Getting back into the swing of things...

Well, I have been back from the Justice Journey for over a week and as I am processing that experience, all I can think of is where will I commit my spare time and energy in the area of reconciliation. It should be a place close to home and I don't just mean in the neighborhood or village, that is. It should also be cross generational, cross cultural and spiritually focused. We'll have to see what becomes of that. I have also been intentional about spending time with my family, especially my daughter. She is eagerly awaiting the changes that will affect her as she begins life as a student in Kindergarten this fall, but also what awaits her as a big sister this November. No word on the gender yet, but, Joy thinks it's going to be a boy! Things at work are in a period of transition, we are waiting to see how those changes will impact our mission and vision as well as our relationships and ministry efforts toward compassion and justice. "Pops" has been gone for a month now and mom is doing fine, but let's me know about the loneliness when she is feeling it. She falls back on the sustenance she recieves from the Lord and through her church family as well. That's it for now. Peace.

Justice Journey Day 6

Day 6
We left Memphis this morning and had a day full of reflection and conversations to close our time together. We watched a couple of films on the way home: The Great Debaters and Freedom Writers. Both noteworthy films with great and relevant content. As we are considering the experience we just shared we are wondering a few things - how many of the relationships begun here will continue? This can happen, but it must be intentional. Since this is our fifth journey, what has occured in the respective lives of those who went before us? How has their experience changed or impacted them personally? How did all of this affect their churches? Has there been any fruit borne there? What does real reconciliation look like? How much progress has taken place in Chicagoland due to the role of those who have participated previously? Where do we go from here? We are scheduled to have a reunion in about a month, more to come after that, so stay tuned...

PS I included this photo of the stained glass window that was replaced after the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was bombed, the only damage to the window was Jesus' face was blown out. Very interesting.

Justice Journey Day 5

Day 5
..."Those privileged to come and see, have the responsibility to go and tell!" - Pierre Chestang, participant on the Justice Journey 2008, who works for the Moody Broadcasting Network in Tampa, FL. We left Tupelo, MS this morning and spent the beginning of our bus ride with reflective time, we were asked to write in our journals words that described how we were feeling, my choices were sad, tired, excited, anxious, hopeful and contemplative...headed for Memphis, TN. When we arrived at the National Civil Rights Museum, we enter into an exhibit from the Smithsonian Latino Center, the Clemente family, and the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico the presentation is called "Beyond Baseball: The Life of Roberto Clemente" it is a tribute to this monumental figure’s outstanding achievements on the field and off. It is a bilingual (English/Spanish) panel exhibition, richly illustrated with images of Clemente’s life and accomplishments.. The Black Puerto Rican baseball player who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers minor league team and then picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Here is a link for the virtual exhibit: http://www.robertoclemente.si.edu/. From there we toured the rest of the museum. There is a new installment for the 40th anniversary of King's assassination,. We went back to the hotel for lunch and afterwards listened to A.G. Miller, Professor of Religion at Oberlin College in OH. He spoke about Compassion, Seeing and Action. He presented a model of ministry where Jesus incorporated all three of these in blessing others...Jesus has placed a longing with a passion we can't control in our inner being. Professor Miller challenged us to seek God's face in order to transform us in a way that will respond to the heart of God. Dr. Perkins closed with a quote from Bill Hybels' book Courageous Leadership: "A leader is someone who is able to turn vision into passion." After this, we met for 45 minutes with our respective church bodies to discuss next steps. We had great representation from several Willow Creek volunteers, staff and interns who participated in this week's event...we check into our rooms and afterward head for dinner at the Soul Cafe on the campus of New Directions church, where we are addressed by Rudy Howard, who performs a one man show on music and the Civil Rights Movement. This is a fantastic way to close our time together...afterwards some of us went to Beale Street, but I came back to the hotel, in order to complete my thoughts and post this blog entry...Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Justice Journey Day 4

Day 4
We were privileged to sleep a little later this morning - 1 hour. We began our day with a lecture by Rev. Jennifer Kottler, Director of Education and Outreach for the Chicago-based education and advocacy group Protestants for the Common Good. She is also an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a registered state (IL) lobbyist. She spoke on the "Triple A Attributes of Reconciliation Ambassadors," 1. Awareness - override our tendencies to discount information. 2. Accept Responsibility - to pursue justice and righteousness. 3. Acting for Change - using resources and influence to address systemic injustice. The following quotes were shared: "We didn't land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us." "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us."

After this we watched Spike Lee's Film "Four Little Girls," which documented the bombing of the 16th St. Baptist Church on September 15, 1963, where Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley were the tragic victims of that act of violence. This prepared us for today's journey back to Alabama. Where we traveled to Birmingham's Civil Rights Institute, Kelly Ingram Park and the 16th Street Baptist Church, where we heard a few words from Pastor Price and Dr. John Perkins who spoke on "Forgiveness and Reconciliation." Awareness can open a door for hatred, anger and frustration, but as the body we are reminded of Christ's interaction with a persecutor named Saul and the conversion experience he had, becoming an authentic follower of Jesus and a "fisher of men." As we headed for our dinner site, we reflected on all we had seen and experienced today. While we were driving we passed a company truck with a logo that had a Confederate soldier representing the Kennesaw Trucking Company of Atlanta, GA. Some things remain to plague the South and remind us that the battle is not over yet...

Justice Journey Day 3

Day 3
We started this day early again...on the journey to Atlanta, we watched a film called "Last Chance for Eden," this movie was about a multicultural and multi ethnic group of people sharing their perspectives and lives with regards to racism, prejudice, injustice and the anger, as well as the frustration related to that. Most of them were forced to become vulnerable at one point or another. They were challenged to address and respond to issues raised during their conversations and dialogues. We discussed a few questions with our seatmates on the bus. During our lunch together, my small group continued this dialogue and took the opportunity to ask some tough questions about personal experiences with racism, prejudice and harassment. I spoke freely, as did several others, in a safe place surrounded by brothers and sisters who were seeking to understand one another. Then, we had the opportunity to hear Dr. Larry Lloyd, President of Crichton College speak on "Justice and Righteousness," These are attributes of God that we must mirror. Justice is how God treats us and Righteousness is how we treat others. Holy living is personal Righteousness, social justice is public righteousness. Righteousness is doing the right thing, while Justice is doing the right thing to others. An additional blessing was being visited by Lili Eldiery, who participated in last year's Justice Journey and spent part of the day with us. From here we went to the Martin Luther King Center and viewed several exhibits, I especially appreciated two quotes from Dr. King - "Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." The other quote was "Love yourself...You are commanded to do that. That is the length of life. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. You are commanded to do that. That is the breath of life. But...there is a first and greater commandment, 'Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind.' This is the height of life. And when you do this you live the complete life." I was probably most impacted by King's time in Chicago, where he encountered racism first hand in Marquette Park. He said that Chicago was the North's most segregated city in America. Two other quotes that challenged me were from people that served alongside Dr. King during the Civil Rights Movement...we are called to begin a renewed life - extending Martin's ministry by working energetically and consistently, individually and collectively, to usher the day of peace with justice, to eliminate poverty and to work for the day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead man, and when white will behave right!" - Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery. The other quote was...the testimony becomes 'what will your legacy be as a result of the work you do in the world? Each person must see himself or herself as having power to contribute to building a better world by first being prepared. Study. Learn. Develop courage and integrity in order to rise to the occasion when needed." - Dorothy Cotton. We closed out our time there with prayer and praise at the tombs of Martin & Coretta King.

Justice Journey Day 2

Day 2
The Journey continues...today we left Nashville, TN early and as we arrived in AL, I saw a white young man with a sleeveless "stars and bars" t-shirt on standing in front of the first rest area. How far have we come since the abolition of slavery and end of the civil war? I still remember these kinds of things in high school as southern rock was making a name for itself - Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Charlie Daniels Band. Over lunch we had the opportunity to hear from Dr. John Perkins, one of the Justice Journey faculty members, he defined justice for us - is recognizing who owns the earth - God and who is the steward of that earth - Man and that Justice is to take hate out of our thinking. During this leg of the journey we watched "Amistad," tough movie on slavery and that led us into our tour of the Slavery & Civil War Museum. We experienced first hand what we saw in the movie as we were herded around and treated like slaves. Afterwards, we had a rich time of prayer. We also visited the National Voting Rights Museum and walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where the Selma Civil Rights March, also known as "Bloody Sunday," took place. Then it was down for dinner and off to our hotel...more to come tomorrow.

Justice Journey Day 1

Day 1
I am going to do my best to provide a daily entry for the next 6 days. The day started early this morning, 5:00 AM for me. We left Willow Creek at 8:30 AM and headed for several points south in the Chicagoland area, in order to pick up the rest of the Justice Journey participants. Traveled through Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee along I-65. We had a long bus ride with several stops for meals, bathroom breaks and leg stretches. I have new shoes, which should be very comfortable - Isabel & Joy helped me pick out a pair of Crocs and Dr. Scholl's sandals. What an interesting day full of conversations. At the moment, I am having one such dialogue with my roommate about immigration reform and the incredible need for that! What an opportunity to pursue a greater awareness of issues like this. We arrived at our final destination in Nashville tonight around 8PM, checked into the hotel and unloaded the luggage. So I am trying to prepare for a decent night's rest before traveling into Selma tomorrow afternoon. Good night for now.

Legacy

I have been mulling this over and over in my mind...I asked my mom to say some things to my dad a couple of weeks ago, when he was admitted to the hospital and that was "I hope I was a son that you could be proud of..." She told me he said yes and I have been asking myself what he could have been proud of? I believe it had everything to do with legacies...our new found legacies cancel out our old generational curses through the blood of Jesus and his atoning sacrifice. My role in ministry these many years has been to do likewise with all those I have encountered: to insure that they also realized all of this too. They were no longer bound or captives, but free through Christ and His liberation extended to us. Earlier today I met with chaplains from the local county jails and shared this with them also, that our role was to insure that those we were serving would also realize what they now had as they chose to follow the Savior - an end to the curses and generational sin and a new beginning with Jesus leading them and their serving others with the Gifting they freely received. Redemption through fulfillment of discipleship and practical contextual application of biblical principles to our lives daily. Knowing the Savior deeply and His plan for our lives!

It's been a week...

I returned to Chicago last Saturday morning and am going back and forth with blessings and sorrow. My mom is doing better, she is driving her car on her own and back into the "swing of things," if that is at all possible. I am not sure what I wanted to write here, but felt the need to put something down. More to come in the days ahead...