Tales of a Midwest Lutheran on the East Coast

Monday, January 16, 2012

We still have work to do.

"How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!" Psalm 133:1

On of my first activities as part of WHAM (Windsor-Hightstown Area Ministerium) I participated in a MLK service last night at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in Hightstown. THIS kind service, I think, is what the end result of MLK service at liberal arts colleges across the Midwest strive for and fail. THIS service was the true coming together of people of all kinds of different races and faiths, which you just can't do in the Midwest, being the bastion of Lutherans and Catholics. The music swung with the Holy Spirit in a way I have never experienced before. Ho-ly cow.

A man from the community recited the entirety of MLK's "I have a dream" speech. Well, he didn't recite it as much as EMBODY it. I realized I had never before heard the speech in its entirety. I am seriously at a loss for words to describe the experience. All I know is that I had to hold on to the pew in order not to fall out of it. It was that powerful.

Never before, either, had I seen Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, and Jewish clergy and more holding hands and singing together "We shall overcome," swinging to the music. Wow. wow wow wow.

One of the things that Rev. Powell, a Baptist pastor and speaker at the service, talked about was commitment. I want to commit to learning more about the East Windsor/Hightstown area and to be visible and participate in the life of the community, especially through the ministry of WHAM. Who, I must say, are a group of kind, dedicated, and fun-loving individuals that I also want to commit to getting to know better.


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