Seeking Authentic Voice

Terri C. Pilarski, as a Girl Scout, carrying the American flag in a parade, 1969 This year in the USA, Monday, May 25th, was Memorial Day. It is the annual day of remembering those who have died fighting in wars to uphold the freedom and values this country espouses.  This annual day of remembrance began around 1866, the year after the Civil War ended. Initially cities around the country chose different days and different ways to remember those who had died in the Civil War. Then in 1968 after people in this country had fought and died in WWI, WWII, and other wars, Congress passed the Uniform Holiday Act which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May, creating a three day weekend to honor federal employees. Typically the day has been celebrated with patriotic parades and family picnics. It’s become the unofficial launch of summer.  However, this year  was different. No parades, and picnics were to be carefully constructed with some degree of soc...

A reflection on the readings for Easter 5:  Acts 8:26-40;  1 John 7:7-21;  John 15:1-8 The other day I had a conversation with someone about their childhood and whether or not faith was an active part of it. This person shared stories of growing up in a church with a progressive priest who took the confirmation class to Detroit to participate in the civil rights marches in the 1960’s. It was the first time this person had been in a crowd of black people, and, as an adolescent, the experience made a life-long impression on her.  She was in Grant Park in Chicago during the Democratic Convention of 1968, another transformational experience. Racial and gender issues have defined her life.  Deeply invested in the causes for equality for all people, she said that living a life of privilege pushed her to become of aware of and re-evaluate her assumptions. As a person of privilege she had to unlearn assumptions about the economy and its impact on poverty, race, a...