Rector's Blog
May 18, 2010, History (23), Reconciliation (23)
Posted by Wallace+
As we approach the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War and Emancipation, the following words from an interview with historian Gordon Wood are worth reflecting on:
"Historical knowledge is essential for understanding yourself in the present. It's like an individual without memory; that person suffering from amnesia is a scary, lost person. And a society that doesn't understand its past, and doesn't understand it correctly, is going to make all kinds of mistakes in the present. So, you hope that an understanding of the past will give you wisdom."
May God grant us that wisdom, as well as the courage and the imagination necessary to get there.
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May 10, 2010, City & Commonwealth (63), History (23), In the News (Richmond) (74), Reconciliation (23)
Posted by Wallace+
I'd like to recommend several articles from the last few days, all of
which, in their own ways, speak to the deep human (and God-given) hunger
for reconciliation and harmony:
Stlyle's cover article, "Lost
and Found," and three articles from Sunday's RTD, "Conversations
About Race Turn History Into Current Event,"
"On
Slave Past, 'Turn Scars to Stars,'" and "Richmond
Reconciliation Effort Called 'Delicate Work,'" all offer
stimulating reporting and reflection on the coming Sesquicentennial of
the Civil War and Emancipation.
And, on Saturday, the RTD ran a
thoughtful and encouraging column by our own Jack Spong, originally
written and delivered this past March (while he was with us during
Lent) as an introduction of Rabbi Jack Spiro.
To borrow a line from a blessing that we sometimes say at St. Paul's:
"May the Sun of Righteousness shine upon us and scatter the darkness
from before our path."
Amen, amen.
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April 26, 2010, History (23), In the News (Nation, World) (80), Reconciliation (23)
Posted by Wallace+
A Friday column by Henry Loius Gates, Jr. offers some valuable reflections on the moral complexities inherent in reckoning with the past. Gates begins:
"Thanks to an unlikely confluence of history and genetics — the fact
that he is African-American and president — Barack Obama has a unique
opportunity to reshape the debate over one of the most contentious
issues of America’s racial legacy: reparations, the idea that the
descendants of American slaves should receive compensation for their
ancestors’ unpaid labor and bondage.
There are many thorny issues
to resolve before we can arrive at a judicious (if symbolic) gesture to
match such a sustained, heinous crime. Perhaps the most vexing is how
to parcel out blame to those directly involved in the capture and sale
of human beings for immense economic gain."
Click here to read the full article.
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