As we work towards building equity and inclusion in worship communities centred on love, it was so refreshing to witness a gentle call-in to competence right in the open worship gathering, in a North American largely Euro-descendant community. It was even more refreshing to experience the call-in graciously accepted. The fire of that moment of engagement with justice in the divine pattern has been warming my heart since.

I was surrounded for so long by proponents of the idea that North Americanness which was really unconsciously Whiteness is what makes a particular ideology attractive to the rest of the world. That was taxing. I was surrounded for so long by proponents of the idea that North Americans of that system should separate from the racialized global community in order to move equity forward in that particular system, when North American writers, governing leaders, and lobbyists within that very system continued to campaign fiercely to maintain the status quo.

I was surrounded for so long by proponents of the idea that North Americans in that system were givers being held hostage in inequity by the takers of the racialized global community.

I experienced for so long the inability of the proponents of these ideas to see that the fruit of racism embedded in the system were the sins of the fathers which impacted the minds and psyches of the children unto the third and fourth generation, which prevented them from seeing how much they were given by the racialized global community in North America and abroad.

That was taxing. That was burdensome. That robbed us all of the connection which would have moved inclusion, innovation, and equity forward. That robbed us all of increased competence in living love.

Experiencing that call-in and its gracious acceptance has bolstered my hope. It was the kind of encouragement and relief that I imagine Elijah felt when God told him that there were at least seven thousand others who were also committed to learning what living faithfully with their Creator really meant.

I experienced the kind of chagrin that I imagine Elijah felt having recognized that he had murdered the prophets of Baal needlessly, because there were many times when I had slashed people gleefully with my tongue, to punish them for daring to drip the juice of the generationally produced fruit of racism on us.

I also felt vindicated for being the ass that keeps warning us that we are headed towards death, the death of the communities of our dreams, if we continue to go along the path down which we have been travelling.

And so I am grateful for Black History month and every initiative, book, podcast, and movement which is geared towards helping us make a well informed decision about waking up and moving towards competence in living love.

1 Corinthians 13. 💚🕊️🦋

Shalom.