Living in the Spirit
September 14, 2016
Scripture Reading: Psalm 79:1-9
Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors;
let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and forgive our sins,
for your name’s sake. –Psalm 79:8-9
I have been following with great interest the preparations for opening the new Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History. The museum opens at an apt time, occurring during a volatile election year in a country awkwardly trying to deal with its history of bigotry and amidst a faith system trying to make sense of it all. Need for a whole lot of healing exists. While on all sides of the issue, most of us do not even recognize that overzealous quest for power and greed is sin.
I cannot adequately describe how I felt when in my genealogy quest, I found the will of one of my ancestors whose name was Isaac. In it, he had left his house servants by name, listed along with horses and cows, to his various children. I knew that side of my family’s Civil War history and knew they had owned slaves, but that last will and testament forever changed my true understanding of the situation. My hope is that the new National Museum of African American History will provide similar clarity to its visitors. I also know that force-feeding understanding never works. We can only facilitate God’s Aha! moments.
On the other side of my family, in 1834 my ancestors migrated from Pennsylvania to Illinois to homestead on land ceded to the US government in the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis by the French. Sauk leader Blackhawk fought mightily against the ceding, crossing the river from Iowa to reclaim his tribal land. He apparently felt very cheated.
I have also traced the faith histories of my family’s various lines back for several generations. All good Protestants, so far, striving to do their best probably as oblivious as we are today about who wins and who loses when we seek to fulfill our Manifest Destiny regardless of who gets hurt. Some proclaim that this was all God’s will. Others seek God’s forgiveness. We are all called to learn from our history and avoid new ways of repeating it.
Prayer: Forgive us when we lose sight of the good you desire for all of your children and sacrifice it on the altar of what is good for a few but not for all. Open our hearts to the justice you desire for all and guide us in making it a reality. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.