These conversations were gifts because, though strangers, we were able to connect as humans despite the vile history.
All tagged race
These conversations were gifts because, though strangers, we were able to connect as humans despite the vile history.
While we busy ourselves singing with children about this “wee little man,” we have missed a powerful ending the song never mentions.
Many of us are making history today, and it is also imperative that we celebrate and support our Black leaders. We must honor Black history by supporting and celebrating Black excellence today.
We can retain the spirit of newness as we face off against burdens and pains, choosing a fresh perspective of hope and promise.
In order to imagine ourselves in difference-making positions, we all need models in place, models who look like we do and who don’t all look like each other.
Remember the song, “Make new friends and keep the old; one is silver and the other’s gold”? All are precious partners in God’s mission.
God’s image is presented to the world through the people of God, who use all available resources to meet the needs of the world because that’s what God does for us.
This week one of my colleagues suggested taking care of ourselves might be our most important job, then went on to wonder if we could actually consent to a less-anxious model for those in our midst.
The resurrection Spirit pursues us as we continually cycle through relational renewal with the evidential environment of the created world: with the people, the creatures, the living organisms therein.
God is doing something about this injustice, and the church has an invitation and a responsibility to join God in the mission of liberation.
Let’s bravely take one another in and notice the reflection of Christ in the eyes we mirror each gift of a day, our motivation pure joy rather than any benefit bestowed.
Black love has had to exist within the context of racial trauma. From the streets of daily life to corporate, academic institutions, religious spaces, and political platforms, Black people have had to live and manage their inner rage.
How might we feel sorry in ways that reveal the flood-to-cross character of God, and reflect this to the world around us?
These stories must be shared, and as adults we hold the power and the influence with which to make space for children and adults alike to tell their stories. We must look around our congregations for where we might be missing these powerful stories of diversity.
Regardless of whether you can gather soon with members of your local flock, the nagging question remains: “What is essential about being the church?”
I am tired of trying to explain what “Black Lives Matter” means. I am tired of thinking positive and being a giver of hope and life. I am tired of sitting with my precious Black friends as they process their trauma born out of our racial disparities.
As we endeavor to correct unconscious bias and ultimately lean into what it means to be more Christlike, I invite you both personally and in your faith communities to consider the following three statements.
Inclusion means that the congregation embraces the inherent value in all voices and seeks to make them an active part of the whole.
What cues for a negative stereotype are we sending out often without even knowing it? And how can we create a culture that will maximize learning for all kinds of people? (Nonfiction)
In these three graphic volumes you have the very personal recounting of the civil rights movement. (Nonfiction)