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What Will We Do?

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I remember being at Montreat (our national conference center) a decade ago over the summer following the fiftieth anniversary of the events of Selma. In the midst of the conference events that occurred for our youth groups that summer, an entire day was spent learning about what had occurred only five decades before. For as much as I had heard of the catalyst that predated the watershed moment for Civil Rights in the United States that occurred in Ferguson the year before, the full impact of what happened all those years ago in the state of Alabama had yet to truly leave its mark on the next generation's group conscience.


In reality, it was a moment when everything shifted. The world tilted on its axis and could never return to the way it was before. It laid bear decades, if not centuries, of abuse that has yet to fully subside.


And the truth is that much of the world was more than content to live in denial. To stick their heads in the sand and ignore what people of color experience in their every day lives. To this day, there are still hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people who refuse to believe that racism even exists. Or far worse, they want it to be further empowered.


What most people do not realize is that the history of the search for justice in this nation is inextricably linked to our Church's history. We have failed as often as we have succeeded - consider carefully the part Presbytrerians played in schools for children of those native to our shores. And yet, we have also fought right at the center of injustice, too.


In 1963, when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. marched on Washington, D.C., he did so arm-in-arm with the former Stated Clerk of the northern branch of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. King was invited to speak at Montreat and at an event for the General Assembly of that same Church. And the southern branch published a document quoting him and imperatively reminding the churches that there can be no true peace without the presence of justice.


Nevertheless, the legacy of a man who lived at the top of the FBI's watch list has yet to be fulfilled and is white-washed at every turn. We want comfortable. We want him to uphold the status quo. But the truth is that his work and legacy was intended to shake the very foundations of everything we have ever understood ourselves to be.


As we approach our holiday next week, my encouragement for all of us is to examine our consciences and how we will follow in footsteps of those who came before us. Will we continue to turn a blind eye to hate in our midst? Or will we stand against injustice in all of its forms?


Blessings,

Rev. Janie

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