“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6.12
Friends, there are many implications of the events of January 6th. It is a time for deep reflection, and more importantly, discernment. I’m both profoundly sad and also convinced that what happened that horrible day has only rather dramatically underscored the need for something Coracle has been working on since our very beginnings.
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Then last August, in response to God, the Coracle board voted unanimously “to articulate, affirm, and increase our commitment to racial healing and justice and devote specific and increased attention and resources towards these efforts.” And so we have been, and today we announce our 2021 initiative, “Towards the Beloved Community: Honesty, Solidarity, and Healing.” It’s timely.
We saw many, many things unveiled on January 6th. Among them was an embodied, incarnate, vocal, and violent expression of deeply rooted forces in American society that do not want to leave quietly or go away easily, literally without a fight. We must tell the truth about this and be willing to face it honestly for there to be a different way forward and a different (and better) future for all of us, and I mean all of us. Reflection is in order, repentance is in order, empathy is in order, and working together for unity across differences is, well, really important going forward.
So I’d like to invite you to journey with us this year in a deeper dive towards healing the deeply-rooted and utter brokenness that marks race relations in the US from our very beginning, which mortally persists even today. History is real, the present remains painful, and the future can be different. We can move towards the beloved community that God desires. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. “With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19.26)
Over the coming months, Coracle will be offering and doing many things, and I hope that you’ll join us so we all can be agents of redemption and repair together:
- We’ll deepen our efforts in prayer with our “Reconcilers Prayer Team” (Email to Join)
- Once again we’ll elevate the Repentance Project’s “An American Lent” Devotional
- In the spring, we’ll walk through Arrabon’s video curriculum together on “Race, Class, and the Kingdom of God”
- In the fall, we’ll soberly read together Greg Thompson and Duke Kwon’s critically important book, Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair
- We’ll offer related seminars and other virtual offerings with important voices throughout the year in partnership with many
- As Covid allows, we’ll reengage with that spiritual discipline of pilgrimage to visit important sites germane to the racial history of America
- We’ll significantly expand the physical site that is the Corhaven Graveyard with a new pavilion and “hush harbor” chapel and offer workdays throughout the year
- We’ll once again offer a powerful Juneteenth service in and from the Graveyard
- Finally, we’ll work to right historical wrongs done decades ago in Shenandoah County, VA.
More on all this to come. If your church, ministry, or organization would like to partner with us in any of this or all of it, please email us.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was a healer, truth-teller, reconciler, and wall-breaker who invites, even compels, us to join him in his redemptive mission, especially where brokenness is most obvious. The world always needs this– the United States needs it right now. Join us. Let’s do it together. Let’s be truth-tellers. Let’s be healers. Let’s bear witness to our beautiful Jesus and his Gospel and his Kingdom.
On the journey,
