As they often do in this time of year, Black History Month and the season of Lent overlap in the month of February.  Ash Wednesday, February 17, starts the Lenten season, and we will observe it with a light supper and a worship service that evening.  It begins a season when we are asked to explore our captivity to the powers of the world and to seek God’s leading us out of slavery into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Black History Month remembers and celebrates a people whose memory has been obliterated in many ways, from loss of names to loss of language to loss of religion.  It reminds us that there is a history and a naming, and we seek to recover that and celebrate it.  Black History Month also points us to a fundament of the Lenten season: we are held captive by powers on a level that is subconscious and beyond an easy and quick confession.  Many of us held captive by racism are not often aware of it, and indeed would deny it if anyone confronted us with it.

The Season of Lent asks us to sit with the knowledge that each of us and all of us are deeply flawed.  It is not so much that we are bad as it is that we are in captivity and often do not know it.  Lent offers us to opportunity to consider our captivity to racism, sexism, materialism, homophobia and a host of other powers that compete for our loyalty.  We are asked to follow this trail and see where it leads us down into our hearts., to a radical captivity.

Black History Month reminds us of one of those trails, and during the month of February we will look at those trailblazers who sought to take us on a different path: Medgar Evers, Frances Watkins Harper, Maria Fearing, and Robert Carter.  We’ll be remembering their lives and witness, and we’ll be asked to join their paths in this season.

Peace,

Nibs