The Irreverent Reverend

History is written by the winners. They get to shape the narrative, decide which story is told and how it is told. Black history is the invisible history of our country and has scarcely been told. There are hundreds of thousands of stories that remain in the shadows. Heroes and heroines, the brave and brilliant, the robust and resilient; they are the unseen backbone of our nation. Here are a few of their stories, appearing in no particular order. This is why we need Black History Month.

• Captain Richard D. Macom of Birmingham, Alabama earned a degree in mathematics in 1942. A year later, he joined the Army Air Force and two years later graduated and joined the 302^nd Fighter Squadron. He flew multiple missions and was eventually shot down and held as a prisoner of war for nine months. He received the Air Medal and a Purple Heart. He retired in 1945 with the rank of Captain.
• Louise Celia Fleming was the first African American to graduate from the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia. She graduated in 1895 and was appointed by the Women’s Missionary Foreign Mission Society to serve as a medical missionary to Upper Congo. She was known for the quality care she provided and for training local Congolese men and women in basic medical skills so that people of the region had localized access to care.
• Frederick McKinely Jones is responsible for the refrigeration system for trucks and railroad cars. He received a patent in 1942. During WWII his invention preserved blood, medicine and food for use in army hospitals and open battlefields.
• Selma Burke created the portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt that was later featured on the US dime. She never received credit or remuneration for her work.
• Huey P. Newton was co-founder of the Black Panther Party. He had a Ph.D. in Social Science. During its brief existence the Black Panthers founded health care clinics, schools and social centers for blacks in poor neighborhoods.
• Clara Belle Drisdal Williams was the first African American graduate of New Mexico State University. Many of her professors would not allow her to sit in the classroom, so she took notes from the hallway. She also was not allowed to walk with her class to get her degree.  She became a great teacher of black students by day; and by night she taught their parents, former slaves, home economics. In 1961, New Mexico State University named a street after her and in 2005 the English department building was named after her. In 1980 she was awarded an honorary doctorate and the University apologized for the treatment she had been subjected to as a student.
• Cathay Williams was the first documented black woman to enlist in the US Army. She served as an Army cook during the Civil War and traveled with infantry units as they moved from state to state. In 1866 she enlisted in the Army and was assigned to the 38^th US Infantry, the Buffalo Soldiers, and traveled throughout the west with her unit. She was not discovered to be a woman until 1868. She was subsequently honorably discharged.
• Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus long before Rosa Parks. She was 15. She challenged the driver and was subsequently arrested. She was the first woman detained for her resistance in the Civil Rights Movement.
• Bessie Coleman was the first licensed Black pilot in the world. Coleman went to flight school in France in 1919 and paved the way for a new generation of diverse fliers like the Tuskegee airmen, Blackbirds, and the Flying Hobos.
• Phillis Wheatley was the first Black woman to publish a book of poetry. She had no formal education as she was a slave of the Wheatley family during the mid-1700’s.
• Gwendolyn Brooks was the first Black author to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1950 for her work, Annie Allen. She served as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress and was poet laureate of the state of Illinois.
• Jane Bolin was the first Black woman to attend Yale Law School in 1931. She became the first Black female judge in the US in 1939. She advocated throughout her life for people to be hired on the basis of their skills and not their skin color.

There are so many more stories that remain untold: extraordinary women and men who overcame horrific circumstances to make courageous and lasting contributions to our society and to our world. Telling their stories helps to balance the scales.

My friend Kathy (Physical Therapist extraordinaire) posted this on Facebook not long ago. I asked her if I could share it in a blog. I do so with her permission and blessing. Thank you, Kathy.

“This just happened. I was making a work-related phone call, and the woman I talked to is the mom of someone that a mutual acquaintance told me recently had lost a son to drug overdose. So, here I was unexpectedly talking to his grandmother. And I said something about it, with due apologies that I hoped I wasn’t intruding, but that I’d heard the terrible news about their heartbreaking loss, and that I grieved for them. And she thanked me for bringing it up because, she said, most people are afraid to say anything and that makes you feel even more alone with your sorrow. And I said, yes I knew exactly how that felt. And she said, if I felt inclined, to send them a card, because cards really helped, too. And I said I would. And she said again she was so glad I mentioned it, even though we were now both sniffling on the phone. And then we chuckled at that and wished each other well.

Say something. Just say you are sorry to hear a person’s awful news. You don’t have to fix anything. Just acknowledge it. Saying nothing makes people feel invisible. Which is worse.”

Wise words from a wise woman.

When unspeakable loss happens in the life of another, we are afraid to upset them. We worry that we will somehow make things worse by bringing it to mind. Trust me; it is already in their every waking moment. The best thing we can do is mention it. Kathy is right; we don’t have to fix anything. There is nothing to fix. A simple, heartfelt expression of sympathy is enough.

Such tender words validate loss and let people know they are not alone. Grief is often a very lonely experience. We can make it less so by sharing a few words of care.

In the instance of drug overdose there is also a stigma. Families feel shame and embarrassment when a loved one dies of an overdose. It often exposes, for the first time, that their loved one had a substance abuse problem. This creates a double whammy. Chances are good that there is someone in our circle of friends who has a loved one who struggles with substance abuse. It is true in my family. It means we live with the constant fear that we will get “the phone call” about a deadly overdose.  It means we feel helpless to do anything that will make a difference. It means we feel isolated and alone with this truth and this worry.

With any other illness or malady there is empathy and ease of talking about it. There is no stigma to cancer (unless it is lung cancer, then we secretly rag on people for smoking). We express our care and concern for those who are ill and undergoing treatment. It is okay to talk about it with people in our circle of friends and family.

Drug addiction, overdose and death are a different story. It’s time to break the stigma. This is far too big an issue to remain under the rug of some stupid idea of social propriety. Deaths from drug overdose are the unspoken epidemic of our time. “Provisional data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate that there were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 12-month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5% from the 78,056 deaths during the same period the year before. (CDC.gov). These numbers are likely much higher due to underreporting.

The best thing we can do is say something. Loss needs validation. Sadness is made for sharing, if only for a brief moment on the telephone. Grief shared is grief made easier to bear. Say something. Whether it brings tears, laughter or some of both, it is one of the kindest things we can do.

So, suck it up people. Put on your grown up pants and take a risk for the sake of someone you care about. It may seem counter-intuitive to bring it up, but trust me words of comfort and care are the most important words we can utter on any given day.  

As a young boater, everything was a new experience. To say I was clueless is generous. The first year I owned a boat I decided I would sail across the bay to attend a Fourth of July parade with friends.

When I arrived in front of my friend’s house, I threw the anchor overboard, set it and rowed the dinghy to shore. As it happened, the mast perfectly lined up with a tree. I kept looking at the tree and the mast to assure they were lined up and the boat wasn’t moving.

We headed off to the parade and returned a few hours later. I ran ahead of the others to see how the mast lined up with the tree. The good news is the tree was still there. The bad news is my boat was gone, not visible to the naked eye, just gone. Wading out into the water I frantically looked for my boat. With a pair of binoculars I saw it offshore a few miles away bobbing along without a care in the world. I, on the other hand, was a basket case.

My friend fired up his motor boat and we sped off toward my bereft sail boat. I jumped aboard, pulled up the anchor, tied up to the motor boat and towed my sailboat back. When I was ready to set the anchor again, my friend told me not to throw the anchor overboard, but to gently lower it into the water and feed out the rode (boat speak for rope). As it turned out, my first anchoring attempt resulted in the chain being wrapped around the anchor which prevented it from setting properly into the mud.

It was the first and last time I ever dragged anchor on a boat. I wish I could say the same thing was true for my life. It is easy to drag anchor, to move away from the things that center and ground me. And sometimes I don’t realize it until I am far away from where I want to be.

It is a subtle but powerful thing that causes us to drag anchor in our lives.

We are all pandemic weary. The waxing and waning of cases, fear for ourselves and our loved ones, invisible grief of loss that is not validated in community and the endless fighting between science and conspiracy theories are enough to drive anyone to distraction.

The pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives. Jobs have changed or evaporated; child care is a juggling act and inflation has us watching every penny. It’s easy to drag anchor as we try and manage it all.

Add to this the subtle but powerful bombardment with hundreds of images a day that try to convince us that we need this latest gadget or this do-it-all-doodad. Television and social media create false narratives of success. We end up bobbing along, dragging anchor away from the place that gives our lives true meaning.

A new book by British journalist Jonathan Hari, titled Stolen Focus, is about dragging anchor. He doesn’t use that terminology, but the meaning is the same. He posits that we have lost our capacity to pay attention, to focus on what’s important and stay rooted in what gives us meaning. Our capacity to deeply engage a complex problem, see a project through or quiet our innermost selves to listen to the Spirit is diminished by all that goes on around us. It may be one reason for the growing concern about adults taking medications for Attention Deficit Disorder. Adderall and other amphetamine drugs are on the rise with adults. Some say this is the next addiction that will need our attention.

Truth be told, it is hard to settle down and focus. We are bombarded with thoughts about things left undone, new things to work on, everyday tasks, the unique worries of our own lives and so much more.

The remedy is to get back to the place where we set our anchor. What is most important in your life? What anchors your life? How secure is the place where you set your anchor? When we are clear about what anchors our life, everything else comes to a different and manageable perspective. We can prioritize what’s most important, set other things aside, clear the schedule and make time for what and who we value. Most importantly, we come to realize that the tasks of life will never be done. There will always be something left undone, and that’s okay.

The time spent anchoring, whether in meditation, nature walks, reading, playing or whatever anchors you are the most important moments you can spend every day. Gently put your anchor overboard.  Lower it slowly and feel it touch the bottom. Feed out the rode and set the anchor. Let it dig into the security of the bottom layer of mud and stones. Trust that it will hold. Know that it is the most important thing you can do every day

Please welcome guest blogger The Rev. Dr. Ken Ferguson

Proverbs 4:7 “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get [a]  wisdom.
    Though it cost all you have, [ b ]  get understanding.” (NIV)
Where do you get your wisdom? I could be flippant and say…certainly not
from Fox News. Seriously, where do you get your wisdom?
Some might say…”Out of the mouths of babes” and truthfully, we probably
don’t listen to the youth and the young enough.
As a youth I had many sources for wisdom: parents, grandparents, a
friend’s father; I treasured them all. Recently, I was remembering how I
would drop by and visit the church office after school. My beloved aunt was
the church administrator but the three people I sought were Bob Wood, Joe
Plumber and Jack Waters. Bob was the church pastor and his friends Joe
and Jack were the staff clinicians in the church sponsored counseling
center. They were all trained through years of Clinical Pastoral Education.
Joe was a former Green Bay Packer and Jack was a war hero in WWII. I
didn’t know that then. As a teen, they were very different guys who told
great stories that had meaning. Now, over 50 years later, I know I was
sitting at the feet of greatness. They had such wisdom.
I don’t remember any quotes or didactic teaching. Joe with his huge belly
hanging between his legs and spitting tobacco juice into a cup. Jack was
the chaplain at the local State (mental?) Hospital, and Bob with his wide
grin, huge hands and bald head. All different, all unique and all caring and
welcoming to all. No precept. No “shoulds.” All example.
So it was more attitude and spirit that I recall and can see ways I have
unintentionally more than not, replicated that in my life and life’s work.
One of my greatest regrets is that I never mined the memories of the men
and women I knew in the 80’s in Maine who served the wealthy “summer
people” on Mount Desert Island as cooks, housekeepers, chauffeurs and
gardeners. I know from the stories I did hear that it could have been the
Maine version of The Help. How they survived the disrespect, the
marginalization and the insults. They were often treated as lesser than.
They had such wisdom.
The Church, all flavors, tribes and ideations has lost the tradition of
attending to the wisdom of the aged. I refer specifically but not exclusively
to the older clergy. Being ordained now almost 42 years, I have foundmany younger clergy dismissive of our experience. In some ways, they
take for granted how we helped the church become some of the good
things it is today. I voted to ordain the first open gay man to be ordained in
the United Church of Christ, Bill Johnson. We pioneered boundary training,
church growth efforts and racial justice ministries. We may not know a ton
about technology but we have such wisdom that is largely left untapped.
In your family, I implore you to get the stories from your family elders. I
have been asked by my grandson and his Mom to answer about 100
questions about my past, the past of our family and our history. Here are
some examples:
 Who did you vote for in the first election where you could vote?
 Has anyone in the family served in the military?
 Do you have any religious or spiritual beliefs?
 Do you belief in ghosts?
 Do you have any special family heirlooms?
 Who do you look most like in your family?
 Who did you look up to the most?
 Do we have any famous relatives?
 What are your pet peeves?
 Do you have any nicknames?  How did you get them?
I recently gifted my grandson a 50 year old cribbage board, made for me by
the husband of my mother’s cousin and story about how I learned to play
cribbage. I then taught my grandson to play as he is the same age as I
when I learned to play. He quickly beat me.
Wisdom is in legacy. There is a lot of current trends for “mindfulness” and
“living in the moment” but the power, affirmation and life that exists in the
wisdom of legacy stories will lift you up and give you strength and
resilience.
Sisters and brothers, get wisdom.

It is said that one is a tragedy, a million is a statistic. Not so. In the course of this seemingly never ending pandemic there are 850,000 tragedies. This is an unspeakable loss for tens of thousands of people who have said goodbye to their loved ones via iPad or phone call. Many have not been able to have a gathering to mark the passing of their loved ones. There are over 160,000 children who have lost a parent or primary care giver to this pandemic.

What this means is there is an epidemic of grief. It is invisible, just under the surface and largely silent. This grief is shaping a generation of people and bearing down on thousands of children. This creates an environment for complicated mourning (more about that next week).

And no one is talking about it.

Grief that is not tended inevitably shows up in increased health problems like hypertension, depression and anxiety, substance abuse, suicidal ideation and sleep disturbance. Over the long term these conditions can contribute to heart disease and impaired immune function. One cannot experience the death of a loved one, have that death remain invisible because of a pandemic, and go on living life normally. With 850,000 deaths and counting, almost everyone knows someone whose life is impacted by loss. And keep in mind that this number does not include the usual statistics of death from heart disease, cancer and other diseases that claim tens of thousands of lives each year. Many of these deaths have also not been honored because of the pandemic.   

The pandemic has robbed families of the usual rituals that people use to cope when a loved one has died. When someone dies people often come to the house and bring food. There is conversation about the one who has died. There is laughter and tears and lots of story-telling. It is a crucial part of the grieving process. Funerals, memorial services and other life cycle rituals are important. For people of faith the funeral or memorial is a vehicle for commending their loved one to the Holy. Such rituals make the death real in a visceral way, especially if the family was unable to be with their loved one at the time of death. If loved ones are denied the funeral or memorial, there is another layer of grief and trauma added. In the absence of life-cycle rituals shared by the community, there is an added layer of isolation–not being able to receive support and know others share their loss.  

The pandemic has isolated hundreds of thousands of people and left them to grieve alone. It is impossible to estimate the long term crisis this creates because we have never been in this place. What we do know, however, is that grief needs to be validated and shared.

Wouldn’t it be great if, when it is safe, communities organized outdoor candle lighting vigils in memory of those who died from Covid? It is a concrete expression of solidarity and care for those who have suffered terrible losses in solitude. Candles piercing the dark night that so many have faced alone is an expression of hope for better days. Better days come when grief is tended to and expressed.

What you can do is organize a community memorial for friends and neighbors who have lost loved ones to Covid. Be the prime mover in your community. Pick a date in the Spring and begin enlisting help. Discover what bereavement resources are available. Ask local funeral homes what resources they offer. Talk to community hospice programs about their grief resources. Find counsellors and therapists who might be willing to lead a group.  Have a resource table with flyers and brochures. Help diminish the stigma of seeking mental health help. Enlist volunteers to make flyers and help spread the word. Ask community clergy to participate. Include all clergy, not just Christian clergy. Make it clear it is an interfaith service and all are welcome.

I believe that such events are of crucial importance to those who have grieved in isolation and need their losses validated. Further, this presents an opportunity for communities to come together around a shared experience that is not partisan or divisive. It shows compassion and manifests our shared humanity.  

Shared humanness and compassion are two of the qualities that can change the world. Organize a vigil in your town and change your corner of the world.

Insurrection: “A violent uprising against an authority or government.” (online dictionary)

“The legal definition of insurrection falls under the same suite of federal laws as sedition, and the two can be difficult to distinguish.  …It means, essentially, to incite, assist in or engage in a full-on rebellion against the government, a step beyond just conspiring against it and requiring that significant violence be involved.” (the Marshall Project)

Words matter.

Tomorrow will be one year since the insurrection at the Capitol building. It was not a riot. It was not an uprising. It was not a disturbance. It was an insurrection. The goal was preventing the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another. The goal was overthrowing a legally elected leader. It is no coincidence there were Trump flags, stop the steal flags and a host of other misinformation touted on that day. It was incited and organized in many ways and on many levels. The legalities of it all will take years to determine.

It remains, however, that how we speak of it matters. Newscasters speak of tomorrow as the anniversary, as if it is something to be celebrated. Granted, we speak of the anniversary of other national tragedies in a similar way. To use the word “anniversary” with “riot” minimizes the enormity of what happened on January 6, 2021.

We do so at our own peril.

As a nation we have been here before:

• During the war of 1812, British forces briefly took control of Washington on August 24, 1814. They set fires throughout the Capitol, burned the White House and the headquarters of the War Department and the Treasury Department.
• There have been other incidences of violence at the Capitol, but most of them involved people with significant mental health issues, particular complaints about government policy or some aspect of how the government functioned.

What makes the January 6^th insurrection so different is the wide range of people who participated. In the crowd of insurrectionists were former and current military members, CEO’s who flew in their private jets, business owners, sitting members of Congress and many others who do not immediately come to mind as trying to overthrow the government.

Make no mistake; this event was representative of widespread domestic terrorism. It lives at many levels of society and encompasses most of American geography. Militia groups like the Proud Boys, the Neo-Confederate League of the South, Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters provided strategic and organizational structure for the insurrection. The vast majority of participants were NOT militia members and this is a troubling fact that warrants our close attention. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the January 6^th insurrection was the result of a year of careful planning, underground communication, and reaction to the Black Lives Matter protests that sprung up around the country after George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. 

The boogaloo boys, whose mission is to incite civil war, took advantage of the protests to commit acts of violence against law enforcement. According to the SPLC, “a self-professed boogaloo boy and active duty Air Force Sergeant, Steven Carillo, allegedly committed a drive-by shooting against Federal Protective Services in California. One guard was killed and his partner was wounded. Eight days later, he ambushed law enforcement in Ben Lomond, killing Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller and injuring two other officers.” (Visit SPLC.org, and click on features and stories to learn more)

Much of the organizational activity of the last year was never reported. This in and of itself is disturbing. The media in general are misrepresenting the seriousness of the events of the last year and the implications for the future. The “liberal media” is too busy trying to be politically correct and the “conservative media” are fanning the flames to further the unrest.

Write letters to the editor and write to local and national news outlets. Make your voice heard. Unless we accurately describe what happened on January 6, 2021 we have no way of being adequately prepared for what comes next.

As I was out and about this week, I was dismayed (read pissed) by people who were not wearing masks and people who wore their masks on their chin or below their noses. Wear a damn mask and wear it properly (over your mouth AND nose). This is not rocket science.

I don’t care about your personal rights, political affiliation, national pride or how high you wave the flag off your house or the back of your pickup truck. Are you really so selfish, so clueless and so self-absorbed that you are willing to risk the life of others for your silly ridiculous posturing? The apparent answer is yes and it’s time to get over it.

Wearing a mask is not about politics, it’s about faith.

At the root of every major religion in the world is love for the other. In Christianity it is called agape. It means love for another, the love that desires the best for another. It means love that considers the needs of another and then acts on those needs.

Agape is the root of compassion; the unique capacity to put yourself in another’s shoes and shift your actions and feelings based on a new and deeper understanding of their situation. Imagine that you are a transplant patient or someone who is immune suppressed because of disease. People do not wear tattoos on their foreheads announcing their medical conditions, so there is no way of knowing if someone in proximity to you has special health needs. Compassion is the capacity to act in the best interest of others. Inconvenience, personal “freedom,” arrogance, carelessness, national identity and cluelessness are not theological issues; compassion is.

The loving and compassionate thing to do is wear a damn mask and wear it properly. It’s that simple. At some point individual freedom, political stance, arrogance and plain old stubbornness need to take a back seat to the love and compassion that our faith demands of us.

There is another faith component to wearing a mask; God does not save us from stupidity. There is the matter of cause and effect. If you jump off a bridge, gravity will prevail and you will go splat when you hit the water. This has nothing to do with God’s love. Be clear about this.  God’s love is unshakeable, unchangeable, immutable and never ending. This, however, has nothing to do with cause and effect.

Cause and effect are at issue with masks as well. God also does not save those harmed by the selfishness of others. If you do not wear a mask, the effect may well be that a person around you becomes very ill and possibly dies. The Omicron variant is highly transmissible regardless of vaccination status. If you are an asymptomatic carrier you are the direct cause of that person’s death. Yes, their illness and death is on you. As surely as if you took out an assault weapon and mowed them down, their death is on you. The cause (you not wearing a mask and being a carrier) and the effect (another person becoming ill and possibly dying) rest with you.

You may blah, blah, blah on about how it is the other person’s responsibility to wear a mask and stay out of dangerous places. You may BS about any number of ways that someone’s illness and possible death are not your fault. Remember, it’s about love and compassion, not excuses.

I am tired of people ranting about their rights and their individual “freedom.” This is about basic love and compassion. This is what should be guiding our behavior if we claim to be people of faith. Commitment to God and the precepts of faith come first. National identity, political party and individual “freedom” are idols we worship at our own peril and that of our sisters and brothers.

The common good is a theological issue not a political one. It is high time our faith commitments eclipse our inconvenience, personal “freedom,” arrogance, carelessness, political stance and foolhardy pride. If we fail at basic human love and compassion we are bowing at the wrong altars. If we fail at basic human love and compassion we are guilty of the worst kind of idolatry.

Wear a damn mask and wear it properly. Amen.

Give thanks for the abundance in your life while being mindful of those who have nothing. Count the money as a family and decide which charity will receive it.

Give $1.00 for every telephone in your home.