Committed to Lament

“To be AWAKE is to LAMENT that much is wrong with the world, but to be awake also means we are PRISONERS of HOPE.”* (Zechariah 9:12)

As I wrote on Monroe Free Methodist‘s page this week,
I know these small choices and declarations are just that: SMALL. But as a white woman, as a parent, as a pastor, I am committing to the long haul of being a #whiteAlly, an active participant in learning about Whiteness and unearthing the parts in us that needs to be changed by the Holy Spirit.

Years ago, in my racial reconciliation course with Dr. Christena Cleveland, I sat for a whole day of lectures with a steady trickle of tears coming down my cheeks. But for the first time I didn’t try to wipe them away. And I’ve committed to letting them fall. It’s the LEAST I can do.

After that class one of the tangible choices I made was to educate my children in a more wholistic world than I was raised. Every time we’ve gone to the library in the last 2 years, I’ve consciously chosen at least one book with main characters of Color by Authors of Color. I’m already grateful for that decision and with the curbside service at Dorsch Memorial Library, I’m excited to be able to do it again after a few months of hiatus.

I’ve had some especially proud moments as I’ve watched my 4 year old coloring people with darker skin on a regular basis, commenting how beautiful they are. I can’t say I had ever colored a brown-skinned character in my whole life. She’s helping me change.

I’m committing to SEE my Black neighbors and to LISTEN (with my mouth shut🤐) to their hurts and to LEARN from them how to build God’s Kingdom in a more WHOLE and HOLY way.

For some these signs and this shirt and these books may seem inflammatory at worst or unnecessary at best; but for others (for those who can’t just turn off the pain and anger and marginalization) these are the most microscopic movement in the right direction.

But it’s a start. It’s a way I can align myself with the Kingdom of God in it’s fullness.