A Message from Lee

Dear Folks,

This past weekend was the 60th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” If you don’t know, that was the day that Civil Rights marchers for voter registration set out to cross the bridge in Selma, AL. They were met with violence by the authorities. For those of us old enough to have seen the reports, it was a searing attack on a peaceful march.

Now, I know some folks think that bringing such things up just stirs up bad memories from a distant past. People do debate whether racism is still a powerful force in our modern day. Surely, we have made progress, especially on the legal front, since that time. However, there are still statistically significant differences in a lot of social measures between the races.

The political debate continues but in this Lenten season, the need to seriously engage the spiritual aspects of having neighbors (read the well-known parable to define “neighbors”) who don’t feel welcomed or valued has on the families of faith. I was reminded of perhaps my favorite poetry recently - a brief part of John Donne’s “For whom the Bell Tolls”:

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

Peace
Lee