Invitation to Local Pilgrimage
Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message
May 26, 2021
Yesterday, a group of six Episcopal Church bishops, including Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, held a virtual memorial service to mark the first anniversary of the murder of George Floyd by an active duty police officer in Minneapolis. You may still view this moving service at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBZu9whBsxQ
The Church has responded warmly to the Black Lives Matter and Say Their Names movements as part of its ministry of social justice, recognizing that any country, like our own, where a young black man has three times the risk of being killed by police and security officers than his white peer, still has a long way to go in dismantling systemic racism and white privilege. It is part of our Gospel message, following our Lord who taught us to stand with the downtrodden and support the marginalized.
Here in Ashland, the small “Say Their Names” pop-up memorial set up on June 19 (“Juneteenth”) last year in Railroad Park, after being marred in August by white supremacist graffiti and vandalism, was restored and enhanced by the efforts of a broad group of community members. It has now been made part of a permanent installation by a group of local artists. The grassroots Southern Oregon Alliance for Racial Equity, with the approval of the Ashland Arts and Parks Commissions, commissioned a group of local artists to create a public, community-oriented art installation around the theme of Black Lives Matter in the Rogue Valley. This theme included but was not limited to: a reflection on the Black Lives Matter movement and this important chapter in our nation’s history, an illumination of the experiences of Black residents in the Valley, and an homage to the life of Aidan Ellison, a young local black man killed at the Stratford Inn in November, after the Almeda fire had displayed hundreds in the community.
The installation organizers and artists hope to create a dialogue about race, bring together Rogue Valley residents of all backgrounds, and serve as a declaration of our commitment in Ashland and the Rogue Valley that Black Lives Matter. Through continued conversation, recognition of our shared history, and this public avowal, we all hope that we can work towards becoming a more united and inclusive Rogue Valley community.
During the week of this sad anniversary, I invite all of you to look at Bishop Curry’s service, and then make a pilgrimage: a small, local one, to be sure, but a pilgrimage, a holy voyage, all the same. Let’s all try to get down to Railroad Park (on A Street) and walk the length of the installation. Read the names, enjoy the beauty, and savor the feelings of the expression. Meditate on how each of us plays a part in and benefits from the system of privilege and bias. Here is a prayer from the BCP to help in that process:
“O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Grace and Peace.
Fr. Tony+
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