Long Way Here

While reading Ephesians this weekend this jumped out to me:

“Nobody should deceive you with stupid ideas. God’s anger comes down on those who are disobedient because of this kind of thing. So you shouldn’t have anything to do with them. You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so live your life as children of light. Light produces fruit that consists of every sort of goodness, justice, and truth. Therefore, test everything to see what’s pleasing to the Lord, and don’t participate in the unfruitful actions of darkness. Instead, you should reveal the truth about them.” ~ Ephesians 5:6-11

There are stupid ideas out there, always inviting us to believe them as true. Paul says we shouldn’t have anything to do with them. At one time we were darkness, contributing to them while believing them, but now we are light. And light produces fruit that consists of every sort of, and say this with me, goodness, justice, and truth.

Then Paul tells us to “test everything to see what is pleasing to the Lord.” So here is what I am thinking.

If it doesn’t promote goodness, it is a stupid idea. If it doesn’t promote justice, it is a stupid idea. If it doesn’t promote truth, it is a stupid idea.

Then he tells us to not even participate in these stupid ideas because they are unfruitful. Instead, we should call it out and reveal what is true about them: that anything that doesn’t promote goodness, justice and truth harms all of us.

Jesus shows us what is good. Jesus shows us what is just. Jesus shows us what is true.

Certainty deceives us.
Cynicism discontents us.
Chaos disables us.
Self-sufficiency disbands us.
Fear destroys us.

Faith calls us.
Hope centers us.
Peace calms us.
Grace cures us.
Love compels us.

No matter what, there is only us.

After nine months of meaningful conversations with city leaders, Laura Hill and I witnessed a beautiful and historic moment at Williamsburg’s City Council session on July 8. The Resolution for the creation of a first-ever Truth and Reconciliation Committee (read the Resolution here) was passed unanimously by Williamsburg’s city leaders. There’s a necessary strength to the language of the Resolution and, with the TRC, an actionable next step with a concrete agenda. You can also read this article in the Virginia Gazette covering the meeting and offering more highlights and details.

Like many significant moments, this was not the result of any one single event or effort or person, but the convergence of several efforts, relational connections, mutual listening, and a history of collaborative relationships. All of this came together for “such a time as this” in a courageous commitment to truth-telling and an unwavering pursuit for reconciliation and racial healing. What matters is that moments turn into movements. May it be so.

Laura and I were encouraged to offer two five minute speeches prior to the vote of the Resolution. I want to share my speech here for two reasons. One, I want to be transparent in my wholehearted support of every word of the Resolution and it’s intent. And two, for my own benefit so I can have the speech saved somewhere.

With Laura’s permission I’m also sharing her speech. It was rich, poignant, memorable, and concise. Laura is my sister in Christ, a member of the WCC family, my friend, and the founder and leader of the Historic Triangle chapter of Coming to the Table (of which I am honored to serve on the leadership team). She is also a faithful co-laborer in the pursuit of neighborliness, peacemaking, and justice. It’s been a joy to share in this with her as we worked alongside our courageous City Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council Members.

First up, Laura’s excellent speech, followed by mine.

Good afternoon!

My name is Laura Hill and I am the founder and leader of the Historic Triangle affiliate group of CTTT, a national racial reconciliation organization.

I am honored to be here today as the Williamsburg City Council votes to create a Truth and Reconciliation Committee.

Last October, CTTT was the lead organizer and sponsor of the HW/HN rally held in CW. At that event Councilman Caleb Rogers read a proclamation that voiced the City Council’s commitment to racial healing.

Although Caleb Rogers did an outstanding job, the feedback that we heard from the community was the need for a tangible commitment from City leaders — something with teeth in it.

Today, nine months later, the creation of a Williamsburg TRC represents a tangible commitment. Something has been birthed today in Williamsburg – the Colonial Capitol of Virginia — that will reverberate throughout the state of Virginia and the nation.

Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown – America’s Historic Triangle — is the birthplace of our nation. It is also the birthplace of racial injustice in our nation, where earning profit took precedence over people — resulting in centuries of historical harm and trauma.

In the early 1600s English colonists chose profit over people, when Indigenous people were displaced to grow tobacco, the cash crop.

In the 1660s, laws were passed to codify slavery because it was more economically profitable to enslave Africans than to continue the indentured servant system that the English labors worked under.

A century ago, African Americans families and businesses were displaced when City leaders chose profits that could be generated by re-creating CW — over people.

The TRC is an opportunity to uncover and acknowledge truths about Williamsburg’s history and to work towards racial healing and reconciliation.
We understand that this will be a marathon, and not a sprint. We understand that the cliche “Healing is a process” applies to racial healing also.

I found out about the healing process the hard way when I broke my leg in 2019. The attending physician assured me that I would walk again:
— after surgery,
— after being confined to a wheel chair for 8 weeks
—- after inpatient and outpatient physical therapy stints

Since leaving my bone broken was not an option, I began the steps in the long, __ healing process. There are two principles that I learned that are imperative to a successful TRC

Number 1: Be willing to re-learn: After learning to walk as a toddler, I had to re-learn how to walk. Likewise there are historical narratives we have been taught as children that we must be willing to re-learn.

Number 2: Work through the pain: During grueling physical therapy sessions, I had to continue “working through the pain!” At times, uncovering and acknowledging truth will be painful, but the TRC will have to work through the pain. Allowing our community to remain racially fractured is not an option.

Dr. MLK Jr. once said: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

I applaud the Williamsburg City Council for standing during these challenging times and creating a TRC. The leaders of CTTT stand with you and we are committed to supporting you in this worthwhile work.

Here is my speech:

My name is Fred Liggin, I am the senior pastor of Williamsburg Christian Church and the founder of 3e Restoration Inc. I am also a part of the leadership team of Coming to the Table. I am honored to be here today as you vote to create a Truth and Reconciliation Committee.

What I love about Williamsburg is that we are a community of stories. We embody the stories we tell through dramatization and performance every day. We tell these stories because they explain the legacies we inherit and define our sense of truth and self-understanding. Story is how we make sense of the things that happen to us. Stories are our way of describing time. We are formed by story, whether we know the story or not. When we know the story we can discover where we’ve been and are going. We have a place to stand, a place connected to something bigger than ourselves. We understand the logic behind why we see the world the way we do. Stories help us make sense of ourselves and our place in society. We are the stories we tell ourselves.

We are also the silences we keep. That is why the stories we tell must tell the truth. And in a moment of great divide in our nation, of which Williamsburg is not immune, we must be sure we are telling the truth, because division cannot be overcome without the truth.

The healing from the past harms of our collective story of racial hostility and injustice, and how they presently impact the bodies, minds, and family systems of neighbors, cannot happen without a courageous commitment to the truth and an unwavering pursuit of reconciliation. We must reconcile the truth of our past if we are to uncover the truth of today and witness our community become a place where all can thrive.

Unfortunately, we don’t just ‘get over’ the past. It’s not what trauma studies teach us about how trauma works individually or collectively. A fundamental belief in trauma studies is that a harm done to any neighbor is a harm done to all neighbors, because pain that is not transformed is pain transferred. We know this to be true when we consider how our family systems work, and how they can be impacted for generations simply by one harmful family member. Unhealthy patterns of thinking and behaving are transferred from one generation to another, unless someone courageously tells the truth, reconciles the past harms with present-day realities, and does the hard work of healing, which in-turn breaks the cycle for future generations. The same is true for society and the social systems we create that form us.

A Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s effort to uncover and acknowledge truths about Williamsburg’s history will make healing possible for Williamsburg’s present and future, for generations to come, especially if we value the truthfulness of the stories we tell about ourselves. It is a good and necessary first step, of no doubt, many steps to come.

It is also a step that advances the City’s new biennial goals, initiatives, and outcomes to create a vision of One Williamsburg. Among many things, it will take courageous leadership, which you outlined, to tell the truth, receive the truth, and do the work the uncovering-of-truth requires. And as also stated in the vision, if we are to prioritize the safety and wellness for all neighbors, we must address how collective racial trauma works and how it is impacting all of us, especially our neighbors whose lives, family systems, and generations were significantly impacted by racial injustice and the history sister Laura revealed of “choosing profit over people.” When our town’s approximately 700 African American residents were not allowed to have a voice by attending the meeting in 1928 concerning the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg due to the fact that Jim Crow laws prohibited them from entering the Whites-only school where the meeting was held, present-day neighbors and citizens still experience the impact of this decision. The question is “how” and “in what ways,” and “how do we address the impact in a way that is truthful, good, and just?”

This is why I believe your vision’s commitment to engage with partners, beginning with everyday neighbors and citizens, is critical. A Truth and Reconciliation committee is a wise, measured, historically proven and evidence-based approach to make the vision.

It will not only help us understand our story better, it will help us write new chapters in our story that insure all can thrive and flourish as One Williamsburg.

Thank you for your vision and for resolving to create a Truth and Reconciliation Committee.

At times I’ve been a Judas—I have betrayed. At times I’ve been a Peter—I have denied. At times I’ve been a Thomas—I have doubted. At times I’ve been a Simon—I have been overly zealous for ideological beliefs. At times I’ve been a Matthew—I have taken again and again. Yet, no matter who I have been the Lord has welcomed me to His Table every time, just as he did each of them.

Jesus extends God’s gracious hospitality to all. All are welcome to His Table.

The lens through which many Christians come to interpret the life of Jesus is formed more by American systems of thought than any other. It’s subtle and usually drenches us with a slow drip.

We fall into the trap of a subconscious effort to retrofit Jesus into an already defined understanding of what is true, what is called “good” and described as “beautiful.” We call it “right” or “left”, “conservative” or “liberal” or “progressive.” It’s the American logic of distinction. You hear it when the Christian reacts to the language of “social justice.” You hear it when the Christian throws out accusations like cultural Marxism.

I can appreciate all the confusion. Jesus doesn’t uphold his kingdom by our American logic. He doesn’t attempt to accommodate our preferences, modern day politics or our notions of patriotism. He doesn’t enter into the transcendent boots-on-the-ground gospel-logic through secular understandings of morality sprinkled with religion. Jesus works from a different logic that creates an all together different politic constructed from a different understanding of truth that determines what is called good and described as beautiful.

“Love your neighbor as you love yourself,” he says. “Love your enemies and bless them,” he teaches. “Give to any who ask without expectation of return,” he demands. “The world will know you’re mine by how you love one another,” he whispers. “You should have been concerned with the weightier matters of the law: justice…” he preaches. Jesus extended the narrow boundaries of hospitality created by his society’s “right” and “left,” “conservative” and “liberal.” It’s why he welcomed liars, thieves, home wreckers, and those who didn’t believe; the abandoned and abused, the lonely and confused; the widow, the child, the forgotten and left-out.

The politically savvy and religious elite didn’t understand him. They were too concerned with operating from a logic that aligned with their own versions of “right” and “left.” They even called it Scriptural. And they missed the Christ.

Looking around it seems some things haven’t changed. But it can. I hope it will because this conversation is getting really tired.

As for me, I’m pressing on.