By James A. Weathersby,
A change is coming. A change so epic in scale that people will never be the same again. People resist change, because change is uncomfortable and disturbing. Change requires adjustment and letting go of what once was, in order to make room for something unexpected. Change does not listen to our protestations or our old ways of doing things; we must accommodate, we must improvise, we must adapt, and we will survive. Change threatens our existence, because it challenges the status quo. A powerful Elephant grows accustomed to its chain; it will walk in circles without it! That magnificently strong pachyderm must be retaught freedom. I remember Gandhi praying for the emerging India: “We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him America must change; we must change how we see others and we must change how we see ourselves”. Scriptures call that self-examination process ’rebirth’. America must be born again.
We find remembered in the Bible, these words of the Old Testament Book of Exodus, chapter 12, “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.” (Vs.14) This is the chapter commemorating the institution of Passover, when God liberates the children of Israel from their Egyptian Captivity. The Children of Israel had been in slavery for over 400 years. Their patriarch Joseph dies, and a new Pharaoh takes the throne, who does not remember the history of Joseph. The people are enslaved, their tasks are harsh, and they cry out to God for deliverance (2:23-25). Moses is that deliverer, bigger than life. However, Moses must be called and formed into that deliverer (Chapter 3).
God never forgets the divine plan for Moses. Plagues descend on Egypt as judgment, culminating in the death on the first—Born of Egypt. The Jewish homes have lambs’ blood on their doorposts. Death passes over them, instituting the Celebration of Passover. Death passes over those Jewish homes with blood on the doorposts. They are liberated! Change is here: change of heart, change of location, change of perspective. What has this to do with today? A Passover of our heart is here!
America is undergoing a painful, uncomfortable change. Change of mindset about who is an American. Change in perspective about justice and mercy for the peoples. Change in heart, because we all are vulnerable to Corona Virus and the virus of Racism. This is broad reaching, but necessary. If America is no longer the same, we the people changed it. If America is to become better than now, we shall change that. The Passover of the heart is change; God lives among us still and we can remember how to live together. God help us all, we are all in need of liberation. Pax
The Rev. James A. Weathersby M.Div., BCC was born in Chicago, product of a dedicated single mother and the Public-School system. He is a genetic Baptist and a historic Democrat; spirituality in his veins for generations. His family valued Education and the Black church; there are four generations of ministers in his family, serving as Pastors of congregations and Chaplains in Institutions. His Bachelors of Arts came from Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois from the Reformed Churches of America tradition. His Masters of Divinity Degree (specialty in Pastoral Care and Counseling) came from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary of Louisville Kentucky, from the Southern Baptist tradition. His professional career as a Chaplain includes serving populations in Hospitals, Hospice, both Men’s and Women’s Corrections (Death Row Chaplain) in several Midwestern states. His time in Maine has included Chaplaincy at a Youth Development Center, Pastor to an island congregation and lately, Chaplain (II) of the State Forensic and civil Psychiatric Center. He has been honored to be married for 27 years and enjoy writing, yoga, and reading.
A New Birth, painting by Valerie A. Clemons.
