GCORR Statement on Racist Video Shared by President Donald Trump

The General Commission on Religion and Race strongly condemns the racist video recently shared by President Donald Trump that includes imagery portraying former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. This imagery is not accidental, nor is it harmless. Comparing Black people to primates is an abhorrent racist trope deeply rooted in the history of anti-Black racism and white supremacy, used to dehumanize Black communities and to justify exclusion, violence, and white supremacy.

At the core of this harm is a denial of imago Dei, the Christian affirmation that every person is created in the image of God and bears sacred worth. When Black people are portrayed as less than human, that divine image is mocked and denied. Such dehumanization is not only morally reprehensible, but it is a theological violation that stands in direct opposition to the Gospel.

Article V: Racial Justice of the Constitution of The United Methodist Church affirms the biblical truth that all persons are created by God, bearing God’s

image, and are uniquely beloved children of God. Racism, especially when

expressed through dehumanizing imagery, directly contradicts this constitutional commitment and undermines the Church’s witness to God’s justice and love in the world.

As the antiracism agency of The United Methodist Church, GCORR names this moment clearly: this is blatant racism. When racist tropes are amplified by those in positions of power, the harm is magnified.

Silence, deflection, or minimization only deepen the damage and betray our shared responsibility to speak truth.

Although the video was later deleted, the harm caused by sharing and amplifying racist, dehumanizing imagery cannot be undone.

We call on people of faith, church leaders, and communities of conscience to reject

racist rhetoric in all its forms, to speak with courage, and to recommit themselves to the work of building a beloved community rooted in justice, equity, and the God-given dignity of every human being.

Read more at this link.

‘Crazy Lorenzo’ joins other fictional Methodists

The most famous Methodist in popular culture is arguably Superman, but Lorenzo McRae has something the man of steel doesn’t have: a real-life Methodist as inspiration.

Superman, at least in some of the origin stories in DC Comics, attended a Methodist church in Smallville while identifying as mild-mannered teenager Clark Kent.

In “The Deliverance of Barker McRae,” the inspiration for Lorenzo McRae is real-life 19th century evangelist Lorenzo Dow. He was sometimes referred to as “Crazy Lorenzo” or “Crazy Dow.”

Neither the fictional McRae nor the historical Dow would be described as mild mannered.

Lorenzo Dow was unkempt and filthy, said Mark Shenise, associate archivist at the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History.

Read more at this link.

Read more about "Crazy Lorenzo" at this link.

Today in Methodist History

 John and Charles Wesley arrived in Savannah, Georgia 

on this date in 1736.

Wednesday with the Wesleys

Susanna Wesley - Lake Junaluska, NC

It is, perhaps, one of the most difficult things in the world to preserve a devout and serious temper of mind in the midst of much worldly business ... We must work so much harder, we must be careful to redeem time from sleep, eating, dressing, unnecessary visits, and trifling conversation.

- Susanna Wesley

John Wesley's Guide to Reading the Bible

If you desire to read the scripture in such a manner as may most effectually answer this end, would it not be advisable,

1. To set apart a little time, if you can, every morning and evening for that purpose?

2. At each time if you have leisure, to read a chapter out of the Old, and one out of the New Testament: if you cannot do this, to take a single chapter, or a part of one?

3. To read this with a single eye, to know the whole will of God, and a fixt resolution to do it? In order to know his will, you should,

4. Have a constant eye to the analogy of faith; the connexion and harmony there is between those grand, fundamental doctrines, Original Sin, Justification by Faith, the New Birth, Inward and Outward Holiness.

5. Serious and earnest prayer should be constantly used, before we consult the oracles of God, seeing "scripture can only be understood thro' the same Spirit whereby it was given." Our reading should likewise be closed with prayer, that what we read may be written on our hearts.

6. It might also be of use, if while we read, we were frequently to pause, and examine ourselves by what we read, both with regard to our hearts, and lives. This would furnish us with matter of praise, where we found God had enabled us to conform to his blessed will, and matter of humiliation and prayer, where we were conscious of having fallen short.

And whatever light you then receive, should be used to the uttermost, and that immediately. Let there be no delay. Whatever you resolve, begin to execute the first moment you can. So shall you find this word to be indeed the power of God unto present and eternal salvation.

~ John Wesley (Preface to the explanatory notes on the Old Testament)

A Prayer for Groundhog Day

 

God of all creatures, ​today we praise You for groundhogs, unassuming rodents who carry the tradition and mystery of forecasting spring.

From their elaborate burrows they rise, half dead: groggy from hibernation, hungry, alone, stressed; awakened by an inner clock synchronized with the rhythms of the seasons that tells them it is time to explore and prepare for the next generation.

We pray for all creatures who count the days until the weather changes, until winter loosens its grip, until they can reconnect with others.

We pray for all who are tired, who are hungry or dissatisfied, who are lonely or isolated.

In this time between solstice and equinox reassure us that sooner or later spring will come.

Grant us patience to see the gifts of this particular time, and to savour the stillness.

In our exhaustion release us from stress so that we might find rest.

In moments of hunger or dissatisfaction remind us that there is enough.

In our isolation be a comforting presence.

We pray that whether the sun shines or the sky is grey, we will count each day as a gift with moments of wonder.

Let hope rise up in us, as we align our bodies and spirits to your greater purposes beyond what we see this day. Amen.

​- Rev. Wendy Janzen, Burning Bush Forest Church, https://www.burningbushforestchurch.ca

Scripture Lessons for February 8

The lessons for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany will be coming from 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 and Matthew 5:13-20.