Today’s Word from Minister of Music Karl Olsen
I have protestant roots. Protest. Hmm…maybe you do, too.
But first, here’s a bit from the recent Holden Village email newsletter…
“In the Christian calendar, January 6 is Epiphany, which means “manifestation” – a thing becoming abundantly clear. As the story goes, the magi came to honor a new baby king. Two things became abundantly clear: that they were face to face with a vulnerable, world-transforming grace, and that this gift of love would disrupt systems of abusive power. So, they took a different way home. Their encounter made them turn away from the self-serving lies of a tyrant king Herod, and carry a new story home in a new way.
“… We, like the magi, find ourselves both rooted in that reality and claiming the alternative way of transforming grace. … We cannot walk alone. We need companions to work together for peace and justice and love. With you, we manifest a new story, moving into a new day.” From Stacy, Mark and Kathie, Village Directors.
Protestant roots. The kings, protesting in their own way. Martin Luther, protesting the idolatrous power of a dominating church. And today we remember the birthday and life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King was, along with so, so many others, protesting centuries of injustice, intolerance and hatred in the U.S. As we’ve seen in recent months and years, it has not gone away. There hasn’t been a time when it wasn’t part of our national story. So, we are tasked with “manifesting a new story, moving into a new day.” Me? We? Us? Yes, Jesus asked us. He came to make all things new, and we are to carry on his work.
Since high school I have listened to and talked with people about race in this country and around the world. Sitting at the feet of civil rights and theological icons Vincent and Rosmarie Harding was a revealing, transformative experience. We in the US are not alone in having a society where racism affects so many aspects of our daily lives. As a White person, I didn’t see it. I needed an epiphany! But for Black folks, it’s just there. Abundantly clear! Every day. Every trip to the store, the beach or the office. No hiding possible!
King and others, like John Lewis, talked a lot about the Beloved Community, and creating it in our midst. King envisioned it as a society based on justice, equal opportunity and love of one’s fellow human beings. If you search the internet for “the beloved community” there is a rich treasury of conversations and opinions. And you can follow THIS LINK to the annual South Whidbey community Blessed are the Peacemakers MLK observance—this year, online.
The tradition of finding strength in song is as old as humanity. The Black community in the U.S., going back to slave days, has used song in powerful ways to cry for help, to seek healing, to protest, to lament and to celebrate. As much as the song Kumbaya has been ridiculed in recent years, it is a song thought to originate in the Gullah language of the southeastern U.S., which links it to the coastal region of west Africa, where many slaves came from. A variant was used during the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in the 1960s, asking God to come by here and be with the people in their struggle. Click HERE for another version.
For me these songs and conversations have been a helpful way to start to understand the ways in which I can still be ignorant of my own blindness about race. And how I might be healed. If I keep on listening and challenging myself to listen, I don’t imagine I’ll ever “get there” but I can keep on the road toward the Beloved Community. I’m a strong believer in the power of Love overcoming the troubles of this world. Not a love where we just sit around and say good things, but an active, revolutionary Love we act and live out every day. It requires something of us. Love those protestant roots!
Rev. Dave Bieniek recently shared a link to a community in New York, where I heard and learned this song (The Medicine, by Alex Aiono) asking for God’s presence in our midst during these times. It spoke to me as we confront the trials of our days—and they are many—when we feel that we’ve done all that we can. When we feel there’s nothing else we can do, we have hope as we partner with God and lean on those promises of healing. Just as the Black church has done for generations. Click HERE to listen.
Be well. See you on the journey!
Karl
The Medicine © 2020 Alex Aiono.
Released on 07/10/2020.
Come By Here
African American traditional.
Public domain
