Lenten Reflection: Wednesday in the First Week of Lent

Sacred Ground was an amazing experience. First were the materials we watched and read. Second was the group. In the videos and in the readings, we learned of historical events that I did not know about. Throughout our history, white people have believed that they had a right to take over the land in this country. There were whites who mistreated the Native Americans, took away their land, treated them with disrespect. There were whites who traveled west and who took over land in California that belonged to Mexicans. There was, of course, the slave trade, but one thing we learned that I had not known was the number of slaves in the North. And then, the practice of slavery was perpetuated through the criminal justice system, as mass numbers of Black citizens were arrested for little or no cause, and forced to perform hard labor.

On January 6, when I saw the mob storming the capitol, the hate reflected in the faces of the demonstrators reminded me of the attitudes we had seen displayed in the films we had been watching in Sacred Ground. This idea of white supremacy is a terrible thing.

What we studied was sobering, but the most special part of the class for me was the fellowship the class members developed with each other, the atmosphere of care for each other.

-Jeanne Owings

The question at hand is, what do we do with this information? Where do we go from here? How does a white church in Ruxton respond to this knowledge? How do we become the beloved community?