In a time where xenophobia and other forms of fear are heightened domestically and internationally, being up front and honest about our history, malevolent threads of that tapestry included, is desperately needed.
As we approach the MLK holiday, the witness and legacy of Civil Rights leaders cannot be kept in past tense and treated nostalgically in our public gatherings and celebrations common this time of year. We need persons who can speak to the nation like Dr. King, yet we need the many individuals like Rosa Parks who work for justice and fair treatment on the ground level of our local communities even more.
The song of Zephaniah is yet another reflection of how the season of Advent helps us live in the “now” and the “not yet.”
“BlacKkKlansman” is particularly resonant in these times and was released the same weekend as the first anniversary of the tumult in Charlottesville, Virginia. Further, the film engages questions of “dog whistle” rhetoric in the present day where equivocation in high places seems to condone more than condemn racist acts and words.
We serve a God whose abundance knows no end, and we live in a world sore in need of signs and deeds that offer hope and embody the discipleship Jesus challenges us to embody.