Day 2 Second Round

 I really like writers, speakers and educators who have themes and explore them. It's a great way to organize something and it just shows such creativity when one is able to find a connecting thread.  It make it easier for the listener. I don't know I really like it.

Today my wife is being honored by the Commonwealth.  This is an incredible accomplishment. Afterward I am headed to co-facilitate a 3 day workshop. We'll see how this goes.

This morning I woke up and reviewed the ministry website for Friendship-West. After hearing Pastor Haynes speak at last year's CRT Summer School I have been following his ministry. Three years ago . . . sounds like I need to go help my son get ready to get up out of here. I hope to be back soon.

I'm back now and I'm attempting to journal through all the noise distractions of my son, my wife's phone and getting ready. This has been a huge characteristic of life these days desiring to find peace and not be distracted by the foolish behavior of my child. It's beyond annoying and it's like a burn in my insides cuz I feel like he knows what he's doing and he won't stop. So Lord I speak peace into my mind, I speak peace that I will go the route of peace.

Originally, I was going to talk about justice. What do I want to say about this? What do I want to reflect on? My real question is Lord what are You doing?  I'm inquiring of You to show me, direct me and help give me the steps to take.  What thought have I had so far:

  • What is justice and how am I understanding it?
  • I think about this a lot. How did I get here because I remember a time where I was not so hyper focused?
  • What steps need to take place in order to integrate a justice consciousness into the discipleship of our PT partners?
  • What areas of focus should PT take on to meet the needs of our community?
  • What is our church's local history around justice? Who are the people thinking about this and desiring our community has more emphasis?
  • Who are the communities doing this work already that we should partner with to learn from and have a mutual relationship with?

There are more questions. I'm not sure what I'm asking for.  I'm looking for teachers but not as a substitute for trusting you. Also being careful that I don't fall into the trappings of using this to boost my ego but in all humility share what God is saying to me and being available for Him to move through my voice.  I find fascination in having a critical lens on the practices that get passed off as Christian.  The prevalence of white Christian nationalism and the role it plays more publicly and in politics is a cause of concern to me and I want to understand it, to analyze and speak to what is going on.  I also discuss it so the congregation that I'm a part of doesn't fall into the same trappings and have a faith that can respect the human dignity of all people and not place Christianity on a hierarchy where we use our faith oppress our neighbors.  
I'm drawn toward a faith that seeks to uproot all forms of oppression from its midst. This means uprooting racism and understanding its history and the Church's connection to it's current manifestations. Gender oppression, economic oppression, and all other forms that manifest itself in the imagination of our local congregations. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kids Do The Darndest Things Pt. 3

That they do! Why is it that all you have to do is throw a little kid in something and it automatically becomes more entertaining than before. I mean for real, think about how many videos are on YouTube of people singing or dancing. Put a kid in those same videos and the appeal automatically doubles. Think I'm joking, check the views and the comments. In working at this youth center with school age children, I've come to the conclusion that there needs to be some form of government-regulated test, module, or something as a way to barr all those parents that have no business raising children from doing so. Honestly!! Say what you want. A good majority of these kids would be so much better if their moma or daddy weren't the moma or daddy. Now a days kids don't have daddy's, which is really sad but for most of those men it's probably a good thing that they aren't around because they'd be the ones barred if there was ever federal regulation on child bearing.
Read more
No matter the problem or the issue I face. I'll still give him glory. I'll give him praise. "The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." All of the songs on Freedom to Worship have a special meaning to me but for various reasons I'm drawn to the song "I'll Give Him Praise." I woke up this morning thinking about the biblical basis for the song and I recalled all of the instances throughout the word where the situation called for God's people to be upset or afraid, but they proceeded with praise. God brought down the wall of Jericho with the praise of the people. During the rule of Jehoshaphat God set ambushes against the enemies of Israel through the people's praise. Let's not forget when Paul and Silas were thrown in prison. God used their praise to set them free. It's funny because I thought about those things this morning as I walked to my car to go grocery shopping. I moved to a new neighborhood and spent my first night at
Read more

The Death of Nick Charles

This is my first post of 2013! This isn't really the post that I want to start the year off with so let's play catch up. For New Years I went to church, shot my first gun and drank champagne with my cousins. I was pretty excited to get back to work for the Spring semester. One reason being because each semester serves as a fresh start. Another reason being because I had a class that wouldn't start until February, so my load this time around is much lighter. I enrolled into an acting class. Our first assignment, and the reason for this post, is to pick a poem that could be delivered in a minimum of 2 minutes in length. I don't follow poetry too much so I chose the first long poem in Black Voices. It's called The Death of Nick Charles by Everett LeRoi Jones, who I later found out is Amiri Baraka. I heard of the author but never heard of the poem.  Not having a clue who Nick Charles was I did a search and found out that he was a sportscaster that died recently. This
Read more