#fellowship for reconciliation

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Soon after taking the helm at the FOR [Fellowship of Reconciliation], A. R. Muste put his experience to work, emphasizing a sense of mission driven by spiritual fellowship but drawing on his Bolshevik background as well by repeatedly calling on pacifists to become committed revolutionaries with the kind of self-sacrificing discipline of Communist Party members or early Christians. “There are those among us—in a sense we are perhaps all included—who shrink from participating in steps toward building a Gandhian movement,” Muste wrote, adding:

We think that making speeches about pacifism, even superficial and dull ones, or mailing leaflets discreetly, is necessarily virtuous, but that there is something queer and vaguely discreditable about carrying a placard in a poster-parade or picketing a factory or the White House, and that only people who are a little ‘off’ ever get thrown into jail.

Starting in 1935, the FOR encouraged the formation of religiously inspired local “peace teams” for study and humanitarian service. Muste took things further, asking (in the October 1941 issue of Fellowship) that every FOR member “including all our officers, should immediately join or help to build a pacifist cell or team or group” for the study of nonviolence, for mutual support, and for action. This concept of the “cell” united communist and Christian doctrine in various minds throughout the thirties; Trotsky himself could see a certain similarity between the Jesuits and the Bolsheviks, even if he denigrated the comparison. Richard Niebuhr (like his brother Reinhold) had called for small knots of revolutionary-minded Christians to form cells to organize, proselytize, and transcend nationality, class, and capitalism. Cells were also a way for a visionary minority like Muste’s Christian pacifists to sustain themselves against the pressure of an indifferent or hostile world. Richard Gregg (with whom Muste was in touch in 1940) published a pamphlet called Training for Peace that recommended the formation of cells with up to a dozen members dedicated to righteous living and pacifist study. He intended for these cells to withdraw from mass society and materialism, members binding themselves to one another by singing, folk dancing, and meditation as well as by their sense of purpose. Gregg, writes Joseph Kip Kosek, “came to believe that in Gandhi nonviolence had become more than an inner conviction; it was now a performance, part of a public moral dialogue intended to elicit sympathy from both opponents and disinterested observers.”

George Houser, having spent nearly a year in a very different kind of cell, was now an FOR staffer devoted to seeding these units of nonviolent study and change around the Chicago area (activities that were noted in his FBI file). Still a seminary student, he found time to crisscross the region distributing FOR literature and organizing mostly college students. “A small man,” his close friend Farmer would write of him, “there was about him an aura of confidence and authority that made size unimportant.” Houser developed guidelines calling for cells to pursue four broad categories of activity: spiritual growth, study, action, and organization. They would read Shridharani’s War Without Violence, Gregg’s Power of Non-Violence, and Gandhi’s memoir. Within a few months he’d established roughly seventeen cells.

The most important one, launched in October of 1941, was a race-relations cell focused on discrimination in and around the University of Chicago. Houser oversaw the cell and Farmer was involved, but its leading lights were the energetic young Bernice Fisher, a white student at the University of Chicago Theological School, whose misfortune it was to fall in love with Farmer, and the white literature student James Robinson, an acolyte of Dorothy Day’s Catholic Worker movement who would serve time in a Civilian Public Service (CPS) camp. There were about a dozen members, all pacifists, and they all believed, as Houser put it, that discrimination “must be challenged directly, without violence or hatred, yet without compromise.” Meeting Saturday afternoons, they worked their way through War Without Violence chapter by chapter as a prelude to action. “All of us,” Fisher said later, “were afire with the ideas of Gandhian non-violence.”"

- Daniel Akst, War By Other Means: How the Pacifists of World War 2 Changed American for Good. New York: Melville House, 2022. p. 152-153.

[graphicpolicy]

Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story is still as relevant today as when it was first published

Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story is still as relevant today as when it was first published #comics #comicbooks

One of the best releases of the last decade of comics is Top Shelf‘s March trilogy which details the life of Congressman John Lewis. Lewis was an instrumental individual in the Civil Rights movement. That successful graphic novel lead Top Shelf to partner with the Fellowship of Reconciliation to publish a new edition of the Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story. The comic is an amazing…

[superbdonutpoetry]

The Grace Commission

1. Jesus Christ is the agency for the forgiveness of sins. He took our deserved death and wrath. 2. Our grace commission is executed in this manner (Christ crucified). 3. Thus reconciliation is by God’s grace. ♡》God has done the work. ♡》It’s on this basis we were forgiven by faith. Ephesians 3:6-11 – Authorised Version That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and…

[naruthandir]

Hold on, I'm having Elrond thoughts right now. He looked at the mistakes of his ancestors and said "Nope. Not doing that again." When he sends Aragorn on the quest to destroy the ring he doesn't do it to get rid of him, like Thingol did with Beren. He does it because he knows love is powerful and he wants him to succeed. When he builds a secret kingdom, he makes sure to make it warm and welcoming for weary travelers, instead of keeping it hidden for everyone but a few select individuals. When the fellowship gets together, he tells them to swear no oaths. He's a symbol of the reconciliation between peoples: He has blood from the Maiar and blood from the Edain, he was raised by Feanorians, he is married to a lady born from the love of a Noldo and a Sinda. He keeps a pet hobbit around his house and takes him with him when he leaves Middle Earth. His father is a wandering star that shines for all, and when people need help they go to Elrond, because they know Elrond can help. So yeah, those are the Elrond thoughts I'm having.

[nateconnolly]

Marvel: Endgame is the craziest crossover event ever

Interdisciplinary studies in history and philosophy:

[image ID: text that says “A. J. Muste, working on behalf of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, arranged a meeting between Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago on May". The text ends there. The phrase "arranged a meeting" is a link underlined in red. /end ID]

[liaromancewriter]

What Could Have Been (7/?)

Series Premise: When Ethan breaks his promise, Cassie is forced to accept they’re not inevitable after all.

Book: Open Heart Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Cassie Valentine) Rating/Category: Teen. Angst Words: 1,505

Series Masterlist

Chapter 7: Storms and Safe Harbors. Time to reset the clock and reach a reconciliation.

A/N: Submission for @choicesmonthlychallenge using May challenge prompt "promises." I'm also using @choicesflashfics week 46, prompt 2.

Part 1: Cassie

Part 2: Ethan

The last few weeks had been an emotional roller coaster for Ethan Ramsey. Between resetting his relationship with Cassie Valentine and instantly regretting it, his mother’s return from the void and clashing with his father over it, things started spinning out of control faster than he’d anticipated.

And then he almost Cassie to a freak accident and had to stand back and watch another man take care of her the way he couldn’t or wouldn’t allow himself to.

Ethan wished he could forget everything from the last few months and feel like himself again. He was too old for drama and jealousy, especially when he was the one to end things. Calm and in control. That’s who he was and what he needed to be as Doctor Ramsey.

He loved being a doctor. After completing his fellowship, he made a conscious decision to remain in a teaching hospital. He was more interested in research, but teaching was a requirement of his chosen career path. He could handle it in small doses.

So, when his colleague at the university asked him to fill in at the last minute for a week-long seminar on diagnostic medicine, Ethan agreed before he could think twice about it. It served two purposes — making a serious dent in the hours he was required to teach and getting away from his troubles for a few days.

A win-win situation as far as he was concerned, he thought as he neared Edenbrook around ten o’clock at night.

It had been a long week, and he should have just gone home after the faculty dinner. Instead, he parked his car, hiked across the breezeway connecting the parking structure to the main hospital wing and took the elevator to the seventh floor.

The hallways were quiet and empty, with the strong scent of ammonia in the air. The floors were recently polished, and he figured the nightly janitorial crew was done on this side of the building.

His steps faltered as he approached the Diagnostic Team office. The lights were on, and he spied a familiar blonde head through the glass walls. Cassie was sitting at the round table, flipping through what appeared to be a medical journal and making notes on her iPad. He knew she’d taken his earlier advice to heart about brushing up on research and uncommon diseases.

His time in the Amazon had been an experiment of sorts, and the results were in. Everything was clear, logical and monochrome when he was away from Cassie. Being around her short-circuited his synapses, but the world was more vibrant, a fascinating mystery he could spend a lifetime trying to solve and never come close to unraveling.

If he’d lost her last week. If she’d fallen over the atrium balcony before he could get to her. Before he could tell her…. Ethan shuddered at the what-ifs running through his head.

One person shouldn’t have this much influence over him, he thought. He tapped his access card on the reader outside the door and marched determinedly through the sliding doors.

Cassie looked up, startled, her eyes unfocused. She blinked the fog away, a smile spreading across her lips when she saw him.

“Hey, you’re back!” Cassie exclaimed.

“Observant as always, Valentine,” Ethan drawled sarcastically. “No wonder you got the diagnostics fellowship.”

He cursed internally when his acerbic tone wiped the smile away.

“I’m sorry,” Ethan said, sincere in his apology.

“About?” she said, watching him warily.

“Why don’t we start with my comment just now?”

“I don’t care about that,” she said neutrally, locking and unlocking her fingers. “Sarcasm is part of your charm. Otherwise, I’d worry you’d been taken over by the pod people.”

“It’s still not appropriate for an attending to speak to a resident that way,” Ethan said, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the desk.

Her wariness returned.

“Will you always remind me of the difference in our status?” she asked, eyes swimming with emotions he couldn’t read.

“Cassie…” he sighed, unsure what she wanted from him. “Attendings are resp —”

“Responsible for the training of residents, neurochemical responses, blah, blah, blah,” she finished dismissively. “I remember what you said, Ethan.”

“I don’t recall saying blah, blah, blah,” he mused absently, but she ignored him.

“After everything that happened this past year, the promises we made to each other, how can you still believe that?”

“Don’t speak to me about promises,” he hissed, the jealousy he’d tamped down rushing viciously to the top.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she said, eyebrows raised in suspicion.

“Want to tell me about the man you’ve been seeing while I was away? The same one you went on a date with last week?”

“How dare you!” she exploded, pushing the chair back as she stood to face him. “I didn’t go on a date with anyone until after you dumped me.”

Cassie advanced on him, angrier than he’d ever seen her.

“I waited for you, even when you stopped responding to my texts and emails. But I still held out hope,” she fumed, stabbing a finger in his chest.

Her green eyes were fired up, and, this time, he had no problems reading her emotions.

“Am I supposed to keep waiting for you? A man who made it clear I’m so beneath him he couldn’t be bothered to let me know he was alive? Is that what you want? That I’ll beg you, again, by the way, to love me the way I love you?”

Ethan felt ashamed, every barb a direct hit to the heart, wounding his pride.

When Cassie poked him again, he flicked her hand away and hauled her up, his mouth descending upon hers. He poured his frustrations and inadequacies into the explosive kiss, forcing her with his lips to understand him, forgive him.

Rising on her tiptoes, her arms circled his neck, and she plastered herself against the front of his body. She moaned when his tongue thrust inside her mouth, the sound setting off a chain reaction he was helpless to stop.

Ethan slid his hands down to her thighs, gripping them tightly before cupping her bottom. He lifted her, never breaking the kiss, and carried her to his desk, caging her between his arms. She parted her legs, welcoming him closer, her feet locked around the back of his thighs.

He renewed his kisses with a hunger that came from within, from months of abstinence, of denying himself what he deserved. He gently but firmly grasped her chin, tilting her head back, and trailed kisses down her throat.

Cassie gripped the fabric of his shirt, her fingers making quick work of the buttons. His own tore at her scrub top, lifting it up and off, wanting to feel her skin. But the knit shirt she wore beneath for warmth got in his way, and he groaned in frustration, ready to tear the offending piece of clothing.

Desperate to have her, he pushed her back so she was half-lying atop his desk. The hurried movement sent pens, papers, keyboard and other paraphernalia crashing to the floor.

The sound was loud in the silence around them, and it had the same effect as a bucket of ice being dumped over their heads. He froze and stared at Cassie.

Shock turned to regret at the thought of being so out of control he’d forgotten where they were. Fumbling like a teenager, pawing at her with rough hands, uncaring who might see them through the glass walls. The gossip could destroy her reputation for life.

He eased his weight off her and nervously ran one hand through his hair.

“I can't keep doing this,” Cassie said, holding back tears, but he saw the disappointment in her eyes loud and clear.

Pushing his arms away, she jumped off the desk and bent down to grab the top he’d dropped on the floor. She quickly tugged it over her head and down, pulling her hair out from the collar.

Feeling uneasy, Ethan reached for her, only for Cassie to slap his hand away and step back.

“Don’t,” she sobbed, wrapping her arms around herself. “I don’t want you to tell me this was a mistake, that it shouldn’t happen, that we can’t ever be. That you regret us. I can’t….”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Ethan heard her silently count to three, and then her eyes snapped open, full of unwavering resolve.

“Cassie, I—”

“I have to go,” she said, and ran out of the office before he could stop her.

Ethan watched her retreating back through the glass walls, not blinking until even her shadow was no longer in sight. He glanced around the office, the cutter on the floor, her iPad on the table and inhaled deeply.

Her scent still lingered in the air, her taste was on his lips, and the feel of her tattooed on his skin.

Cassie was wrong. It wasn’t a mistake, and he had no regrets. Not anymore.

-------------

All Fics & Edits: @bluebelle08 @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @doriopenheart @genevievemd @headoverheelsforramsey @lucy-268 @jamespotterthefirst @jerzwriter @lady-calypso @mainstreetreader @peonierose @potionsprefect @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @socalwriterbee @takemyopenheart @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction

Submissions: @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Ethan & Cassie only: @cariantha @custaroonie @hopelessromantic1352 @mrs-ramsey @youlookappropriate

[awideplace]

An ungodly heart gropes for peace without any longing after fellowship with God. Like the traitor, he is ready to promise the king anything, if only he will save him from execution. God will not talk with you as long as your sword is in your hand. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 1:18). It is plain to see today that many who pursue peace expect God to pardon them, although they care nothing for His honor. They want God to make peace with them while they make war with Him and His Word [disobedience, continually and unrepentant {repentance is to turn from sin}]. Reconciliation must seek to have fellowship with God.

William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour, 1655

[boy-and-girl-crazy123456]

Rev Naim Ateek's 2001 Easter message from Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem:

AN EASTER MESSAGE FROM SABEEL

Dear friends,

As we approach Holy Week and Easter, the suffering of Jesus Christ at the hands of evil political and religious powers two thousand years ago is lived out again in Palestine. The number of innocent Palestinians and Israelis that have fallen victim to Israeli state policy is increasing.

Here in Palestine Jesus is again walking the via dolorosa. Jesus is the powerless Palestinian humiliated at a checkpoint, the woman trying to get through to the hospital for treatment, the young man whose dignity is trampled, the young student who cannot get to the university to study, the unemployed father who needs to find bread to feed his family; the list is tragically getting longer, and Jesus is there in their midst suffering with them. He is with them when their homes are shelled by tanks and helicopter gunships. He is with them in their towns and villages, in their pains and sorrows.

In this season of Lent, it seems to many of us that Jesus is on the cross again with thousands of crucified Palestinians around him. It only takes people of insight to see the hundreds of thousands of crosses throughout the land, Palestinian men, women, and children being crucified. Palestine has become one huge golgotha. The Israeli government crucifixion system is operating daily. Palestine has become the place of the skull.

Using the Gospel story one can put it in a different and still very poignant way. Four things are clear today. Jerusalem still does not know what makes for peace; Jesus is weeping and his tears are mixed with many other people's tears; the number of people who are carrying their crosses is multiplying phenomenally; and the women of Palestine as well as many Jewish women are weeping over the many killed and wounded innocents. This is the reality of life today.

In the midst of this hopeless and confusing situation, inundated with injustice and death, we refuse to give in to despair. We want to affirm the power of resurrection and life. With St. Paul we can say this Easter, "That I may know him, the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings…" (Philippians 3:10). Our faith in God does not allow us to lose hope. The resurrection of Christ remains the reality that inspires and empowers us. The day will come, and we pray soon, when joy will replace grief, trust will remove fear, justice will triumph over oppression, and reconciliation will supplant alienation. The living Christ is urging us to stand firm and be assured of the inevitability of the resurrection. We will, therefore, continue in our struggle against the evil structures that dominate and oppress. Our hope is in God. The resurrection is coming, and it will bring with it the promise of a new life and liberation for all the people of our land.

We count on your prayers and solidarity. Thank you for your continued support.

HAPPY EASTER

Best wishes,

Naim Ateek

President

Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center

www.sabeel.org

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"[Bayard] Rustin was no more equivocal about the CPS [Civilian Public Service] system. His travels took him to some of the camps, where he lectured and spoke with the men who found themselves marooned there. After the initial idealism surrounding these arrangements wore off, discontent spread fast. What had at first seemed the promise of humanitarian work under church supervision for perhaps a year turned into brute physical labor, some of it just make-work, during a confinement to remote facilities for the duration of the war (and then some). Although run by the peace churches, it quickly became clear that the armed forces ultimately called the shots. Chemist Don DeVault, for example, a former Stanford professor who had been engaged in penicillin research, was assigned for a while to digging ditches.

One of the most troubling issues was the lack of pay, which the men had at first seen as evidence of their pacifist commitment, and which was built into the program in order to get Roosevelt on board. General Lewis Blaine Hershey implacably opposed any efforts to change this, though we should not assume that this politically astute general, always conscious of public opinion in a democracy, acted out of vindictiveness. Aside from what the men’s families could provide, the peace churches bore the burden of keeping everyone fed and sheltered, but working for free inevitably bred resentment among COs, a third of whom had dependents. After years of Depression, many families struggled to stay afloat deprived of their male breadwinner, never mind contributing to his upkeep at CPS (required for those who could afford it). Wives often found paying jobs back home but faced antagonism over their husbands’ refusal to serve in the armed forces.

To earn a few dollars, some CPS men took outside work on local farms and the like if it was available, but the uncompensated drudgery that for many was at the heart of the experience could make it seem like something between indentured servitude and incarceration. At the same time, some came to see their tenure at the camps as a form of cooperation with the war system and thus a violation of their deepest principles. Even absent these issues, the nature of the inmates, if such they can be called, made many camps seething cauldrons of radicalism—especially the Quaker camps, which tended to draw fewer traditional religious resisters and more of those for whom pacifism was part of a broader political worldview, as it was for Rustin.

On his visits to the camps their shortcomings were readily apparent, and Rustin appealed to the FOR [Fellowship of Reconciliation] leadership to do more for the men, advocating the establishment of an emergency fund to help COs [conscientious objectors] and their families. In the camps, he reported, COs “are in need of clothing and in one camp the men actually do not have enough to eat. How much longer are we going to take care of these needs on a fumbling charity basis?” he wrote to Muste. Lloyd Frankenberg, writing in 1947 of his time at a Maryland camp, reported that for work the men wore

whatever old work-clothes we could scrape up; some of us looked like ash-men, others more like Harlequin. On the road we were sometimes mistaken for POW’s; but as we explained, POW’s were paid.

(German prisoners of war brought to the United States were by and large treated in accord with the Geneva Conventions. Often performing farm labor or conservation work, they were paid eighty cents or more daily, about the same as a U.S. army private. Many gained weight.)

In the South, where the camps accommodated local practices of racial segregation, Rustin antagonized FOR traditionalists by attacking CPS in talks to FOR chapters, and by advising men in the camps to refuse cooperation. Muste, always an indefatigable correspondent, did what he could by mail to assuage the ire of those who wrote in to complain, insisting nonetheless that the organization was unalterably opposed to racial discrimination. The immorality of discrimination was by now widely understood, as Myrdal pointed out in 1944, even among those who practiced it. But it was widely practiced, and Muste’s willingness to allow his brightest young talents to devote themselves to organizing in this area was remarkable. “I could do anything I wanted,” Foote said of his CORE activities in San Francisco, “and A.J. would support me.” - Daniel Akst, War By Other Means: How the Pacifists of World War 2 Changed America for Good. New York: Melville House, 2022. p. 188-190

[graphicpolicy]

Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story is still as relevant today as when it was first published

Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story is still as relevant today as when it was first published #comics #comicbooks

One of the best releases of the last decade of comics is Top Shelf‘s March trilogy which details the life of Congressman John Lewis. Lewis was an instrumental individual in the Civil Rights movement. That successful graphic novel lead Top Shelf to partner with the Fellowship of Reconciliation to publish a new edition of the Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story. The comic is an amazing…

[theprayerfulword]

May 30

2 Timothy 1:7 The Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

James 2:17 Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Romans 10:15-16 How are they to proclaim [the Lord] unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all have obeyed the good news.

Romans 14:8 If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

May you not measure your righteousness against others' unrighteousness, but may you always acknowledge the just and righteous God as Lord, accepting from His hand what He has for you. 2 Samuel 15

May you not lay claim to the presence and anointing of God, but allow God to lay claim to you. 2 Samuel 15

When anyone comes against you, may you always value those who are made in God's image, never impugning the value in God's eyes of those for whom Jesus died, but trust God Who has all hearts and tongues in His hand to turn the attack to their redemption and to hold authority over the influence of spiritual wickedness. 2 Samuel 15

When others hurl abuse and slander at you, may you leave the resolution in the hands of God as David did, though you be exhausted by it. 2 Samuel 16

May you trust the Father to see your distress and repay you blessing for the cursing you receive, just as Jesus trusted Him at Calvary, though it brings you to the death of your self. 2 Samuel 16

After all counselors and advisors have spoken, may you not fail to consult the Lord, as Absalom did, for he turned not to the ark of God. 2 Samuel 16

May you mistrust any recommendation that removes the option of reconciliation, for the Lord is a God of redemption. 2 Samuel 16

Learn of Me, My child, and in all your learning, obey. Grow in knowledge of the Word, My studious one, and neglect not to walk it out. Wait before Me in the spirit, My devoted one, for all that I have for you, then once you have My provision, My leading, My guidance, go forth in the understanding and assurance that I am with you. Rest in My promises as your shelter during the stormy darkness when no man can work, then go forth with joy as calves from the stall when the Son rises with healing in His wings. Walk in My righteousness and speak with My wisdom and act in My love so that others may know that you have been with Me and waited on Me and listened to Me. As you fellowship with Me in My light, you will take that light with you when you have fellowship with each other, sharing that light. In yourself, there is no light, but as you draw near to Me, the blessed and only Sovereign One, Who alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light, the carnal nature diminishes and your renewed mind flourishes as you receive and put on the mind of Christ. Quiet yourself before Me as a weaned child, adding to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love; for as you learn of Me how to win mastery over your own vessel, you will no longer be ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of Me. Learn of Me so that you can submit to Me, for then you can be My hands outstretched, open and forth-giving, always about the business of the Father.

May you be more concerned how God views an action than how man will react. John 18

May you desire to know God as the Word and the Spirit reveal him, rather than merely hearing what man has said. John 18

May you ever realize that you are graven on the hands of your Redeemer, inescapably on His mind and in His heart, as He continually makes intercession for you as your Advocate before the throne of the Father, and so be willing to keep your Creator and Savior, your Source and Master, ever in present memory, with thanks, praise and worship without ceasing, for He is deserving and worthy of all adulation and obedience! John 19

May you make the Lord your refuge and shield, putting your hope in His word and shunning the advice of evil and double-minded people, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord. Psalm 119

May you always have regard for God's decrees, which sustain you according to His promise so that you will live, and uphold you according to His power so that you are delivered for, though the Lord rejects all who continually stray from His decrees and discards the persistently wicked like dross, because you love His statutes and stand in awe of His laws, your hopes will never be dashed. Psalm 119

May you do what is righteous and just, for God will not leave you to the mercy of your enemies or abandon you to those who are slanderous, but He will ensure your well-being and bless you as you labor in His service, backing you up by confirming His Word as you speak it into the lives of those He leads to you. Psalm 119

May you ever desire to go deeper in the Lord's on-going process of salvation so that you may receive His righteous promise to deal with you according to His love as He teaches you His decrees. Psalm 119

May your love for God's Word and your respect and awe for His ways prepare you to receive discernment from the Lord so that you may understand His statutes and realize that it is time for Him to act since His law is being broken. Psalm 119

May you speak with truth from God through the wisdom of the Spirit, for then you will not err in respect to justice or judgment. Proverbs 16:10

[steveezekiel]

A WATCHMAN

“Now, son of man, I AM MAKING YOU A WATCHMAN for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me." Ezekiel 33:7 (NLT)

Being a watchman is a responsibility or an assignment or ministry which God had given to every believer in Christ Jesus. God has given the ministry of reconciliation to every Believer (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). I. We, the Believers, are to tell the world that God does not have delight in the death of the sinners. That they should forsake their Sins and come to Jesus Christ, accept His as their Lord and Saviour: "AS SURELY AS I LIVE, SAYS THE SOVEREIGN LORD, I TAKE NO PLEASURE IN THE DEATH OF WICKED PEOPLE. I ONLY WANT THEM TO TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS SO THEY CAN LIVE. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?" (Ezekiel 33:11 NLT).

"GOD WANTS ALL PEOPLE TO BE SAVED. AND HE WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW THE TRUTH." 1 Timothy 2:4 (International Children’s Bible) READ: Acts 3:19

If you had given your life to Jesus Christ, God wants you to reconcile the sinners to Him. It is the Ministry given to every Believer in Christ Jesus: 18 NOW ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD, WHO HAS RECONCILED US TO HIMSELF THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, and HAS GIVEN US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION, 19 that is, THAT GOD WAS IN CHRIST RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF, not imputing their trespasses to them, AND HAS COMMITTED TO US THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION. 20 Now then, WE [Believers] ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, AS THOUGH GOD WERE PLEADING THROUGH US: WE IMPLORE YOU ON CHRIST'S BEHALF, BE RECONCILED TO GOD" (2 Corinthians 5:18-20 NKJV).

If you failed to take the responsibility, the blood of the people around you would be required of you. Tell the world that God has no delight in their death.

II. To be a watchman could also mean to work in God's vineyard. What are you doing in your local church to move the work forward? In what way are you contributing to the growth of others, especially the young converts.

Attending church meetings, on Sundays and other days of the week, without doing anything, amounted to ungratefulness or ingratitude to God.

You reciprocate God's love for you by being passionate about His Kingdom, His work, and contributing to the growth of It on earth.

You can only appreciate God for the salvation of your soul by giving yourself and all you have for the expansion of God's Kingdom on the Earth.

It is service that would make you great in the Kingdom. The path to greatness in Christianity is service.

Watching through Praying.

God wants you to watch in the Prayers. Watch over your family in the place of prayers. Watch over the people under your leadership in the place of Prayer.

Wherever you find yourself, darkness should not reign there, because Believers are supposed to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16).

If every Believer can pray wherever they find themselves, the operations of the dark kingdom would be retarded.

The operations of the devil, and his kingdom, is thriving because the children of God, the Believers in Christ, are not taking over wherever they find themselves.

If I may ask, What are you doing to influence other people for God? Where you live, and work, as a Believer; What influence or impact do you have on the people there?

If your presence is insignificant, It thus means your absence would mean nothing to the people there as well.

Endeavour to be radical for Jesus. Win souls through witnessing. Believers are to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8).

Influence the people, including other Believers, and live right for God. The life you live would speak or communicate the good news of Christ to the people effectively even more than what you say: "HE [Jesus] DIED FOR EVERYONE SO THAT THOSE WHO RECEIVE HIS NEW LIFE WILL NO LONGER LIVE FOR THEMSELVES. INSTEAD, THEY WILL LIVE FOR CHRIST, WHO DIED AND WAS RAISED FOR THEM" (2 Corinthians 5:15 NLT). READ: 1 Peter 4:1,2 a. Pioneer a fellowship group in your place of works. b. Raise an altar of prayers for God At the place you live.

Through these you take over the land, the place, for God. If you did it, you are shining as a light in the place: "LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE BEFORE MEN, THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS AND GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN" (Matthew 5:16 NKJV).

Let your presence be a threat to the devil and those who are loyal to him, his agents wherever you are.

You need to disrupt or impede the progress of the devil's work and his kingdom wherever you may find yourself.

Some so-called Believers are passive or inactive or apathetic about their faith, they do not want to be known as Believers in Christ Jesus, they even find it difficult to share their faith with others, or be identify with other Believers.

Let your identity be known through your Character, Prayer life, and witnessing, or evangelism.

Are you, as a professed Christian, comfortable, sitting with the unbelievers as they are committing Sin where you are?

If you, as a born-again Believer, can be a friend and sit comfortably with the drunkards, the alcoholics, adulterers, fornicators, liers, without any discomfort, It means something is wrong with your Christian life: "YOU ADULTERERS! DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD MAKES YOU AN ENEMY OF GOD? I SAY IT AGAIN: IF YOU WANT TO BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD, YOU MAKE YOURSELF AN ENEMY OF GOD" (James 4:4 NLT). READ: 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

What do you have in common with the fornicators? What are you doing in their company? If you claimed to be truly saved, you should be uncomfortable in their midst.

God will hold you responsible for their souls, If they perish. You are a watchman, assigned to tell the people around you about the danger of hell fire. What are you doing about it?!

8 IF I ANNOUNCE THAT SOME WICKED PEOPLE ARE SURE TO DIE AND YOU FAIL TO TELL THEM TO CHANGE THEIR WAYS, THEN THEY WILL DIE IN THEIR SINS, AND I WILL HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR DEATHS. 9 BUT if you WARN THEM TO REPENT AND THEY DON'T REPENT, THEY WILL DIE IN THEIR SINS, BUT YOU WILL HAVE SAVED YOURSELF." Ezekiel 33:8,9 (NLT)

You will not be held accountable for the destruction of those you supposed to witness to, in Jesus' name.

Should there be any ailment in your body, I declare your healing now in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Peace!

STEPS TO SALVATION

Take notice of this: IF you are yet to take the step of salvation, that is, yet to be born-again, do it now, tomorrow might be too late (2 Corinthians 6:1,2; Hebrews 3:7,8,15). a. Acknowledge that you are a sinner and confess your Sins (1 John 1:9); And ask Jesus Christ to come into your life (Revelation 3:20). b. Confess that you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that you confess it with your mouth, Thus, you accept Him As your Lord and Saviour (Romans 10:9,10). c. Ask that He will write your name in the Book of Life (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:8).

If you took the steps As highlighted above, It means you are saved—born-again. Join a Word based church in your area and Town or city, and be part of whatever they are doing there. Peace!

[dialogdesherzens]

Eine Liste linker, christlicher Bewegungen: Liberation Theology, Red Letter Christians, Christian Peace and Justice Movements (e.g. Pax Christi), The Catholic Worker Movement, Kairos Movement, Christians for Socialism (Cristianos por el Socialismo), Christian Socialist Movement (CSM), Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), Worker Priests, The Progressive Christian Network, The Progressive Christian Network, Jesuit Social Justice Movements, Christian Anti-Capitalists, Ched Myers and the Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries, Catholics for Choice, The Fellowship of Reconciliation, Black Liberation Theology, Network (Catholic Social Justice Lobby), Christen für gerechte Wirtschaftsordnung (CGW), Kirchliche Arbeitsstelle Südliches Afrika (KASA), Pax Christi Deutschland, Christliche Initiative Romero (CIR), Ökumenische Initiative Eine Welt (ÖIEW), Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christentum und Sozialismus (ACS), Katholische Arbeitnehmer-Bewegung (KAB), Kirche von unten (KvU), Erlassjahr.de, Attac Deutschland-Christliche Arbeitsgruppen, Katholische Arbeitnehmer-Bewegung (KAB), Arbeitskreis Christen in der SPD, Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste (ASF), Katholische Friedensbewegung Österreich, Evangelische Akademien in Deutschland, Forum kritischer Katholizismus.

[queenaeducan]

for the wip asks: ❄️ 💧 ☔

❄️Share a snippet from a WIP of your choosing.

Here's something I wrote last night! Both of these are from my Solian longfic as the other stuff I've written is handwritten atm. This is from a chapter based on the war table mission: Investigate Therinfal Redoubt

“Why did the Seekers leave? Is it… cursed, or something?” Cadri asks as they mount the stairs to the great hall. This high up, the stone is slick with refrozen snow, and their steps are careful. With some reluctance, they’d both let Solas go ahead of them. Something Thora assumes is magic melts the ice in his wake, and allows safer passage up the deceptively dangerous staircase. It’s not something she’d seen with the other apostates she’d worked with, who would light fires by hand and wear mittens to ward away cold, the same as her. Every step Solas takes is mired in magic. Solas’s voice trails back on the wind. “It is not as fanciful as you might imagine, mi’durgen’len.” Neither of them have figured out what the word he uses to refer to Cadri means. Thora had been trying to work it out on her own, she’d heard the sound len in warm exchanges with Ian, so she’s confident it’s something good. “According to Seeker Pentaghast, it was a matter of coin that drove the Seekers from these walls.” “Nothing you said rules curses out.” To her surprise, Solas snorts, perhaps the first sound of mirth Thora’s heard since they’d passed under Therinfal’s shadow. “I concede to your point.” “Damn right you do. Now slow down, Baldy. I’m first through the door.” Again, Solas doesn’t argue, but gestures ahead with a bow that might have earned him a shove if they weren’t so precariously high. It isn’t an empty gesture, Thora sees steam rising ahead of Cadri’s footfalls, clearing the way to the heavy entrance to Therinfal’s great hall.

💧Share something romantic/hot from your WIP, or just something sweet if it’s gen.

It's still sort of edging towards romance at the parts I'm writing, but here's some Solas/Ian nonsense.

“Do you- do you often use walks as pretense for the company of- the company of others?” Ian’s response is flustered, and Solas wonders if he might have taken offense. Solas stops entirely, leaning on his staff to relieve the weight on his feet. The question is a good one. He may have found that hill in the Hinterlands by himself, as well, but had chosen Ian’s company. A pretense to apology, and reconciliation. Today, he finds himself with no motive, save the want for fellowship. There is an unwelcome stumble in his response, “I… like to consider the other party. Varric trades in stories, so I will come to him with tales to tell. Cassandra has little patience for idleness, often practicality must be considered when I seek her out, for business or pleasure-” “- You don’t have to- the offer of your company alone is enough, Solas.” Ian turns to him from where he’d continued ahead, the cold quick to burn his cheeks outside the influence of Solas’s magic. “I will bear that in time next time,” he says, closing the distance between them, the embrace of his spell enveloping Ian once more. “I do- I like walks, though.” Solas laughs, endeared by the admission. “I know.”

☔Is there a fic concept you have that you’d like to just explain and share because you’re not sure you’ll ever write it? If so, what is it?

I want to write it still, but I won't say it's high on my list of priorities. One day tho I do want to write a fic from Gorim's POV about the tail end of the Aeducan origin. We know from his dialogue in Denerim that he spoke to the King before he died (likely right after saying good-bye to you) and I think it would be an interesting scene to write. Here is a man you have respected for so many years, who has doomed you and the one you have faithfully served (perhaps even loved). And still he asks a favour from you. It's juicy is all I'm saying.

[lboogie1906]

Rev. Dr. Nathan Wright, Jr. (August 5, 1923 - February 22, 2005) was born in Shreveport. He and his brother and sisters grew up in Cincinnati. He attended St. Augustine’s College and transferred to Temple University. He served in the Army Medical Administrative Corps during WWII.

He graduated from the University of Cincinnati. He joined the Journey of Reconciliation which was sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. He and seven other African Americans, accompanied by eight whites, rode together on buses in the South, publicizing the 1946 SCOTUS decision that outlawed segregation on interstate buses.

He earned a B.Div and M.Div from the Episcopal Theology School. He worked as a rector of St. Cyprian’s Church in Boston and chaplain of the city’s Children’s Medical Center. He served on the Massachusetts Governor’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rights.

After earning a Ph.D. in Education from Harvard University, he served in the Department of Urban Work of the Episcopal Diocese. Confronted with white resistance to integration in the South and widespread racist practices in the North, leaders of the SNCC declared that any progress for African Americans could only come through organization and activity separate from whites. He agreed with them and strongly advocated Black Power. He chaired the National Conference on Black Power held in Newark in the wake of a race riot in the city. Over 1,000 delegates from 126 cities representing 286 African American organizations attended the conference. He wrote two books on the Black Power movement, one of them the popular Black Power and Urban Unrest.

He wrote many other books. He became a professor of Urban Affairs and founding chair of the Department of African and Afro-American Studies at the State University of New York at Albany. He lectured at various colleges and universities throughout the country. He served as Director of Communications at Passaic County Community College.

He was survived by his wife, two sons, and three daughters. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[mogai-sunflowers]

MOGAI BHM- Belated Day 19!

happy BHM! today i’m going to be talking about Bayard Rustin!

Bayard Rustin-

[Image ID: A black-and-white photograph of Bayard Rustin, a thin Black man with slightly greying, short frizzy hair. In the photo, he has a deadpan expression on his face and is wearing a black necktie, a white collared undershirt, and a black suit jacket. He is standing by a sign on a wall that says in large block text “INTEGRATION MEANS BETTER SCHOOLS FOR ALL!”. Below that, in small scribbled print, it says “N.A.A.C.P, PARENTS WORKSHOP HARLEM PARENTS”. There is another, smaller sign behind Rustin that is partially obscured by him, but what can be seen of it says “We refuse... another gene... how about... It is our...”. End ID.]

Bayard Rustin, a man who is frequently considered to have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “right-hand man”, is a civil rights activist who has been largely erased from the Black history taught in schools, and from the general population’s knowledge and perception of the Civil Rights Movement- but he was an integral part of the movement, and his erasure has largely to do with the fact that he was openly and unapologetically gay.

Bayard Rustin was born in 1912 in Pennsylvania, where he was raised by a Quaker family who very early on instilled in him the principles of nonviolence, which laid the foundation for his involvement with the civil rights movement. At a young age, he was interested in civil rights and racial justice, and at first, the racially progressive views of the Young Communist League attracted him to join. Eventually, their politics changed and he left the league.

In 1941, he turned his sights to socialism by joining the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), who at the time advocated for equal rights for all people (except, as he would later find out, gay people). That same year, he met two other men who would be influential in his life- A.J Muste, the leader of the FOR, and Phillip A. Randolph. With these two men, he helped propose the March on Washington that convinced FDR to sign the executive order that allowed Black workers into the defense industry, and in 1944, Bayard Rustin was arrested as a “conscientious objector” because he refused to sign up for the draft for WWII, to which he was staunchly opposed. 

However, in 1953, Bayard was fired from his position in the FOR after being arrested and charged with “sex perversion” for having sex with another man. At the time, many people feared that open discussions of homosexuality would threaten the image and therefore ultimately the credibility and impact of the civil rights movement, so Bayard, along with many other Black queer people, were often targeted for their identities, either being forced to hide them or be careful with them, or having their identities completely used against them to disparage their credibility within the movement.

During the late 1940s, Bayard Rustin helped to co-found the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE, which became one of the most central civil rights organizations in the civil rights movement. In 1947, he participated in FOR’s “Journey of Reconciliation” (discussed more in this post) which provided the blueprint for the Freedom Rides of the 1960s, which led to the illegalization of interstate bus segregation.

In 1956, Randolph, who had become Rustin’s mentor, urged him to meet with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. amidst the Montgomery Bus Boycott. When Rustin agreed, he and several other key pacifists of the movement met with King and were instrumental in convincing him to more fully adopt nonviolence as a way of life. Bayard Rustin’s upbringing in nonviolence led to it being one of the cornerstones of the civil rights movement.

Over the next couple of years, Bayard became part of King’s “inner circle” of close associates within the civil rights movement. He held a key position in King’s organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which he had helped to found, and he was behind many efforts of integration. He helped to organize many key events, like the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, and the Youth Marches for Integrated Schools. However, in 1960, he reluctantly agreed to step away from the SCLC and from Dr. King, because the Democratic Convention threatened to publish a rumor that King and Rustin were romantically and sexually involved, using Bayard’s orientation against him, if they followed through with a protest against the convention that they’d been planning. Bayard himself was very disappointed with the way King didn’t stand up for him, but he also acknowledged that it was probably best for the movement that he step away.

In the following years, he got involved outside of the scope of the SCLC. He did community organizing, and eventually, in 1963, he was reintegrated into King’s campaign through the Birmingham Campaign. It was then that he made his most notable and significant contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. He had strong organizational and strategic skills, and people who worked with him knew that there was no better man to re-energize the movement through a strategic march, than Rustin- and thus began the plan that brought to fruition Bayard’s previous plans of a march on Washington.

Many people involved were still against Bayard being involved- including John Lewis, a prominent member of the SNCC, and Roy Wilkins, a prominent chair of the NAACP. Their reservations were largely against both his sexuality and his previous communist affiliations, so it was agreed that instead, his mentor, Philip A. Randolph, would be elected to lead the march, so that he could then, in secret, choose his mentee, Bayard Rustin, to lead the march from behind the scenes.

So, within a time span of eight weeks, Bayard Rustin organized the infamous 1963 March on Washington. He spent those weeks incessantly writing letters and organizing with others. It was an extremely chaotic environment, but he was very focused and determined, and when the march happened, it singlehandedly re-energized the Civil Rights Movement and is remembered to this day as a monumental moment from the movement. From it, King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech was born. Thanks to Rustin’s tireless efforts, the movement regained a lot of steam.

After that point in time, more people, including King himself, began to come out in support of Rustin, causing the accusations against him to lessen their effectiveness, although many within the movement were still against his involvement. For the rest of his life, Bayard Rustin remained a committed part of the Civil Rights Movement, and his contributions cannot be overstated. He was a proud gay Black man and he fought for his rights in the face of adversity from every angle.

tagging @metalheadsforblacklivesmatter​ @bfpnola​ @intersexfairy​ @cistematicchaos​ 

Sources-

https://www.history.com/news/bayard-rustin-march-on-washington-openly-gay-mlk#:~:text=Why%20MLK's%20Right%2DHand%20Man,...and%20openly%20gay.&text=Jun%201%2C%202018-,Bayard%20Rustin%20was%20an%20indispensable%20force%20behind%20the%20Civil,...and%20openly%20gay.

https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/rustin-bayard

https://www.history101.com/bayard-rustin-mlk-right-hand/