Easter Grief

They went to the tomb to show respect but found nothing. It was dark and empty.

For a few minutes yesterday we experienced darkness and a type of emptiness with the total solar eclipse. The air became much cooler and the sun which gives us life was gone.

I wonder if those at the empty tomb felt a similar sense of coldness. The body of the man who had become their life’s purpose was gone and the tomb empty of his presence.

As the moon, only 245 miles above earth, continued its movement across the sky, the sun, a mere 93 million miles above the earth, once again became evident and its warmth felt by all.

This week this blog was silent out of respect for the lives lost, workers from the World Central Kitchen it is my respect to do such when in the face of such tragedy. We also had lives lost due to an earthquake in Taiwan. Two disasters – one man made and one of nature – resulting in loss of life and darkness for families affected.

Easter is about resurrection and hope. In the midst of our grief, I pray we will find our own eclipse in which the races of man align with goodness to overcome the darkness of souls causing destruction and grief this Easter season.

May we honor the humanitarian efforts of those lost and seek that which encourages living for all.

I will begin this Easter’s season next Sunday. I hope you join me. May God bless.

Easter 2024 – Coloring the World

We spent the 42 days of Lent discussing racism but what really is color and what effect does it have on us? If you think coloring is just a child’s activity, think again. Join me as we spend the 49 days of Easter discussing the psychological, religious, and societal impacts of color.

Also known as chromotherapy or color healing, color theory suggests that specific colors and their frequencies have a physiological and psychological impact on your feelings and behavior. 

Color theory has existed in some form or another since the time of the ancient Egyptians. It may also have roots in Eastern healing practices like balancing chakras, where each chakra (pools of energy inside the body) is associated with a different color. Essentially, if you believe that a color will calm you down or energize you, chances are that it actually will because you’re mentally primed to expect a result.

While there are some “universal truths” about how certain colors affect the brain and body, each person’s response to a color may be different based on their experiences and cultural background.

More research is needed but there is evidence that color impacts our lives and psyche. We all have favorite colors. Wearing them often gives us a sense of confidence. Having a bedroom of calming cool colors can improve sleep habits. Restaurants use color to heighten customers’ appetites. Royalty has used colors to identify status as have religious institutions.

Exposure to colors can help regulate your circadian rhythm (your body’s internal clock), especially when it’s been affected by depression. Mood rings use color based upon body temperature to define a person’s mood. Their accuracy is questionable but the stone itself is made up of thermotropic liquid crystals, which move and bend in response to changes in temperature. When these crystals move, the color that they express changes. 

The human brain associates warm colors—such as red, orange, and yellow—with a range of feelings, including passion, comfort, anger, and power. Cool colors—such as blue, green, and purple—have the opposite effect, creating a calming atmosphere that counteracts feelings of anxiety.

The largest crayon/color stick company has a big box of crayons featuring 120 colors, all distinctive in their hues. Yet, at the core of color, there are only three primary colors. If three colors can become 120, just imagine what color can help mankind achieve!

Week 8 – Forgotten Last Words

I am writing this on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. The practice of so naming this day is rooted in the meaning of the word maundy, which comes from the Latin mandatum, “command.” The command celebrated is one that Jesus gave to His friends on the night before He died. He tells them of his impending death and the betrayal of two – Judas and Peter.

His words to the disciples at that last supper are the key to ending racism. Every thing Dr Meeks writes of focuses on the pain and deaths resulting from the practice of racism, a practice often spread through evil interpretations of the Christian faith. The pain should not be denied but it must be put in the past if we are to move forward. Healing cannot focus on the pain of yesterday but on the hope of a better tomorrow.

What I disliked about this book was the emphasis on the negative and the lack of references to faith. Faith drives us all, regardless of how we identify it. It might be Faith in an entity called God, Allah, G-d, or any of the other hundreds of names for a Great Spirit. It might also be a misguided sense of self or egotism. The concept of Manifest Destiny is a good example of this, a concept widely adopted without scientific basis that has fueled generations of hate resulting in racism.

The man Jesus, however, has already given us the answer to racism : “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). This was his last conversation with his disciples and one lost in the subsequent actions and his crucifixion. Instead of living the way of love described by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry who wrote the foreword to this book, generations have dwelled on the pain and many have co to use that pain in anger. We have not followed the last words of the man Jesus, words that defy racism of any kind.

As we celebrate Easter, we need to commit to living those final words – “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another”. Instead of denying based on color, we should live for, encourage, and be willing to sacrifice for those different than us. It really can be as Jesus commanded that Thursday night so long ago….”Love one another”.

Week 7 – The Quantum Physics of Racism

Quantum physics is the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level. It aims to uncover the properties and behaviors of the very building blocks of nature. So why do we not approach racism as a science problem of quantum physics?

In these medications, Dr Meeks has done a very good job of explaining racism throughout American history. She has left out the racism of other continents and races, however. When viewed in its entirety, it becomes. Wet e ident that racism is a problem of humanity, an infection throughout the history of man. Its very existence could lead one to venture the opinion that racism is part of the fundamental nature of mankind. This it becomes what could be a building block of nature.

We need to use the building block of racism as a stepping stone and not a stop sign. We need desperately to heal the infestation of racism if we are to continue to evolve.

The first step for healing is acceptance and surrender. In these meditations, Dr Meeks has outlined the problem. While I disagree that racism is a black and white issue, I do agree with her assessment regarding colorism.

Racism is a fact. We cannot ignore it. We much accept its existence and in doing so, accept its consequences, the pain it has caused. The violence it encourages. Once accepted, we must then surrender to the truth of racism, expertly described by Dr Meeks.

Racism is discrimination because of diversity. I once answered the knock on my door and found a cable company salesman. He had the correct house number but the wrong street. As I started to give directions to where he needed to be, he remarked about my speech impediment and said his young son shared it. He asked me what could he do to make his son “feel normal” ans to “find normal”. I reminded him that normal is the sum of all within a certain set of of his son were present, 2/2 of our group would stutter and he the father would be the odd – i.e, the abnormal one. He was amazed and upset.

Most of us would claim to be happy being unique and yet, we seldom are. Within quantum physics there is something called Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. This simply states that we cannot know the position and speed of an object at the same instant.

To heal racism we must accept and surrender but how do we do that? Quantum physics cannot observe me and remain neutral because observation changes the nature of that which is observed.

So are we stuck with an uncomfortable notion that racism is a reality that is certain to remain for the ages? Will we ever be brave enough to heal?

Isaac Newton believed all things could be measured and measured perfectly. For many objects this is true. Heisenberg discussed things that had a wave-like frequency and said they could not be perfectly measured. Which applies to human nature?

Does evolution make us part of the Uncertainty Principle? Can we truly heal if we only focus on the pain of racism? The future is itself an uncertainty. How do we walk down its road, a road that hopefully takes us into healing?

We are all ripples in the pond of life. We connect to others that are like us because of the safety we feel with familiarity. The ripple in a pond, however are never the same. The peaks and directions are all affected by wind, temperature, what exists in the ripples path, etc. They do not let those changes stop them, however. It is the water’s nature to ebb and flow.

What is your human nature? To fear the unfamiliar or to embrace it? In what do you place your faith? Through faith we make the uncertain certain. By living faith, we can defeat racism.

Quantum physics explores the world’s smallest particles. Faith tells us that even the smallest particles have meaning. Can we reconcile the two? You already have with the average American breakfast of eggs and toast. Eggs are nature at its simplest core. Toasters are an example of the benefits of quantum physics. So tomorrow have your typical breakfast and then go forth and do something atypical – disengage from racism by honoring the smallest, weakest, disenfranchised of mankind. (Matthew 25:40) We can heal the world of racism.

Week Six – Truth

In reading this week’s set of meditations, one word keeps appearing. That word is truth. What does truth mean to you? Is it an assumption commonly believed or is it fact?

Dr Catherine Meeks writes: “As you engage with all the various challenges that will show up in your inner community and outer world, it is crucial to stand up and tell the best truth possible. Stand against the “any lie will do” mentality and the willingness to sacrifice the truth for a good season of trending on Twitter or some other social media platform. The outer world needs you to tell the story as it is to the best of your knowledge.”

The truth is that racism is not a black or white issue. Nor is it only found in North America. The history of every region on the planet contains evidence and the ravages of racism.

Those from Africa were not the first slaves in the USA. The Native Americans were enslaved before the first slave ships ever landed.

What is your truth? Where does your spiritual and religious faith enter into your actions in dealing with others? Do you have the courage to live your faith? Is the truth of your character important enough to be your compass or will society draw the path you walk?

Solutions are found by those brave enough to seek the truth.

Week Five – Healing

Lent 2024

Week Five – The Energy Called Healing

If you have been attentive and read each post in this Lenten series, you will have noticed how infrequently I have used the term “discrimination” and how frequently I have used the word “healing”.  It has not been unintentional.  The word discrimination tends to excite, anger, and cause grieving – often all at the same time.  I embarked on reading this book, “And the Night is Long” by Dr Catherine Meeks, as a Lenten educational exercise.  I have avoided trying to incite or excite; hence, my choice of words.

In this section of the book, Part 5, the titles of the meditations are Gospel!  They are as follows:

#25 – No Trespassing

#26 – Invisibility Blues

#27 – Looking for More than an Ally

#28 – Trust

#29 – Visibility

#30 – Don’t Get Too Weary

As I write this, it is Dr Albert Einstein’s birthday, a day also known as Pi Day, March 14th or 3.14.  Einstein made hundreds of contributions to science but perhaps his best contribution is his least known.  Einstein used creativity and imagination in his science.  They are two things most people consider the very opposite of science.  Einstein, however, knew the secret of success was to think outside the box.  When we recycle old customs and thought processes, we never move forward.

Last week I spoke of branding.  What? You might say.  That word never appeared in last week’s post.  You are correct and yet, its concept did.  Last week I spoke of the science of familiarity and that is what branding is all about.  Mention the double arches, golden double arches, and people worldwide instantly think of McDonald’s fast food chain.  An artist’s concept of an updated logo featuring an “M” became double arches and… the rest is history.

How do you brand yourself?  Einstein is best known for his mass energy equivalence:  E=mc2.   The first step to understanding any equation is to know what each variable stands for. In this case, E is the energy of an object at rest, m is the object’s mass, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum.  The speed of light is always constant as it is in a vacuum.  In physics, mass–energy equivalence is the relationship between mass and energy in a system’s rest frame, where the two quantities differ only by a multiplicative constant and the units of measurement.

The different races equivalent denotes the relationship that has set the stage throughout history for discrimination.  The relationship between the races differs not from the units of difference but rather by the emphasis put on those differences.  Often that emphasis is based on fear, not fact. 

In physics, the mass-energy equivalence is the relationship between the mass and energy in a system’s rest frame or state.  In life, discrimination is the result of the relationship between races in a negative state.  At rest, there are less than .02% of differences between human beings of different races in their DNA. 

DNA is a polymer, a substance consisting of very large molecules made up of smaller subunits.  The polymer contains genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth, and reproductions of all known living organisms (and this includes viruses).  Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA.  The DNA from any two people is 99.9% identical.  That shared blueprint guides our development and forms a common thread across the planet.

If I gave you 100 pieces of candy, would you mind sharing just two with me?  Less than .02% of our DNA differs from the person standing next to us, living across town from us, sitting in a jail cell in our state, or living halfway around the world.  We have practically everything in common with everyone else and yet…. That .02% is what all discrimination is based upon.

The energy of discrimination has resulted in “No Trespassing” signs up in places and in people’s attitudes and behaviors, in the depression and stress and anger of invisibility blues, in creating a lack of trust.  The constant of 98+ percentage of our DNA has been forgotten due to the fear of people afraid to think outside of the box, afraid to trust.   Too many people have fallen victim to false science and the energy of those looking not for an ally but for someone to blame for their own weaknesses, failures, and lack of foresight. 

What if we thought outside the box of fear and began to trust, to see another as a neighbor, and to realize that together we can accomplish much more than we can divided.  Then, perhaps the relationship between the masses and the good energy produced would kill the virus of discrimination.

What if we applied Einstein’s formula to the act of healing.  Let’s learn from the past and apply the science of today.  By recognizing the common threads that create the tapestry of life, we can build a future that offers prosperity for all.  Part 5 in Dr. Meeks’ book is entitled “Going Below the Surface and Creating New Space for Healing”.   Let’s think outside the historical box of discrimination and be creative in imagining a better world for all.

Week 4 – Trauma and Healing

Reading for this week was Meditations 14-24. In these meditations, Dr Meeks discusses the trauma of racism, the inherited generational effects of it, absurd and painful responses to it, and how it can be cured with love – God’s love.

In the meditations a good many points are made and truths voiced. I encourage you to read them and meditate on them.

As to the question posed “Can racism – its beginning and its effects – be passed down from generation to generation?”, I would answer “Of course.” However, I think the answer has less to do with hate or love and more to do with eyesight.

Dr Meeks feels it is insulting if someone says they do not “see” the color of a person’s skin. I get from she is coming from but, respectively, I think she has tunnel vision.

A coworker once came to work wearing a tye-dyed vest, fuchsia blouse, black skirt, and tye-dyed sandals. By noon I could tell she was upset. I was headed to a local snack bar for lunch and invited her. Over her club sandwich as I complimented her on her shoes, she exploded. No one had noticed the embroidered stitching on her skirt pockets and she felt overlooked.

I mentioned the vibrancy of her blouse and the uniqueness of her shoes. Having grown up in the 60’s and 70’s, tye-dye garments were not new to me but tye-dyed shoes were. As my attention was drawn to her skirt, I agreed the stitching was unique and beautiful. I pointed out that black skirts were less unique, though, so I simply overlooked the detail she thought more prominent.

I confess I seldom think of skin tone. Although as a child, many thought I was African American, I never considered my skin tone a problem. To many, though, it is rightfully a source of great pride and identity. For me to “not notice” must seem like I am not acknowledging them. I do want to honor them but do I really if I am not “seeing” their color? Dr Meeks implies that answer is “No”. Maybe there is a simpler reason. Maybe my not responding due to color is because I was grouped with that demographic, not because I am being superior to them. Maybe it is because they are familiar to me, even though I am not technically by race, one of them.

The familiarity principle, also known as the mere-exposure effect, is a psychological principle that suggests that people tend to develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them. In other words, the more often we are exposed to something, the more we tend to like it.

This principle has been demonstrated in many different contexts, from consumer behavior to social psychology. For example, research has shown that people are more likely to choose familiar brands when making purchasing decisions, even if they are not necessarily the best choice based on objective criteria. Similarly, people are more likely to form positive impressions of others to whom they have been exposed repeatedly, even if they do not know them very well.

The familiarity principle is thought to work because repeated exposure to something reduces the level of uncertainty or ambiguity associated with it. This, in turn, makes it more comfortable or easier for people to process, leading to a positive affective response. Additionally, the familiarity principle may also be influenced by social norms and expectations; people may be more likely to prefer familiar things because they believe that others also like them.

While the familiarity principle can be a powerful tool for marketers and advertisers, it is important to note that it is not always a reliable predictor of behavior. For example, people may develop negative associations with things that they are overexposed to, such as advertising that is perceived as intrusive or annoying. Additionally, the familiarity principle may not apply equally to all individuals or cultures, and other factors may also influence preferences and decision-making.

Scriptures tell us to treat one another as we would want to be treated. Bishop Michael Curry calls this the Way of Love and he encourages us all to walk it. Instead of asking ourselves if someone is relatable because of their outward appearance. We should simply honor their heartbeat. When the external is stripped away, we share many commonalities. We become they and they are us.

We need to take a step forward and see a fellow traveler, not a stranger. Recently the state of Alabama passed a law allowing parents to receive payment for sending their child to a school of their choice. This will not improve education for the masses but allow the familiarity principle to continue to us to segregate. We need to take the US motto to heart and act accordingly: E pluribus unum – one out of many.

Week 3 – Unravel a New Vision

Lent 2024 – Week 3:  Unravel a New Vision

Most people will tell you that track field events are very different from the game of football.  Football is a contact sport and usually, the only contact in track events is the foot on the track and possibly a baton as it is slapped into a runner’s hand during relay races.  We need to categorize things by their similarity and apart from being considered sport events, football and track would seem like very different events.

Recently, as people have begun to recognize that the so-called strides made in the 1960’s regarding racial equality were more like baby steps than effective strides, much discussion has arisen regarding racism.  In their effort to legitimatize their discriminating tactics, some have used the defense of “scientific racism”.  They use this terminology to claim that science gives them their sense of entitlement and superiority.  To claim there is a scientific justification for racial discrimination is not only a fallacy, it is misleading and dishonest.  To justify discrimination and/or ethnic cleansing with science is to deny truth.  The color of a person’s skin, the shape of their eyes, lips, or nose, the texture of their hair may be identifying characteristics but there is not scientific proof that it conveys to a sense of inferiority or the ability to thrive and succeed. 

People may look different but they actually have a great deal in common, just as track and football do.  The record for the broad jump, the most recent unofficial world record, was achieved in 2015.  Byron Jones made that world record jump of 12 feet and 3 inches as a football player.  While the standing long jump or broad jump starts and stops from a still position, it is an energy intensive exercise that carries over to improvements in speed.  The power, coordination, and strength required for this track event lends itself to speed in running, a much needed skill for the cornerback position Jones plays in professional football.

In Meditation 7,  Dr Meeks quotes Clark Moustakas:  “Loneliness involves a confrontation or encounter with one’s self.”  Dr Meeks feels it is within such personal confrontation that healing energy is generated.  “What needs to be left behind?”  Inner works creates the space to see and think in new ways and produce new narratives.

In Mediation 8 she encourages the reader to embrace a new way to see which requires a willingness to allow old ways of seeing to ide.  This, she feels, results in a deeper sense of freedom.  Perhaps therein lies the problem.  There is a comfort in permanence or certainty.  We often feel that security is found in maintaining the status quo.  The truth is that Creation is constantly changing.  Dr Meeks in Mediation 9 defines courage as “the ability to do something that frightens you.”  I would define it as doing what needs to be done.

As a child I remember seeing my first picture of a Ku Klux Klan gathering in the newspaper.  With all the disgust I could muster, I demanded my father explain how the KKK could possibly use a cross as their emblem for hatred.  “Why hasn’t someone taken them to court for copyright infringement?” my ten-year-old self asked.  I truly felt the Christian forefathers had missed the boat by not copyrighting the cross for faithful and benevolent use.  Racism absolutely and most definitely has no place in faith-based activities, buildings, events, or doctrines.  The Bible explicitly states that all God’s children share equally in His love, grace, and mercy.  Dr Meeks makes reference of Southern denominations that opened private schools as a means of combatting desegregation.  In fact, this has occurred all over the country and the world. 

Mediation 11 is entitled “Loss” and whether one lives discrimination or combats it, to be sure there is loss.  There are no rewards to allowing discrimination to continue because we become a divided society and that weakens us.  However, when striving for unity and respect for all peoples, there are no instant rewards and often those brave souls fighting for such justice are ostracized.  In any decision, there will be loss.  Any decision made with integrity and justice for all, however, will ultimately reap rewards.

I personally think of the theme of this book more as a healing than a discussion or treatise on racism.  Racism is not a black or white issue.  It is a red, brown, black, white, yellow issue that infects the worldwide population.  In Meditation 12 Dr Meeks references it to treating a chronic illness and I like that analogy.  One cannot take a pill for three days twice a day and expect to be cured forever.  A Chronic condition needs daily attention and one cannot simply stop taking care of it.  The goal of treating everyone with respect and justice and opportunity is a 24/7 job and will be as long as man is alive on any planet.

Part 3 is entitled “Unweaving the Web” and Mediation 13 is titled “Facing the Wounds”.  I include it here because it ties in with Meditation 12.  I also refer back to my post in Week 2 regarding denial and chronic illness.  As we start to unweave the web of racism and discrimination, we need to make a concerted effort to not deny.  Racism is not a “them” issue.  It is an “us” problem.  Everyone is affected by racism and everyone has a role to play in its resolution and eradication. None of us will reach the finish line if we do not stand on the starting line.

Week 2 – Is Healing Necessary?

Lent 2024 – Week 2:  Is Healing Necessary?

Mediations 1-6, “And the Night is Long” by Dr Catherine Meeks

As any medical patient can tell you, there are very few shortcuts to healing.  We have anesthesia and pain killers but at some point the drugs wear off.   It is at this point we learn healing hurts.  I once had surgery that could only last a specified time with me being under anesthesia.  After the surgery I could not have any pain medication.  For reasons too long to explain now, the normal protocols for keeping me sedated while my body healed could not be followed.  I quickly learned that healing hurts.

In her first meditation, Dr Meeks writes:  “The ego is the one entity that has a contrary voice.  It wants to maintain whatever image it has formed about the nature of reality and who we are in the world, but that image is the very thing that must be explored.”

In Meditation 2, there is the story of a black man walking into a locker room at a health club.  He speaks to the two men present and changing their clothes.  Neither man returns his greeting.  Because they are both white, the black man assumes that have not responded because of his color.  Later a friend explained to him that both men are deaf.  They did not respond because they could not hear.

Years ago, a doctor, remarking on the refusal of a patient to appreciate his own health and its seriousness, exclaimed:  “Denial is not just a river in Egypt!”  His play on words – denial and de[the] Nile – is fact.  Denial and its twin action of scapegoating is not new to the human condition.  It is one of the first stories in the Bible.  Adam made a choice to take a bite from an apple, yet millennia of religious pundits put the blame on his companion Eve.  The result has been to subjugate women as a way of protecting the world.

Meditation 2 speaks a very vital truth:  “The energy to find a new way to act and heal must be grounded in intention.”  In order to heal, one must approach with intent.  Otherwise, we are adrift on a raft going nowhere on the river Denial.

Meditation 3 is entitled “We Wear Masks’.  I am reminded of the childhood rhyme: “Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief; doctor, lawyer, Indian chief.”  This first appeared in “Games and Songs of American Children” by William Wells Newell in 1883.  Which are you?

The word “persona” is discussed in this meditation and the title is a good indication of the definition assigned to it.  We spend much of our lives asking and attempting to answer some very basic questions.  Who am I?  What is my place in this world?  The answers to these are reflected in our own personality but are they part of our persona? The Latin word “persona” referred to an actor’s role or mask, masks being the original costume of the early theatre.  Today’s playbills list these as a “cast of characters”.  Our English word “person” is derived from the Latin “persona” and originally was defined both as “an individual human being” and “a character or part in a play.” 

As language as evolved, the word “persona” now means the face you present to the world.  In its evolution, the word “person” actually came to the English language from the French dialect.  Carl Jung is given credit for using “persona” and defining it as “actor’s mask” but he failed to mention it was the dramatic definition used only in relation to the theatre.  The French “personage” from which the English “persona” is derived refers to the “state of being human”.  In the early 1900’s Carl Jung spoke of the outward attitude or projected character of a person.  This is very different from the original which simply meant “an individual human being”.

Mediations 4 and 5 refer to fear and rage,  Dr Meeks makes an extremely vital statement that I wish was on billboards and city murals worldwide:  “Fear is a weight that we can ill afford to bear.”

Meditation 6 asks:  “Can I get a witness?”  I think she answers the need for this in Meditation 4 when she writes:  “All thoughtful and caring humans are called to do everything possible to assist in healing the planet… every act, no matter how small, affects us all.”  If you want to live in a better world, a world with less violence, then you must be the witness.

In the year 2024, we are living in a society that is motivated by false personas and fueled by anger and the resulting rage because we cannot achieve those false personas.  I never planned to be a parent because children are loud and icky messy.  I was very comfortable in this until one day an acquaintance pointed out I “parented” my friends with unselfish compassion and concern.  Once a parent, I realized it wasn’t the loudness of children I found objectionable but the loudness of temper tantrums.  Anger and rage are negative energy so I taught my children to release that negative energy by exercising instead of throwing a tantrum.  To be sure, I got some odd looks in the toy aisle when my children would start doing jumping jacks after I told them they could not buy every toy they saw, but no one’s ears burned from the overly loud crying of a temper tantrum.  “All thoughtful and caring humans are called to do everything possible to assist in healing the planet… every act, no matter how small, affects us all.”

Shakespeare wrote in his play “As You Like It”: “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.”  Will your life and world be a story of love, a comedy or a tragedy?  The choice is ours … to heal or live in denial.

Lent 2024 – Week 1B

Lent 2024 – Week 1B

Introduction by Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

Foreword by Catherine Meeks

Bishop Michael Curry describes this book as having been written by a “soul friend and sister”, Dr Catherine Meeks.  He goes further and reflects that the book is written in the spirit of the late Howard Thurman, an American author, philosopher, theologian, mystic, educator, and civil rights leader; Rabbi Abraham Joshua Herschel, a Polish-American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century; and Thich Nacht Hanh, a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet and teacher exiled from Vietnam in 1966 to the United States.  All three of these men were spiritual advisors of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. 

These multiple faith references illustrate that racism affects us all and is not simply a black and white issue nor is it only in the United States.  It is important that we realize this, I believe.  Discrimination of any type is wrong and separates us from our deity of choice as well as our neighbors.  In his foreword, Bishop Curry concludes that “Now is the time to act” and mentions the many who have suffered.

Bishop Curry believes that “action is needed” and goes further to define that action as love, love that is “unstoppable, unselfish, unsentimental”.  He quotes Archbishop Oscar Romero,  the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador. As archbishop, Romero spoke out against social injustice and violence amid the escalating conflict between the military government and left-wing insurgents that led to the Salvadoran Civil War in 1980.  Archbishop Romero was murdered while conducting a religious mass.  Archbishop Romero described action based upon love as “the force that will overcome the world”.  He also quotes Dr Martin Luther King, Jr who believed that love was “the only answer to 9hu0mankind’s problems.”

 Bishop Curry goes further in stating that such love will transform rage into righteousness characterized by passion for a better world, a more just social order, a compassionate global community and humanity.  He relates this to the parables told by Jesus of Nazareth.

In her foreword, Dr Meeks described her book as a series of meditations offering possibilities, and a chance for personal reflections.  She challenges the reader to listen as one undertakes positive action in moving forward.  She uses the metaphor of the world as a “house on fire” and says it is time to “stop bickering over which fire extinguisher to use.”

In his introduction, Bishop Curry spoke of how the actions and parables of Jesus have been characterized as healings and exorcisms.  I would ask each of you if there is ever a healing without an exorcism?  When we cure ourselves of a cold, we are exorcizing our bodies of germs, are we not? 

The book’s title we are discussing this Lent is based upon the scripture found in Mark 1:35 which references “that lonely place” with God.  If you practice contemplative prayer or meditation, then you are probably families with that lonely place, often found in a long, lonely dark night. 

I hope you will follow along and read this book, learning from the meditations contained within as we travel our Lenten journey.  We will discuss these mediations twice weekly.  Dr Meeks ends her foreword with a question: “Do you really want to be well?”  It is a most valid and important question.  Do we want our world to be well?  Do we want to be well?  Will we broaden our vision and recognize the world is indeed sick?  Perhaps the ravages of hatred have not yet reached your front yard but if they haven’t today, they soon will tomorrow.  After all, hatred spreads faster than Covid-19.