children in our community. We could have regular parenting classes for young mothers, or support groups for grandmothers who find themselves raising their children’s children. We could reach out to African American youth who are on a fast track to nowhere, providing them education and exposure to all kinds of things, with the intent that such work often changes lives.
Second, it hit me that as we become more mission minded, we will not have to worry about money. If God gives the vision, God gives the provision. That’s how God works.
To that end, I am going to have a “mission meeting” on Thursday, September 30, at 7 p.m. I want you all to be in prayer, not only about mission, but about your role in making the mission come to fruition. If we have just one mission to add to, say, our sandwich makers outreach, we will be closer to doing God’s work and will than we are right now.
I am going to ask those who can to fast that week, from 6 a.m. from 6 p.m. Nothing to eat or drink for 12 hours a day that week. I am thinking of having brief prayer every day that week at 6 p.m. where we pray and break the fast together. Not only will we pray about our mission, but about where we want to be by this time next year. The praying and fasting should make the vision clear. I am going to need for those of you who will participate in this project to let me know, via the church office.
God did not put us here or keep us here to flounder. God put us here to thrive and be a witness and a light to this community, this city and this state. God put us here to let people know that God never fails, and that God sustains and supports those who trust in Him/Her.
We come to worship, but we must leave to serve.
God would have it no other way.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
A Dream Realized?
Now that Glenn Beck’s rally is over and done with, let’s talk.
While I was bothered that the rally was held on the 47th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s March on Washington, where he gave the “I Have a Dream” speech, I am more bothered by something else.
I am bothered by us, African Americans, who have not done nearly enough to make dreams come true in our own communities.
It is our children, African American children in poor neighborhoods, who are ignored, yes, by society but also by us. It is our children who enter and leave school with damaged spirits, low self-esteem and, consequently, low ability to read, write and do math. It is our children who are still the least equipped to compete in the global economy, and it is not entirely the fault of society. We must shoulder the blame as well.
So many children in our neighborhoods have no dreams, no aspirations, nothing. They know little than what they see and hear every day. They are often talked at, not talked to. Too many of them go to bed hungry, and too many suffer from undiagnosed illnesses. Those whose illnesses are known are often unable to get medical care, and though the democracy we live in should be concerned, it is not.
So, what do we do, cry in our soup? I remember once saying that we need to have a literacy program here, after school, during the summer, where we read to our children, exposing them to the wonder and power of words. I wanted us to get them interested in reading and then writing, thus opening their world.
Nobody wanted to do it.
There is a school in Detroit where two white professors from Wayne State University have created a Math Corps camp. Students in this camp attend school in a city known for its poor public education, yet under the innovative teaching of these teachers, these students, thought to be lost, are excelling in their educations. Ninety percent are graduating from high school and going on to college. When asked why they think their techniques are working, the professors say it is because yes, they are teaching math in innovative ways, but also because they are teaching courage, confidence and compassion.
Wow. We could do that.
We could make a difference by grabbing onto what we would want to teach, and deposit into kids who are so often ignored and devalued those qualities, qualities which would help them value themselves as people and have the confidence anyone needs to overcome securities and push toward their potential.
We say at the end of service that we have come to worship, but that we must leave to serve. I can think of no more exciting thing to do than to awaken in our children their potential and an ability to dream. In so doing, we counteract the bigotry and hatred that too often colors our world and theirs, and brings the dream of a fallen leader a little closer to being realized.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
While I was bothered that the rally was held on the 47th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s March on Washington, where he gave the “I Have a Dream” speech, I am more bothered by something else.
I am bothered by us, African Americans, who have not done nearly enough to make dreams come true in our own communities.
It is our children, African American children in poor neighborhoods, who are ignored, yes, by society but also by us. It is our children who enter and leave school with damaged spirits, low self-esteem and, consequently, low ability to read, write and do math. It is our children who are still the least equipped to compete in the global economy, and it is not entirely the fault of society. We must shoulder the blame as well.
So many children in our neighborhoods have no dreams, no aspirations, nothing. They know little than what they see and hear every day. They are often talked at, not talked to. Too many of them go to bed hungry, and too many suffer from undiagnosed illnesses. Those whose illnesses are known are often unable to get medical care, and though the democracy we live in should be concerned, it is not.
So, what do we do, cry in our soup? I remember once saying that we need to have a literacy program here, after school, during the summer, where we read to our children, exposing them to the wonder and power of words. I wanted us to get them interested in reading and then writing, thus opening their world.
Nobody wanted to do it.
There is a school in Detroit where two white professors from Wayne State University have created a Math Corps camp. Students in this camp attend school in a city known for its poor public education, yet under the innovative teaching of these teachers, these students, thought to be lost, are excelling in their educations. Ninety percent are graduating from high school and going on to college. When asked why they think their techniques are working, the professors say it is because yes, they are teaching math in innovative ways, but also because they are teaching courage, confidence and compassion.
Wow. We could do that.
We could make a difference by grabbing onto what we would want to teach, and deposit into kids who are so often ignored and devalued those qualities, qualities which would help them value themselves as people and have the confidence anyone needs to overcome securities and push toward their potential.
We say at the end of service that we have come to worship, but that we must leave to serve. I can think of no more exciting thing to do than to awaken in our children their potential and an ability to dream. In so doing, we counteract the bigotry and hatred that too often colors our world and theirs, and brings the dream of a fallen leader a little closer to being realized.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Shirley Sherrod my Newest Hero
Shirley Sherrod is my newest hero, or she-roe, I should say.
Ms. Sherrod this week turned down two jobs offered to her by the Secretary of Agriculture. After being wrongfully accused of discriminating against white people on her job by a “sound-bite” clip posted by Andrew Breitbart and being hastily fired by a worried White House, Ms. Sherrod said this week she is not going back.
“I have moved on,” she said.
Ms. Sherrod impressed me from the first with her courage and candor. She stood up to a Goliath threatening to take her down and called its bluff. She stands by everything she has said, including the claim that it was “the White House” that asked her to resign.
At the age of 62, she has done something really remarkable. Instead of going back and getting another government job, which is most secure type of job any person could want, she has chosen instead to get out of the boat, to risk getting wet, as she walks toward a new life.
Not only does she have courage and candor, she has some crazy faith!
A friend and I were talking about that story about Jesus walking on the water. “What really happened to Peter once he took his eyes off Jesus?” my friend asked.
“He got wet. That’s all. He got wet. The others stayed in the boat and never risked getting wet, but they lost out on a wonderful time with Jesus.”
Those three little words, “he got wet” have resonated with me ever since my friend said them to me. Shirley Sherrod has stepped out of the boat of comfort and security and may get wet, but I would bet that the best time of her life is before her.
That’s called “breakthrough.”
We cannot do anything if we refuse to take risks, do a new thing, with faith that the God who created us is in the house and on the job. This God knows our hearts and sees our dreams. It is not God who holds us back. God is walking toward us; we refuse to get out of our boats and walk toward God …because we are afraid to get wet.
There can be no breakthrough until we try God. It is amazing that people of faith show how little faith we have when we come to critical moments requiring faith. We have to develop a faith that says, with resolve, that God has us, and if we fall and get wet while we are walking toward Jesus, we will not drown.
We will merely…be wet.
I look forward to seeing what Ms.Sherrod’s next steps will be. She is a warrior for justice and for the voice of right. Discrimination is not of God or from God; she was going to discriminate against a white person but God tapped her on the shoulder and reminded her that all people are God’s children.
Discrimination is therefore not allowed.
I am so appreciative that Ms. Sherrod stood up and said, “Oh no! I will not go down like this!” She brought Breitbart to light, with his misleading video, put “out there” to feed his own bigotry. Ms. Sherrod must be one of God’s anointed, because God, through Shirley Sherrod, certainly did not let this ploy of Breitbart’s bring the results he wanted.
Ms. Sherrod is moving toward her breakthrough, after years of fighting for justice.
She is …my newest she-roe.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Ms. Sherrod this week turned down two jobs offered to her by the Secretary of Agriculture. After being wrongfully accused of discriminating against white people on her job by a “sound-bite” clip posted by Andrew Breitbart and being hastily fired by a worried White House, Ms. Sherrod said this week she is not going back.
“I have moved on,” she said.
Ms. Sherrod impressed me from the first with her courage and candor. She stood up to a Goliath threatening to take her down and called its bluff. She stands by everything she has said, including the claim that it was “the White House” that asked her to resign.
At the age of 62, she has done something really remarkable. Instead of going back and getting another government job, which is most secure type of job any person could want, she has chosen instead to get out of the boat, to risk getting wet, as she walks toward a new life.
Not only does she have courage and candor, she has some crazy faith!
A friend and I were talking about that story about Jesus walking on the water. “What really happened to Peter once he took his eyes off Jesus?” my friend asked.
“He got wet. That’s all. He got wet. The others stayed in the boat and never risked getting wet, but they lost out on a wonderful time with Jesus.”
Those three little words, “he got wet” have resonated with me ever since my friend said them to me. Shirley Sherrod has stepped out of the boat of comfort and security and may get wet, but I would bet that the best time of her life is before her.
That’s called “breakthrough.”
We cannot do anything if we refuse to take risks, do a new thing, with faith that the God who created us is in the house and on the job. This God knows our hearts and sees our dreams. It is not God who holds us back. God is walking toward us; we refuse to get out of our boats and walk toward God …because we are afraid to get wet.
There can be no breakthrough until we try God. It is amazing that people of faith show how little faith we have when we come to critical moments requiring faith. We have to develop a faith that says, with resolve, that God has us, and if we fall and get wet while we are walking toward Jesus, we will not drown.
We will merely…be wet.
I look forward to seeing what Ms.Sherrod’s next steps will be. She is a warrior for justice and for the voice of right. Discrimination is not of God or from God; she was going to discriminate against a white person but God tapped her on the shoulder and reminded her that all people are God’s children.
Discrimination is therefore not allowed.
I am so appreciative that Ms. Sherrod stood up and said, “Oh no! I will not go down like this!” She brought Breitbart to light, with his misleading video, put “out there” to feed his own bigotry. Ms. Sherrod must be one of God’s anointed, because God, through Shirley Sherrod, certainly did not let this ploy of Breitbart’s bring the results he wanted.
Ms. Sherrod is moving toward her breakthrough, after years of fighting for justice.
She is …my newest she-roe.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Parents and "The Village"
It takes a village to raise a child.
No truer words were ever spoken.
You have heard me talk about how different people are better parents at specific times of a child’s life. Some people are good with infants, no matter how cranky. Others love the curiosity of the toddler and do not mind following the toddler’s every move. Some like little kids, you know, kindergarten, and others cannot tolerate them. Still others like pre-teens.
And yes, some love to work with teens.
But it is a fact that many of us are not equipped to handle, well, all the stages of a child’s growth, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The problem is that we don’t function as a village, and so many parents end up feeling trapped and frustrated as they deal with the challenges of raising children.
Some would say that if a person thinks he or she cannot manage having kids, he or she should not have them. I understand that; I waited until I was older before I had children. But the fact of the matter is that many to most people do not think about the challenges of raising children until after they are here. By then, it’s too late.
My daughter takes care of a young girl who, as an infant, was shaken by her mother. The little girl suffered severe brain damage. And just this week, a young mother suffocated both her little boys, ages 1 and 2, before strapping them into their car seats and allowing her car to sink into a river.
She was frustrated and unemployed and couldn’t take the pressure of not being able to do what she wanted and needed to do, and, apparently, her situation was made worse by her mother who, according to reports, criticized her mercilessly.
“The village” is a life-saver, both for mother and child. It is no poor reflection on any parent to admit that he or she is just not equipped to deal with his or her own child at a given time. I heard a mother on the radio share a story about the difficulty she is having raising her 14 year old daughter. The daughter was sitting on the sofa putting hair spray on her hair and ruining her mother’s sofa. When the mother reacted in anger, the situation exploded and got worse.
There is a lot of that going around.
If we are going to break the cycle of kids hating themselves, we are going to have to be different kinds of parents, parents who use “the village” as a God-given tool to help us. I am concerned about all children and parenting in general, but I am of course specifically concerned about African American children and parenting in our community.
We cannot afford to be bad parents, nor can we afford to have false pride. We have to be ready and willing to celebrate our strengths and admit our weaknesses and get help. It’s not for us that we need to do that, but for the children, over whom God has made us stewards. We need to use the agencies available to get help for our weaknesses so that we can be more whole, even as we use the strengths of “the village” to raise healthy, whole children.
Children are God’s gifts to us. Our gift to God is being the best parents we can be, using “the village” to help us where and when we need help.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
No truer words were ever spoken.
You have heard me talk about how different people are better parents at specific times of a child’s life. Some people are good with infants, no matter how cranky. Others love the curiosity of the toddler and do not mind following the toddler’s every move. Some like little kids, you know, kindergarten, and others cannot tolerate them. Still others like pre-teens.
And yes, some love to work with teens.
But it is a fact that many of us are not equipped to handle, well, all the stages of a child’s growth, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The problem is that we don’t function as a village, and so many parents end up feeling trapped and frustrated as they deal with the challenges of raising children.
Some would say that if a person thinks he or she cannot manage having kids, he or she should not have them. I understand that; I waited until I was older before I had children. But the fact of the matter is that many to most people do not think about the challenges of raising children until after they are here. By then, it’s too late.
My daughter takes care of a young girl who, as an infant, was shaken by her mother. The little girl suffered severe brain damage. And just this week, a young mother suffocated both her little boys, ages 1 and 2, before strapping them into their car seats and allowing her car to sink into a river.
She was frustrated and unemployed and couldn’t take the pressure of not being able to do what she wanted and needed to do, and, apparently, her situation was made worse by her mother who, according to reports, criticized her mercilessly.
“The village” is a life-saver, both for mother and child. It is no poor reflection on any parent to admit that he or she is just not equipped to deal with his or her own child at a given time. I heard a mother on the radio share a story about the difficulty she is having raising her 14 year old daughter. The daughter was sitting on the sofa putting hair spray on her hair and ruining her mother’s sofa. When the mother reacted in anger, the situation exploded and got worse.
There is a lot of that going around.
If we are going to break the cycle of kids hating themselves, we are going to have to be different kinds of parents, parents who use “the village” as a God-given tool to help us. I am concerned about all children and parenting in general, but I am of course specifically concerned about African American children and parenting in our community.
We cannot afford to be bad parents, nor can we afford to have false pride. We have to be ready and willing to celebrate our strengths and admit our weaknesses and get help. It’s not for us that we need to do that, but for the children, over whom God has made us stewards. We need to use the agencies available to get help for our weaknesses so that we can be more whole, even as we use the strengths of “the village” to raise healthy, whole children.
Children are God’s gifts to us. Our gift to God is being the best parents we can be, using “the village” to help us where and when we need help.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Work While it is Day
One thing we all know is that life is a gift.
One thing we do not do is act like we know what we know.
With the untimely and unfortunate death of our member James Chapmyn, it hit me again that life is fragile and fleeting. We are here now, but there is no guarantee we will be here tomorrow, or even a minute from now.
What do I mean when I say we don’t act like we know life is a gift? We take it for granted. We take it for granted that we will be here, that our loved ones will be here and that we have time to get things right.
Someone said that the worst gift a person can have is the gift of time, because we take it for granted, squander it and waste it.
Too often, when a loved one dies, we are consumed with guilt. Yes, we are sad he or she is gone, but we are consumed with guilt because we know we did not love like we should have, forgiven like we should have, or even taken care of this one who has transitioned like we should have. We said things we didn’t mean, did things we should not have done and not done things we should have, never thinking that we might not have the opportunity to “fix it” before that person was taken from us.
We take our own lives for granted, too. We are always in “gonna” mode. We’re always putting stuff off that we should not, saying we will start tomorrow, or next week, or whenever. Then, the Angel of Death comes, not respecting our intentions but noting our actual lives, but by then, it’s too late.
If nothing else, James’ death ought to wake us up. We are here to love God, and to serve God. We have now, right now, to do it. James worked for God while he was here … he loved being in the spotlight and we knew that was part of who he was, but he also served with love. When we went to New Orleans, he was here at 4 in the morning, cooking and serving a full breakfast for us. When I said we needed a piano, James went out looking and the piano we have he found at a flea market. He called me and told me to hurry up, come down and see it and play it. He made pins of our Rose Window which we give out to visitors. I can still see him grinning, walking up the sidewalk, carrying these pins, glad to be in the service.
There is a song that says “I believe I’ll testify while I have a chance, ‘cause I may not have a chance anymore.” This is the day that the Lord has made, and this moment is the moment we have been given to serve. We are being called to serve more and more, to leave the comfort of these four walls and go out into the community. There are people who need to know that God is real, and that Christians are people with the heart of God in them. Not a single effort that we make for God will go unnoticed; conversely, every action or gift that we withhold from God, for whatever reason, is noticed by God, too.
The Bible says that Jesus will come like a “thief in the night.” Do not concentrate on what you do not have. Concentrate, rather, on what you do have and give your all to God. Testify, while you have a chance, ‘cause you may not have a chance anymore.
God bless you all. I love you.
Pastor Smith
One thing we do not do is act like we know what we know.
With the untimely and unfortunate death of our member James Chapmyn, it hit me again that life is fragile and fleeting. We are here now, but there is no guarantee we will be here tomorrow, or even a minute from now.
What do I mean when I say we don’t act like we know life is a gift? We take it for granted. We take it for granted that we will be here, that our loved ones will be here and that we have time to get things right.
Someone said that the worst gift a person can have is the gift of time, because we take it for granted, squander it and waste it.
Too often, when a loved one dies, we are consumed with guilt. Yes, we are sad he or she is gone, but we are consumed with guilt because we know we did not love like we should have, forgiven like we should have, or even taken care of this one who has transitioned like we should have. We said things we didn’t mean, did things we should not have done and not done things we should have, never thinking that we might not have the opportunity to “fix it” before that person was taken from us.
We take our own lives for granted, too. We are always in “gonna” mode. We’re always putting stuff off that we should not, saying we will start tomorrow, or next week, or whenever. Then, the Angel of Death comes, not respecting our intentions but noting our actual lives, but by then, it’s too late.
If nothing else, James’ death ought to wake us up. We are here to love God, and to serve God. We have now, right now, to do it. James worked for God while he was here … he loved being in the spotlight and we knew that was part of who he was, but he also served with love. When we went to New Orleans, he was here at 4 in the morning, cooking and serving a full breakfast for us. When I said we needed a piano, James went out looking and the piano we have he found at a flea market. He called me and told me to hurry up, come down and see it and play it. He made pins of our Rose Window which we give out to visitors. I can still see him grinning, walking up the sidewalk, carrying these pins, glad to be in the service.
There is a song that says “I believe I’ll testify while I have a chance, ‘cause I may not have a chance anymore.” This is the day that the Lord has made, and this moment is the moment we have been given to serve. We are being called to serve more and more, to leave the comfort of these four walls and go out into the community. There are people who need to know that God is real, and that Christians are people with the heart of God in them. Not a single effort that we make for God will go unnoticed; conversely, every action or gift that we withhold from God, for whatever reason, is noticed by God, too.
The Bible says that Jesus will come like a “thief in the night.” Do not concentrate on what you do not have. Concentrate, rather, on what you do have and give your all to God. Testify, while you have a chance, ‘cause you may not have a chance anymore.
God bless you all. I love you.
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Double Standards of Accountability Not Acceptable
There has been a report out that an American born and educated man is considered to be the heir apparent to Osama Bin Laden. He is pushing violence, basing it on anti-American sentiments and passion, but couching it in a religious context.
This man is reportedly so dangerous that he is on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) list of people that the agency wants killed, but people who are watching him say not to kill him because doing so would make him a martyr and make his cause more popular.
The “online imam,” 39-year old Anwar al-Awlaki, is causing concern among Americans, linked to last year’s Fort Hood shootings and the attempted hijack of an American Airlines jet on Christmas Day, 2009.
His father has launched a lawsuit against the United States government to get his son’s name taken off the CIA’s “capture or kill list.”
The story in and of itself is fascinating, but it is a question that a CNN anchor asked a reporter covering the story that caught my interest. Most of us feel like religious people, particularly religious leaders, ought to be above the fray of violence and hatred and, frankly, ignorant arrogance.
That sentiment was caught as this CNN anchor asked, “Why aren’t other Muslim clerics stepping up and saying that this man is wrong?” In other words, why aren’t the religious leaders calling this particular religious leader to accountability …not to them but to God?
Well, now. Isn’t that always the case? Too man religious leaders are in the world and of the world, concerned with their own interests and “careers” as opposed to the Word of God? How many religious leaders spoke out about the Holocaust, or about racism or sexism or homophobia? How many Christian religious leaders have been silent when the world and its putrid situations have called for a cry from the righteous?
Whenever one speaks up for what appears to be the word, work and will of God, he or she risks being ostracized by the group. A classmate of mine in seminary said that his father, a pastor, hated racism but would not speak out against it because he knew he’d lose members or maybe his job. His board reined him in, telling him that they paid his salary.
At the end of the day, though, the final paycheck is given by God, who calls on all of us who call ourselves “called” to stand up for justice, no matter the cost. That is not and has not historically been the case. My thought was, as this anchor asked his question, incredulous at the apparent reluctance of other Muslim clerics to silence this young, influential man, was that he, the anchor, had forgotten that American clerics have been painfully silent through the most horrendous racism.
In fact, many American clerics have been complicit in the perpetuation of racism, discrimination, hatred and more. An American clergyperson sponsored the burning of Korans this week. The thought disgusts me, and yet, we as clergy, have been slow to call “our own” to accountability.
People who have studied American history, including its brand of democracy, have been quick to see the disconnects between ideology and praxis. Our ideology says “all men are created equal.” Our praxis says something else.
I realized that there was no point in my being angry at this anchor person, but I was.
Americans ought to stop applying a double standard to the subject of human rights, trying to dictate to others how to act when we fall so short ourselves.
Pastor Smith
This man is reportedly so dangerous that he is on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) list of people that the agency wants killed, but people who are watching him say not to kill him because doing so would make him a martyr and make his cause more popular.
The “online imam,” 39-year old Anwar al-Awlaki, is causing concern among Americans, linked to last year’s Fort Hood shootings and the attempted hijack of an American Airlines jet on Christmas Day, 2009.
His father has launched a lawsuit against the United States government to get his son’s name taken off the CIA’s “capture or kill list.”
The story in and of itself is fascinating, but it is a question that a CNN anchor asked a reporter covering the story that caught my interest. Most of us feel like religious people, particularly religious leaders, ought to be above the fray of violence and hatred and, frankly, ignorant arrogance.
That sentiment was caught as this CNN anchor asked, “Why aren’t other Muslim clerics stepping up and saying that this man is wrong?” In other words, why aren’t the religious leaders calling this particular religious leader to accountability …not to them but to God?
Well, now. Isn’t that always the case? Too man religious leaders are in the world and of the world, concerned with their own interests and “careers” as opposed to the Word of God? How many religious leaders spoke out about the Holocaust, or about racism or sexism or homophobia? How many Christian religious leaders have been silent when the world and its putrid situations have called for a cry from the righteous?
Whenever one speaks up for what appears to be the word, work and will of God, he or she risks being ostracized by the group. A classmate of mine in seminary said that his father, a pastor, hated racism but would not speak out against it because he knew he’d lose members or maybe his job. His board reined him in, telling him that they paid his salary.
At the end of the day, though, the final paycheck is given by God, who calls on all of us who call ourselves “called” to stand up for justice, no matter the cost. That is not and has not historically been the case. My thought was, as this anchor asked his question, incredulous at the apparent reluctance of other Muslim clerics to silence this young, influential man, was that he, the anchor, had forgotten that American clerics have been painfully silent through the most horrendous racism.
In fact, many American clerics have been complicit in the perpetuation of racism, discrimination, hatred and more. An American clergyperson sponsored the burning of Korans this week. The thought disgusts me, and yet, we as clergy, have been slow to call “our own” to accountability.
People who have studied American history, including its brand of democracy, have been quick to see the disconnects between ideology and praxis. Our ideology says “all men are created equal.” Our praxis says something else.
I realized that there was no point in my being angry at this anchor person, but I was.
Americans ought to stop applying a double standard to the subject of human rights, trying to dictate to others how to act when we fall so short ourselves.
Pastor Smith
Monday, July 26, 2010
How We Think Matters
Slavery officially ended with the Emancipation Proclamation, but too many of us are still in shackles.
No, not iron shackles, binding our feet and hands, but mental and emotional shackles, which keep us from experiencing life to the fullest.
I thought about this last week, actually, when it became obvious to me that a whole lot of folks, black and white, are enslaved by the Conservative Right. The debacle with Shirley Sherrod made that all too clear, and, sadly, it showed that our president is included in the ranks.
The Liberal Left is enslaved because they are so worried about the upcoming elections and the 2012 presidential election. They are running scared, listening to poll numbers, and the rants of those on the Right who oppose President Obama and all he does.
The president is enslaved by that same group, and his slavery is exacerbated by a group of advisors, primarily white, who have advised him to steer clear of anything racial. Geez. President Clinton had more rapport and demonstrated more comfort talking about race than Mr. Obama.
That being as it is, however, my bigger concern is how WE are enslaved by the way we think. We think little. We think of all the reasons something cannot be done. We think of all the things we cannot do …and because of that, many of us are living stagnant, unproductive and unfulfilling lives.
There is something amazing that happens when we step out of our comfort zones, put our toes, metaphorically, in the warm sands of a new experience. It is as though the warmth beckons us and whispers to us that “we can,” and once we begin this new journey, we become transformed as we realize that the whispered message was correct.
We can do a whole lot more than we think we can.
Hard times are opportunities to find out just who we are, what we are made of, what is inside us. The Shirley Sherrod episode showed the NAACP and the White House how effectively they are enslaved by fear of the Right. President Obama, in addition, is enslaved by a fear of being “too black,” having been convinced that to talk on behalf of justice as concerns race is a sure way for him to alienate important voters in 2012.
We, on the other hand, ordinary people, are enslaved by clouds of self-doubt that serve to keep us “in our place.” We continue to be the backs upon which rich people get richer and powerful people become more powerful, mostly because we think we can do no better.
In this year of repentance and transformation, it is time for us to “turn away” from old things and “turn toward” the Christ. In that turning, it is time for us to ask Jesus to change our doubt to faith, to cleanse us of the skepticism which keeps us put, and to believe that Jesus will answer the prayer. It is time for us to stop saying what we cannot do, and jump into the possibilities of all that God has equipped us to do.
If God enpowered Gideon to beat 300,000 Midianite armed soldiers with 300 men armed with nothing but trumpets, jars and torches, then surely God stands ready to empower us to do great things as well, both individually and collectively.
Since God IS, we ARE. Physical slavery in this country was outlawed in 1863. It is time for us to outlaw our self-imposed slavery to the powers and principalities which can only survive if we decide we want to stay in our shackles
No, not iron shackles, binding our feet and hands, but mental and emotional shackles, which keep us from experiencing life to the fullest.
I thought about this last week, actually, when it became obvious to me that a whole lot of folks, black and white, are enslaved by the Conservative Right. The debacle with Shirley Sherrod made that all too clear, and, sadly, it showed that our president is included in the ranks.
The Liberal Left is enslaved because they are so worried about the upcoming elections and the 2012 presidential election. They are running scared, listening to poll numbers, and the rants of those on the Right who oppose President Obama and all he does.
The president is enslaved by that same group, and his slavery is exacerbated by a group of advisors, primarily white, who have advised him to steer clear of anything racial. Geez. President Clinton had more rapport and demonstrated more comfort talking about race than Mr. Obama.
That being as it is, however, my bigger concern is how WE are enslaved by the way we think. We think little. We think of all the reasons something cannot be done. We think of all the things we cannot do …and because of that, many of us are living stagnant, unproductive and unfulfilling lives.
There is something amazing that happens when we step out of our comfort zones, put our toes, metaphorically, in the warm sands of a new experience. It is as though the warmth beckons us and whispers to us that “we can,” and once we begin this new journey, we become transformed as we realize that the whispered message was correct.
We can do a whole lot more than we think we can.
Hard times are opportunities to find out just who we are, what we are made of, what is inside us. The Shirley Sherrod episode showed the NAACP and the White House how effectively they are enslaved by fear of the Right. President Obama, in addition, is enslaved by a fear of being “too black,” having been convinced that to talk on behalf of justice as concerns race is a sure way for him to alienate important voters in 2012.
We, on the other hand, ordinary people, are enslaved by clouds of self-doubt that serve to keep us “in our place.” We continue to be the backs upon which rich people get richer and powerful people become more powerful, mostly because we think we can do no better.
In this year of repentance and transformation, it is time for us to “turn away” from old things and “turn toward” the Christ. In that turning, it is time for us to ask Jesus to change our doubt to faith, to cleanse us of the skepticism which keeps us put, and to believe that Jesus will answer the prayer. It is time for us to stop saying what we cannot do, and jump into the possibilities of all that God has equipped us to do.
If God enpowered Gideon to beat 300,000 Midianite armed soldiers with 300 men armed with nothing but trumpets, jars and torches, then surely God stands ready to empower us to do great things as well, both individually and collectively.
Since God IS, we ARE. Physical slavery in this country was outlawed in 1863. It is time for us to outlaw our self-imposed slavery to the powers and principalities which can only survive if we decide we want to stay in our shackles
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Lessons in Black History: White Opposition to Passage of Civil Rights Law
Lessons in Black History:
White Opposition to Passage of Civil Rights Bill
The year was 1964, and the passage of a bill that would make it law to treat African Americans as Americans with rights outlined by the United States Constitution was nearly a reality.
White opposition to the bill, however, was broad and deep; although “segregationists” were expectedly opposed to the bill, so were many so-called liberals who felt that the balance of the United States was about to be horribly knocked askew.
People wanted “their country back,” and were incensed that President Lyndon Baines Johnson was intent on getting the bill passed.
That year, Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-AZ, was running for president, and he didn’t want to make race an issue of his campaign, but did in fact shape his arguments so that people knew he was very well talking about race. About the pending passage of the civil rights bill, he “endorsed the segregationist charge that the new civil rights law was a cause rather than a cure for injustice” He said that” …the more the federal government attempted to legislate morality, the more it has actually incited hatred and violence.” The rift between those who believed in states’ rights and those who supported broader federal government involvement in some issues was highlighted as Goldwater criticized “big government” for imposing Social Security numbers, and telling you what to print on your cigarette pack.” (Pillar of Fire,p. 492)
Goldwater connected with Sen. Strom Thurmond,D-SC, and together, the Republican candidate for president and the Democratic senator criticized the element of the Democratic Party which supported passage of the bill. On September 16, Thurmond switched party affiliation, and as a new Republican, said, “The Democratic Party has abandoned the people…(it has) invaded the lives of people … has succored and assisted our Communist enemies…worships at the throne of power and materialism …has protected the Supreme Court in a reign of judicial tyranny.” (Pillar, p. 493) Thurmond and Goldwater agreed that if Democrats “prevail, freedom as we have known it in this country is doomed.” (p. 493)
Meanwhile, violence against black people in the South continued, largely ignored by law enforcement, local, state and federal. In fact, many law enforcement officers were known to participate in the violence, incidents which included bombings, murders and terrorism. As black people participating in the Civil Rights movement were being beaten and arrested, held without trial, and losing their homes, churches and their lives, many whites, from law enforcement to white newspapers, reported that the blacks were burning their own homes and murdering each other, and blaming white people.
Black people pushed for civil rights, which included, first and foremost, the right to vote, in spite of having little to no support or protection from law enforcement. Meanwhile, segregationists, some members of the KKK and some not, perceived it their godly and religious duty to stop the movement of blacks toward equity. Imperial KKK Wizard Sam Bowers “quoted the Book of Romans to ordain that any ‘fourth degree sanctions’ (the KKK designated term for “murder”) be accomplished by compartmentalized command “without malice” in the spirit of Christian soldiers.” (Pillar, p. 500)
Surely, there was a need for a bill to give African Americans the rights due to any human being.
White Opposition to Passage of Civil Rights Bill
The year was 1964, and the passage of a bill that would make it law to treat African Americans as Americans with rights outlined by the United States Constitution was nearly a reality.
White opposition to the bill, however, was broad and deep; although “segregationists” were expectedly opposed to the bill, so were many so-called liberals who felt that the balance of the United States was about to be horribly knocked askew.
People wanted “their country back,” and were incensed that President Lyndon Baines Johnson was intent on getting the bill passed.
That year, Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-AZ, was running for president, and he didn’t want to make race an issue of his campaign, but did in fact shape his arguments so that people knew he was very well talking about race. About the pending passage of the civil rights bill, he “endorsed the segregationist charge that the new civil rights law was a cause rather than a cure for injustice” He said that” …the more the federal government attempted to legislate morality, the more it has actually incited hatred and violence.” The rift between those who believed in states’ rights and those who supported broader federal government involvement in some issues was highlighted as Goldwater criticized “big government” for imposing Social Security numbers, and telling you what to print on your cigarette pack.” (Pillar of Fire,p. 492)
Goldwater connected with Sen. Strom Thurmond,D-SC, and together, the Republican candidate for president and the Democratic senator criticized the element of the Democratic Party which supported passage of the bill. On September 16, Thurmond switched party affiliation, and as a new Republican, said, “The Democratic Party has abandoned the people…(it has) invaded the lives of people … has succored and assisted our Communist enemies…worships at the throne of power and materialism …has protected the Supreme Court in a reign of judicial tyranny.” (Pillar, p. 493) Thurmond and Goldwater agreed that if Democrats “prevail, freedom as we have known it in this country is doomed.” (p. 493)
Meanwhile, violence against black people in the South continued, largely ignored by law enforcement, local, state and federal. In fact, many law enforcement officers were known to participate in the violence, incidents which included bombings, murders and terrorism. As black people participating in the Civil Rights movement were being beaten and arrested, held without trial, and losing their homes, churches and their lives, many whites, from law enforcement to white newspapers, reported that the blacks were burning their own homes and murdering each other, and blaming white people.
Black people pushed for civil rights, which included, first and foremost, the right to vote, in spite of having little to no support or protection from law enforcement. Meanwhile, segregationists, some members of the KKK and some not, perceived it their godly and religious duty to stop the movement of blacks toward equity. Imperial KKK Wizard Sam Bowers “quoted the Book of Romans to ordain that any ‘fourth degree sanctions’ (the KKK designated term for “murder”) be accomplished by compartmentalized command “without malice” in the spirit of Christian soldiers.” (Pillar, p. 500)
Surely, there was a need for a bill to give African Americans the rights due to any human being.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Our Disease Keeps Flaring Up
Perhaps we are living in a kairos moment, a God moment, and God Herself is parting the waters.
A brouhaha broke out last week when Ben Jealous, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), presiding over the 121st convention of that group drafted a resolution asking that the leadership of the Tea Party denounce the “racist elements” of that group. He was referring to the Tea Party members spitting on black legislators, referring to President Obama and his family in racist terms, and some of the other things we have all seen.
Jealous didn’t say the Tea Party itself was racist. He said that there were (and there are) racist elements in the Tea Party who have done and said offensive things and that the leadership should denounce them.
Mark Williams, the head of the Tea Party Express, fired back, saying that the entire NAACP was racist, and then he wrote a very offensive blog, a satire of Jealous, he said, where he had Jealous writing a letter to President Abraham Lincoln, asking what “we coloreds” would do, now that people expect us to take care of ourselves.
A member of the Tea Party later expelled Williams from the Tea Party Express, a black man, actually, who couldn’t say that what Williams had written was racist (“I am not able to say what is racist and what is not,” he said) but it was offensive, and took away from the goals of the Tea Party, which is to push for less government, less government spending, and lower taxes.
Well, folks got riled up, on both “sides,” and someone dug up a speech where Shirley Sherrod, who until this week worked for the federal government, was heard on tape saying that she was offended when a white farmer acted like he was talking down to her and didn’t do as much as she might …
But what she did do is help this same farmer save his farm, when it seemed nobody else could or would. The elderly white farmer said on television this week that she was not racist, that she saved their farm, a farm which they still have. “She’s not no racist,” the elderly Mr. Spooner, the farmer, said. “Seems to me like somebody just wanted to stir something up.” His wife agreed.
Ms. Sherrod says that as she was doing her job yesterday, “the White House,” or someone from the White House, a Cheryl Cook, Deputy Secretary for Underdevelopment, called her three times and pressured her to resign her post. She said that this Ms. Cook told her first to go on administrative leave. She was driving a government car, so she left her meeting and was on her way home. On that drive, she got three calls from Ms. Cook, pressuring her to resign. Ms. Cook said that Glenn Beck was going to run the tape that evening of what she’d said on that tape, and finally, asked pull over to the side of the road and offer her resignation.
Then, to add insult to injury, Ben Jealous, on behalf of the NAACP, denounced this woman.
My question is, why didn’t the government and Jealous look into the entire statement and speech Sherrod made before they threw her on the chopping block? Sherrod said that she promised her father, the night he was murdered by a Klansman, that she would not leave the South and that she would do all she could to end racism, in her own little way. She said she decided to turn the pain of knowing her father had been murdered for no other reason than he was hated by some whites … that she would turn this negative into a positive.
Someone should have looked into the depth of this story before they threw Sherrod under the bus.
All of us who are African American have felt the discomfort of feeling looked down upon by some white person just because of our color. We have known the difficulty of doing right when we have felt like not doing it. I think I heard her say that though on the day she met with Mr. Spooner she didn’t do all she could on that day, she eventually relented to her sense of right in the eyes of God, and helped that man save his farm.
Oh, the story needs to be opened and told. The Tea Party and Right Wingers who dug this up as a sort of trump card following the dispute between the Tea Party and NAACP got her fired. How many real cases of discrimination have gone ignored? How many white government workers have not done all they can to help black farmers.
Oh, by the way. Ms. Sherrod made the statement 24 years ago, and she wasn’t working for the government at the time.
A brouhaha broke out last week when Ben Jealous, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), presiding over the 121st convention of that group drafted a resolution asking that the leadership of the Tea Party denounce the “racist elements” of that group. He was referring to the Tea Party members spitting on black legislators, referring to President Obama and his family in racist terms, and some of the other things we have all seen.
Jealous didn’t say the Tea Party itself was racist. He said that there were (and there are) racist elements in the Tea Party who have done and said offensive things and that the leadership should denounce them.
Mark Williams, the head of the Tea Party Express, fired back, saying that the entire NAACP was racist, and then he wrote a very offensive blog, a satire of Jealous, he said, where he had Jealous writing a letter to President Abraham Lincoln, asking what “we coloreds” would do, now that people expect us to take care of ourselves.
A member of the Tea Party later expelled Williams from the Tea Party Express, a black man, actually, who couldn’t say that what Williams had written was racist (“I am not able to say what is racist and what is not,” he said) but it was offensive, and took away from the goals of the Tea Party, which is to push for less government, less government spending, and lower taxes.
Well, folks got riled up, on both “sides,” and someone dug up a speech where Shirley Sherrod, who until this week worked for the federal government, was heard on tape saying that she was offended when a white farmer acted like he was talking down to her and didn’t do as much as she might …
But what she did do is help this same farmer save his farm, when it seemed nobody else could or would. The elderly white farmer said on television this week that she was not racist, that she saved their farm, a farm which they still have. “She’s not no racist,” the elderly Mr. Spooner, the farmer, said. “Seems to me like somebody just wanted to stir something up.” His wife agreed.
Ms. Sherrod says that as she was doing her job yesterday, “the White House,” or someone from the White House, a Cheryl Cook, Deputy Secretary for Underdevelopment, called her three times and pressured her to resign her post. She said that this Ms. Cook told her first to go on administrative leave. She was driving a government car, so she left her meeting and was on her way home. On that drive, she got three calls from Ms. Cook, pressuring her to resign. Ms. Cook said that Glenn Beck was going to run the tape that evening of what she’d said on that tape, and finally, asked pull over to the side of the road and offer her resignation.
Then, to add insult to injury, Ben Jealous, on behalf of the NAACP, denounced this woman.
My question is, why didn’t the government and Jealous look into the entire statement and speech Sherrod made before they threw her on the chopping block? Sherrod said that she promised her father, the night he was murdered by a Klansman, that she would not leave the South and that she would do all she could to end racism, in her own little way. She said she decided to turn the pain of knowing her father had been murdered for no other reason than he was hated by some whites … that she would turn this negative into a positive.
Someone should have looked into the depth of this story before they threw Sherrod under the bus.
All of us who are African American have felt the discomfort of feeling looked down upon by some white person just because of our color. We have known the difficulty of doing right when we have felt like not doing it. I think I heard her say that though on the day she met with Mr. Spooner she didn’t do all she could on that day, she eventually relented to her sense of right in the eyes of God, and helped that man save his farm.
Oh, the story needs to be opened and told. The Tea Party and Right Wingers who dug this up as a sort of trump card following the dispute between the Tea Party and NAACP got her fired. How many real cases of discrimination have gone ignored? How many white government workers have not done all they can to help black farmers.
Oh, by the way. Ms. Sherrod made the statement 24 years ago, and she wasn’t working for the government at the time.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Lessons in Black History - Teachers Take a Stand
The year was 1965, and Lyndon B. Johnson had just been elected to his first full term as president of the United States. His inauguration was spectacular; an estimated 1.2 million people gathered on the Washington Mall, which was 60 times more people who had watched John F. Kennedy become president.
The war in Vietnam was a sore reality, already cutting into the legacy that LBJ would leave, even while another part of his legacy was the passage of the Civil Rights Bill into law. Although fiercely opposed, there was in America a sense of a passage traveled; people said then, as they said after Barack Obama was elected president, that the race problems of America had ended because of the bill’s passage.
People said that even as citizens and civil rights volunteers worked in the South to get black people the right to vote. The resistance to black voter registration was stubborn, unfair and violent…and persistent. People in the South objected to “outsiders” telling them what to do and how to run their states. White violence against black people trying to register was rampant and largely supported by white law enforcement officers and courts, presided over by racist judges.
In Selma, Alabama that year, African American schoolteachers decided to take a stand. Many of their young students had faced angry police officers and dogs, been burned with cattle prods, and gone to jail, fighting for the right of “grown folks” to vote. The teachers resolved that they had to support their students and the cause.
And so they arrived at Clark Elementary School, dressed in their Sunday best, according to author Taylor Branch, and marched, two by two, from the school toward the voting registrar’s office. Their action was a bold move, for not only did they face certain violence, they could have lost their jobs as well. Branch states that most of them owed their very jobs to white politicians. Nevertheless, they were moved to march, and march they did.
It was January 22 at 3:24 p.m. The teachers arrived at the registrar’s office to be told by the president of the school board that the office was closed. He also said that the teachers’ written requests to be allowed to register after classes were done had been denied. They were advised to leave.
The group’s leader, a Rev. F.D. Reese, asked if one or two teachers could be allowed to walk past the closed voting registrar’s office as a sign of their resolve to get the right to vote, but his request made the sheriff angry. Sheriff Jim Clark ordered the teachers off the premises, then proceeded to launch into them, nightstick flailing. He succeeded in shoving the teachers down the stairs, causing many to fall onto the sidewalk.
The teachers gathered themselves up and ascended the stairs two more times, only to pushed down the stairs both times. They defied authorities; 95 percent of the African American schoolteachers of Selma were represented in this march, and police knew they’d have a hard time if all were arrested. Finally, Andrew Young appeared and called the march to a halt; the teachers got back into their double line and marched back to Clark Elementary School.
The action garnered huge support for the teachers from the youth, who, up to this point, had scorned their apparent reluctance to “get involved.” And all of this happened while up north, people said the passage of the Civil Rights Bill into law had showed that America’s race problems had ended.
The war in Vietnam was a sore reality, already cutting into the legacy that LBJ would leave, even while another part of his legacy was the passage of the Civil Rights Bill into law. Although fiercely opposed, there was in America a sense of a passage traveled; people said then, as they said after Barack Obama was elected president, that the race problems of America had ended because of the bill’s passage.
People said that even as citizens and civil rights volunteers worked in the South to get black people the right to vote. The resistance to black voter registration was stubborn, unfair and violent…and persistent. People in the South objected to “outsiders” telling them what to do and how to run their states. White violence against black people trying to register was rampant and largely supported by white law enforcement officers and courts, presided over by racist judges.
In Selma, Alabama that year, African American schoolteachers decided to take a stand. Many of their young students had faced angry police officers and dogs, been burned with cattle prods, and gone to jail, fighting for the right of “grown folks” to vote. The teachers resolved that they had to support their students and the cause.
And so they arrived at Clark Elementary School, dressed in their Sunday best, according to author Taylor Branch, and marched, two by two, from the school toward the voting registrar’s office. Their action was a bold move, for not only did they face certain violence, they could have lost their jobs as well. Branch states that most of them owed their very jobs to white politicians. Nevertheless, they were moved to march, and march they did.
It was January 22 at 3:24 p.m. The teachers arrived at the registrar’s office to be told by the president of the school board that the office was closed. He also said that the teachers’ written requests to be allowed to register after classes were done had been denied. They were advised to leave.
The group’s leader, a Rev. F.D. Reese, asked if one or two teachers could be allowed to walk past the closed voting registrar’s office as a sign of their resolve to get the right to vote, but his request made the sheriff angry. Sheriff Jim Clark ordered the teachers off the premises, then proceeded to launch into them, nightstick flailing. He succeeded in shoving the teachers down the stairs, causing many to fall onto the sidewalk.
The teachers gathered themselves up and ascended the stairs two more times, only to pushed down the stairs both times. They defied authorities; 95 percent of the African American schoolteachers of Selma were represented in this march, and police knew they’d have a hard time if all were arrested. Finally, Andrew Young appeared and called the march to a halt; the teachers got back into their double line and marched back to Clark Elementary School.
The action garnered huge support for the teachers from the youth, who, up to this point, had scorned their apparent reluctance to “get involved.” And all of this happened while up north, people said the passage of the Civil Rights Bill into law had showed that America’s race problems had ended.
Tea Party Racism a Reality
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held its 101st convention this week in Kansas City and presented a resolution asking the Tea Party to condemn its “rampant racism.”
Ben Jealous, president of this country’s oldest civil rights organization, said that the Tea Party has “dedicated racists and ultra nationalists” in its ranks, people who make no bones about not liking black people in general and President Obama in particular.
Mr. Jealous said that the aim of the Tea Party is to push the country back to pre-civil rights era conditions, but Mark Williams, speaking for the Tea Party, said it is the Obama administration that is seeking to do just that.
Huh?
Mr. Williams said that the president’s policies, including health care reform, threaten the human and civil rights of all Americans, including black people. He said that Mr. Obama has created policies that “have emasculated the black family.”
Huh?
Which black families is he talking about?
In fact, how many American families, period, is he talking about?
The facts have shown that though Americans pay more for health care than any nation in the world, we have the worst health care. We have a system based on profit for insurance companies, which has been at the expense of “the American people.”
All groups of people, from all ethnicities and economic classes, have suffered because our health care system is and has been more concerned with profit margins over the health and well being of American citizens.
When little children, black, white, and otherwise, are dying of infections garnered from a bad tooth that could not be treated because a parent didn’t have health care, something is morally wrong with the extant system. When people with cancer cannot get treatment because they do not have and cannot afford health care, something is wrong. When a family has to send a child overseas because he or she has a chronic illness, needs health insurance, isn’t working, but couldn’t get health care anyway because of his or her pre-existing condition, something is wrong.
WHO is it that’s been emasculated by Mr. Obama’s policies?
The Tea Party is not made up exclusively of racist people, but there are enough of them, people so racist that some felt it OK to spit on black legislators some months ago, and who compare Mr. Obama to Hitler …there are enough of them to taint the entire party, in my opinion. For Mr. Williams to state that the Obama’s policies “emasculate” the black family reeks of arrogance, ignorance and racism as well. What black families does he know which have been hurt by the prospect of having access to health care?
I hope that the Tea Party crashes and burns. I hope that its racism hits enough people who are at least embarrassed to be associated with a group which feels to be a euphemism for the Ku Klux Klan. These people are riled up and have lots of energy; I hope that voices of reason, stronger than the so-called “Coffee Parties,” rile up and push back, until the Tea Party is pushed into the Boston Harbor, ever to remain drowned in and because of its own racism, arrogance and ignorance.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Ben Jealous, president of this country’s oldest civil rights organization, said that the Tea Party has “dedicated racists and ultra nationalists” in its ranks, people who make no bones about not liking black people in general and President Obama in particular.
Mr. Jealous said that the aim of the Tea Party is to push the country back to pre-civil rights era conditions, but Mark Williams, speaking for the Tea Party, said it is the Obama administration that is seeking to do just that.
Huh?
Mr. Williams said that the president’s policies, including health care reform, threaten the human and civil rights of all Americans, including black people. He said that Mr. Obama has created policies that “have emasculated the black family.”
Huh?
Which black families is he talking about?
In fact, how many American families, period, is he talking about?
The facts have shown that though Americans pay more for health care than any nation in the world, we have the worst health care. We have a system based on profit for insurance companies, which has been at the expense of “the American people.”
All groups of people, from all ethnicities and economic classes, have suffered because our health care system is and has been more concerned with profit margins over the health and well being of American citizens.
When little children, black, white, and otherwise, are dying of infections garnered from a bad tooth that could not be treated because a parent didn’t have health care, something is morally wrong with the extant system. When people with cancer cannot get treatment because they do not have and cannot afford health care, something is wrong. When a family has to send a child overseas because he or she has a chronic illness, needs health insurance, isn’t working, but couldn’t get health care anyway because of his or her pre-existing condition, something is wrong.
WHO is it that’s been emasculated by Mr. Obama’s policies?
The Tea Party is not made up exclusively of racist people, but there are enough of them, people so racist that some felt it OK to spit on black legislators some months ago, and who compare Mr. Obama to Hitler …there are enough of them to taint the entire party, in my opinion. For Mr. Williams to state that the Obama’s policies “emasculate” the black family reeks of arrogance, ignorance and racism as well. What black families does he know which have been hurt by the prospect of having access to health care?
I hope that the Tea Party crashes and burns. I hope that its racism hits enough people who are at least embarrassed to be associated with a group which feels to be a euphemism for the Ku Klux Klan. These people are riled up and have lots of energy; I hope that voices of reason, stronger than the so-called “Coffee Parties,” rile up and push back, until the Tea Party is pushed into the Boston Harbor, ever to remain drowned in and because of its own racism, arrogance and ignorance.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
I Happen to be a Christian
Lessons in Black History
“I Happen to be a Christian”
The greatest strength of the Civil Rights movement was its insistence on non-violence. Using the Gospels as his guide, Dr. King and his organization spent hours teaching African Americans how to resist violent altercations with opponents of civil rights, relying on the “turn the other cheek” directive given by Jesus.
Some people thought, however, that Dr. King’s tactics were anti-Christian, and thought that non-violence incited people to attack each other. A conversation that Dr. King had on a flight with a white person went this way:
“A well dressed young passenger across the aisle recognized Dr. King. ‘I happen to be a Christian,’ he repeated several times, asking with a polite edge whether King thought he advocated ‘the same love Jesus taught’ even though King’s methods ‘incited one man against another.’ King replied that nonviolence aimed at a ‘love that is strong so that you love your fellow men enough to lead them to justice.’ He asked whether his questioner thought segregation was Christian. ‘I was anticipating that,’ the passenger warily replied, adding that he was less resolved on the large issue than on his hunch that King’s methods were ‘causing more harm than good.’ King asked what methods the passenger suggested, which eventually elicited an opinion that the new civil rights law was harmful, too, and would ‘just carry on the trend toward federal dictatorship.’ When he expressed his inclination to vote for Goldwater, they lightened the stakes by sparring over presidential election odds until the passenger moved to another seat.” (Taylor Branch, “Pillar of Fire,” p. 410)
White people upset by the thought of black people having civil and voting rights believed that such efforts would turn the United States into a socialist country. Members of the Republican Party, the “party of Lincoln,” began to leave their party and become Democrats, joining the ranks of well established Southern Democrats. To be for the rights of all people was to be “liberal,” and out of line with the principles established by the United States Constitution. Up until the civil rights movement, Republicans had been more aligned behind and in support of “Negro rights,” but it seems that their definition of “rights” was limited and the civil rights act definitely expanded the sphere beyond what most could accept. The federal government became the enemy as it pushed through the civil rights act, and the political ideology of Republicans shifted, representing white people who opposed civil and voting rights, while black people aligned themselves with Democrats, whose leader, President Lyndon Johnson, had pushed the civil rights bill through Congress.
Clearly, the idea of being a “Christian” was seen differently by whites and blacks. Many whites, opposed to rights for black people, said that Jesus himself believed in a stratified, separated, segregated society. The late Sen. Robert Byrd, arguing against passage of the Civil Rights bill, said, “If all men are created equal, how could five of the virgins have been wise and five foolish?” He further said that he had listened to the giants of theology and evangelism and wondered why they had never mentioned race, and, finally, he said that he had searched the scriptures and had found no scriptural basis upon which the Congress was obligated to pass the civil rights legislation.
People happened to be Christian, but clearly, the understanding and interpretation of the Gospels left wiggle room for those who sought Biblical justification.
“I Happen to be a Christian”
The greatest strength of the Civil Rights movement was its insistence on non-violence. Using the Gospels as his guide, Dr. King and his organization spent hours teaching African Americans how to resist violent altercations with opponents of civil rights, relying on the “turn the other cheek” directive given by Jesus.
Some people thought, however, that Dr. King’s tactics were anti-Christian, and thought that non-violence incited people to attack each other. A conversation that Dr. King had on a flight with a white person went this way:
“A well dressed young passenger across the aisle recognized Dr. King. ‘I happen to be a Christian,’ he repeated several times, asking with a polite edge whether King thought he advocated ‘the same love Jesus taught’ even though King’s methods ‘incited one man against another.’ King replied that nonviolence aimed at a ‘love that is strong so that you love your fellow men enough to lead them to justice.’ He asked whether his questioner thought segregation was Christian. ‘I was anticipating that,’ the passenger warily replied, adding that he was less resolved on the large issue than on his hunch that King’s methods were ‘causing more harm than good.’ King asked what methods the passenger suggested, which eventually elicited an opinion that the new civil rights law was harmful, too, and would ‘just carry on the trend toward federal dictatorship.’ When he expressed his inclination to vote for Goldwater, they lightened the stakes by sparring over presidential election odds until the passenger moved to another seat.” (Taylor Branch, “Pillar of Fire,” p. 410)
White people upset by the thought of black people having civil and voting rights believed that such efforts would turn the United States into a socialist country. Members of the Republican Party, the “party of Lincoln,” began to leave their party and become Democrats, joining the ranks of well established Southern Democrats. To be for the rights of all people was to be “liberal,” and out of line with the principles established by the United States Constitution. Up until the civil rights movement, Republicans had been more aligned behind and in support of “Negro rights,” but it seems that their definition of “rights” was limited and the civil rights act definitely expanded the sphere beyond what most could accept. The federal government became the enemy as it pushed through the civil rights act, and the political ideology of Republicans shifted, representing white people who opposed civil and voting rights, while black people aligned themselves with Democrats, whose leader, President Lyndon Johnson, had pushed the civil rights bill through Congress.
Clearly, the idea of being a “Christian” was seen differently by whites and blacks. Many whites, opposed to rights for black people, said that Jesus himself believed in a stratified, separated, segregated society. The late Sen. Robert Byrd, arguing against passage of the Civil Rights bill, said, “If all men are created equal, how could five of the virgins have been wise and five foolish?” He further said that he had listened to the giants of theology and evangelism and wondered why they had never mentioned race, and, finally, he said that he had searched the scriptures and had found no scriptural basis upon which the Congress was obligated to pass the civil rights legislation.
People happened to be Christian, but clearly, the understanding and interpretation of the Gospels left wiggle room for those who sought Biblical justification.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Come to Worship; Leave to Serve
Things are bad on the Gulf Coast; life there is altered significantly, if not forever, then for a very long time. Individuals and families have lost their livelihood, and bad economic times have just gotten worse because if one group of people are suffering we are all suffering. Stories say that crews are cleaning Gulf Coast beaches 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Efforts to get the oil cleaned up are controlled by the weather, and as hurricane season gears up, making the waters choppy and rough, it looks like a bad situation is going to get worse before it gets better.
But in spite of the Gulf Coast, I keep thinking about Haiti, you know, the poorest nation in the world. I keep thinking about the people living in tents, in shanty towns, really, with no electricity, no toilets, crammed together like sardines, in line to be hit by torrential rains and hurricanes as well.
It is so easy to forget. It is easy, too, to marginalize peoples’ suffering when we have not seen it or experienced it. When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other towns on the Gulf Coast, it was absolutely eerie to see the devastation. There is a silence in destruction that is that extreme. Walking through the rubble, it was as though the very earth was crying out for help. If the earth was crying, then the people wailed…
Reports showed that the ripple effects of Katrina were great, and the ripples continue to this day, including deaths, mental disease, job loss, and, of course, loss of property. Teams of people are still going down to New Orleans to help rebuild. Some families are still living in trailers.
Instead of the need to serve getting smaller, it is getting larger. The people on the Gulf Coast need help. The people in Haiti need help, and victims of Katrina may still need help. People in Tennessee impacted by recent floods need help…
Jesus’ command to serve is great. No matter how small we may be, we are still obligated to live the Gospel and to bless others with whatever we can. Today we feed people in our community, and take leftover food to a shelter, and Tuesday we may be taking our hot lunch to a community where there is no recreation center. The deacons are collecting money so that we can build a well in West Africa so that people have clean water. We have begun to “go out” and live the Great Commission.
But with people in Haiti and Tennessee and the Gulf Coast still in need, we have more to do. The first step is praying for the people who are in need; and the second step is to pray for God to show us what we can do, and how, so that we may serve “while it is still day.”
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
But in spite of the Gulf Coast, I keep thinking about Haiti, you know, the poorest nation in the world. I keep thinking about the people living in tents, in shanty towns, really, with no electricity, no toilets, crammed together like sardines, in line to be hit by torrential rains and hurricanes as well.
It is so easy to forget. It is easy, too, to marginalize peoples’ suffering when we have not seen it or experienced it. When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other towns on the Gulf Coast, it was absolutely eerie to see the devastation. There is a silence in destruction that is that extreme. Walking through the rubble, it was as though the very earth was crying out for help. If the earth was crying, then the people wailed…
Reports showed that the ripple effects of Katrina were great, and the ripples continue to this day, including deaths, mental disease, job loss, and, of course, loss of property. Teams of people are still going down to New Orleans to help rebuild. Some families are still living in trailers.
Instead of the need to serve getting smaller, it is getting larger. The people on the Gulf Coast need help. The people in Haiti need help, and victims of Katrina may still need help. People in Tennessee impacted by recent floods need help…
Jesus’ command to serve is great. No matter how small we may be, we are still obligated to live the Gospel and to bless others with whatever we can. Today we feed people in our community, and take leftover food to a shelter, and Tuesday we may be taking our hot lunch to a community where there is no recreation center. The deacons are collecting money so that we can build a well in West Africa so that people have clean water. We have begun to “go out” and live the Great Commission.
But with people in Haiti and Tennessee and the Gulf Coast still in need, we have more to do. The first step is praying for the people who are in need; and the second step is to pray for God to show us what we can do, and how, so that we may serve “while it is still day.”
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Forgive as We Have Been Forgiven
I was totally irritated this week when, after Chris Brown performed at the BET Awards, in a tribute to Michael Jackson, he broke down and people wondered if it was all a show.
Not only that, but an unforgiving spirit hung over all the television commentaries and blogs. Because Chris Brown treated Rihanna so poorly, it seems that many to perhaps most refuse to forgive him and doubt that his “remorse” is sincere.
I found the entire situation troubling one, because too many people automatically thought that Brown was merely being dramatic, and two, I would bet that many of those people turning their noses up at him are probably people who call themselves Christian, meaning, they are under divine command to forgive.
Brown was singing “Man in the Mirror” when he broke down, in tears. I thought, as I watched him, that many of us have looked into a mirror and finally seen who we really are, and have not been happy. Many of us have realized, seeing ourselves honestly for perhaps the first time, that we have messed up and messed up bad. Such a realization could bring anyone to tears.
If Brown had one of those kinds of moments, coupled with a profound sense of sadness that the King of Pop is really gone, yes, it might move him to tears.
I hate what happened between Brown and Rihanna. There is never a reason to hit a woman. That’s what I was taught. That’s what I thought, even, when I saw video of a cop hitting a belligerent girl in the face with his fist. My father said a real man never hits a woman, even when she pushes him. His advice, added to my own beliefs, makes me hate what happened to Rihanna at Brown’s hands, and in fact, makes me hate it whenever I hear of or see domestic violence.
But it happened, Rihanna (rightfully so) stopped seeing Brown, Brown went to court and did his community service. I hope he is in anger management classes …but even if he isn’t, the episode with Rihanna is over. If he is sorry, we who call ourselves Christian ought to receive his repentance and perhaps his disdain with himself with grace.
God receives us when we’re like that, and God does it with grace and love.
There are some things that all of us have done for which we will be deeply sorry for and maybe even embarrassed about until we breathe our last breath. The difference between us and Chris Brown is that our agony and embarrassment is private while his is virulently public.
But we certainly count on being forgiven by God, and if we’re with the right people, we hope for their forgiveness as well. It is part of the ethos of belonging to the Christ to not only accept forgiveness from God, but to give forgiveness to those we’ve wronged and receive remorse from those who offer it.
I hope Chris Brown drowns out the cynical opinions offered on his breakdown Sunday. I hope he gives his tears and his heart to God and gets the strength from God to go on and to get stronger. I hope that whatever is in him that drove him to hit Rihanna is slowly dissipating from his spirit.
And I hope that we who call ourselves Christian will let go of some of our cynicism and catch hold of more of God’s grace, so that we can give to others what has been freely given to us.
Have a good week.
Not only that, but an unforgiving spirit hung over all the television commentaries and blogs. Because Chris Brown treated Rihanna so poorly, it seems that many to perhaps most refuse to forgive him and doubt that his “remorse” is sincere.
I found the entire situation troubling one, because too many people automatically thought that Brown was merely being dramatic, and two, I would bet that many of those people turning their noses up at him are probably people who call themselves Christian, meaning, they are under divine command to forgive.
Brown was singing “Man in the Mirror” when he broke down, in tears. I thought, as I watched him, that many of us have looked into a mirror and finally seen who we really are, and have not been happy. Many of us have realized, seeing ourselves honestly for perhaps the first time, that we have messed up and messed up bad. Such a realization could bring anyone to tears.
If Brown had one of those kinds of moments, coupled with a profound sense of sadness that the King of Pop is really gone, yes, it might move him to tears.
I hate what happened between Brown and Rihanna. There is never a reason to hit a woman. That’s what I was taught. That’s what I thought, even, when I saw video of a cop hitting a belligerent girl in the face with his fist. My father said a real man never hits a woman, even when she pushes him. His advice, added to my own beliefs, makes me hate what happened to Rihanna at Brown’s hands, and in fact, makes me hate it whenever I hear of or see domestic violence.
But it happened, Rihanna (rightfully so) stopped seeing Brown, Brown went to court and did his community service. I hope he is in anger management classes …but even if he isn’t, the episode with Rihanna is over. If he is sorry, we who call ourselves Christian ought to receive his repentance and perhaps his disdain with himself with grace.
God receives us when we’re like that, and God does it with grace and love.
There are some things that all of us have done for which we will be deeply sorry for and maybe even embarrassed about until we breathe our last breath. The difference between us and Chris Brown is that our agony and embarrassment is private while his is virulently public.
But we certainly count on being forgiven by God, and if we’re with the right people, we hope for their forgiveness as well. It is part of the ethos of belonging to the Christ to not only accept forgiveness from God, but to give forgiveness to those we’ve wronged and receive remorse from those who offer it.
I hope Chris Brown drowns out the cynical opinions offered on his breakdown Sunday. I hope he gives his tears and his heart to God and gets the strength from God to go on and to get stronger. I hope that whatever is in him that drove him to hit Rihanna is slowly dissipating from his spirit.
And I hope that we who call ourselves Christian will let go of some of our cynicism and catch hold of more of God’s grace, so that we can give to others what has been freely given to us.
Have a good week.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
We Can
We can do anything we want. We merely have to really want to do it.
The driver, the force behind great things being done is not money, but it is the spirit and faith of the person or persons pushing their vision.
Too often, because there is a lack of sufficient funds (and there is always a lack of sufficient funds) people fold their arms and purse their lips and say “we cannot do it,” or “it can’t be done.”
What about God? What about the fact that we say all the time that we can do all things through Christ? Whatever all we do not have, we have God.
If we do not make God the center of all we do, then we “do religion” in vain. God desires us to try Him/Her, and to taste and see that God is good. If we never try God, we never taste God and God’s goodness.
It seems, though, that the best way to taste God’s goodness is to focus on others, not on ourselves. It seems that God wants to show us “the power of one, plus God.” One person, on fire, undeterred, unafraid, and steadfast about “doing good and using God,” can make God show up and show out.
We know that a vocal minority can persuade a silent majority that impossible-sounding things are beyond the scope of God. Really? This God, who made the world and everything in it? Can that truly be the case? Remember the story of Joshua and Caleb, and the 10 other spies sent to scope out the Promised Land? Ten spies came back with a negative report, and were able to sway the majority of the Israelites that they could not get into the land.
Only Joshua and Caleb said that because of God, “we can surely enter this land.”
The majority of Israelites believed the negative report and in fact did not see the Promised Land.
That is not the God I know. This God is a “rewarder of those who seek Him.”
This economy is bad, but God IS. God is …good, able, merciful, knowing … God IS.
As we move to raise the money for our parking lot, I hope we keep that thought in front of us and in the center of all we do. We don’t have the money (now), but we have God, always. God IS.
Let the redeemed say so…and move on it.
Pastor Smith
The driver, the force behind great things being done is not money, but it is the spirit and faith of the person or persons pushing their vision.
Too often, because there is a lack of sufficient funds (and there is always a lack of sufficient funds) people fold their arms and purse their lips and say “we cannot do it,” or “it can’t be done.”
What about God? What about the fact that we say all the time that we can do all things through Christ? Whatever all we do not have, we have God.
If we do not make God the center of all we do, then we “do religion” in vain. God desires us to try Him/Her, and to taste and see that God is good. If we never try God, we never taste God and God’s goodness.
It seems, though, that the best way to taste God’s goodness is to focus on others, not on ourselves. It seems that God wants to show us “the power of one, plus God.” One person, on fire, undeterred, unafraid, and steadfast about “doing good and using God,” can make God show up and show out.
We know that a vocal minority can persuade a silent majority that impossible-sounding things are beyond the scope of God. Really? This God, who made the world and everything in it? Can that truly be the case? Remember the story of Joshua and Caleb, and the 10 other spies sent to scope out the Promised Land? Ten spies came back with a negative report, and were able to sway the majority of the Israelites that they could not get into the land.
Only Joshua and Caleb said that because of God, “we can surely enter this land.”
The majority of Israelites believed the negative report and in fact did not see the Promised Land.
That is not the God I know. This God is a “rewarder of those who seek Him.”
This economy is bad, but God IS. God is …good, able, merciful, knowing … God IS.
As we move to raise the money for our parking lot, I hope we keep that thought in front of us and in the center of all we do. We don’t have the money (now), but we have God, always. God IS.
Let the redeemed say so…and move on it.
Pastor Smith
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Rachel, Weeping for her Children
Too often, we have no idea of the depth of suffering in our own country.
I read a troubling report this week that said this summer, literally thousands of school children will face hunger. These are kids who have relied on free lunches (and in some cases, breakfasts as wee) during the school year. With school out, and with free feeding programs scattered throughout cities and food pantries nearly dry, these same children will be left to eat junk food or compete for left-over food that just will not stretch far enough.
Because of this crisis, the report said, these kids will show up for school less healthy than they are now, and therefore, less able to learn.
This year, the report said a record 20.5 million school kids needed subsidized school lunches. For many, that lunch represents the only food they get on a daily basis.
If it is a fact that the kids will rely more on junk food to fill their empty stomachs, not only their ability to learn but their health will be compromised. Junk food adds empty calories and pounds, but little nutritional value, and food from fast food restaurants don’t do much better. Therefore, kids can be expected to be more obese, and suffer from diabetes and even hypertension, illnesses that are affecting more and more young children at an alarming rate.
Though the federal government provides funds for free school lunches, there are more hungry school children than there are federal dollars enough to feed them. Food sites which receive federal funds must be in areas where there are enough poor children to meet federal requirements. It is possible, therefore, for an area to be poor, but not poor enough, to qualify for free food.
The result is that the kids go hungry.
Some people in some areas have addressed and are addressing the problem and are distributing food from coolers in the backs of their vans or trucks, or from their church basements for fellowship halls, but food distributed this way does not qualify for federal funds. These lunches are paid for with private funds.
Still, the alternative is not acceptable; the thought of kids being hungry all summer is as troubling as was the thought of women re-using dirty diapers for their kids because they cannot afford Pampers. The economy may be getting better for some people, but not for the masses, not yet. If there are hungry children, then there must be food for them. Surely, we the community cannot let them languish and be miserable.
What do you think?
Pastor Smith
I read a troubling report this week that said this summer, literally thousands of school children will face hunger. These are kids who have relied on free lunches (and in some cases, breakfasts as wee) during the school year. With school out, and with free feeding programs scattered throughout cities and food pantries nearly dry, these same children will be left to eat junk food or compete for left-over food that just will not stretch far enough.
Because of this crisis, the report said, these kids will show up for school less healthy than they are now, and therefore, less able to learn.
This year, the report said a record 20.5 million school kids needed subsidized school lunches. For many, that lunch represents the only food they get on a daily basis.
If it is a fact that the kids will rely more on junk food to fill their empty stomachs, not only their ability to learn but their health will be compromised. Junk food adds empty calories and pounds, but little nutritional value, and food from fast food restaurants don’t do much better. Therefore, kids can be expected to be more obese, and suffer from diabetes and even hypertension, illnesses that are affecting more and more young children at an alarming rate.
Though the federal government provides funds for free school lunches, there are more hungry school children than there are federal dollars enough to feed them. Food sites which receive federal funds must be in areas where there are enough poor children to meet federal requirements. It is possible, therefore, for an area to be poor, but not poor enough, to qualify for free food.
The result is that the kids go hungry.
Some people in some areas have addressed and are addressing the problem and are distributing food from coolers in the backs of their vans or trucks, or from their church basements for fellowship halls, but food distributed this way does not qualify for federal funds. These lunches are paid for with private funds.
Still, the alternative is not acceptable; the thought of kids being hungry all summer is as troubling as was the thought of women re-using dirty diapers for their kids because they cannot afford Pampers. The economy may be getting better for some people, but not for the masses, not yet. If there are hungry children, then there must be food for them. Surely, we the community cannot let them languish and be miserable.
What do you think?
Pastor Smith
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Walk Together Children
Today we begin the next 20 years.
A new day, a new focus, a new spirit …giving back to God with everything we’ve got, trusting that as we honor God, God will honor us.
It is a fact that too many of us are afraid to step out of our boxes and onto the waters of life. We get used to doing things one way and we are just afraid to venture out.
Over the years, we have talked about “being more out in the community,” but we have not done it. Today, we get up and begin the process of really getting out.
We have been blessed deeply. In spite of so few resources we have done much, but God isn’t even close to being through with us, nor is the first part of the history of Advent United Church of Christ completed.
If we open ourselves to God, we can see what God sees, hear what God hears, and feel what God feels. If we open ourselves to God, we are indeed “new creatures,” losing our fear and increasing our faith.
I said in our Wednesday afternoon “Crazy Faith” Bible study that fear is like the oil we have seen in images from the Gulf oil spill. As oil does not mix with water, even salt water, neither does fear mix with faith. We cannot afford as individuals nor as a church to be leaden down with oil, as are the poor birds and wildlife we have seen on television.
We have been blessed and saved in order to bless and lead others to salvation. We have been freed, some of us, from bondages that kept us cooped up for a long, long time. Did we gain our freedom to stay in the cages? I think not.
And so today begins the first chapter of the last part of the first volume of the story of Advent United Church of Christ. There will be several chapters and all will be stories of how we waited on the Lord but worked as we waited, how we shed fear in favor of faith, how we soared over challenges and problems and became the place that God ordained us to be from the beginning.
For the record, I love you all. I love you because you do give, you do push (even if I have to prod you a bit), and you are growing in the Lord. This place is not the same that it was a year ago, and a year from now, the growth will be even more evident.
We have much, so much, to do in order to make the Kingdom of God alive in our community and in our city, Advent UCC style! We have many clarions to blow to let people know that God is love and because we love God, we are love, too.
Martin Luther King Jr. used to tell workers and volunteers who were working to get black folks the right to vote in the hostile South, “Walk together, children. Dontcha get weary.”
Seems like the message we need to hear and internalize right about now. Our real work is only just beginning. Walk together, Advent. Dontcha get weary.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
A new day, a new focus, a new spirit …giving back to God with everything we’ve got, trusting that as we honor God, God will honor us.
It is a fact that too many of us are afraid to step out of our boxes and onto the waters of life. We get used to doing things one way and we are just afraid to venture out.
Over the years, we have talked about “being more out in the community,” but we have not done it. Today, we get up and begin the process of really getting out.
We have been blessed deeply. In spite of so few resources we have done much, but God isn’t even close to being through with us, nor is the first part of the history of Advent United Church of Christ completed.
If we open ourselves to God, we can see what God sees, hear what God hears, and feel what God feels. If we open ourselves to God, we are indeed “new creatures,” losing our fear and increasing our faith.
I said in our Wednesday afternoon “Crazy Faith” Bible study that fear is like the oil we have seen in images from the Gulf oil spill. As oil does not mix with water, even salt water, neither does fear mix with faith. We cannot afford as individuals nor as a church to be leaden down with oil, as are the poor birds and wildlife we have seen on television.
We have been blessed and saved in order to bless and lead others to salvation. We have been freed, some of us, from bondages that kept us cooped up for a long, long time. Did we gain our freedom to stay in the cages? I think not.
And so today begins the first chapter of the last part of the first volume of the story of Advent United Church of Christ. There will be several chapters and all will be stories of how we waited on the Lord but worked as we waited, how we shed fear in favor of faith, how we soared over challenges and problems and became the place that God ordained us to be from the beginning.
For the record, I love you all. I love you because you do give, you do push (even if I have to prod you a bit), and you are growing in the Lord. This place is not the same that it was a year ago, and a year from now, the growth will be even more evident.
We have much, so much, to do in order to make the Kingdom of God alive in our community and in our city, Advent UCC style! We have many clarions to blow to let people know that God is love and because we love God, we are love, too.
Martin Luther King Jr. used to tell workers and volunteers who were working to get black folks the right to vote in the hostile South, “Walk together, children. Dontcha get weary.”
Seems like the message we need to hear and internalize right about now. Our real work is only just beginning. Walk together, Advent. Dontcha get weary.
Have a good week.
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Warnings by God Ignored?
I was thinking about the reason people sometimes can survive horrible hurricanes and tornadoes is because a warning is given that the storm is coming and people respect the warning.
Those who do not respect the warning, or cannot for some reason, too often do not make it through the storm, past the storm, or in the storm.
We get warnings in our lives about impending storms, too. God sends us warnings that someone or something is not good for us, but we ignore the warnings, so when the storm comes, we caught in it and really do not do well. We blame God but it isn’t God’s fault. God warned us; we chose to ignore Her.
As much as we do not want to, say, evacuate when the warning of a dangerous storm is given, it so often turns out that evacuating saved our lives. Why is it, then, when God gives the warning to evacuate a certain course of action and we do not do it, that we blame our shredded spirits on God?
With us all having a finite number of days to live, we ought to think twice about wasting valuable potential joy days trying to weather a storm God never intended us to weather. Much of our misery could be avoided if we would trust God. It is a fact that many, too many people go to church but do not trust God and live and eventually die captive to winds of life we chose to challenge than to avoid when God told us to run for cover.
So, in spite of having a God who is good all the time, we live on the periphery of God’s kingdom blessings of joy and peace. Our choice.
With all we have to do as individuals and as a church, I pray that more and more of us will listen to God’s persistent warnings and heed God’s directions that we take different paths. Our doing what God tells us might not set well with some people around us, but we exist to please God, the source of all we are and all we will be. In the end, all things work for good for those who love the Lord…and whose love for God is marked by trusting what God tells us to do or not do.
It must seem sometimes to God that we are storm chasers, that we consistently push the envelope and dare life and its storms to sweep us up in their mighty currents. There are people who can chase storms and be OK, but they are few and far in between. Most of us are not equipped to handle the vicissitudes of life. We would do well to take cover under God’s protection, something we can only do if we love God enough to trust him.
The storms of life will never cease, but neither will God’s love and wisdom for us, a love and wisdom that says to us, “Back up! Move away! Come to me!” When we do not heed God’s warnings, we must need expect that we will be tossed and turned. Hopefully, more and more of us are getting tired of being tossed and turned.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Those who do not respect the warning, or cannot for some reason, too often do not make it through the storm, past the storm, or in the storm.
We get warnings in our lives about impending storms, too. God sends us warnings that someone or something is not good for us, but we ignore the warnings, so when the storm comes, we caught in it and really do not do well. We blame God but it isn’t God’s fault. God warned us; we chose to ignore Her.
As much as we do not want to, say, evacuate when the warning of a dangerous storm is given, it so often turns out that evacuating saved our lives. Why is it, then, when God gives the warning to evacuate a certain course of action and we do not do it, that we blame our shredded spirits on God?
With us all having a finite number of days to live, we ought to think twice about wasting valuable potential joy days trying to weather a storm God never intended us to weather. Much of our misery could be avoided if we would trust God. It is a fact that many, too many people go to church but do not trust God and live and eventually die captive to winds of life we chose to challenge than to avoid when God told us to run for cover.
So, in spite of having a God who is good all the time, we live on the periphery of God’s kingdom blessings of joy and peace. Our choice.
With all we have to do as individuals and as a church, I pray that more and more of us will listen to God’s persistent warnings and heed God’s directions that we take different paths. Our doing what God tells us might not set well with some people around us, but we exist to please God, the source of all we are and all we will be. In the end, all things work for good for those who love the Lord…and whose love for God is marked by trusting what God tells us to do or not do.
It must seem sometimes to God that we are storm chasers, that we consistently push the envelope and dare life and its storms to sweep us up in their mighty currents. There are people who can chase storms and be OK, but they are few and far in between. Most of us are not equipped to handle the vicissitudes of life. We would do well to take cover under God’s protection, something we can only do if we love God enough to trust him.
The storms of life will never cease, but neither will God’s love and wisdom for us, a love and wisdom that says to us, “Back up! Move away! Come to me!” When we do not heed God’s warnings, we must need expect that we will be tossed and turned. Hopefully, more and more of us are getting tired of being tossed and turned.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Making Excuses a Sign of Weakness
Making excuses makes one weak.
I was reading an article in which Jesse James, Sandra Bullock’s soon to be ex-husband, blamed his actions on a bad childhood in which he was treated badly.
It didn’t wash with me. I can understand making mistakes, but to blame it on “mom and ‘em” is a cop out.
We are the sum total of our life’s experiences. Those experiences are both good and bad, pleasant and not so pleasant. We are who we are because of who we were. Our mistakes, our growing up, all shaped us. We had blessings and we had lessons; lessons which we internalized and digested oftentimes led to blessings.
It is especially important for kids and youth to get this lesson. Every single adult in the world can point to a time when he or she got treated not so good, to when he or she was hurt by a parent or relative, when he or she felt unloved and unwanted.
The reason the world keeps on going, though, is because some people choose to remember the bad experiences as lessons and maybe even blessings, instead of “the reason” they are like they are, in a negative sense.
Langston Hughes wrote “life ain’t been no crystal stair.” No matter who we are, what color, sex, gender or physical condition, that statement is true. At the end of the day, though, we have to decide how we are going to use the splinters we have all gotten by walking on rugged, rough wooden steps.
When we look at the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, what stands out is everyone trying to blame someone else, in essence making excuses for an oil spill which resulted from an oil rig which exploded.
It is a sign of weakness. I would so much more have respected BP had it said, “we messed up and we are sorry and we will fix it.” Instead, fingers are pointing all over the place. Meanwhile, the environment is getting messed up, peoples’ livelihoods are threatened, and the oil continues to spew out, mercilessly.
I would hope and pray that you, young people, do not get in the habit of making excuses. We can always find a way out; our challenge is to find a way up and over all obstacles, no matter what they may be.
And I would hope that we older folks, if we have been in the habit of making excuses, that we would stop it and change course.
Making excuses makes us weak, and we have too much to do…to be weak.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
I was reading an article in which Jesse James, Sandra Bullock’s soon to be ex-husband, blamed his actions on a bad childhood in which he was treated badly.
It didn’t wash with me. I can understand making mistakes, but to blame it on “mom and ‘em” is a cop out.
We are the sum total of our life’s experiences. Those experiences are both good and bad, pleasant and not so pleasant. We are who we are because of who we were. Our mistakes, our growing up, all shaped us. We had blessings and we had lessons; lessons which we internalized and digested oftentimes led to blessings.
It is especially important for kids and youth to get this lesson. Every single adult in the world can point to a time when he or she got treated not so good, to when he or she was hurt by a parent or relative, when he or she felt unloved and unwanted.
The reason the world keeps on going, though, is because some people choose to remember the bad experiences as lessons and maybe even blessings, instead of “the reason” they are like they are, in a negative sense.
Langston Hughes wrote “life ain’t been no crystal stair.” No matter who we are, what color, sex, gender or physical condition, that statement is true. At the end of the day, though, we have to decide how we are going to use the splinters we have all gotten by walking on rugged, rough wooden steps.
When we look at the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, what stands out is everyone trying to blame someone else, in essence making excuses for an oil spill which resulted from an oil rig which exploded.
It is a sign of weakness. I would so much more have respected BP had it said, “we messed up and we are sorry and we will fix it.” Instead, fingers are pointing all over the place. Meanwhile, the environment is getting messed up, peoples’ livelihoods are threatened, and the oil continues to spew out, mercilessly.
I would hope and pray that you, young people, do not get in the habit of making excuses. We can always find a way out; our challenge is to find a way up and over all obstacles, no matter what they may be.
And I would hope that we older folks, if we have been in the habit of making excuses, that we would stop it and change course.
Making excuses makes us weak, and we have too much to do…to be weak.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The Price of Being President
Black farmers are increasing pressure on President Obama to get the federal government money owed them, following a settlement reached 11 years ago.
The farmers were promised $1.25 billion as the result of a suit filed charging discrimination from the federal government. Black farmers were consistently unable to get federal loans and were denied support from or of federal programs because of the color of their skin. Their allegations were ruled to be legitimate.
But to date, not a single farmer has received any money, and the black farmers are getting more and more frustrated. Their frustration is increased by their belief that the president is avoiding the problem because this is clearly a black issue, and they believe that Mr. Obama stays away from issues that might align him too closely with African Americans.
The 1997 case, Pigford vs. Glickman, was settled out of court, but, it seems, hundreds of thousands of black farmers missed a deadline to submit claims.
Mr. Obama reopened the case in 2008 when he was still a senator and in February of this year was able to broker a case for the $1.25 billion payout. But Congress missed a March 31 deadline to fund it and now another deadline to fund it is looming, May 30. The farmers are worried that the funding will not come and that Mr. Obama will not push for the funding to come.
Some might say give the president a break; there is a lot on his plate, and that is true. These farmers, however, have been waiting a long time for justice. Too often, the cry for justice from black people is put on the back burner; that it feels like an African American president is putting this issue on the back burner is grating the farmers’ emotions.
Mr. Obama is trying to position himself to win the 2012 presidential election and it has always seemed that in light of that, he has shied away from being “too black.”
But just as risky was pushing for health care reform. Mr. Obama undoubtedly lost a lot of supporters from those who thought he did too much and from those who think he did too little. That is politics. Immigration reform now looms in front of him, as does Wall Street reform. None of these issues are going to be easy to tackle, and yet he will.
It would be a grave mistake for him to even be perceived as having ignored the cries, pleas and needs of black farmers …just because he just doesn’t want to be perceived as being “too black.” Even if that perception is not true, the fact of the matter is that perception becomes truth. I sure hope the president pushes as hard for the farmers now as he did when he was a senator.
Otherwise, he runs the risk of being just another politician, a person who will do anything and say anything just to get elected. Surely, that cannot be the image or legacy he wants to leave.
Have a good week!
The farmers were promised $1.25 billion as the result of a suit filed charging discrimination from the federal government. Black farmers were consistently unable to get federal loans and were denied support from or of federal programs because of the color of their skin. Their allegations were ruled to be legitimate.
But to date, not a single farmer has received any money, and the black farmers are getting more and more frustrated. Their frustration is increased by their belief that the president is avoiding the problem because this is clearly a black issue, and they believe that Mr. Obama stays away from issues that might align him too closely with African Americans.
The 1997 case, Pigford vs. Glickman, was settled out of court, but, it seems, hundreds of thousands of black farmers missed a deadline to submit claims.
Mr. Obama reopened the case in 2008 when he was still a senator and in February of this year was able to broker a case for the $1.25 billion payout. But Congress missed a March 31 deadline to fund it and now another deadline to fund it is looming, May 30. The farmers are worried that the funding will not come and that Mr. Obama will not push for the funding to come.
Some might say give the president a break; there is a lot on his plate, and that is true. These farmers, however, have been waiting a long time for justice. Too often, the cry for justice from black people is put on the back burner; that it feels like an African American president is putting this issue on the back burner is grating the farmers’ emotions.
Mr. Obama is trying to position himself to win the 2012 presidential election and it has always seemed that in light of that, he has shied away from being “too black.”
But just as risky was pushing for health care reform. Mr. Obama undoubtedly lost a lot of supporters from those who thought he did too much and from those who think he did too little. That is politics. Immigration reform now looms in front of him, as does Wall Street reform. None of these issues are going to be easy to tackle, and yet he will.
It would be a grave mistake for him to even be perceived as having ignored the cries, pleas and needs of black farmers …just because he just doesn’t want to be perceived as being “too black.” Even if that perception is not true, the fact of the matter is that perception becomes truth. I sure hope the president pushes as hard for the farmers now as he did when he was a senator.
Otherwise, he runs the risk of being just another politician, a person who will do anything and say anything just to get elected. Surely, that cannot be the image or legacy he wants to leave.
Have a good week!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Let the Rocks Be Silent!!
Today you will hear a couple of “crazy faith” stories from members of our congregation.
Why? Because without crazy faith, there can be no movement, no transformation, no change.
We are in a wonderful yet critical time of our life as a church, a fork in the road, so to speak. God is calling us to move, to be transformative in what we do and how we do it, and in order to do that, we will have to have …crazy faith.
I shared in Wednesday afternoon Bible study that the one thing that makes me crazy is for people to say what we cannot do. I know there are limits based on money and resources, but there is also God, a God who tells me we can do all things, no matter the obstacles.
From the very beginning of our existence, we had great limitations over which hovered a great God. There were rumors that we would fall off the map and doubts that we could survive a number of different experiences we had. Yet, God hovered and we persevered.
What have we learned? For the few who have been here from the beginning, we have learned that with God, nothing is impossible. Things have looked bleak, like they did for the woman in 1 Kings 4 who, though she had “just a little oil,” was told to collect jars and fill them with oil in order to pay her bills. Whatever doubts and concerns she had, she put them aside and did as she was told, and God blessed her. God stood Ezekiel before a field, a valley of dry bones and asked the prophet if the bones could live, and though Ezekiel most probably believed that those bones could not live, he yielded the floor to God, so to speak, prophesied to the bones as God commanded, and saw life come from death.
We are not dead, far from it, but we are being called to greater vitality. We are being called to heights that are so far beyond what any of us can imagine …and yet the call is there. And so I ask you to listen today, to internalize just a tad of crazy faith, and hold on even as you ride.
I am in Washington D.C. today but this is the last Sunday I will be out for 2010. Though I need to go out to make more money, I also need to do my work here. I have to have crazy faith, too, or, I should say, more faith than I have. God is, and God always has been …so there’s no reason for me to believe that God will not continue to be.
My prayer is that Advent UCC enter this new chapter of the book that is being written about how faith works with excitement and fervor. God did not put us here to languish. God put us here …and has kept us here…to show how good God is. If we do not do what God is calling us to do, the very rocks will cry out.
O rocks, be silent!
Pastor Smith
Why? Because without crazy faith, there can be no movement, no transformation, no change.
We are in a wonderful yet critical time of our life as a church, a fork in the road, so to speak. God is calling us to move, to be transformative in what we do and how we do it, and in order to do that, we will have to have …crazy faith.
I shared in Wednesday afternoon Bible study that the one thing that makes me crazy is for people to say what we cannot do. I know there are limits based on money and resources, but there is also God, a God who tells me we can do all things, no matter the obstacles.
From the very beginning of our existence, we had great limitations over which hovered a great God. There were rumors that we would fall off the map and doubts that we could survive a number of different experiences we had. Yet, God hovered and we persevered.
What have we learned? For the few who have been here from the beginning, we have learned that with God, nothing is impossible. Things have looked bleak, like they did for the woman in 1 Kings 4 who, though she had “just a little oil,” was told to collect jars and fill them with oil in order to pay her bills. Whatever doubts and concerns she had, she put them aside and did as she was told, and God blessed her. God stood Ezekiel before a field, a valley of dry bones and asked the prophet if the bones could live, and though Ezekiel most probably believed that those bones could not live, he yielded the floor to God, so to speak, prophesied to the bones as God commanded, and saw life come from death.
We are not dead, far from it, but we are being called to greater vitality. We are being called to heights that are so far beyond what any of us can imagine …and yet the call is there. And so I ask you to listen today, to internalize just a tad of crazy faith, and hold on even as you ride.
I am in Washington D.C. today but this is the last Sunday I will be out for 2010. Though I need to go out to make more money, I also need to do my work here. I have to have crazy faith, too, or, I should say, more faith than I have. God is, and God always has been …so there’s no reason for me to believe that God will not continue to be.
My prayer is that Advent UCC enter this new chapter of the book that is being written about how faith works with excitement and fervor. God did not put us here to languish. God put us here …and has kept us here…to show how good God is. If we do not do what God is calling us to do, the very rocks will cry out.
O rocks, be silent!
Pastor Smith
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Dear Mothers:
Today is a special day, not because someone a long time ago decided that there ought to be a day dedicated to mothers, but because you are responsible for all that has ever gone on in this world.
How you have nurtured the greatest people in this world! It was your love, your wisdom, your kindness and sternness that helped shape the people who have made an impact in life and society.
Whether you were the mother of a Moses or Rahab, the mother of Adam the first man on earth or Adam Clayton Powell, the mother of Martin Luther or Rev Dr Martin Luther King, it was you who gave the world its values and strength.
In spite of the stain of sexism which has always been a part of life, you pressed on and did what only a mother could and can do. Isn’t it strange and ironic that the men who YOU shaped had the audacity later to say that women were inferior? Yet, though you knew that to be the case and though you probably taught the little boys and girls that sexism was right, you still taught enough other things that helped some people push through the biases to make a new world.
You held your babies close to your heart when they came from the womb, and you kept that place open for them always, no matter how old they got. You worried and worry whether they were and are 3 or 93. The children were always your children, deserving of a love that has no bounds.
Some of you buried babies or children who died too young, and next to your heart, or perhaps in your heart, you carried a grief that has never gone away. You never let the grief stop you, though, and by moving through your pain, you taught your children to do the same.
You made your children mad, but your anger helped them grow and they in turn made you proud. You ached when you had to give tough love lessons, and did not let the children see the tears of pain and fear that fell from your eyes as you watched them make horrible mistakes, only to later make honorable decisions borne from the wisdom the mistakes imparted to them.
You cooked when there was little to cook; you washed and ironed and sewed and cleaned. You rocked the children when there was nobody to rock you. You learned to “make do” and in so doing, helped the children learn that as well.
Some of you couldn’t be mothers when your children were young. Life and life’s issues got to you, and you did things you wish you hadn’t. You missed valuable time with your children when they were little, and you ache about that today.
But here’s the best thing: whether you were there for your children or not, you have a mother too, in Christ Jesus, who is there for you, no matter what. Mary raised her boy well; Jesus loved us all and loves us all, no matter how much we did or did not do for our children, no matter how much or how little we were there.
You have a mother in Christ Jesus who loves you, even if your own mother didn’t, and so for that you should rejoice. The children who pout because you were not there have a mother as well in Christ Jesus. And this Jesus loves you so much that he was there for your children even when you could not be there, or would not be there.
This is the same Jesus who has been there for me, ever since my mother died when I was so young. It’s the same Jesus who was there for so many people who did not have a mother they could feel and touch. The maternal spirit of our God reached down and touched us through Jesus, and for that we can all be thankful.
This is not a day to be angry or sad if your own mother was not there for you; God sent Jesus to fill in the gap, to stand in the breach. Nor is this a day for you to put yourself down if you feel you fell short as a mother; God sent Jesus as well to let you know that there is no condemnation.
But as there is no condemnation from Jesus, let there not be condemnation from you toward your mother for her shortcomings. She can only be as she is; love her for what she was able to give you. Give that to the children in your life, whether biological or adopted, and then add the love that Jesus gave YOU as you endured the lack in your own life.
Do not mourn this day because your mother is dead, or because perhaps your mother is not what you need her to be. Lean on the arms of Jesus and absorb his unfailing love. Take off the bandages that cover old sores and let God’s maternal love touch you.
And then, give to some other child what you feel your mother didn’t give to you…and in so doing, be the mother to someone else that Jesus was to you, even when you didn’t know it.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Pastor Smith
Today is a special day, not because someone a long time ago decided that there ought to be a day dedicated to mothers, but because you are responsible for all that has ever gone on in this world.
How you have nurtured the greatest people in this world! It was your love, your wisdom, your kindness and sternness that helped shape the people who have made an impact in life and society.
Whether you were the mother of a Moses or Rahab, the mother of Adam the first man on earth or Adam Clayton Powell, the mother of Martin Luther or Rev Dr Martin Luther King, it was you who gave the world its values and strength.
In spite of the stain of sexism which has always been a part of life, you pressed on and did what only a mother could and can do. Isn’t it strange and ironic that the men who YOU shaped had the audacity later to say that women were inferior? Yet, though you knew that to be the case and though you probably taught the little boys and girls that sexism was right, you still taught enough other things that helped some people push through the biases to make a new world.
You held your babies close to your heart when they came from the womb, and you kept that place open for them always, no matter how old they got. You worried and worry whether they were and are 3 or 93. The children were always your children, deserving of a love that has no bounds.
Some of you buried babies or children who died too young, and next to your heart, or perhaps in your heart, you carried a grief that has never gone away. You never let the grief stop you, though, and by moving through your pain, you taught your children to do the same.
You made your children mad, but your anger helped them grow and they in turn made you proud. You ached when you had to give tough love lessons, and did not let the children see the tears of pain and fear that fell from your eyes as you watched them make horrible mistakes, only to later make honorable decisions borne from the wisdom the mistakes imparted to them.
You cooked when there was little to cook; you washed and ironed and sewed and cleaned. You rocked the children when there was nobody to rock you. You learned to “make do” and in so doing, helped the children learn that as well.
Some of you couldn’t be mothers when your children were young. Life and life’s issues got to you, and you did things you wish you hadn’t. You missed valuable time with your children when they were little, and you ache about that today.
But here’s the best thing: whether you were there for your children or not, you have a mother too, in Christ Jesus, who is there for you, no matter what. Mary raised her boy well; Jesus loved us all and loves us all, no matter how much we did or did not do for our children, no matter how much or how little we were there.
You have a mother in Christ Jesus who loves you, even if your own mother didn’t, and so for that you should rejoice. The children who pout because you were not there have a mother as well in Christ Jesus. And this Jesus loves you so much that he was there for your children even when you could not be there, or would not be there.
This is the same Jesus who has been there for me, ever since my mother died when I was so young. It’s the same Jesus who was there for so many people who did not have a mother they could feel and touch. The maternal spirit of our God reached down and touched us through Jesus, and for that we can all be thankful.
This is not a day to be angry or sad if your own mother was not there for you; God sent Jesus to fill in the gap, to stand in the breach. Nor is this a day for you to put yourself down if you feel you fell short as a mother; God sent Jesus as well to let you know that there is no condemnation.
But as there is no condemnation from Jesus, let there not be condemnation from you toward your mother for her shortcomings. She can only be as she is; love her for what she was able to give you. Give that to the children in your life, whether biological or adopted, and then add the love that Jesus gave YOU as you endured the lack in your own life.
Do not mourn this day because your mother is dead, or because perhaps your mother is not what you need her to be. Lean on the arms of Jesus and absorb his unfailing love. Take off the bandages that cover old sores and let God’s maternal love touch you.
And then, give to some other child what you feel your mother didn’t give to you…and in so doing, be the mother to someone else that Jesus was to you, even when you didn’t know it.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Pastor Smith
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Be Free!
There is nothing in the world like being free.
Freedom from fear, worry, anxiety, anger …the emotions which weigh us down, allow us to have eyes to see God’s world and ears to hear God’s voice.
There is an exercise which I find myself doing frequently: I exhale myself, my issues, and I inhale the Holy Spirit. I do this exercise consciously, saying out loud, “I exhale myself, and I inhale you, O God.”
Why? Because it is so easy to allow ourselves to be burdened with the “troubles of the world.” I am convinced that the troubles of the world are good things, lessons put in place to teach us how to avoid doing the same things over and over.
“Troubles” are story problems given to us by God to engage our partnership with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit in us which finally unclogs our spiritual pores and allows the lessons to seep into our beings.
If we concentrate on what is wrong in our lives, we cannot see what is good and right. We miss the tiny things which, cumulatively, are big blessings, that are all ours. We see the world with vision that is in bondage to a burdened spirit.
Let something go today. Let just one of your worries go; watch it float away into the arms of God. The problem will not go away but your resolve to not worry about it will and your readiness to receive the lesson God wants you to receive will become obvious to God.
And …you will learn.
God did not put us on this earth to worry ourselves to our graves. No …God put us here to “make a joyful noise,” in spite of what might be going on. God put us here to be co-creators in creation, adding the gifts She gave to us to enhance what God has already done.
We cannot do that if we have obstructed vision. Truth be told, we cannot connect with the gifts God gave us at all when all we can see is what is wrong with the world.
Yes, it would be nice if there were no “troubles,” but the troubles and trials strengthen us and give us wisdom. Without the trials and troubles, we would all die fools.
So, praise God, whatever is going on. Wipe your eyes; I mean, wipe away the tears or the mucous of worry that makes your vision faulty. Exercise your shoulders; roll your neck around a few times to get rid of the worry and stress that you have carried all week long. Exhale all that toxic stuff and remember that we serve an awesome God …
And then, act like it!
Pastor Smith
Freedom from fear, worry, anxiety, anger …the emotions which weigh us down, allow us to have eyes to see God’s world and ears to hear God’s voice.
There is an exercise which I find myself doing frequently: I exhale myself, my issues, and I inhale the Holy Spirit. I do this exercise consciously, saying out loud, “I exhale myself, and I inhale you, O God.”
Why? Because it is so easy to allow ourselves to be burdened with the “troubles of the world.” I am convinced that the troubles of the world are good things, lessons put in place to teach us how to avoid doing the same things over and over.
“Troubles” are story problems given to us by God to engage our partnership with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit in us which finally unclogs our spiritual pores and allows the lessons to seep into our beings.
If we concentrate on what is wrong in our lives, we cannot see what is good and right. We miss the tiny things which, cumulatively, are big blessings, that are all ours. We see the world with vision that is in bondage to a burdened spirit.
Let something go today. Let just one of your worries go; watch it float away into the arms of God. The problem will not go away but your resolve to not worry about it will and your readiness to receive the lesson God wants you to receive will become obvious to God.
And …you will learn.
God did not put us on this earth to worry ourselves to our graves. No …God put us here to “make a joyful noise,” in spite of what might be going on. God put us here to be co-creators in creation, adding the gifts She gave to us to enhance what God has already done.
We cannot do that if we have obstructed vision. Truth be told, we cannot connect with the gifts God gave us at all when all we can see is what is wrong with the world.
Yes, it would be nice if there were no “troubles,” but the troubles and trials strengthen us and give us wisdom. Without the trials and troubles, we would all die fools.
So, praise God, whatever is going on. Wipe your eyes; I mean, wipe away the tears or the mucous of worry that makes your vision faulty. Exercise your shoulders; roll your neck around a few times to get rid of the worry and stress that you have carried all week long. Exhale all that toxic stuff and remember that we serve an awesome God …
And then, act like it!
Pastor Smith
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