A Message from the Interim Pastor…
This week’s song verse comes from the classic 1971 song by Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On. “Don’t punish me with brutality. C’mon talk to me, so you can see, what’s going on.”
This song was written and recorded at a time when our country was experiencing serious racial tensions. The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 (employment discrimination), 1965 (voting rights), and 1968 (housing discrimination) had all been passed. During the mid to late 1960’s there were riots in Harlem, Philadelphia, Los Angeles (Watts), Newark, Detroit, Chicago, and other places, all as a result of continued discrimination, police brutality, and poverty. In 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had organized the 54 mile march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol in Montgomery which ended with yet more police violence. Dr. King was then assassinated in 1968.
So, it was under the umbrella of all this that Marvin Gaye appealed to folks to just talk to each other. “C’mon talk to me, so you can see, what’s going on.” You see, we can’t possibly begin to understand someone else’s situation if we don’t talk to them. We can’t see what’s going on in their lives if we don’t talk to them. But sadly, nothing much has changed in the 53 years since Marvin Gaye made his appeal. In today’s world, it seems as if we spend even less time trying to talk to each other than ever before. All too often, we find it easy to jump to judgment of the behavior of others without taking the time to understand the factors in their lives that are behind that behavior.
In the 15th chapter of the Gospel of John, we find Jesus telling his disciples, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” I think that it’s virtually impossible to love one another if we don’t spend the time to understand each other. I also think that it’s virtually impossible to understand one another if we don’t talk to each other. And, I also think that talking to each other means taking the time to listen to each other as well – taking the time to listen with the intent to understand, not simply to reply.
Peace and blessing,
Pastor Michael
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