Words of encouragement and solidarity for the work ahead
The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins joins Presbyterian delegates at a visioning and solidarity event while they're in NYC for a United Nations gender equality and justice gathering
NEW YORK — In a world full of rampant injustice and deadly military conflicts, there is room for both lament and hope, said the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, who urges people of faith to keep answering God’s call.
“You are not alone,” said Hawkins, who was addressing an intergenerational group of delegates in town for the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. “We know that there are advocates all around this country, all around this world, saying no to the wars that are going on, trying to end them.”
There also are people of faith professing that God is “love, slow to anger, abounding in mercy. That God has called us to be people of justice, who say, ‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.’ And every time I visit a congregation, I hear the words of the prophet Micah recited: What does the Lord require of each one of us but to love justice, to do kindness and to walk humbly with your God.”
Hawkins, advocacy director for the Interim Unified Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), was providing words of encouragement and solidarity to the delates gathered at the Church of the Covenant for a parallel event, where they also heard from Clare Balsan, advocacy associate for the Presbyterian Ministry at the UN (PMUN).
Touching on the importance of hope, Balsan said, “We're all here for advocacy work. We're all here for education, but we can't really advocate if we don't have hope because if we don't have hope, there's no reason to advocate for a better future,” she said. It’s crucial to “be in solidarity with other advocates” to help build and sustain hope.
Nearly 70 PC(USA) delegates, accompanied by PMUN and Presbyterian Women, are taking part in CSW70, a gender equality gathering that is focusing this year on improving access to justice for women and girls. Delegates also are attending educational sessions and taking part in advocacy work, such as being part of a silent vigil for Palestine on Thursday.
The Wednesday visioning and solidarity session with Hawkins was organized by the Presbyterian CSW70 Planning Team.
Hawkins praised “Presbyterians all around this country who are so determined to make a difference in this world, who have not given up and are determined that the voice of the church will indeed rise and be stronger than ever before.”
He also lauded Presbyterian Women for their “long and powerful witness” and for challenging the denomination to be more just and inclusive.
“Keep on walking, Presbyterian Women and PMUN, as we come together in the name of our God, at the Commission on the Status of Women. Keep doing the things that you are doing, because there are people who have been inspired by you,” Hawkins said. "And not only that, but each one of our lives is blessed when we stand in the name of a God who loves every child created in the image and likeness of God.”
Hawkins is excited to see church leadership increasingly turning to young adults, such as those attending CSW70 and those serving the advocacy offices. “It is a blessing … to hear their stories, to see their passion, to see their determination that the world that we leave to them will not be the same world that they leave to others.”
Hawkins acknowledged that now is a time when many people of faith are lamenting pain and suffering around the world. “As citizens of the most wealthy and militarily powerful nation in the world, we are sadly complicit,” he said, citing as examples the war in Iran and the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Hawkins went on to offer suggestions on how to keep moving forward when feeling depleted of spiritual energy and how to maintain a spirit of resistance, encouraging those in the crowd to start by acknowledging their own feelings.
“Some days, some weeks, even months, we're just not feeling hopeful, for some days are more difficult than others,” he said.
However, "as people of faith, we hold on to hope and lament, both at the very same time,” he said. “In our faith tradition, lament is not the opposite or absence of hope. It is one of the ways in which hope is expressed.”
People of faith can hold fast to the belief that God is listening and acting, Hawkins noted.
“Even when circumstances are uncertain, our hope arises, not from circumstances but from who God is,” he said. Because God is "described as a God of steadfast love, our lament causes us to remember past deliverances. We recall how God acted in the past,” Hawkins said.
Furthermore, “the suffering and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a symbol that pain and hope can co-exist,” he said. And “God reminds us that liberation and restoration are possible, even in the midst and after long suffering.”
Looking to the future, he stressed that being in unity is important — as is listening and sharing the stories of those most impacted by injustice. He also discussed the need to strategize.
“We are called to pray to discern a vision from our God, to create a strategic and collaborative process," and to remember that “our efforts are strongest when we vision and stand together for a more just and loving future.”
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