Well here we are back in Lexington, KY. After a summer of fun and relaxation in NH at Camp Singley it’s nice to be back “home” in the Bluegrass – settled into our new house just a few miles away from Bethany and Keith and grandkids Avery and Elijah.

Furniture is arriving on what seems to be a daily basis, and we are meeting our new neighbors who are mostly young couples with kids. Awesome! We will undoubtedly have lots of goblins come by on Halloween. Back in Tellico we rarely had a Trick or Treater and usually ended up eating all the candy ourselves. What a sad thing… 😀 ! Guess we’ll have to buy extra this year!

Today the sun is shining brightly and I’m sitting out on the back patio with my trusty MacBook and a kajillion ideas running around in my head about things to write about. This is my new happy place, just a simple spot to sit and muse about all that’s going on in the world.

And there’s a LOT going on – especially around the issue of race.

The tragedies of Ferguson, Baltimore, Charleston and other places are but the tip of an immeasurable iceberg of racial discord that threatens to sink our American ship of state. White people like me have no real idea of what it is to live as a black person in America today. And to be fair, black people have no idea why white people like me lack understanding and have no clue as to why things like the “Black Lives Matter” movement are important. Yes, there’s lots of unjustified crap and hateful chanting that comes along with it and white people are quick to dismiss the movement by reminding us that “All Lives Matter”, “Police Lives Matter,” and the like. But as true as those realities are they miss the point.

You may remember that when Moses confronted Pharaoh with God’s command to set free the Hebrew slaves he did not cry out, “Let ALL PEOPLE go!” It is surely true that ALL PEOPLE need freedom. But in that moment of history back in ol’ Egypt land, with so much horrid injustice piled upon the lives of the Hebrews, it was important to say, “Let MY PEOPLE go!” God seems to know that all God’s children need to be loved and cared for all the time, but SOME of God’s children from time-to-time need special attention.

Black lives DO matter.

How sad that such a simple truth needs to be spoken publicly in 21st century America.

But I’m getting away from the reason I’m writing this post.

On the Sunday following the Charleston shootings I was watching a church service on TV.

Not a word was spoken about how a young man gripped by racial hatred executed nine people in a church bible study for the simple reason they were black.

Not a word.

Not a goddam word.

The sermon that day was on “How to Face Life with Confidence.”

Later that morning, at Faith Fellowship Church where we attend, Dr. Bill Turner started off the service by breaking away from the planned order of worship to talk about Charleston – and all the other places where racial discord and violence are erupting. He spoke eloquently about the fact that churches and Christians need to be in the forefront of speaking for and working toward racial reconciliation and justice. He led us in prayer for the victims and their families – and for all those victimized by the sin of racism – and for us, that we will find the courage and love to do something about it.

I’m proud of my pastor for that, and for a church whose ministry is not about personal self-help crap but about how Jesus Christ calls us to engage the realities of the world as the people of God.

So sitting here in my new happy place on a bright sunny morning I find myself glad for those churches, pastors and Jesus-followers who are proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19

But at the same time I’m feeling very unsettled.

Has the Church lost it’s voice?

Maybe more importantly, has your’s?

Why don’t you ask your Pastor to speak up about racism and what your church – and we Christians – can do to overcome it?