Last night, I was sitting around a dinner table with some folks from St. James’, and we predictably started into a conversation around one of the questions at the core of our identity as an inclusive, multicultural parish: How do we in our divided and divisive society become a community that pursues racial justice?
Over the course of this year, this blog will highlight work being done in response to that faithful question. Because our Presiding Bishop is visiting us on Sunday, June 2, I would like to begin with the vision that he has been offering and implementing at the multinational level of The Episcopal Church. Becoming Beloved Community is not a new program; it is a journey that challenges us to continually and faithfully take steps along the path of justice and reconciliation, to walk in the way of Jesus. To enter into this work is to do something countercultural: it is to make a covenantal commitment to the life-long iterative work of telling the truth, proclaiming the dream, practicing the way of love, and repairing the breach. This is the work of an Easter people, who bear witness to resurrection and hope in the midst of struggle.
This week, I invite you to set aside a bit of time, maybe on four different days, to meditate on the basic questions in each of the four quadrants of the labyrinth below. What questions, prayers, dreams, or pragmatic next steps bubble up for you? Write to me at rector@stjamesaustin.org, and we will begin to incorporate these thoughts into our life of prayer and conversations together.
