Reminders and First Steps this Week
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, photo by Raffaele Nicolussi
Beloved friends of LaSalle -
This week continues to hold much confusion, many questions, and challenges for so many; whether it’s staying healthy and balanced while reading the news, knowing where to focus and how to engage, or even adjusting our daily lives to remain safe and healthy, a lot is going on. Today I am sending a few reminders, encouragements, and first steps meant to be places to focus - to Fix Our Eyes - in this season full of so much.
1. Remember to seek out joy and beauty, and to engage in rest and self care/soul care, to be able to keep engaging in what will be a marathon up ahead. A few practical ideas:
+ Grab a friend and go outside, stop scrolling, read poetry, paint a wall a fresh color, laugh hard at a comedy with your kids, take a mental health day from work/school
+ Start doing some form of art for LaSalle's Joy, Justice & Jesus Communal Art project - for more info, check out our newsletter, or contact the church office.
2. Happy Black History Month!! Black family of LaSalle, we are so grateful for your and how your legacy, wisdom, gifts, and faith have shaped us and the wider church for generations. All of us can commit to learning about and honoring the many ways Black brilliance and achievements have shaped our country; while it can't all be contained in one month, it's a starting place to make room for voices that have been historically and systematically sidelined. Some ideas:
+ Sign up to receive the African Methodist Episcopal weekly newsletter and learn how they are organizing and advocating across the country and across denominations.
+ If you're financially able, switch your purchasing power away from orgs that have pushed back on or stopped DEI priorities, and focus on Black owned or DEI Centering orgs.
3. Pray over and assess what small steps you can make toward embodying justice and advocacy in this season, either locally or with national efforts you trust.
+ There are many non-partisan groups that are doing good work on behalf of the vulnerable, including Bread for the World, World Relief, NAACP, and the ACLU.
+ Familiarize yourself with the difference between a judicial warrant and other (non-binding) documents so that you are prepared if you encounter ICE to be ready to engage/not engage for yourself or others.
4. Turn toward one another, remember you are not alone, check on each other and on the marginalized in your circles.
+ Call an elder or family member and check on them, ask if they have wisdom for this season, hear stories from their experience, thank them for their legacy
+ Text a teenager or young adult you know/love, and see how the news and conversations denigrating all kinds of people is impacting them (BIPOC folk, differently abled people, trans youth, women, folks from other countries, etc.) and remind them the truth: that all - and they - are beloved, God is with them/for them, and everyone is welcome at God's banquet table!
- Rev. Liz
