An Old Emergence

I got the opportunity to spend four days in Nashville last week. It was indescribably wonderful to hang out with my friends whom I miss terribly. I really do have the best friends in the world. The laughter, the hugs, the deep conversations…all were things I needed more than I realized. But along the way I began to discover something that shocked me. I actually began to miss home. I really don’t like Birmingham. Compared to Nashville, it just isn’t a particularly exciting place to live. Yet I’ve started to make it my life. Now that I have (almost) fully moved into my new living space, I feel like I’m here for the long haul.

Breathe deep. Relax. Bask in this moment. This is a Holy Space, a Space meant for us to let go. Stretch your legs, your arms, the knotted muscles of your spirit. We have run swiftly, with vigor, with passion, with purpose. There have been obstacles. The path has not always been smooth. And we have been worn low. But in this space, we can be refreshed. In this space, we can encounter a fountain of life that renews. In this space we may worship with all of who we are. We may inhabit the fullness of our creation. All that separates us falls away and we are equal before Yahweh. Beyond this moment, as we continue our worship in the daily patterns of life, may we immerse ourselves in the mystery of the Holy, and may we always seek to dwell where love is the language most spoken and peace is the path most taken. May it be so. May it be so.

Almost two years ago, a good friend of mine asked me why I thought it was so important to use inclusive language in the church. I don’t remember exactly how I responded, but I remember that my answer was less-than-stellar. I didn’t know how to put into words why I thought it important, just that I knew it was. But now, having studied more about this issue, I am far more prepared to defend my choice.

Today we honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was a life lived in peace, and a life spent working toward equality. Dr. King remains to this day an inspiration for all who still struggle for equal rights. Growing up in Alabama endows a white Anglo-Saxon protestant with a unique perspective on race relations. Even though I never experienced segregation or the atrocities that were perpetrated in my home city of Birmingham in the sixties and seventies, I still experienced a form of “us-them” mentality as a child. I remember thinking and “understanding” that there was something different about the black, Asian, and Latino students in my classes.

An insightful reflection from Rev. Diana Butler Bass in response to the shooting that occurred this morning in Arizona involving Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Follow the link HERE .

I’ll be honest. My original intent with this blog post was to rant about the efforts of an Auburn University professor to publish a new edition of the Mark Twain classic Huckleberry Finn . This new edition would replace the word “nigger” with “slave.” To be sure, I find the “n-word” incredibly offensive. However, by censoring the use of this word in a classic work of literature takes away much of the meaning and cultural context of the original work.

(if you missed part 1, you can check it out here) I am resolved to do things differently this year. I am finding out that I have a fair bit of time on my hands post-graduation, pre-working. While I anticipate having a job of some sort secured by next week, I will still have a significantly larger amount of time on my hands than when I was in school. So I'm going to be intentional with my time.