“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 

2 Corinthians 3:17

Today is Juneteenth.  Some of you may be wondering what this day actually represents. Juneteenth is the unofficial American holiday, celebrated on the 19^thof June, that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.  On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger read the federal orders in the city of Galveston, Texas 1865 which proclaimed that all slaves in Texas were now free.  Many African Americans were unaware that Congress had passed the 13^thAmendment, which abolished slavery six months earlier.  There was a massive celebration that took place in the streets and the celebrations have continued every year since.

 This year’s Juneteenth comes against a backdrop of widespread suffering for our Black communities with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and now Rayshard Brooks.  The Black communities have also been hardest hit by the Coronavirus with higher illnesses and death, unemployment and closure of businesses.  So where is the hope on this Juneteenth?  People are beginning to focus on honest conversations around race.  Racist imager]y in products, such as Aunt Jemima, are now being dismantled.  Confederate flags are no longer welcomed at Nascar races. The Black Lives Matter movement has taken on a new momentum not only in the United States but around the world.

Juneteenth is also known as Liberation Day.  There’s a scripture in the bible that says, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  And the answer is “yes.”  Yes, we are our brother’s and sister’s keeper.  As people of faith, we are called to love and care and liberate our siblings when we see injustices being done.  May we be mindful on this Juneteenth that every little part we can do to bring mindfulness, action, and liberation for each other  – as small as it may be – will bring healing to the whole.