Rev. Micah L. McCreary, Ph.D.
President
John Henry Livingston Professor of Theology

On November 7, 2025, I made several presentations at Boston University School of Theology (BU-STH) focused on the transformative journey of trauma-responsive leadership. During the lecture and podcast conversations, I emphasized my position that leaders lead more effectively when they embrace, understand, and transcend personal and collective wounds. Drawing from my early formative experiences and later deep personal transformational experiences, I proposed that trauma is experienced in the body and that we as theologians and mental health professional must refine our trauma delivery systems by integrating psychological insight with theological grounding.

I opened the lecture with a ritual ceremony honoring the Trinity, our ancestors, my teachers and students, as well as the Dean, faculty, staff, and students of BU-STH. I then introduced Isaiah 40:28鈥�31 as the organizing scripture and played the song 鈥淭ake This Cup鈥� by Makeda McCreary. This introduction was intended to establish that both the lecture and the podcast would reflect a deeply personal and spiritual integration and embodiment of the theme.

I then continued the conversation with a discussion of three critical foci.

First: Trauma-Responsive Leadership

Here I defined trauma-responsive leadership: 鈥�Leadership that acknowledges personal and collective wounds, understands their impact, and responds with empathy and resilience.鈥�

Using the concept of the Soul Wound, I explored trauma-responsive leadership. A Soul Wound鈥攕ometimes referred to as a Father Wound鈥攄escribes deep psychological and spiritual pain rooted in disrupted parental relationships. It often emerges when an individual struggles to integrate their animus (inner masculine) and anima (inner feminine) identities. This challenge can arise from the absence of a parental figure or from complex relational dynamics, even when parents are physically present.

I explained that Soul Wounds shape us both physically and emotionally, often rooted in parental absence or inconsistent presence. These wounds frequently manifest as Attachment Challenges鈥攆or example, a parent who is physically absent but psychologically present, or physically present yet emotionally disconnected. Soul Wounds ultimately lead to various Heart Conditions:

1. Bruised Heart–Injured, battered, and hurting;
2. Performance-Based Heart–Driven by acceptance and glory-seeking;
3. Hardened Heart–Cut off, cold, and callous; and/or
4. Addicted Heart–Yearning, empty, and hungry.

After presenting the conceptual framework, I shared my experience of the Soul Wound鈥攂orn from the emotional and physical injuries that followed the devastation of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I discussed how I developed a Performance-Based Heart and have been driven ever since by a powerful need for perfection and glory.  I concluded this portion of the lecture with the emphasis that the Soul Wound matters: 鈥淥ur communities and congregations are carrying layers of trauma鈥攈istorical, systemic, and personal. Leaders must be equipped to navigate this reality.鈥�

Second: Embracing and Transcending Wounds

I explored the paradox: 鈥淲e lead not despite our wounds, but through them. Our scars can become bridges to healing for others.鈥� This principle guided my discussion of the Peacemaker鈥揌ealer鈥揥arrior鈥揌ero paradigm introduced in my book Trauma and Race: A Path to Well-Being (p. 124). Each archetype exists on a continuum: Peacemaker aligns with Warrior, and Hero aligns with Healer. In pastoral and therapeutic relationships, my goal is to help individuals move along these continuums toward wholeness.

Over time, through therapy, practice, and marriage, I have come to identify most strongly with the Peacemaker鈥揌ealer quadrant鈥攁 space that reflects my preferred way of leading and living. To illustrate how psychological awareness and vulnerability create safe spaces for others to heal, I shared a deeply personal 补苍颈尘耻蝉鈥揳苍颈尘补 experience.

One evening, while watching a movie, I became unexpectedly angry at a scene where a woman was mistreated. I turned off the television and began reflecting. I recognized that this anger鈥攗nusual for me鈥攕ignaled a trigger. Working with my therapist, I traced the reaction back to two formative incidents. At age ten, I witnessed my father abusing my mother. I ran outside with a mop handle to defend her, only to be told that the man hurting her, my father, was to be respected. Years later, at sixteen, I returned home to find my mother assaulted by a boyfriend. This time, I intervened forcefully before anyone could stop me.

Both actions, rooted in the Warrior鈥揌ero quadrant, led to painful consequences鈥攑hysical beatings. In response, I pushed the Warrior鈥揌ero aspects of my personality into the shadow, while my Performance-Based Heart鈥攄riven by perfection and glory鈥攂ecame my outward persona. Yet, this persona (peacemaker-healer) was always powered by that hidden hero-warrior energy.

Integrating these parts of myself was a long journey. During a lecture on nonviolence, a disciple of Martin Luther King Jr. insisted that I must always remain nonviolent. I asked, 鈥淚f I come home and a man is abusing my spouse, should I remain nonviolent?鈥� He replied that I should respect my spouse enough to let her decide. Later, I asked my wife what she wanted me to do. Her answer was clear: 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 come to my rescue, you鈥檇 better hope I don鈥檛 survive鈥攂ecause if I do . . .鈥� That conversation reframed my understanding of love, respect, and responsibility.

I also shared a moment that revealed the enduring presence of my Warrior鈥揌ero shadow. After an active shooter drill, I told my students that if a shooter entered our lecture hall, I would confront him first knowing it could cost me my life, hoping it would buy them time to escape. Unbeknownst to me, a shooter was in that very class. He later turned himself in, telling police he abandoned his plan because he 鈥渄id not want to kill McCreary.鈥�

Third: Integrating Theology and Counseling Psychology

This part of the lecture highlighted my interdisciplinary approach to teaching, counseling, preaching, mentoring, coaching, and consulting鈥攁n approach grounded in the power of relationship. I firmly believe that Carl Rogers鈥� development of humanistic psychology and person-centered therapy was deeply influenced by his early aspiration to become a minister. His clinical journey began with children at the Rochester Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, reflecting this foundational commitment.

I shared how much my daughter taught me about congruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathy. Through parenting, I learned that love must be paired with limits. To truly nurture her growth, I had to operate in the quadrant of high love and high limits鈥攐ffering deep affection while teaching her to respect boundaries. This experience shaped my understanding of authoritative parenting and informed my clinical perspective.

From these lessons, I refined a system that integrates psychological insight with theological grounding. I learned to love from our Creator鈥揜edeemer鈥揝ustainer and to embrace vulnerability from our Shepherd-King, whom I understand as the true prophet who loved us to the point of death. This is the model of leadership: one who embodies vulnerability and creates safe spaces for others to heal. Such integration affirms a vital truth: 鈥淔aith without understanding human behavior lacks depth; psychology without spiritual grounding lacks hope.鈥�

This fusion of theology, psychology, and clinical practice equips pastoral psychologists and cultivates trauma-informed practitioners. It builds a pipeline of leaders prepared to respond to trauma within congregations and communities. When leaders connect lived experience with faith, ministry becomes real, relatable, and transformative. This connection enables leaders to serve with empathy and strength鈥攅ven in the face of adversity.

In closing, my message at BU-STH was clear: Leadership is not about perfection鈥攊t鈥檚 about presence. When we lead through and beyond our wounds, we turn pain into purpose and leadership into a healing practice.

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On Friday, May 16, 2025, the Board of Trustees of 麻豆视频 (麻豆视频) voted unanimously to grant tenure and promote Rev. Dr. Nathan J茅r茅mie-Brink to the position of L. Russell Feakes Associate Professor of the History of Global Christianity, effective July 1, 2025. This significant milestone honors Dr. J茅r茅mie-Brink鈥檚 exemplary contributions to the Seminary鈥檚 academic life, his influential scholarship, and his steadfast commitment to justice-oriented theological education.

Dr. J茅r茅mie-Brink joined the 麻豆视频 faculty in 2018 and has consistently advanced the mission of the seminary through his scholarship, in the classroom, and in projects that engage the broader church and community. A teacher and mentor dedicated to making history public, he encourages seminary students and their church communities to 鈥渄o history.鈥� For Dr. J茅r茅mie-Brink, this means 鈥渂ringing historical critical thinking into our faith communities and public life.鈥�

His archival scholarship on Black religious history and abolitionist print culture is the focus of his forthcoming monograph, tentatively titled Spreading Fire: Black Print Activism in the Early US. He has published other works on these topics, such as a recent essay on 鈥淩eligion and Abolitionism鈥� in the .

During the pandemic, his work secured nearly $200,000 in grant funding from the Henry Luce Foundation around the needs of unhoused neighbors during the COVID-19 pandemic. This work deepened 麻豆视频鈥檚 collaborative relationships with Rutgers University, coLAB Arts New Brunswick, and the Affordable Housing Corporation of the Reformed Church of Highland Park. He shared theological and pedagogical insights gleaned from this project in published in Teaching Theology & Religion.

A distinctive thrust in much of Dr. J茅r茅mie-Brink鈥檚 public scholarship has featured the history of enslavement in New Jersey and its relationship to Christianity and particular church communities. His ongoing work on this topic in the local context of Morris County, New Jersey, can be reviewed at the project website, . This project featured the reburial of the human remains of formerly enslaved African Americans through a community-engaged process featuring local pastors, other public historians, and ongoing community member dialogue.

Among the other scholarly contributions that have grown out of the 麻豆视频 classroom, J茅r茅mies online interactive resource developed with 麻豆视频 Master鈥檚 Student Sue McGeown, featured in .

He also writes for the general public at

Throughout the review process, colleagues, alumni, students, and external evaluators consistently highlighted Dr. J茅r茅mie-Brink鈥檚 academic innovation and commitment to diversity and inclusion. Many noted the historical depth, intellectual rigor, and contemporary relevance of his work. Dr. J茅r茅mie-Brink is grateful that his scholarship and 麻豆视频 can provide a 鈥渟paces and methods for deep engagement–where scholarship, community advocacy, and faithful public leadership converge.鈥�  

麻豆视频 President Dr. Micah L. McCreary reflected on Dr. J茅r茅mie-Brink鈥檚 recognition, stating:
鈥淒r. J茅r茅mie-Brink exemplifies the heart and intellect of 麻豆视频. His unwavering commitment to justice, academic excellence, and compassionate leadership continues to inspire our students and uplift the wider faith community. We are proud to celebrate this well-deserved honor.鈥�

The Seminary community celebrates Dr. J茅r茅mie-Brink鈥檚 achievements and looks forward to his continued leadership in advancing the mission of 麻豆视频 to think critically, act justly, and lead faithfully, locally and globally.

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I have been shaken and awakened by the violent attack, unjust treatment, and death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of law enforcement. To witness the brutal and callous way this man was treated by other men was jarring and disturbing. The fact that the victim was a Black man, and the five abusing law officers are Black men is disconcerting. The fact that Mr. Nichols was brutally kicked, maced, and struck multiple times by the officers to the point where he was in critical condition is simultaneously numbing and enraging.

This police attack triggered within me memories of the Detroit Revolt of 1967 and the West Coast urban gang violence of the 1980s. It seemed to my consciousness that the violent revolts in opposition to oppression and the internal rivalries of neighboring communities and philosophies were colliding and uniting in this Memphis, TN assault. We must strive to come over from these unequitable, unjust acts to a place where communities, legislatures, advocates, freedom fighters, religious leaders, and community leaders strive in unity and unison to overcome and prevent such tragedies.   

Thus, as a seminary that focuses on confronting systems of power and privilege (including a commitment to anti-racism), this egregious offense raises several important injustices I feel compelled to call out. First, we must address the power differential in modern day policing. Police departments, attorneys general offices, and state and federal law enforcement agencies must hold bad actors accountable and must require witnessing officers to intervene when they see another officer using excessive force.  

Second, we must broaden the supervision and oversight of policing to include communities affected by just and unjust practices. A community-led response team would be a plausible alternative to the SCORPION-type intervention of the Memphis Police. This type of alternative must include nonviolent strategies, substance abuse interventions, and behavioral and mental health expertise.  

Third, we need Freedom Fighters who, in the words of John Lewis, are brave enough to cause 鈥済ood trouble.鈥� We are called to effectively confront external racism and internalized racism in our workplace, in our homes, in our communities, at our houses of worship, and in every system of opportunity and incarceration that exists.  

Fourth, we need allies who are not self-centered and focused only on their contexts and conditions. Rather, we must strive to become allies who recognize that we all have issues and struggles and who view the other from a lens of love (rather than with judgment and condemnation).

So let us, the 麻豆视频 community, work, study, and spiritually commune around this matter of Black on Black and Blue on Black abuse. Let us recommit our minds, bodies, souls, and spirits to the cause of justice everywhere.  I recall here my pledge at my installation as an RCA General Synod Professor of Theology,

I pledge my life to preach and teach the good news (gospel) of salvation in Christ, to build up and equip the church for mission in the world, to free the enslaved, to relieve the oppressed, to comfort the afflicted, and to walk humbly with God.

I was elated as I made this General Synod Professor pledge that my life鈥檚 mission had already been establish on 3 passages of scripture; Micah 6:8, 1 Peter 5:6, and Luke 4:18-19. I pray that your mission will be to join me in pledging your life and ministry to bring about the Reign of God in places like Memphis, TN; and every place on earth where injustice still reigns.  

I conclude with the belief that we must pray and hope that we, as a nation and world, will overcome these unjust atrocities. But, in addition to overcoming in the spiritual realm,

We must also come over to our court-housing and advocate for justice.

We must come over to the police stations and ride along as justice advocates.

We must come over to our pulpits and classrooms and teach the justice of Matthew 5:6.

We must come over to the local school board and proclaim no more calculated distractions.

We must come over to our writing desk and send emails and letters to our legislators.

We must come over鈥� and do the work of justice, even if it means being banished and being ostracized.

For our descent may be another鈥檚 ascent.  

– Rev. Micah L. McCreary, M.Div., Ph.D., LCP
President
麻豆视频

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Rev. Micah McCreary, PhD preached this message on the theme, 鈥淔reedom is not Free,鈥� during opening worship at General Synod 2022. It has been lightly edited for the written form. 

I will always remember the movie Hacksaw Ridge, the true story of a young Christian pacifist who chose to enlist in the army as a medic. He had promised God as a young man that he would never touch a gun or shoot a weapon after he almost shot his father for beating his mother.

I love the scene where his platoon is retreating and being badly beaten by the Japanese.  Seeing his comrades cut down and slaughtered, he looks up and asks God, 鈥淲hat do you want from me? I can鈥檛 hear your voice. 鈥� What do you want from me?鈥� One could readily see the pain on this actor鈥檚 face at that moment.

As we confront our current conditions, we too have been crying out to God: 鈥淲hat do you want from us?鈥�

We have war in Ukraine 鈥� What do you want from us?

We have devastating economic conditions 鈥� What do you want from us?

We struggle as a society for justice and equity 鈥� What do you want from us?

We are befuddled by ineffective government, and even your church is polarized, politicized, and paralyzed.

God wants us to be free, but freedom is not free.

The words 鈥渇reedom is not free鈥� are featured on the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C., dedicated in 1995.

One is also likely to hear 鈥渇reedom is not free鈥� on many American patriotic occasions, although its original context from 1959 is rarely given or remembered: 鈥淔reedom is not free. It is always purchased with the high price of sacrifice and suffering.鈥� (The Rev. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.)

Freedom is not free. It is always purchased with the high price of sacrifice and suffering.

鈥淗e has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God?鈥� Micah 6:8 saved my life.

As a teenager in Detroit, Michigan, who was devoted to living a Christian life, the words of this verse were branded on my heart.

The Lord through the prophet Micah announces to Israel and to us what the Lord requires. The Lord does not call for ritual sacrifice and piety. The Lord calls for change, change in behavior and action.

To act justly means to do the righteous thing. To love mercy means to be faithful to our love covenants. To walk humbly means to live and walk carefully as God wants us to. The prophet Micah preaches, proclaims, and teaches that because the people of Israel were worshiping without love, sacrificing without holy hearts, and had divorced morality from worship and daily practices, they were not free. The same is true of many today.

Some stray from the faith. Some because of pain. Some because of fear and anxiety.

Others lose faith and hope. But these verses of the Old Testament outline a way forward. They tear down walls and build relationships. They spread healing balm on broken spirits. They motivate us to be better and live better.

If only we could live this simple mandate鈥攂ut freedom is not free. It is always purchased with the high price of sacrifice and suffering.

I believe Jesus best demonstrates how to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God, through his passion.

I believe that, together, Holy Thursday, Holy Friday, Holy Saturday, and Holy Sunday show us how to be free. Christ has purchased our freedom. Christ has left us a profound example of how to disciple ourselves and one another in this freedom.

First, we must learn to empty ourselves. In Christian language this is called the great kenosis. Kenosis means to make oneself a nothing.

This sounds strange, but our transformation begins with denying ourselves 鈥�

• To use privilege for the advancement of societal good!
• To empty yourself of glory for the sake of those who know not God!
• To judiciously handle power.
• To fight for the oppressed and the disenfranchised!
• To act counter to our goal as humans, by helping another along the way!
• To act not for personal gain but for Godly advancement!
• To compete not for the sake of glory and victory, but for human excellence!

This is what Jesus shows us when he washes the feet of his disciples and shares the first Communion.

Second, we must learn to pause and reflect. Self-surrender, self-sacrifice, self-denial, and self-imposed suffering are difficult. This is the harder way. The road less traveled.

To live a life of justice, mercy, and humility is not pleasant and requires fortitude and resilience.

Victor Frankl, the great psychiatrist of the Holocaust, taught that to every stimulus there is a response. But in between the stimulus and the response, there is a space. That space between our cross and our resurrection is our sacred space. We must learn to live in this tension of what we see, feel, and want. It is a space to contemplate and analyze. Dedicated, devoted, and devout Christian believers are made better through contemplating the weight and price of life and life choices. This of course is clearly illustrated in the crucifixion and Christ鈥檚 descent on Holy Saturday.

Third, we must wait with expectation. Freedom is found and obtained as we learn to trust that our emptying and our pausing will bear fruit.

Our dream might be deferred, but while we are in the valley, we can find green pastures.

As we spend time pausing, we find hope that our actions will change the world for the better.

We must learn to stand patiently during our crisis. I love the Greek word for resurrection (Ana-histemi). Ana means 鈥渦p鈥� and histemimeans 鈥渢o cause to stand.鈥�

We must stand up with a new awakening. Waiting is not a passive act; it is restorative.

Waiting allows you to ready yourself for acting. Waiting allows you to use your space to restructure and renew within. Waiting allows you to power up. To clothe yourself in hope. To renew yourself.

Waiting is the half-time of our spiritual competition. During your half-time you assess the strengths and challenges of your opponent, your team, and yourself. Waiting readies you to be in position to take and make the right move.

Fourth, we must act with power. Too often leaders become comfortable with the luxury of waiting. I love the poem by Langston Hughes, 鈥淢other to Son鈥�:

Well, son, I鈥檒l tell you:
Life for me ain鈥檛 been no crystal stair.
It鈥檚 had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor鈥擝are.
But all the time
I鈥檚e been a-climbin鈥� on,
And reachin鈥� landin鈥檚,
And turnin鈥� corners,
And sometimes goin鈥� in the dark
Where there ain鈥檛 been no light.
So boy, don鈥檛 you turn back.
Don鈥檛 you set down on the steps
鈥機ause you finds it鈥檚 kinder hard.
Don鈥檛 you fall now鈥�
For I鈥檚e still goin鈥�, honey,
I鈥檚e still climbin鈥�,
And life for me ain鈥檛 been no crystal stair.

Returning to the true story of Hacksaw Ridge鈥擯rivate First-Class Desmond Thomas Doss knew that freedom was not free鈥攁nd he could not quit!

He was beaten by fellow soldiers in boot camp. His company commander tried to get him kicked out of the army for being mentally unstable. His company taunted him and called him a coward because he would not carry or fire a gun. But in the battle, after he cried out to God, 鈥淲hat do you want from me?鈥� he heard a wounded soldier call out for help.

He then ran to the injured. He ran back through enemy fire, found the injured soldier, dragged him to the ridge through the enemy fire, and lowered him down from the top of Hacksaw Ridge with a special knot he tied.

Then he asked God, 鈥渙ne more!鈥� and ran back for another injured soldier.

He would run back, find another injured soldier, drag him, and lower him down from the top of Hacksaw Ridge with a special knot he tied.Then another, and another, and another.

All told, he saved 75 wounded soldiers that day.

Like Doss, we must return and pull our fellow Christian soldiers to this lifeboat we love.

Freedom is not free. It is always purchased with the high price of sacrifice and suffering. So I invite you this synod to pick up your cross, and with the power and conviction of Jesus, return time after time to gather and share with those who are healthy, those who are injured, those who hate you, those who call you names, those who gracefully separate, and those who feel you are wrong.

Peter said to humble yourself under the right hand of God and God will exalt you in time. Jesus was resurrected and ascended to the right hand of God.

Doss was the only conscientious objector to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Freedom is not free; it is always purchased with the high price of sacrifice and suffering. Freedom is not free. But the freedom that flows through the love of Jesus Christ, released by God鈥檚 just hand, and guided by the Holy Spirit鈥搃s worth it a thousand times over.

So, Reformed Church in America, it鈥檚 time for us to stand. Our spiritual half-time has prepared us for an important mission. It鈥檚 time for us to stand up for our convictions and dismantle the barriers that stand in the way of liberation for all God鈥檚 people. It鈥檚 time for us to stand up for the oppressed and draw in the people our world pushes to the margins. It鈥檚 time for us to stand up and proclaim that our God is love that perseveres in all things. Our God鈥檚 grace knows no limits. And our God鈥檚 justice will heal and restore our broken world.

Freedom is not free, but it鈥檚 time for us to stand up for it. It鈥檚 time for the RCA to stand!

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President’s Blog 13 鈥� What If We Ascend?

Text:听 Acts 1:1-2

¹ In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach ^2听until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.听

The ascension in Luke 24:50 marks the closure to the story of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. In Acts 1:10, the ascension marks the beginning of the story of the church.

Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension:听

Jesus鈥檚 suffering on the cross was a needed diagnosis and intervention for our human predicament. It was a summons to embrace a solidarity with our pain as opposed to practicing our usual avoiding, denying, and resisting. The death and resurrection (loss and renewal) of Jesus established a paradigm and hermeneutic that calls us to a more fulfilling life, and gives hope when life is taken from us. Unfortunately, we allow personal, systemic, and structural priorities to keep us sick and afflicted.听

The ascension was a reuniting of the material world to its spiritual Source. The ascension is about the final reunion of what appeared to be separated for a while 鈥� separation of earth and heaven, human and divine, matter and Spirit. 鈥淪o that where I am, you also will be鈥� (John 14:3).听 It seemed that this year of pandemic and racial re-evaluation has resulted in ascension, a reuniting of the material to its spiritual source 鈥� or has it?听

I believe that the writer of Psalm 23 would say 鈥� 鈥淭he life, death, and resurrection of Jesus (the kerygma) restores our souls.” But soul without spirit leaves us vulnerable to repeat past atrocities. We have had Moses, Deborah, Esther, Joshua, and others to call from us the best in us. But, so often after rising to our best we descend to our worst and fail to ascend and offer God鈥檚 grace and mercy.听 听

I am reminded of the period of reconstruction in the United States. Right at the end of civil war we entered an era, from December 8, 1863, to March 31, 1877, that ushered in education, voting, and property reforms for Freed Persons.听 I always concluded that it was President Andrew Johnson who ended the era of reconstruction. But I learned later that Reconstruction continued under President Grant who was elected after President Johnson.听 President Grant was a stanch supporter of reconstruction and the fair treatment of Freed men and Freed women. But during the summer and fall of 1875, Grant refused to send federal troops to Mississippi. Senator John Roy Lynch, a biracial senator from Mississippi, told of a conversation with Grant in Washington in November 1875.听

Senator Lynch discussed a conversation he had with President Grant in November of 1875 when he asked the President why he had refused to aid the Governor of Mississippi when white Republicans and black Freedmen were being murdered and terrorized by white militia. Grant explained to Lynch that he had prepared a proclamation for action in Mississippi.听 But before signing it, he conferred with Ohio Republicans who warned that if Grant interfered in Mississippi, Republicans would lose Ohio in the upcoming presidential election. Grant thus decided it was more important to retain Ohio than to save Mississippi.听 听 听

Grant did the best he could in the situation he inherited, but the loss of support from Northern Republicans was catastrophic for reconstruction. In the end there was no way for blacks to enjoy their emancipation rights without prolonged military presence. There was a terrible double standard in place: the country tolerated terror by whites, but not by blacks. Once reconstruction collapsed, it led to the re-enslaving of freedmen via Jim Crow segregation, Lynching, poll taxes, literacy tests, and other degrading acts.听 It would be another 80 years before America would rise above its abusive, neglectful, oppressive culture.听

In 1877 America did not ascend.听 America descended and did not lead those in captivity to freedom. America continued to neglect and oppress its own people. God was calling for Ascension, but we turned a blind eye to God鈥檚 call, and we descended.听

Question:听 What if we Ascend?

1. If We Ascend鈥e Begin the Process of Working and Caring for Each Other:

• • If we Ascend … We will love our neighbors as ourselves.
  • If we Ascend鈥� We will love our enemies as our neighbors.
  • If we Ascend鈥� We will pray for our friends, our families, and our enemies.
  • If we Ascend鈥� We will work for the good of all humankind.

2. If We Ascend鈥e will Engage the Process of Discernment:

• • We will learn to discover and uncover God’s will for our future.
  • We will get in touch with our True selves, and we learn more about ourselves.听 Your True Self is who we really are in God and who God is in us.
  • We will become more deeply in touch with God (prayer and scripture will have greater meaning).
  • We will make better decisions (gather facts, consider alternatives, explore different options).
  • We will be able to confirm and commit to our decision (letting them sink in, feeling peace and tranquility).

Today, our America, like our America in 1875, faces the call and challenge to Ascend.听 We must ascend! We must raise above politics and tribalism! We must rise above the rankling, the blaming, the guilt, and the denial of descending.听

3. If we ascend – Pentecost will come:

• • Pentecost will free us.听
  • Pentecost will connect our restored soul to the anointing of the Spirit.听
  • Pentecost ushers in a movement of the Spirit so powerful that we will speak in other languages, as the Spirit give us ability. That is:
    • The conservative will understand the liberal
    • The liberal will understand the moderate
    • The poor will understand the rich
    • The rich will understand the middle class听
    • The sexist will understand the feminist/womanist
    • The complementarians will understand equalitarians
    • The racist will understand the radical
    • The young will understand the old
    • The parent will understand the child
    • And God will bless your families and your children, and their children, and their children, for a thousand generations鈥�

From outside of ourselves, beyond ourselves, and through ourselves the Spirit will transform us. The Spirit will free us to believe in a God who is involved. A God that is wind, fire, joy, excitement, and universal. A God that is dynamic, alive, moving, and available.听

Then God, the Holy Spirit, will be experienced as intimacy, enlightenment, joy, fire, and as the power to love beyond boundaries and ethnicities (Acts 2:1鈥�13). To the Holy Spirit we must surrender. And with the Holy Spirit we are empowered to stand together, build together, and grow together.听

Malcolm Guite said it this way:

Today we feel the wind beneath our wings
Today the hidden fountain flows and plays
Today the church draws breath at last and sings
As every flame becomes a Tongue of praise.
This is the feast of fire, air, and water
Poured out and breathed and kindled into earth.
The earth herself awakens to her maker
And is translated out of death to birth.
The right words come today in their right order
And every word spells freedom and release
Today the gospel crosses every border
All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace
Today the lost are found in God鈥檚 translation.
Whose mother tongue is Love in every nation.

In Joy and In Justice!

Micah L. McCreary
President, 麻豆视频

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President’s Blog 12 鈥� Showing Up in Times of Tragedy

Dear 麻豆视频 Family,

It is with a broken heart that I write today in reference to the recent shooting of Mr. Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. The fact that Mr. Wright was shot to death by a policewoman just听miles from where Mr. George Floyd died from asphyxiation, when a policeman held a knee to his neck for nearly 9 minutes a year ago, is a tragic and bitter pill to ingest.

A friend of mine was asked: “Why did he run?” 听My friend responded, “He ran out of fear.” Fear and trauma play a role during every traffic stop and altercation between black men and the police. The officer involved in Mr. Wright鈥檚 death was a 26-year veteran training officer and former police union leader. Her actions are being described as 鈥渇ear-full鈥� and traumatic.

But fear and trauma is a complex explanation of this situation and altercation. Police procedures in most of the 18,000 jurisdictions with police departments mandates that the taser be holstered on the opposite side of where you carry your firearm. More importantly, the weight of a fully-loaded Glock (standard police听issue) and a taser are light-years in weight difference.

Mr. Wright fled out of fear. The officer traumatized a community and shot a man to death out of a complexity that I am unable to name at this time. The weight of the鈥�
Badge,
Years of training,
Taser,
Glock,
Trial of Mr. Floyd,
Race in America, and
Relationships between the police and Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC).

Each weight is heavy and carrying this load is no simple matter.

Law enforcement must have a higher standard of care when engaging the community that it has taken an oath to protect and serve.听 Hurting protestors must respond to heartbreak and trauma with a higher ethic than retaliatory violence.

There are no easy answers and I offer no knee jerk advice. I am reminded of what Bren茅 Brown once stated, 鈥淰ulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It鈥檚 tough to do that when we鈥檙e terrified about what people might see or think [or do].鈥� 听I just ask you to keep showing up and being seen until justice emerges as supreme!

In Joy and In Justice!

Micah L. McCreary
President, 麻豆视频

_____________

* Victor L. Marsh Sr. helped with the research and framing of the article.

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President’s Blog 11 鈥� Uncertainty of Now and Humility

Recently, I was asked by a dear mentor and colleague, Dr. Everette Worthington, Jr., to present in a series of lectures on humility.听 The series was entitled, Deep Dive into Humility. The first lecture was by Professor Daryl Van Tongeren of Hope College. Professor Van Tongeren spoke on the topic: What can an ancient virtue teach us about life today? He raised the question, 鈥淲hy is the ancient virtue of humility important in modern society?鈥� and discussed what scientific research has revealed about how humility can help our relationships, our work, and our society. (You can find his talk at .) 听

I would like to thank Professor Daryl Van Tongeren for contributing to my thoughts and understanding about humility and modern society. I absolutely valued the fact that he moved beyond the definition of humility, 鈥淔reedom from pride or arrogance,鈥� and outlined a scientific and pragmatic understanding of humility. During his talk, Dr. Van Tongeren explained the difference between intrapersonal humility (accurate view of yourself) and interpersonal humility (thinking about the needs of others).听 Dr. Van Tongeren also discussed four ways (or contexts) to be humble:听

• Relational humility: Being other-people oriented and checking your ego.
• Intellectual humility: Being open to new ideas, beliefs, and seeking new insight.
• Cultural humility: Learning from the cultural context and cultures of others and not viewing one鈥檚 own culture as superior.听
• Existential humility: Feeling grateful and appreciative to things larger than oneself (nature and creation).听

This blog focuses on The Uncertainty of Now and Humility and revolves around intellectual humility and how it relates to cultural humility. That is, I hope to take a deeper dive into the complexities of humility among members of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community, women, and our many white male allies. I am particularly thinking about how we might 鈥淭hink Again鈥� (as suggested by Adam Grant) about what goes wrong when we become too righteous in our quest for humility among BIPOC communities and women. Dr. Van Tongeren talked about differentiating humility from shame, self-deference, or humiliation. This stuck out for me as I write this blog. I have worked closely with persons who have been shamed, who are culturally sanctioned and coerced to be self-deferencing, and remain too small to be effective.听

My thesis for this blog is that humility is a helpful Biblical and social concept that can truly enhance our personal, individual, and communal relationships and our daily walk with Christ and with Community. But this thesis is complicated by the reality that humility often is associated with the focus on not being haughty, not being proud, not being arrogant, and not being assertive. This type of humble orientation toward deference听or submission can be problematic for all people, but particularly for women and members of BIPOC communities.

I have been reflecting on the Biblical text, Haggai 2:3, since a conversation with Dr. Deborah Flemister Mullen in November: 鈥淲ho is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?鈥� I suggest here that this text in Haggai offers us a great deal to think about when it comes to cultural, relational, and intellectual humility. There was a lot going on in Haggai鈥檚 world. The prophet is grappling with a comparison between the temple of Solomon and the restorative work he and his community are doing on the temple. In Haggai鈥檚 theology, there is solidarity between the former structure and the restored structure. Notice Haggai uses the singular word 鈥渉ouse鈥� (bayit) referring to both the prior and the future buildings. That is, the two buildings, in Haggai鈥檚 mind, are one.

But the Lord stirs the situation and raises the question here in an interesting way. The Lord instructs Haggai to inquire, 鈥淲ho among you has seen the former temple prior to its destruction in 586 BC?鈥� It is interesting that the prophet excludes himself from the issue. He does not ask, 鈥渨ho among us鈥� (an interpersonal examination), but he asks, 鈥渨ho among you鈥� (an intrapersonal examination).听 Possibly there were some survivors with glorified childhood memories of the good old days 鈥� some members of the community with distorted memories of how things were back then and some with accurate memories of yesterday. 听

It seems that God knew there was something 鈥渄eeper鈥� going on within individuals. Something was infecting the people鈥檚 view of who they were, so Haggai asked the rhetorical question, 鈥淚s it not in your sight as nothing?鈥� This expression emphatically calls attention to the fact that how they saw the building and seeing themselves as nothing were the same. The people envisioned the work that they were doing as nothing. The high hopes they had entertained at the beginning of their work had now turned to disappointment. God wanted Haggai to help the people to see that their 鈥渘ow鈥� was more uncertain because of their 鈥渘othing鈥� perspective.

Even as believers, we become so focused on 鈥渙ur then鈥� being better than 鈥渙ur now鈥� that 鈥渙ur now鈥� becomes 鈥渙ur nothing.鈥� Our nothing then becomes a nothing perspective, and our nothing perspective then colors 鈥渙ur now鈥� with uncertainty. We then become vulnerable to perceiving 鈥渙ur now鈥� as less than, useless, minimal, inadequate, insignificant, valueless, and/or inconsequential. This mindset then leads to feelings of hopelessness, inadequacy, despair, anger, worthlessness, and/or frustration. The point I would like to make here is that we cannot expect humility to flourish or even expect our encouragement of humility to bear effective fruit under this type of brokenness.听

Last week, I was honored to present to the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, a conference focused on social and restorative justice. The conference theme was: Holy Rage – Holy Hope. We reflected on how pride is not always viewed by the activist community as negative. I put forth the position that black pride has actually been reframed as positive pride and includes humility. Furthermore, I argue that when humility is equated with submission among black people, it is readily evaluated and perceived as 鈥渇orced humility鈥� and 鈥渇orced submission.鈥� These attributes are triggers for BIPOC communities and deeply associated with Slavery, Black Codes, Jim Crow, Segregation, and Mass Incarceration. I surmised that it is difficult to speak with someone black about humility without first reconciling the presence and meaning of holy rage.

Another complication to humility is around women. Recently, Dean Beth Tanner and I co-taught a class on Power and Privilege, and we sought to engage students around the psychological ramifications of internalized sexism. The women in class mentioned that they were conditioned by society and culture to be modest, unassuming, to avoid at all costs being seen as haughty, proud, or assertive. This conditioning they reported hindered their abilities to be effective in ministry. They voiced that they were not considered feminine, appealing, or acceptable, unless they 鈥渁cted鈥� unassertive, submissive, agreeable, and pleasing at all times. This existential condition leads to 鈥渁cting鈥� humble 鈥� being humble on a surface and rebellious underneath. 听

I would also mention how racist events effect the expression of humility in other communities of people of color. For example, the recent attacks against Asian American citizens in the USA, which correlates with the rhetoric around China causing the Coronavirus, has resulted in holy rage being manifested among Asian American activists. Furthermore, people of Asian origins in America are beginning to debunk the old stereotype of Asian Americans as the humble model minority, as they realize the model minority myth of Asians was created in the 1960s in response to civil rights and the behavior of black protestors. They now realize that Asian Americans were framed as model minority to wag a finger at the Black American struggle for equality. The fact that crimes of hate and abuse have been occurring against Asian Americans via legislation and behaviors for centuries only positively reinforces the manifestation of holy rage. Let鈥檚 not talk here about the immigration, migration, asylum policies and abuses of brown skinned Latinos/as. What ever happen to America as a sanctuary country?听

Anyhow, I believe that Haggai helps us position ourselves to affirm and co-create humility among holy rage, BIPOC Communities, women, and white male allies in two ways:

(1) Take Up the Courage of Our Ancestors (Haggai 2:4abc NRSV):

Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, say the Lord;
Take courage, O Joshua, Son of Jehozadak, the High Priest;
Take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord;

We must not become fearful and sluggish in this quest for humility during times of uncertainty.

• Members of the abolitionist and women鈥檚 suffrage movements were not afraid.
• Past protestors for social and restorative justice were not paralyzed by fear.
• Social Justice Advocates marching and demonstrating for laborers and fair and equitable employment were not afraid.听

But when we are fearful in our assignments, Haggai instructs to take up the courage of our ancestors.听 I currently serve as the president of the oldest protestant seminary in the United States of America. It is a school that has gone through many problem periods in its existence. When I begin my tenure, being a lover of history, I spent the first year studying the history of 麻豆视频. During this search for legacy, I learned that:

• In 1784, a New York pastor named John Henry Livingston was called by the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church to be its 鈥減rofessor.鈥�听 His task was to prepare students to become Reformed Church Ministers of Word and Sacrament.听 Dr. Livingston fulfilled this task first in New York City and then, for 15 years, here in New Brunswick, NJ. I learned that he and his students shared a building and other resources with Queen鈥檚 College (now Rutgers University). I learned that this theology professor and his small group of students assembled around his desk, a desk that today sits here in our board room.听 I discovered that Dr. Livingston and his students strove to make this world a better place.听
  • I also learned that the Livingston family was deeply engaged with slavery.

• I learned that from 1855 to 1889, 麻豆视频 sent Reformed Church missionaries to serve in India, Korea, and Arabia.
  • But I also learned of the colonial mindset that accompanied their Christian messages.

• I learned that in 1879, Islay Walden and John Bergen graduated from 麻豆视频 as the first African Americans to graduate from this institution. And I discovered that in 1882, Kumage Kimura and Moto Oghimi were the first Japanese students to graduate from 麻豆视频.
  • But systems of oppression hindered and marginalized their ministries.听

• I found that in 1884, the Reverend Dr. Horace G. Underwood graduated from 麻豆视频 and traveled to Korea to establish the Presbyterian church there.听
  • But I learned that he was funded by the Presbyterian church and not the RCA.

• Another joyful find was that in the 1940s and 1950s the 麻豆视频 graduate, A.J. Muste worked in the听labor movement,听pacifist movement,听antiwar movement, and the听Civil Rights Movement. He is a known major influencer of Howard Thurman and a direct mentor to Bayard Rustin. Mr. Rustin was the scholar who introduced Martin Luther King, Jr. to nonviolence and directed the 1963 march on Washington.
  • But Muste left 麻豆视频 frustrated and discouraged and would attribute his success and developing philosophy of social justice to his additional education from Union Seminary.

From the ups and downs of 麻豆视频, I have been humbled and lean heavily on the words of Winston Churchill, 鈥淪uccess is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.鈥�听

(2) The Work of Humility Is Conducted in the Power of The Lord! (Haggai 2:4d, 5 NRSV):

Work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Hosts,
[Work], according to the promise I made you when you came out of Egypt
[Work], My Spirit abides among you
[Work] and do not fear

Doing the work of humility in the power of the Lord is the intersection of holy rage and humility.听

Doing the work of humility in the power of the Lord is the intersection of gender power and humility.

In the words of my brother Matthew Williams, President of the Interdenominational Theological Center, I call this work the work of the Warrior Healer. 听 I understand the warrior healer as a manner of incarnational overcoming. When we walk in this manner, our injuries are not eternal. Williams asserts, 鈥淚nstead of allowing our wounds to lead us to obscurity, we must use them to reach resolution and resolve.鈥�听 Williams describes a warrior healer as embodying liberating leadership. In my thinking, the warrior healer is a combination of the wounded healer of Henri Nouwen, and the peaceful warrior of Dan Millman. 听

Nouwen offers the metaphor of the 鈥渨ounded healer鈥� as a conceptual frame to shift our functioning to that of a healer.听 From the legend of the Jewish Talmud, he provides one of my favorite metaphors on power, privilege, and ministry. It is a conversation between Rabbi Yoshua ben Levi and Elijah the prophet. Standing at the entrance of Rabbi Simeron ben Yohai鈥檚 cave,听the Rabbi asks the prophet, 鈥淲hen will the Messiah come?鈥� This question leads to a fascinating conversation about the nature, representation, and positioning of the Jewish Messiah.听

Millman calls himself a peaceful warrior because he believes the real battles we face are inside. He argues that as peaceful warriors, we learn to live with courage, love as we live daily, and face ourselves and the world with a peaceful heart and a warrior spirit.听

For this blogger, the warrior healer like Haggai 鈥� diagnoses and co-creates a new understanding of the uncertainty in a manner that provides resurrected life for a troubled community. The Warrior Healer helps us embrace our uncertainty of now with humility.听

Paraphrasing Mark Batterson I say it this way:

• When you can embrace racial uncertainty, it鈥檚 called freedom.听
• When you can embrace relational uncertainty, it鈥檚 called romance.听
• When you can embrace occupational uncertainty, it鈥檚 called destiny.听
• When you can embrace emotional uncertainty, it鈥檚 called joy.听
• When you can embrace intellectual uncertainty, it鈥檚 called revelation.听
• When you can embrace spiritual uncertainty, it鈥檚 called mystery.
• When you can embrace existential uncertainty, it鈥檚 called humility.

Micah L. McCreary
President, 麻豆视频

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President’s Blog 10 鈥� Liminal Space Prayer

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

鈥� Luke 4:1鈥�2 听. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

As we begin this academic year, we are in what is called 鈥渓iminal space鈥� or threshold space (in Latin, limen means a threshold, a starting line in a race, or a beginning place). Liminal space is a very good phrase for times such as ours when events and places open us up to the sacred (Richard Rohr).听 In the New Testament, the phrase 鈥渨hen time came to a fullness,鈥� was used to capture the liminal space created by Jesus鈥� birth or God鈥檚 incarnation. We are now in liminal space as our past, present, and future time come together in this current climate and moment. We are now in liminal space as we experience our 鈥渞ight here鈥� torn apart from our 鈥渙ver there鈥�.

We grieve the tragic gap between our world as we knew it and something new and unknown. We grieve for humanity and nature as we simultaneously grapple with our previous life, conscious death, and pending resilient spiritual new appearance.

We grieve the effects of COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. We grieve the 783,000 deaths worldwide. We grieve the deaths of General Synod Professor Emeritus Dr. Allan Janssen [April 3]; Distinguished Alumni Rev.听Rufus听鈥淏umpy鈥� McClendon [April 9]; and President Emeritus Dr. Gregg Mast [April 27]. We grieve the recent losses of family members and other loved ones in our community.听

We grieve the estimated 18 million people and families who are impacted by unemployment in the United States of America. We grieve the racial and social unrest in our nation, the lawlessness, police violence, oppression, systematic racism and discrimination, gender oppression and violence, domestic terrorism, divisiveness, shadow conspiracies, classism, pathology, homophobia, and the plurality and polarization of thought and action. We seek an antidote to our current chaos and as we reflect on our changing realities during this liminal season 鈥� we plead for your mercy, Oh God. 听

Lord, Seminary is a liminal space.听 A space that begins with loss – so teach us not to resist loss or liminality but to sit with the ambiguity and disorientation. Help us to find effectiveness in our voices, spaces, places, and organizations during our journey between our endings and our new beginnings. Open us to new possibilities no longer based on old status or power hierarchies. Help us explore and establish new identities and to consider new possibilities as we transition from our old consciousness and old spaces. Reinvent us during our 鈥渂etwixt and between鈥� so that we face the familiar and the completely unknown with grace and courage. Make it so that we return from our wilderness as Jesus did with power and a new word:

¹⁸ 鈥�The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
the Lord has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
¹⁹ To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.鈥�
^20听Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ^21听And He began to say to them, 鈥�Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.鈥�

鈥� Luke 4:18鈥�20 听. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Micah L. McCreary
President, 麻豆视频

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President’s Blog 9 鈥� The Holy Pause of Holy Saturday

Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. Luke 23: 53-54 (NRSV)

As I seek to respond to the tragedies and situations confronting 麻豆视频, churches in America and around the world, and denominations and their leaders, and speak a rhema word to those who ask my opinion and advice, I am reminded of the words of Erol Ozan, 鈥淪ome beautiful paths can鈥檛 be discovered without getting lost.鈥�

In our current climate, several Seminary Presidents and Deans asked me to join them in in:

Public Policy:

• • • The removal of military equipment from our neighborhoods as tools for policing.
      • The end of the 1033 Program, whereby Congress transfers excess military equipment to local police agencies for use in counter-drug activities.
    • The immediate work to create police reform initiatives as well as community oriented policing methodologies to include the following:
      • A revision of police union contracts so that police are held accountable for misconduct, to include clarity about 鈥渆xcessive force鈥�
      • A moratorium on no-knock warrants for drug-related arrests
      • An end to 鈥渂roken-windows鈥� policing.
      • The implementation of swift and strong fines against persons who make emergency calls to police departments based upon false allegations against Black citizens.
      • State and local level public policy initiatives that ensure police review boards comprise citizens representing its diverse neighborhoods. Effective policy requires community oversight.
      • The refusal to hire/retain any officer who has been found guilty of misconduct.
      • An end to the practice of aggressive police persons not receiving repercussions and prosecution when they cross the justice line and end the process of internal policing, powerful police unions, powerless civil arbitration boards, and ineffective external (non-police) review boards being used to release accused police persons from justice.
      • An end to the standard of reasonableness that allows police officers to shoot to kill Black and other racial minorities on the officer鈥檚 assertion that they feared for their life.
      • Pressure on听 insurance companies to demand changes in police procedures and policies used by police departments that consistently lead to high incidents of police brutality against racial minorities by refusing those departments coverage.
    • The immediate clarification by the FBI that Black Lives Matter is not a 鈥渂lack identity extremist鈥� movement.

Changes within the American Academy of Religion/ Society of Biblical Literature:

• • • The immediate development and support of the Policing in Black and Brown Communities Initiative that will work with journalists who cover religion. Black people鈥檚 religious conceptualizations drive the way they move in the world. Through AAR/SBL support, this initiative鈥檚 aim is to place scholars of religion in conversation with mainstream journalists around the country so that the narratives around our lives convey truth and sensitivity.

And changes within Association of Theological Schools:

• • • Include on its agenda for its upcoming Biennial Meeting a time for the Presidents of ATS schools to discuss what is both the impact and theological work needed to address the consistent killings of Black people.

Another colleague and friend, Reverend Earl James, concludes his letter to the Reformed Church in America with

:

• • • Continue embracing peaceful public demonstrations for racial equity and justice, and for elimination of police brutality. (I reached out to an organizer of the protest I was part of to learn more and serve.)
    • Find and continually express great care to those among your families and friends, of any generation. In frequent and diverse ways, tell them they matter and are of great value. Tell them specific things about their character and actions that impress you and that you hold dear. Always let them know in various and diverse ways they are gifts from God to you and to life itself.
    • Work to re-craft use-of-force policies in your location to ensure that deaths of unarmed persons by police are eliminated or carry swift and substantial penalties. (I am talking with some people where I live who might want to conduct this work.)
    • Review, talk about, and incorporate into conversations, education, sermons, advocacy, and so on the two postings mentioned previously from Stratton C. Lee III and Justin Pletcher. Explore how they practically live out the .
    • Have inter-generational conversations and activities that can nurture inter-generational racial equity and justice understanding.
    • Host one or more virtual or in-person congregational, family, or town hall meetings on any part of this matter. (Others and I are planning two or three virtual engagements to occur in June and/or July.)
    • Learn about and participate in The Blackout Coalition鈥檚 July 7, 2020, day of not spending money.
    • Watch the movie 鈥淛ust Mercy鈥� and discuss it. It is an exceptional telling of a true story about the dangers of systemic racism in American life. During June 2020, it may be streamed at no cost. .

I was amazed at the statement and recommendations from the ice cream company, Ben & Jerry鈥檚. In their statement, the company called for:

First, we call upon President Trump, elected officials, and political parties to commit our nation to a formal process of healing and reconciliation. Instead of calling for the use of aggressive tactics on protestors, the President must take the first step by disavowing white supremacists and nationalist groups that overtly support him, and by not using his Twitter feed to promote and normalize their ideas and agendas. The world is watching America鈥檚 response.

Second, we call upon the Congress to pass听, legislation that would create a commission to study the effects of slavery and discrimination from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. We cannot move forward together as a nation until we begin to grapple with the sins of our past. Slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation were systems of legalized and monetized white supremacy for which generations of Black and Brown people paid an immeasurable price. That cost must be acknowledged and the privilege that accrued to some at the expense of others must be reckoned with and redressed.

Third, we support Floyd鈥檚 family鈥檚 call to create a national task force that would draft bipartisan legislation aimed at ending racial violence and increasing police accountability. We can鈥檛 continue to fund a criminal justice system that perpetuates mass incarceration while at the same time threatens the lives of a whole segment of the population.

And finally, we call on the Department of Justice to reinvigorate its Civil Rights Division as a staunch defender of the rights of Black and Brown people. The DOJ must also reinstate policies rolled back under the Trump Administration, such as consent decrees to curb police abuses.

Ben & Jerry鈥檚 concluded that:

Unless and until white America is willing to collectively acknowledge its privilege, take responsibility for its past and the impact it has on the present, and commit to creating a future steeped in justice, the list of names that George Floyd has been added to will never end. We have to use this moment to accelerate our nation’s long journey towards justice and a more perfect union.

I have contemplated all week what to say.听 Initially, it was just around the painful deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. Then, it was the issue of three of President Trump鈥檚 responses to the protestors (as reported by CNN):

1. 1. “You have to dominate, or you’ll look like a bunch of jerks, you have to arrest and try people,” the President told governors in a call from the basement White House Situation Room鈥� 鈥淚t’s a movement, if you don’t put it down it will get worse and worse,” Trump said. “The only time it’s successful is when you’re weak and most of you are weak.鈥�
   2. Two protests by Americans within a month; two vastly different responses by Donald Trump. The President praised the first group, urging elected officials to hear their concerns and “make a deal.” The second group Trump smeared as “so-called protesters,” threatening them with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons.鈥�
   3. Attorney General William Barr on Monday evening ordered authorities to clear a crowd of protesters that had gathered near the White House, according to a Justice Department official, minutes ahead of听President Donald Trump’s televised address from the Rose Garden, 鈥� [Trump later] walk[ed] to the nearby St. John’s Episcopal Church for a photo-op.听

As I listen and reflect on the challenges, we face during this current crisis I sense a weight on our nation that hangs in the balance. A weight of 140 million people in America classified as poor.听 A weight of 700 people dying every day from poverty. A weight of 80 million people living with insufficient or no medical insurance. A weight where a police officer uses his knee to restrain a Black man for 8 minutes and 46 second until he is unable to breathe and dies.

This weight we have carried as a nation for generations is harder to bear because of the sheer volume of violence, neglect, stereotyping, ostracizing, cycles of poverty, and death of the most vulnerable Americans 鈥� that is, Americans who are poor, female, mentally ill, physically challenged, mentally challenged, older, homeless, and Black and Brown. Black and Brown Americans are disproportionately disadvantaged by the weights of systemic racism and oppression (i.e., slavery, black codes, Jim Crow laws, segregation, red lining, etc.).

Here I mirror Franklin D. Roosevelt who said, 鈥淭he test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.鈥� The weight feels like death. Death is a season of life and many like me have become accustomed to death. But, fortunately, when I reflect on Jesus, I celebrate the Lord鈥檚 life, death, resurrection, and ascension. To me, death is my winter or season that leads to hibernation. But, death is not the only or final season. When I reflect on Luke 23: 53-54 we are told that during Jesus鈥� winter he is 1) taken down from the cross, 2) wrapped it in a linen cloth, and 3) laid in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. We are also told by Luke, the only Gentile writer in the Bible, that it was the day of preparation and the sabbath was beginning. What a gift! What a powerful metaphor for us during this crisis. A metaphor that can assist us in finding our true self, finding balance within and without.

My life and ministry have been driven by a need and desire to find balance in life. As a seminary president, Minister of Word and Sacrament, engineer, and pastoral psychologist, I have searched for insight and direction during every crisis for ways to improve all. One of the greatest revelations during these times of reflection is that God is both beyond me and within me at the same time. Finding revelations such as this, 鈥渆xquisite balance of God鈥� needs worship, a laboratory, a sanctuary, a prayer closet, a Holy Saturday.

Holy Saturday is a time of silence and a period between your injury and your healing. Holy Saturday is a period of reflection and contemplation – between your crucifixion and your resurrection. I am convinced we all experience crucifixion. But I am convicted that we have the power of the Holy Spirit to remove ourselves from our crosses, wrap ourselves with allies and like-minded colleagues, and rest in safe places.听 Holy Saturday can be a powerful intermediate preparation before resurrection. Holy Saturday is an opportunity to engage a Holy Pause.

I have found the Holy Pause to be a meaningful time of inspiration and meditation. The Holy Pause is a gift of suspending time, worry, anxiety, and care. I like to think of the Holy Pause on Holy Saturday as the space between the experienced stimulus (death) & my response to death (resurrection). Viktor Frankl suggested that we are all conditioned by a stimulus and response pattern. We experience a stimulus and we develop a response. But the power of Dr. Frankl鈥檚 idea is that he realized and voiced that there is a pause between the stimulus and our response. This pause is our Holy Saturday, our Holy Pause, our escape from routine, our entrance into the unknown with the spiritual companion who created the unknowing unknown. This pause is the time to focus on how we can reorient ourselves once our isolation is over.

As our nation and world has fallen into a strange xenophobia, where we fear neighbor, political parties, and colleagues who hold a different opinion, I suggest we allow the universe to take away the weight from the battles we fight, wrap us in a linen cloth of history and her-story, and lay us in a sacred space where we can reflect and renew. In our Holy Pause, we can critically and systematically analyze and examine our long-held beliefs about social justice and racial reconciliation. We can re-acclimate and reorient our hermeneutics to help us interpret events in light of the changes in context. We can practice improving our ability to accept (Mindfulness); increasing our tolerance of negative emotion, rather than trying to escape them (Distress Tolerance); managing and changing intense emotions that are causing problems in our lives (Emotional Regulation); and perfecting the abilities to communicate with others in a way that is assertive, maintains self-respect, and strengthens relationships (Interpersonal effectiveness skills).

I hope you will try the Holy Pause technique during this Holy Saturday. Finally, I wish you more Resurrection Sundays than Crucifixion Fridays.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the WORD of God endures forever.

Micah L. McCreary
President, 麻豆视频

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If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 听鈥� 2 Chronicles 7:14 NRSV

Good Morning Lord,

Today, as we humble ourselves, pray, seek Your Face and turn from our wicked ways, we intercede for the most vulnerable family members among us. As we feel inconvenienced, stressed, and overwhelmed by our predicament, we stop to bow in the face of Covid-19 for those without reliable access to basic needs (e.g., shelter, food, health care).

God, we lift those among us who were already vulnerable when our economy was strong and now face even more severe hardship as jobs evaporate overnight, day-by-day, and industry-by-industry. Oh Lord, we ask your intervention for members of our community who cannot “socially distance;” or shelter in safe, warm, hygienic places.

Creator, Redeemer, and Empowerer God, we pray for those severely vulnerable to the transmission of communicable diseases. That is, we lift to Thee, the mentally ill and immunocompromised, 听single parents, 听older rural residents, parents of children with special needs, poor families and Inmates. We present before You segments of our communion who find themselves burdened, anxious, compromised, stigmatized, by the lack of resources and direction.

Today, we plead for mercy on their behalf. 听Today, we humble ourselves, we pray, we seek Your Face and we turn from our wicked ways as our offerings and spiritual sacrifices. But, please Oh God, do not let us forget them once this crisis is over. Keep them in our consciousness and our hearts. Reconstruct our society so that we walk together and not 鈥渙ver and under鈥� one another. Reunite us, so that our most vulnerable will join us when we are released from our isolation and offer with us praise, hope, and renewed trust in You and in one another!

Amen! Amen! Amen!

In Joy and Justice!

Micah L. McCreary
President, 麻豆视频

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