In Hebrew Scriptures, God covenants with the newly emancipated Israelites, setting the pattern for the community and the ‘laws’ given to Moses. God consistently tells the community to remember their history and to teach it to their children. Deuteronomy 4:9-10, God says “not to forget the things your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life, and make them known to your children and your children’s children..”

We are to remember our histories and the stories of God’s unfolding love in action and pass that on from community to community. Not only are we to pass on the good parts, but the hardships and suffering parts as well.

As the people journeyed thru the wilderness from emancipation to freedom, God knew they needed to hold close to the truths of what had been so that they could imagine who they were being called to become. Remembering and teaching history is an essential spiritual practice for every community.

This being Black History month, we need to remember and preserve the whole history. We should remember, not only the history of the African-American people but of the Native American people, as well. Tho the Emancipation Proclamation was made in 1863, the realization of freedom is still unfolding in a nation marked by pervasive racialized inequities.

We are yet to realize the generations of untold stories that are waiting to be revealed within these sacred lives. We must trace the connections between the people and the land so that we can know the Divine Mystery that moves toward love and justice and hear the oral histories and spoken words handed down by ancestral stories to be shared today.

Tragically, the effort to preserve this history is being challenged and a political rallying point in every setting of government from local school boards to state legislatures across the nation. Under the guise of opposing “critical race theory” and “divisive concepts”, efforts are being made to keep the truths of our nation’s history hidden.

It seeks to eliminate antiracist education while helping to widen the political divisions in our country and protect the privileged delusions of white supremacy.

As faithful people committed to love, justice, and liberation of all who are seeking freedom we must always be on the journey to remembering the truths of our past and reveal the hidden histories that is an essential part of our covenant journeys.

May all of us do our part in the unfolding story of God’s liberating love.