Are we any better off today?

So much to think about these days... I must admit I am agitated, sad, mad, hopeful, confused, confounded YET even more committed to see what I've not seen before.

Since I visited the mass graves from the AIDS pandemic in South Africa in 2011, I've been praying that my eyes, ears and heart would be opened --

In fact, I penned this prayer nearly 6 years ago...

"I pray for eyes to see and ears to hear -- I pray for HOPE to well up inside us. Help us remember who we belong to and that we each have something to offer our world."

Fast forward to today and I'm still praying this prayer.  And I am seeing things I hadn't seen before.  Here's what I mean... 

Fast forward to the Fall of 2016 -- on the first day of my sabbatical (on a random detour because of a hurricane - that required us to be rerouted became what I'd call a divine appointment - which is a totally different story so I'll stick to this topic)

I found my way to Selma, Alabama. Standing shoulder to shoulder with a man I had never met opened the conversation with this questions: 

"Are we any better off than we were then?"

His question was just that-- a question, a honest inquiry to what we thought.

What ensued was a open, honest discussion with two strangers in the shadow of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

If you don't know about Selma -- here's a tiny bit of what happened there -- On March 7, 1965, 600 civil rights marchers were beginning a march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights. They were met by state and local lawmen --attacked and stopped. www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al4.htm

Listening to each other's stories, we began to see each other and hear each other.  My eyes were being opened to even more of our history and the realities of our day.

Words etched on this stone read:  When your children shall ask you in time to come saying 'What mean these 12 stones?' Then you shall tell them how you made it over. Joshua 4:21

As we were finishing our conversation a woman from Selma had seen us standing there talking.  She couldn't shake the feeling that she was supposed to stop and talk to us.  I am grateful she did.  We introduced ourselves and then she invited us to pray together.  

In a circle at the base of the the Edmund Pettus Bridge holding hands we began praying together. It was incredible as each person took a turn offering their unique perspective and prayers.  

In some small way i believe our eyes, ears and hearts were cracked open a bit by our encounter with each other.

I wonder what would happen if we could find a way to listen to each other.

On March 7 of 1965, I was only 1 month old. I had barely been part of this world when this all happened.  But even so this story is part of my story.  Their story is OUR story.

Jesus said this:

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”   (John 13:34-35)

So I end this entry with the way I began with a prayer:

God,

Give us your eyes to see what you see.
Give us your ears to hear what you hear.
Give us your heart to feel what you feel.
Give us your hands and feet to follow you.
May all that we say and do be pleasing to you.

Amen.