February Pastoral Letter
Dear Friends,
Today is February 1--the first day of the month in which we celebrate Valentine’s Day. For me it brings back childhood memories of handmade paper valentine cards put in decorated shoe boxes in school and colorful candied hearts with cheesy messages of love.
But did you know that February 1 is also National Freedom Day, the anniversary of the approval of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in 1865? Although the day is not a federal holiday, President Harry Truman recognized National Freedom Day in 1949 and urged citizens to pause to celebrate its significance.
In 1976, President Gerald Ford designated the entire month of February as Black History Month, to remember the history of race and racism, to celebrate what has been accomplished by civil rights leaders, as well as recommit ourselves to the cause of liberty and justice for all.
Today, how can we celebrate Black History month? Here are 12 ways:
Support a Black business, donate to a Black organization or an HBCU
Visit a Black History or Civil Rights Museum in your local area
Become a member of a Black organization
Spend time with a Black elder in your community
Read a book by a Black author
Cook a soul food meal
Sign up to mentor a Black child in your community
Learn about an unsung hero of Black history
Call out racism and prejudice in your community
Engage in healthy conversations about Black history on social media
Learn the lyrics to Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing
Listen to Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech
February is also the month in which we begin Lent, the season in the church’s life when we remember the life and death of Jesus. On Ash Wednesday, we are marked with an ashen cross, to remind us that “we are dust and to dust we shall return.” Lent reminds us that “for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
What does Valentine’s Day, National Freedom Day, Black History Month, and Lent all have in common? In a word, Love. When we remember and celebrate these important days, we are called to recommit ourselves to loving our neighbors, all of our neighbors.
In a lesser known sermon “Paul’s Letter to American Christians” (1956), Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. calls Christians then and now to remember who we are and whose we are:
The greatest of all virtues is love. Here we find the true meaning of the Christian faith and of the cross. Calvary is a telescope through which we look into the long vista of eternity and see the love of God breaking into time. Out of the hugeness of his generosity God allowed his only-begotten Son to die that we may live. By uniting yourselves with Christ and your brothers though love you will be able to matriculate in the university of eternal life. In a world depending on force, coercive tyranny, and bloody violence, you are challenged to follow the way of love. You will then discover that unarmed love is the most powerful force in all the world.
And so, my sisters and brothers in faith, during this month of February, let us commit ourselves to our Christian calling: Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God...If we love one another, God lives in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7, 12).
In Christian love,
Pastor Donna