Weekly Reflection: Beauty and Pain – Past and Present

Last week I did not write a Weekly Reflection, because Vickie and I were on vacation in Charleston, SC. Charleston is a historic city that embodies both the beauty and pain not only of this particular place but also of the larger American story. The pictures above reflect this paradox by showing a glimpse of the architectural beauty of antebellum homes along the famous riverfront Battery followed by an image of intact slave cabins on the nearby McLeod Plantation. The beauty of the majestic homes was only possible due to the wealth amassed through the labor and subhuman oppression of enslaved people. Those cabins were in continual use by Black families well into the 20th century because of the ongoing racial injustice during the era of Jim Crow legal segregation. Taken together, the centuries of enslavement and decades of legal segregation resulted in racial inequities that are still with us today including inequities in healthcare, education, policing, and wealth. That’s what is meant by “systemic racism,” and it is undeniable for those who are willing to learn and reflect on the realities of our nation’s history. Because we can only heal what is brought to consciousness, facing the consequences of our history is also a major step on the path to racial justice. As follower’s of Jesus, we believe that there is no sin, personal or national, so big that it cannot be healed through repentance, forgiveness, and repair.

One nickname for Charleston is “The Holy City.” There are some 400 churches throughout the city, some dating back to colonial times. There is still a city ordinance prohibiting buildings over the height of the tallest church steeple so that the city skyline is characterized by historic church steeples. One morning we took a guided tour of downtown Charleston via horse drawn carriage. The picture below shows the steeple of the historic St. Michael’s Church which is the oldest church building in Charleston. During that tour, we saw a variety of beautiful historic church buildings. Yet it was earlier that morning that I had my most meaningful experience of a historic Charleston church. I walked the few blocks from our hotel to Mother Emmanuel AME Church where I stood, prayed, and reflected on the beauty and pain of that sacred place. The church was formed in 1818 and is the oldest AME congregation in the South. Yet it is known nationally and around the world for what happened there on June 17, 2015 when nine Black people were murdered by a young white nationalist after they invited him to join that night’s Bible study. The final two pictures show the Mother Emmanuel AME Church building and a plaque inside the church courtyard that commemorates the lives of the Emmanuel 9 who were killed that night. As I stood outside the church, I sensed the enormity of both the beauty and the pain embodied there – the beauty of generations of faithful disciples of Jesus and the pain of what they endured through years of racial oppression and the horror of racial violence on that night six years ago. God is with us in the beauty and the pain. The question is, “Will we face the pain of racial injustice in the past and present so that we can take steps toward the beauty of love and justice for all?”