The disciples were on a boat “being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came toward them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.” Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
What is the courage it takes to walk amidst waves of water tossing us about? It is the courage of Black change activists in Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma Alabama, of Danville Virginia, and other towns across the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s. Do we know of the terror they felt facing waves of water cannons that pushed them across city streets and sidewalks, crushed them against buildings, deafened them, scarred their skin, and inflicted internal injuries? Some were adults who faced the terror but some were children participating in the Children’s Crusade to create a free society. For a time, television and radio news broadcast the terrorism inflicted on Black youth working for human rights. Yet it was unlikely many white people alive then knew or admitted the full extent of the terror. The few T.V. or radio messages could not compete with the full extent of white supremacy diminishing the terror inflicted. State after state and year after year of very real and very cruel Sheriff Bull Connors recedes into the background of a white supremacist nation with fond memories honoring a fictitious Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry. The dedication of very real and very courageous Black lawyers like Medgar Evers, turned away from law school due to his race but provided legal and political help during the Civil Rights movement, which got him assassinated, recedes into the background of a white supremacist nation with fond memories honoring a fictitious Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. Children’s Crusade participants that included John Alexander, Charles Avery, Mamie Chalmers, Raymond Goolsby, Janice Kelsey, and so many other black children knew the terror. As adults they continue to speak the truth of it to all who will listen. Needing to listen are the many white supremacist cowards, like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who are canceling their history and their witness attempting still to diminish the full extent of the terror inflicted and the courage shown. Will the people pushing white supremacist curriculum white-washing slavery and Jim Crow listen? If they do not listen the courageous Black Civil Rights survivors will continue to speak. They will do so for their friends that include Addie Mae Collins (14), Denise McNair (11), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (14). These four girls were murdered 60 years ago in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. We know the courage of others in a past time, even children. What is our courage in this present time?
“Mother dear, may I go downtown instead of out to play, and march the streets of Birmingham in a Freedom March today?” “No, baby, no, you may not go, for the dogs are fierce and wild, and clubs and hoses, guns and jails aren’t good for a little child.” “But, mother, I won’t be alone. Other children will go with me, and march the streets of Birmingham to make our country free.” “No, baby, no, you may not go, for I fear those guns will fire. But you may go to church instead and sing in the children’s choir.” She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair, and bathed rose petal sweet, and drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, and white shoes on her feet. The mother smiled to know her child was in the sacred place, but that smile was the last smile to come upon her face. For when she heard the explosion, her eyes grew wet and wild. She raced through the streets of Birmingham calling for her child. She clawed through bits of glass and brick, Then lifted out a shoe. “O, here’s the shoe my baby wore, But, baby, where are you?” – Dudley Randall. (Ballad of Birmingham wevideo)
Prayer: Beautiful Spirit, give us courage for our time.
Question: What can we do to help the white supremacists of our time move from cowardice to courage?
August 13, 2023 Gospel Matthew 14:22-23 Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time