Alka's Angle

As we continue to journey through Lent and are reminded to take time to slow down and enjoy the places we find ourselves, in any specific moment. I also celebrate this moment in our history. On March 7th, the US Senate passed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, named after 15-year-old Emmett of Chicago, who was lynched in 1955, for allegedly whistling at Carolyn Bryant in Mississippi. The bill was first introduced in the House in 2019 by US Representative Bobby Rush of Chicago and is now headed to the President’s desk.

As I see it, our Lenten series doesn’t only invite us to slow down and tend to the ‘present,’ or to not get bogged down by the to-do list or by focusing on the ladder “climbing.”

March brings many changes with it! We entered the season of Lent -- with the Ash Wednesday service on March 2nd! We are using the theme “Good Enough” reminding ourselves to slow down this season of Lent and to pay attention and celebrate where we are in life, and not get caught up in the race to climb the ladder of success in a way that prevents us from being in the moment and celebrate the joys of ‘now.’ We are excited for the plans we have. Most of you should have received a Lenten kit delivered to you. If not, we will have some available on Sunday or you can let us know and we will deliver one. 

In this last week of the month, I learned about The Combahee River Collective Statement, a statement published in 1977, advocating that society should be reorganized based on the collective needs of those who it most oppresses.

The New York Times’s 1619 Project, in 2019, generated the need for the Black Americans to tell their own stories. Black stories are not only focused on the brutality and oppression they have endured but is also about their resilience and will for survival.