Tag: racism

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If I have anything to say

If I have anything to say to the Christian community in America and around the world, it is rooted in the tragic and hopeful reality that sustains and empowers black people to resist the forces that seem designed to destroy every ounce of dignity in their souls and bodies.

Cone, James H.. The Cross and the Lynching Tree (pp. 14-15). Orbis Books. Kindle Edition.
If I have anything to say
I say to all my kind
Let us listen to this man
Let us hear what he has to say
May it break our hearts
Open our eyes
Bring us 
Awareness
Confession
Repentance
Forgiveness
Healing

dw
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Current Events

Here. No words.

I’m still breathing

(deep breaths, whenever possible)

Still thinking

(more thoughts than I can put into words)

Until I read a book

(The Cross and the Lynching Tree)

That arrests the flow of breath and thoughts

(my heart asserting it’s proper place)

Leaving only this thought in these words:

Lord, have mercy on me and my kind.

dw
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Music Other Writings

Even their virtues were burned away

smoke in dark room

I recently finished reading the complete short stories of Flannery O’Connor. Her stories have always been a mystery to me, but I love her writing. Today I’m sharing an extended quote from one of my favorites, Revelation.

I’m also sharing some music I posted some time ago on my other site, dwpianomusic.com. The piece is called The Strongest Prayer I Know. The third “movement” of that piece is, in my mind, firmly tied to and inspired by this passage from O’Connor. It is the victory recessional, a cortege for all whose shortcomings and sufferings in this life are finally burned away as they climb through the “field of living fire…upward into the starry field…shouting hallelujah.” In my imagination, included (maybe at the very front) are the “little ones” I refer to in that post.

Continue reading “Even their virtues were burned away”