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| Hoosier United Methodist News |
December 2001 |
Commentary:
African Americans can share lessons on oneness
By Gilbert H. Caldwell
One of the most moving moments following the devastation of Sept. 11 was a brief television story of school children in a small Georgia town. They had written letters to President Bush and to the rescue workers. With flags waving, the children marched to the post office to mail their letters. Many of us who saw their child-like seriousness were deeply touched.
The children symbolize what seems to be a growing spirit of unity in the United States. They also show that every segment of our society has a message to share about unity and life in the wake of Sept. 11.
In that spirit, I'd like to share my perspective as an African American and a fourth-generation Methodist who served in active ministry for 45 years. African Americans have much to teach our church and nation about unity and endurance in the face of violence.
When I look at the church today, I see a denomination of rich diversity. We disagree on some issues, but because of the emotions evoked by Sept. 11, it is hoped we will discover a unity that does not require a superficial uniformity. Our new sense of oneness creates opportunity and an obligation to reach into our distinctive journeys and share our "learnings" to encourage and strengthen others.
Vernon Jordan, nationally known for his involvement in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and civil rights activity has published a memoir titled Vernon Can Read. He wrote that "black people have done wonderful things for this country (saved its soul, in fact), and we have been an example to the world in the process."
In a church address after Sept. 11, he proclaimed: "Now that America is warring on terrorism, it is black people who can remind America that we know it well. ... We remember four little girls killed in the bombing of a Birmingham church. We know that dangerous rhetoric can lead to acts of lunacy that kill innocents."
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'Our new sense of oneness creates an obligation to reach into our distinctive journeys and share our learnings' |
The descendants of John Wesley are blessed to have among us people who want to share the lessons derived from the contradictions of our African-American experience. We have known anger, but we have responded with nonviolence. We have fought in every one of our nation's wars, sometimes fighting to preserve a democracy that we have not yet experienced. We have had an unswerving belief in the national ideal, achieved and promised. Please, in this national emergency, hear us and do not ignore us!
"Why do they hate us?" is the question being asked across the nation. There have been times when African Americans have asked that same question, but we have not allowed hate to make us hate.
All of us in United Methodism ought to have learned the folly of saying "all of them are like the most negative of them." We value the God-given gift that is in each of God's children. Those who violate that gift through their words and deeds do not represent the religion, race or nationality that is theirs. Rather, through their harmful actions, they violate the sanctity of all humanity.
An authentic religious faith that is deeply internalized allows all of us to withstand the pain, anger and lust for revenge that all humans sometimes experience. But we Christians fail our faith and our country when we allow our flag or the patriotism it represents to obscure or compete with the cross of our faith - the cross that is the sign of our salvation and freedom in Jesus Christ. When African Americans sing the anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing," we remember our difficult journey as a people, particularly in one verse: "We have come over a way that with tears has been watered."
Since Sept. 11, our nation has shed tears that we could never have anticipated. But within our nation and our church, there are those who know a history of tears. May we learn in new ways from one another that "nothing shall separate us from the love that God has revealed in Jesus Christ."
The Rev. Gilbert Caldwell is a retired pastor living in Denver, and he is chairman of United Methodists of Color for a Fully Inclusive Church. A United Methodist News Service commentary
Last updated on 01/14/2004