Meditation Monday - Dr. King's Unfinished Business

This Thursday, April 4, is the 51st anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the decades since his untimely death, Dr. King has become a national hero. Yet when he died at the age of 39 he was one of the most unpopular people in the country. During the last two years of his life, Dr. King was going beyond challenging legal segregation to calling our nation to account for what he called the “giant triplets of evil” - racism, poverty, and militarism. In the last of his three books, he made the following distinction between passing civil rights laws and enforcing them in the face of ongoing white backlash:

There is a tragic gulf between civil rights laws passed and civil rights implemented. There is a double standard in the enforement of laws…All of this tells us that white backlash is nothing new. White America has been backlashing on the fundamental God-given rights of Negro Americans for more than three hundred years. With all of her dazzling achiemvents and stupendous material strides, America has maintained its strange ambivalence on the question of racial justice. (Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community p.87)

Dr. King’s words have proven to be prophetic. Over the last few years in particular, we have seen a resurgence of white backlash in the forms of both overt hate speech and crimes as well as complacence about ongoing structural injustice including racial disparities in education, policing, mass incarceration, health care, and economic security. As we remember the life and ministry of Dr. King on the anniversary of his death, we truly honor his legacy by hearing and acting on his call to recognize, challenge, and resist all forms of white supremacy.

Meditation Monday: Recalling and Repenting of An Infamous Anniversary 95 Years Ago

During the season of Lent, one focus is to recall and repent of our sins agains God and others. This includes not only individual sins but also the sins of our society. With that in mind, I want to lift up an infamous anniversary from 95 years ago when Virginia passed two pieces of legislation that advanced the sin of white supremacy not only in the Commonwealth but throughout the country. On March 20, 1924 the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Racial Integrity Act and the Virginia Sterilization Act. Both were based on the now discredited “science” of eugenics intended to maintain white racial purity. The Racial Integrity Act required each person in Virginia to be categorized at birth as either “white” or “colored.” It also made interracial marriage illegal. The only exception to the rigid “one drop rule” was the preposterous “Pocahontas Clause” that allowed whites with one-sixteenth Native American ancestry to be considered white. This was to maintain the racial status of some members of the “First Families of Virginia” (FFV) who traced their ancestry back to the marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. The two racist legislative acts were used a decade later by the Nazis as models for their ideology and policies of racial superiority. The laws stayed in effect until overturned by the Loving vs. Virginia Supreme Court decision in 1967. Yet the legacy of these acts continues to impact our nation today in the form of racial disparities in education, income, family wealth, and health care. Although we cannot go back and undo the horrific legislation from 95 years ago, we can take time to learn this painful history, recognize its ongoing legacy of racial injustice in our day, and advocate for greater levels of justice to address the legacy of state sponsored racism. In other words, we can practice the spiritual discipline of recalling and repenting.

Meditation Monday - Sharing Grief and Love With Our Muslim Brothers and Sisters

People across the world are sharing grief and expressions of love for the 50 people killed and another 50 wounded in the horrific shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Once again people gathered to worship God (Christians in Charleston, Sikhs in Wisconsin, Jews in Pittsburgh) became the victims of hate and intentional violence on the part of a man committed to white nationalism/supremacy. Although this attack was not in the United States, people of faith in this country are called to share grief and love with the Muslim community in our country and throughout the world. For Christians in the US during this season of Lent, we need to confess the part that our nation has played in promoting Islamophobia over the last two decades in general and during the current administration in particular. It is not enough for any of us to say “I am not a racist” without also actively standing up in love for those who are regularly stereotyped as the “other who is not one of us.” Our shared faith in one God can empower us to meet and defeat hate with love. This kind of love means seeing the image of God in each other across any barriers that would otherwise separate us including race, religion, or national origin.

As an expression of grief, I invite you to Click Here to read an article about one victim of the Christchurch violence - a 3 year old boy named Mucaad. Each victim was a beloved child of God whose life was precious to God and to others.

As an expression of love, I invite you to Click Here to read an article about a recent service at a mosque in Northern Virginia where the larger community came together in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters.

For any of us who are people of faith, the one thing we know for sure despite any theological differences is stated simply in the Bible by the author of I John, " Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (I John 4: 7-8).

Meditation Monday - What the Hospital Taught Me About the Church

Last Monday I missed writing this weekly reflection, because I was in the hospital. Thankfully all went well and I am fully recovered. During my brief stay there, I experienced a great level of both medical and personal care. A bulletin board in my room featured the hospital’s concise mission statement, “Passion for Excellence, Compassion for You.” As I reflect on that statement and my experience, two things come to mind:

  1. I am aware that not everyone has access to this kind of healthcare. Because I have insurance, I received wonderful treatment. This should be available to everyone as a basic right. Our nation has the resources to make this possible if we have the will to do so. Any of us who believe that all people are made in the image of God need to advocate for this.

2. It also occurred to me that this statement should also apply to the Church. My ordination is in The United Methodist Church which recently concluded a General Conference that was deeply painful and divisive. Groups with different theological and cultural perspectives could not agree on how to maintain unity within diversity. In particular, there was division over full inclusion of our LGBTQ sisters and brothers. Once again, seeing the image of God in each other and accepting each other regardless of sexual orientation is consistent with the way of Jesus as I understand and practice. When I was in the hospital last week, no one inquired about my sexual orientation before providing excellent and compassionate medical care. Can the Church live up to the witness of the hospital? I hope so.

Meditation Monday - The Danger of Traveling While Black: Then and Now

The Oscar for best picture of 2018 went to Green Book. The movie is based on the real life story of the black concert pianist Dr. Don Shirley and his white driver Tony Lip as they traveled through the South confronting the harsh realities of segregated public facilities. The title comes from The Negro Motorist Green Book which was a resource to help African Americans find safe places where they could eat, find gas, and stay overnight while traveling. It was developed by Victor Hugo Green of New York City and published annually from 1936-1966. While the movie draws attention to this important resource, the limited focus of the story does not include the fact that segregated facilities were a reality throughout the country and not just in the South. African Americans faced not just inconvenience but danger just for exercising the right to freedom of movement. The video below provides a more complete glimpse into the world of the Green Book.

The danger of traveling while black is not limited to the world of the Green Book. Tomorrow is the seventh anniversary of the death of teenager Trayvon Martin. On February 26, 2012 he was shot and killed while walking through his neighborhood in Sanford, FL after being confronted by George Zimmerman who thought Trayvon looked dangerous by being a black male wearing a hoodie. Trayvon was unarmed and carried only some Skittles and iced tea. Zimmerman was eventually acquitted on all charges. Since then, the tragic and unjust killing of unarmed black men and women has been repeated many times. While the world of the Green Book is history, we still live in a time when African Americans have legitimate fears about exercising their right to freedom of movement in our society. Ask any black parent about the need to give their children “the talk.” As Dr. King famously said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”