A Letter from Lindy

Hi Pilgrims,
 

Grateful to be back with you after a week in sweltering Orlando :) While there, I had to chuckle at a great opinion piece in the NY Times called “The Ecstacy of Humidity.” Only a former Central Floridian would claim that “living in a place with seasons is overrated…that  there’s nothing like a sweaty Florida summer to bring you back to your body.” 

Back to my body I came as Thompson and I tackled a few home renovation projects in 95 degree humid heat. The author is right that there is no escaping Florida’s sweat. It is also true how easily one’s body re-adjusts and re-adapts, memory muscle flexing, alive and kicking. 

Memory muscles are honed by years of experience, intentionally attuning themselves to practicing the rhythms that become patterns then habits. My hope– that coming back to my body is not the only habit I form. I pray on this day that I, along with our country, will develop the memory muscle for Juneteenth–that it becomes an integral part of our pattern, our habit.  My fervent desire as I write this note on Wednesday, the 19th of June.
 
In 2023, contributing columnist to the Washington Post, Theodore Johnson, gave my prayer specific language “our national story urges every American to remember both a past in which our forebears were excluded and their battle for inclusion–the common thread in the story of every American, no matter their race, ethnicity or nation of origin. Juneteenth has the potential to represent that shared narrative better than any other civic observance.”

 With that prayer before me, I held a question asked by historian, Jemar Tisby, writing in the blog, The Preamble, about the history of this important date. As a Black man, he wondered how one celebrates freedom when his people are still not free. He concluded that “freedom is always a work in progress, and we must simultaneously understand the limits of freedom while also honoring each step toward liberation.” Studying history, he says, shows us how to do that. Studying history is part of Race & Equity’s hope this Sunday as we experience the film, Origin. Our belief is that Pilgrim will continue to deepen its awareness and understanding of our history so that Juneteenth is celebrated as a nationally inclusive holiday, with a narrative to match. To quote Johnson again,

 “For it symbolizes how the emancipation of Black people initiated a new beginning for a nation that had fallen short of its founding ideals. It recalls the important truth that emancipation was not a gift; it was hard won by perhaps the greatest multiracial coalition the nation has ever assembled — with Black Americans actively engaged in the taking.” 

Tisby echoes this sentiment by advocating that “we can draw strength from the history of the Black freedom struggle to reinvigorate our work for justice today.  Juneteenth is a celebration of emancipation. It represents a positive development in our nation’s history that we should all acknowledge. Even though freedom is never finished, Juneteenth is a reminder that we can bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice, and if we hang on, we can bend it just a bit more.”

This is my vision as Pilgrim creates sacred space around this important celebration.

Pastor Lindy

(she/her) why pronouns matter