Greetings!
"Yearning to breathe free. . . " I cannot help but hear in Lady Liberty's famous inscription the gasping words of Americans who have choked out just the opposite as they breathed their last, whether it be from police brutality or from the devastation of systemic injustice or the pandemic of Covid-19.
This 4th of July, it's clear that while much in America is beautiful, our country is very broken.
Covid restrictions will certainly subdue our holiday celebrations, and that feels somehow appropriate. While our nation turns 244, there is much to lament, confess, and reflect upon in this year of years. As a citizen, for me it's a time to recognize the huge gap between our country's proclaimed values of "liberty and justice for all" and the lived reality of millions for whom "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" are severely limited due to skin color, poverty, lack of access to healthcare, and the police brutalities and political realities that create a toxic environment. As a Christian, for me it's time to re-commit to embodying God's call to care for the marginalized and to create a world of justice and joy for all people.
Sunday's worship will include "Lift Every Voice and Sing" which for over 20 years we have sung during our "Share the Dream" service with our sister congregation, the Historic Charles Street A.M.E. Church and which we sang at the Interfaith and Multi-Congregation Witness on our front lawn on June 7th. This powerful hymn was written by African American educator and activist, James Weldon Johnson, who was the first African American to pass the bar examination in the state of Florida and who went on to serve as US consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua. It was first recited in 1900 by students at a segregated school in FL on Abraham Lincoln's birthday. The poem was set to music by James' brother John Rosamond Johnson and has since become known as the "Black National Anthem." For me, the words and music combine into a powerful prayer to be sung in solidarity and hope.
Lift ev'ry voice and sing
'Til earth and heaven ring
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list'ning skies
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on 'til victory is won.
God of our weary years
God of our silent tears
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way
Thou who has by Thy might
Led us into the light
Keep us forever in the path, we pray
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee
Shadowed beneath Thy hand
May we forever stand
True to our God
True to our native land.
I am certain you will be moved by God's Spirit through the music, prayer, words and images of worship this weekend. Thank you to Christina Matthews who will serve as our lay preacher, with Rev. Diane Seaborn and Bob Feeny as liturgists, and musical offerings by Christina's husband Nick Butler, CCW member Cathy Liddell, Ed Broms, David Carrier, and Vera Savage.
I sincerely hope to "see" you there. Worship "premiers" @ 9a, and is available anytime thereafter. Zoom coffee hour meets at approx. 9:45a (see links below.)
May God bless Americans of every color and kind with the courage and will to make our nation's highest ideals real. Will you resolve with me this year to put your Christian convictions to work in your own spheres of influence, creating communities of justice and joy for all people?
With faith, hope, and love in Christ,
Sarah
Rev. Dr. Sarah Sarchet Butter
Sr. Pastor, Wellesley Village Church
