Race

"Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing." - Philippians 2:14-16 MSG

Chicago made up its mind about me. As a kid, I took weekly trips downtown and watched people of every hue. Wandering through Marshall Field department store, I noticed the security guards who kept a close eye on me. These guards made up their minds about me. I remembered pressing my face against clear window panes of expensive stores along State Street, none of the white faces ever made eye contact with me during the Christmas season. However, one yuletide season, my sister Rebecca and I stood beside a white Santa and I sat on his lap unsure what to think about this.

We are always looking to reduce things to the simplest and easiest form. We want the main points and Cliff Notes. We want to do that one action that will give us the greatest return on investment. Maybe that is why a teacher of the law asked Jesus what the most important commandment was. Instead of hundreds of rules and regulations, if he followed this most important commandment, the scales would tip in his favor. Jesus answered that the greatest commandment is: “Love God and Love your Neighbor” (Mark 12:29-31). Simple right?

Sometimes I find myself singing a nursery rhyme I heard many years ago, The Reverse Kingdom. It has several stanzas, but the first two are the ones that stuck with me: 

Thank you for celebrating the OSJ’s offering Sunday with us this week.  Interim director Mark Stephenson offers his thoughts as we reflect together on working together as one body.

Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Cor. 13:11)

Some years ago I worked as an Enrichment Leader at Youth at Heart, a non-profit serving youth in under-resourced communities in Tulsa. Part of my responsibility was to provide programming for youth ages 6-12. One of our core themes was community service. If my memory serves me, we used a simple definition for volunteering: giving your time, talent, and treasure to help. Our goal in teaching this theme was to ensure youth knew they could be valuable contributors to their community.

A United State Indigenous Churches policy was born in 1868 in a time when subjugation was the norm for native people. President Ulysses S. Grant advanced a “Peace Policy” to remove corrupt Indian agents, who supervise reservations, and replace them with Christian missionaries, whom the President deems morally exceptional.

Jesus, where you are, fear turns into praises.  Where you are, no heart is left unchanged.  Where you are, darkness runs for cover.  Where you are, the orphan finds a home.  And here I am, humbled and bowing at your throne.  - Her True Worth

Being the Justice and Reconciliation Mobilizer for the CRCNA is a position that demands, “heroic rebelliousness, humility, compliance and gratitude for the opportunity.”* I recently started reading this tiny but mighty book called, Towards Braiding which basically wrote about my experience in this role of raising the profile of and improving the church’s relationship to Indigenous-Settler responsibilities. The book was written as a result of experiences in a different institutional setting though.