Stalking John Wesley

Well, as many of you know the kids have accused me of "stalking John Wesley." So tomorrow we are heading to St. Simons Island to visit yet another John Wesley sight. If all goes well, we'll make it to St Simons in time to go on the ghost walk and then on Saturday morning, we'll visit all the Wesley sights before heading to our rental house on Tybee Island. There we will meet up with my father, my brother, his wife and two boys and my sister, her husband and two boys.

O Sweet Auburn

As I mentioned before, Steven is now one of four "freshman advisors" for the marching band. That's the official title. The real title is RAT Leader. RAT stands for Rookie Auburn Tiger--at least that is what he says. They've come a long way from the days when I was a rat, but the purpose is the same to help freshmen transition into Auburn life. One of my strongest memories of the first day or two of classes at Auburn was of being lost on campus, burdened by books and unsure where to go when suddenly, from out of nowhere it seemed, an Auburn band member would show up and give me direction and help. I didn't always know who they were, but they knew who I was from reading the back of my rat cap (I think we were the last class to wear those--what kids are missing these days! And--Yes, that is my original Rat hat to the right.)

Anyway, I just wanted to share what Steven wrote about Auburn and the Auburn band on the Auburn RAT blog. It may sound sappy but like Steven I have always truly loved Auburn and for many of the same reasons he mentions.

Juneteenth!

I imagine that most folks reading this blog don't think much about Juneteenth. But the truth is that today June 19th is one of the most important days in U.S. History! This is the anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

I know there are those who feel that slavery is a part of American history that is behind us and we should move on, but I will always stand with those who say we must remember our history in order to ensure that we don't repeat it. Plus, it has only been in my lifetime that African-Americans have been given all the rights, we granted to all other humans! And we need only look around Southeast Huntsville to know that we still have a long way to go in erasing the stigma of years of slavery and segregation.

So in honor of Juneteenth, I lift up two thoughts. First, I remember and celebrate the day my school was desegregated. I was in fourth grade (so I think it 1969) when Jefferson Davis Elementary School welcomed its first black students. It happened quietly. Dallas, Texas was a smart business town and I suspect--like Atlanta--they knew that fights over desegregation would be bad business. So it was peaceful. And in the fall of that year, a small group of African-Americans sat down to learn with white students for the first time in Dallas. The girl I remember most is Ida Pearl Reynolds. I didn't know what to think of Ida Pearl at first, but we bonded when they decided to bus the class to the local Y and teach us how to swim. Ida Pearl and I were the only two too scared to swim in the deep end. So we stayed in the shallow end and got to know one another. I moved a couple of years later and I don't know what happened to Ida Pearl. But I can share that the last time I went to visit my old neighborhood, I noticed that my old school was no longer Jefferson Davis Elementary. Instead it is now named Barbara Jordan Elementary. Gotta love the irony!!!!

Second, I want to remind everyone that while slavery is still alive and well in this world (see the National Geographic article on 21st Century Slaves) and there are things we can do to work to eradicate it! Please take five or ten minutes today to do something to help end slavery in this world at Free the Slaves.

And have a blessed Juneteenth!

Credo or Amo

When we visited with Marcus Borg in Portland, we spent a whole session discussing what it meant to believe. Borg said "'to believe' is 'to belove'--to center deeply in God; and Christian faith means to center deeply in God as known in Jesus." He pointed out that in our modern thinking belief means "an opinion or conviction" and that we most often use it when our beliefs are somehow counter-intellectual. As an example, he mentioned that Random House Dictionary's first definition of belief is "an opinion or conviction" and then provides this example: "the belief that the world is flat."

Borg shared that prior to the 1600 (or the advent of the enlightenment) "to believe" always had a person as its direct object. And Christian belief always had God or Jesus as the object of belief. Therefore, the opposite of faith was not doubt or uncertainity but rather unfaithfulness.

So he suggested that we need to return to the older understanding of believing as relationship (or beloving) with God rather than the newer understanding of belief as a conviction in a set of facts about God.

Part of me wants to say, "Right on, brother!" But what bothers me is this--how do I believe in a God I don't know anything about? Don't our statements about what we believe about the God we worship affect our ability to believe/belove God?

What do you think?

What happens when you go to Sumatanga

So what is more appropriate for the healing of chigger bites from Camp Sumatanga than a Jesus Bandaid! Good thing I picked up a package of them in Seattle. (They also came with a Jesus pencil topper.)

Annual Conference Post Traumatic Stress

Whew!!! Annual Conference is finally over! (Click here to read all about it.) We finished all our business and balloting with 30 minutes to spare ! And now all that is left besides compiling minutes and reports, bundling ballots, filling out forms, contacting the General Agencies and such is the stress.

Yesterday at the 8:30 service, after we had processed in and sat down, Charles found a pencil and asked me if I wanted to take another ballot. Then in the New Room, someone walked toward Matt with a long strip of stickers and he panicked because he thought it was a ballot. As for me, I'm so glad I can fix my hair and scratch my nose without it being displayed on two huge screens to 1000 or more people!

And I'm tired . . . so I think it is time for another nap.

Hopefully, some time this week, I'll actually be able to post a bit about our conversation with Marcus Borg in Portland.