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

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

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

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

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