Juneteenth Reflection

Today we celebrate Juneteenth, when the emancipation act was read to the last state that finally abolished slavery in the United States. Freedom Day!   

It’s important to remember how far we’ve come and acknowledge that the freedom we now walk in is because of the blood and sacrifice of those who gave their lives to the fight against slavery.

But the battles continue, the earth is crying out

If you have never known a day of hunger 
You are fortunate but 
Hunger is all around us

If you have never experienced the pain of racism
You are unscathed but
It is alive and well

If you have never walked the dark allies of the red light district
Entered the dark walls of a brothel 
Felt the whip of modern day slavery
Held a child as she recovers tortured by night terrors
We know full well the market for humans is thriving

Jeremiah 6:14

They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.
In the midst of the chaos
Where heartbreak and grief resound
We still reach for Hope because 

A new generation of abolitionists is rising up
Called to fight oppression of every kind
Fearless and ready to lay down their lives
to answer the cries 

Beating down the strongholds of oppression
Until all its life gives out
Using every breath
to convince the world 

We were created for more.

Created for more.

In the hard & in the heavy, may we all continue to water our hearts with reminders. 

And as we say these words together, may they come alive and breathe a roaring fire within us.

May they shatter division, deconstruct systems and break chains. 

May they fan hope, ignite belonging and unite communities. 

Because we were created for so much more.