Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to let people there know and be ensured that all enslaved people be freed. The troops' arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
We will be celebrating Juneteenth this Sunday, June 19, in East Park here in Mason City, Iowa, with people of all races. I invite you to fine Juneteenth celebrations near you and joy in.
Teachers and other school staff in Ohio will now be able to carry guns with only 24 hours of training, not 700. Local school boards will oversee this. I believe arming more teachers will not make schools safer, but rather encourage and increase gun violence and mass shootings. Educators work hard to teach every student, to encourage cooperation in the classroom, through music to blend voices together, and so much more. Their carrying and using guns is the antithesis of providing a trustworthy learning environment. We need to support and make safe public community schools for all.
"I can't believe it happened here." Well, it does happen here. Mass shootings are happening everywhere in the U.S., 233 so far in 2022. President Biden addressed the nation Thursday night calling for action on guns. About the same time, right here in Iowa, 2 women were shot to death at Cornerstone Church in Ames, along with the lone gunman. The night before 4 were killed in Tulsa by a man angry at his surgeon. Looking for the motive? All sorts of motives. The problem is the availability of guns and too many guns, particularly assault weapons.
I was in 8th grade when we learned that Princess Elizabeth of the UK would become queen. He father had died when she was 26. I remember thinking "How can they change 'God Save the King'?" Now we have had 70 years of "God save the Queen." Thank you, Queen Elizabeth II. I remember her serving in the midst of the bombs of WW II. At age 19 she was a driver and a mechanic in the Armed Forces. That was the world she knew and I knew. Now I see the same images of bombed out Ukraine. God save us all.
Today is Ascension Day. In the midst of our troubled and uncertain times, we could feel lost and afraid.What can we do about gun violence, wars, and personal trials?
In Acts 1 the disciples asked Jesus many questions. Jesus replied, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be witnesses to the ends of the earth."
And as they were watching, Jesus ascended. Two men in white robes stood by them and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?"
We have a mission, now, here on earth. And the Holy Spirit will give us the strength we need.
The number of deaths in the United States from COVID has now exceeded 1,000,000. With the population being about 3,300,000, that means one in every 330 people has now died.
COVID variants, including new ones, continue to emerge. Think globally of the countries who do not yet have access to vaccines. Our calling as Christians is clear. We must care about our neighbors. We need to work to see that everyone in the country becomes vaccinated and boosted. We must work to see that everyone around the world has vaccines available. Our calling continues.
Today, April 30, 2022 marks the 35th anniversary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Burton and I attended the Constituting Convention in Columbus, Ohio in 1987. I had been serving on three separate committees during the preceding 5 years of planning: "Church and Society," "Rostered Ministries" and "Theological Education" We had some challenging issues to work out as the American Lutheran Church, the Association of Evangelic Lutheran Churches and the Lutheran Church in America came together to form a new Lutheran Church.
Representative principles were endorsed to be more inclusive of people of color and to lift up decision-making of the laity. Seminaries took on a partnership relationship rather than closing some. And we vowed to reach out to serve in the public world more fully.
The word "bishop" was adopted rather than "district president" and the number of years of the term of bishop was set at 4 years. So many other things to decide! The issue of types of rostered leaders was not settled. I served on "The Task Force of the Study of Ministry" for the following 5 years to work that out.
Many more changes have continued to be made in these 35 years, but the mission remains and is intensified for the future. The issues in the country and the world are even more urgent. We need the ELCA to "share the good news. The gospel not only is a word of Grace but it's also a word of liberation," said current Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton.
What role, if any should religious convictions play in the decisions about U.S. foreign policy? Madeleine Albright, whose funeral was Thursday, April 28 at the Washington National Cathedral, asked this question in her book, "The Mighty and the Almighty" She asked, "Does the United States believe it has a special relationship with God?" Besides serving as U.S. representative to the United Nations, and becoming the first female U.S. Secretary of State, she taught at Georgetown University for decades. He specialty was foreign policy. She researched, and learned first hand about the relationships of religion and government in countries throughout the world. She inspired women in leadership around the globe.
Her funeral was inspirational. President Biden, former president Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke, along with Madeleine's three daughters. You can watch the entire service on C-Span's YouTube.
Visit "Our Great National Parks," on Netflix. Barack Obama is executive producer and narrator. We might assume from the title, that this 5-part series is about the 63 national parks in the United States. However, Obama, in his slow quiet voice, takes us to some of the over 4000 national parks in the world, from Patagonia to Indonesia to Monterey Bay and Kenya. We see and marvel. We appreciate in awe.
Earth Day, is a good day to listen and learn. Our common goal in this Climate Crisis is not to compete and conquer but to preserve and protect.
At 6:05 p.m. on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. He was 39 years old. Today he would have been 93 years old. He had been in Memphis, TN, supporting the striking sanitation workers, most of whom were African-American.
Today people are still poor, Amazon and Starbucks workers are working to make progress in being able to organize unions. And Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's vote is before the Senate to become the first Black Woman on the Supreme Court. We have come a long way, Dr. King, and yet so far to go. We remember what you said, "Darkness cannot drive our darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that."
I have been intrigued and inspired watching the Winter Paralympics. There are the visually impaired skiing or sledding down giant slopes, with a guide leading them. What trust, what collaboration.
I have enjoyed sled hockey, yes particularly the U.S. team. For me it's not about how many points, or about winning and losing. It's watching the collaboration among the team members. With skill and collaboration they pass the puck from person and person. Not just "chemistry" among the men, but co-labor. Beautiful and productive. Collaboration doesn't mean one has to work less, but the incentive to work harder together.
I cannot even make a logical contrast between watching the Paralympics and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It's beyond contrast and comparison. Instead of celebrating each other, the goal is to annihilate, conquer, kill. All the more reason to co-labor with allies trying to stop Putin. We need inspiration and energy from the Paralympians.
Ashes. While I write, I am watching the opening ceremony of the Paralympics. (Yes, I regularly awake by 5:30 a.m.) How enjoyable from March 4 though 13. On another channel, more news about Russia's attack on Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant. The fire is now out. Ashes. But, at this hour, there is still fear of a nuclear meltdown. Ashes. Amidst the ironic juxtaposition, I ask myself, "Which is reality?" Lent is the time not just to realize we are all human--ashes--but also to recognize the human condition. God created us to live together, with each of our abilities and disabilities, to joyfully use our gifts and to inspire one another. Historically and globally, we try to conquer land and annihilate the one we call enemy. Does that have to be the dominant reality? Lent: a time to reflect, repent and be restored by the Creating, Redeeming and Life-Giving God.
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