This week we will be sharing our own reflections on how the events over the last week have affected us and our acknowledgment of our need to confess and learn together. I am thankful for the writers’ willingness to be vulnerable and share their thoughts. We are not experts when it comes to talking about race and anti-racism, we are learners on this journey with you. I hope that you read our articles with grace and see them as an invitation to a conversation with me or any of us.
Pastor Joanna Mitchell
Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, you stir up the winds of change around us and lift up the voices of all people. We hear the cries of your people today, especially people of color who cry out about injustice. Help us to listen with curious ears and give us curious hearts so that we might learn and be transformed together. We pray this in the name of your Holy Spirit, who is guiding us forward. Amen
As I said this week in my video devotions for the families of Grace, it is important for us to listen to diverse voices. The Bible is filled with many different voices! It is important for us when we are reading and learning about God and our world to listen to a diverse set of voices, listening more than we speak. Most of my devotion today will discuss ways in which you can engage the children in your life on the topic of Race, Racism, and Resistance. These can be your grandchildren, nieces and nephews, your students, or your own children. Not only do I want to emphasize listening to other voices, I want to emphasize listening to God’s voice.
Throughout the Biblical story we are given stories that tell us the will of God. God wants us to talk about diversity and injustice, when people are not being treated fairly. And the Bible is full of stories that back this up. Stories like the Good Samaritan, that begs the question who is our neighbor? Jesus also tells the story of the shepherd who is searching for the lost lamb. It isn’t that the shepherd does not care about the 99 others, but the shepherd goes after the one who is in danger, underserved and oppressed. Last week in worship and in SONday School we learned about the story of Pentecost, when God’s Holy Spirit came rushing in like a wind and allowed the people gathered to hear and understand all the different languages being spoken. This reminds us that God cares about our differences and wants us to celebrate our diversity. These stories and so many more help us understand who God is and what God is up to in our world through us. Are we willing to engage in the sometimes challenging work of dismantling racism for the sake of our neighbor, for the sake of the ones who are in danger, oppressed, and underserved, for the ones who are different than we are?
How to talk to your Kids about Race, Racism, and Resistance
For more resources, activities and for this week’s Wednesday Family devotion, follow this link:
Some of you might be wondering how and if you should be talking to your children about the events of the past week and how, if and when you should talk to your children about race and race relations in the United States. Many people of color do not have the ability to NOT talk to their children about the realities of last week’s events and continuing protests in our state and across our nation. Many people of color do not have the ability to NOT talk to their children about the realities of race. It is time for us to deny our ability to look the other way.
Today I was watching Good Morning America, they aired a segment on How to talk to your kids about Racism. Here are some highlights of their conversation:
- Take a deep breath and take good care of how you are feeling. We are already stressed by the pandemic and the rise in racial tensions parents may be left not knowing what to say or how to say it.
- Begin with open and honest conversations. These conversations are necessary, in order for your children to make sense and understand what is happening in the world around them.
- Educate yourself and know you will not always have the answers.
- The truth is raising color blind children doesn’t work. Even babies begin to see differences in skin color, eye shape, and hair texture. Having conversations around difference and celebrating differences will help your children see race and process it in healthy ways.
- The truth is even if you aren’t talking to your children about race, they are learning from your silence, from the environments around them, in school, in books, from music, and movies. Even when we think they aren’t listening, they are.
- How are you providing cross cultural experiences for your child? How are you avoiding them? What is best for your family? What is best for your community?
- Do your best to use correct terminology. You can say Black and African American. It is also important to talk about whiteness and the opportunities we receive just for being white. Using correct terminology means we need to listen to communities of color and learn. This type of education comes from reading books, listening to podcasts and engaging in dialogue. Know that it is never a person of color’s job to educate you on what you do not know.
- You will make mistakes and that is okay. The only mistake you do not want to make is not having the conversations at all.
- In recent days, the anxiety and fear you are feeling, your children are also feeling. Having open and honest conversations with them about their feelings and the situations around them will help them see how you process and will help them process themselves.
I pray the content in this mailer is helpful to you and your family. Please do not be afraid, begin open and honest conversations with your children. I pledge
- to continue to diversify our church library,
- to talk openly and honestly about race and diversity at Grace,
- to continue to use images of Jesus and the characters of the Bible that are authentic to races living in the Middle East.
- to continue to be a support to families at grace and provide helpful resources.
- and to continue to do my own work in understanding my own whiteness and engaging in the hard work of anti racism.
Blessings to you and your family as you engage in these sacred conversations.
Maria Markman
