by James Melson | Oct 27, 2020 | 2020, Weekly Reflection
(WTOP/Neal Augenstein) The photo above is from a temporary art installation in Washington, DC called “In America How Could This Happen…” The artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg invited family and friends of people who died from COVID-19 to join her in planting small...
by James Melson | Oct 20, 2020 | 2020, Weekly Reflection
Our national election is just two weeks away, and the voter turnout is expected to be record breaking. Yet as we prepare for this crucial election, I want to lift up two very different visions for voting. Unfortunately the one we have become all too familiar with is...
by James Melson | Oct 13, 2020 | 2020, Weekly Reflection
This week there was a holiday that had a new name in Virginia where I live. For the first time, the second Monday in October was called Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day. The first video posted below is the announcement of this change by Governor Northam....
by James Melson | Oct 6, 2020 | 2020, Weekly Reflection
In this season when the Presidential election is almost here and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the lives of so many including many connected to the White House, there are some people raising the question, “Why do we still have to talk about race?” A recent...
by James Melson | Sep 29, 2020 | 2020, Weekly Reflection
An event that happened 353 years ago this month played a major part in establishing the roots of racism in our nation and in the American church. On September 23, 1667 the Virginia General Assembly passed a law that baptism does not change a person’s status related to...
by James Melson | Sep 22, 2020 | 2020, Weekly Reflection
The Rev. Robert Graetz, one of the early white allies of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Ala., with the civil rights icon in an undated photo. (AP Photo/Gene Herrick On September 20, the Rev. Robert Graetz died at the age of 92. His name is probably...
