We Shall Overcome

 This past weekend, I am in Montgomery with members of our conference, participating in a Civil Rights Pilgrimage. It has been a sobering trip as we learn more deeply of the systemic terrorism and torture of African Americans, so deeply embedded in our nation’s psyche.  We were frequently brought to tears as we moved through museums and monuments that showed not only the violence of racism in the past but the way it continues in our present.

Lest we think that the legacy of racism is only a “southern thing”, we learned that lynchings occurred in each of the four states of our conference. Plus, monuments to the confederacy are found in three of our states, the most recent one erected in Denver in 2003 (https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm5QAN_Colorado_Confederate_Veterans_Memorial_Riverside_Cemetery_Denver_CO) (additionally, we have a legacy of violence against Native Americans and immigrants and in addition Japanese Internment camps that were found across our conference).

One of the exhibits at Legacy Museum had slave pens which you could peer into. As you looked in, a holographic figure of an enslaved person appeared and spoke. It was very fleeting, and I found myself rooted to the spot, hoping to have them reappear so I could learn more of their story.

Are we willing to listen with open hearts to the stories of those whose lives have been impacted by racism, not only in the past but in our communities today?

I am struck at how Christianity was twisted to support slavery. What a defilement of a faith grounded in God’s love for all humankind, whose image shines from the face of every person.

Yet, Christianity also undergirded the civil rights movement. Clergy and laity together linked arms with others and put their very bodies on the line to push back on the forces of evil and oppression. The course of a nation was changed because followers of Jesus refused to allow injustice to have the upper hand.

The struggle continues today. Are you willing to listen and learn of life experiences that aren’t like your own, that are difficult, even painful to hear? Can you do so and not interrupt, not try to make excuses or try to discount the reality and truth of another’s reality?

We each are connected to one another as the Body of Christ. When one suffers, we all suffer. It is only when we listen and learn that we can work to ensure the dignity and humanity of all of God’s children. In this way, we build up Beloved Community and leave a better world for those who will come after us.