Stated Clerk's Column
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About This Column
Written by Gradye Parsons
Each month the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Moderator or Vice Moderator of the 220th General Assembly write a column of general interest for the church-at-large.
Recent posts
- June 2016 - A journey of faith—Gradye Parsons
- May 2016 - A distinct family portrait of the PC(USA)
- April 2016 - Pack your mission T
- March 2016 - The hard work of reconciliation
- February 2016 - Sustainable ministry results from sustainable souls
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July 2015 - Walk toward a new day
The righteous perish,
and no one takes it to heart;
the devout are taken away,
while no one understands. (Isaiah 57:1)
As I look over the monthly columns that I have written in the past twelve months, I realize that a fourth of them have been about racism. The latest public incident is the murders at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church (Mother Emanuel) in Charleston, South Carolina. Mother Emanuel is another in a long tragic list of African American churches that have been bombed, burned, shot up, and defaced.
I have tried to imagine a Sunday school teacher putting aside the stories of David and Goliath or Noah. “Today, children, we are going to learn to play dead in church so you won’t get shot.” I watched with many others the worship service at Mother Emanuel after the shootings. The overarching spirit of evil will not prevail was the theme.
But it sure seems like evil is working hard. It is appropriate to confront some powerful symbols of slavery and racism. It is appropriate to talk about guns. But I think we have to go deeper, much deeper.
In John 5 we have the story of the healing of the man who had been lying by the pool of Beth-zatha for thirty-eight years waiting for a cure. When Jesus sees him he asks what seems like a preposterous question “Do you want to be healed?” The man says yes and Jesus heals him.
This gets the man into trouble because Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. This story reveals two parts of this work to end the evil of racism.
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We have to ask ourselves, do we want to be well, completely well rid of our own racism.
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Are we willing to cure our beloved institutions of the racism we constructed them to have?
Recently my doctor wanted me to think about changing one of my prescriptions. In a rare moment of self-awareness I told him, “Doc, it is not the drugs fault it’s not working well, it is mine.”
Let us desire to pick up our mats and walk toward a new day.
- Posted at 8:53 a.m.
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