Yesterday BANA Mississippi rolled back into town. We were tired and smelly, but we were and still are filled with the joy of having toiled together, laughed as one, struggled with relationship, stood together in adversity, and emerged a cohesive and committed community where difference is a cause for celebration rather than separation and unity means that we are one in Christ and in our commitment to justice and peace for all human beings. We are BANA and we know that by telling our stories and listening to each to each other, we will build community and that through serving others, we serve Christ.
Our last days in Boston flew by all too fast. We left on Tuesday for NYC and a Yankees game. Much to Malcolm’s dismay the Yanks lost, but even so being in Yankee stadium was a real treat and we all ate way too many hot dogs. We were not in NYC long, but we did have a chance to go to Battery Park and see the Statue of Liberty. At one point some walked over to see Ground Zero and rode the subway to the Bronx while others rode the bus up the East side and saw a lot of the city.
At the beginning of this journey we talked a lot about the difference between a trip and a pilgrimage. We learned that when one undertakes a spiritual pilgrimage of the pilgrim is intentional about observing, listening, and understanding the experience through an awareness of God’s action in our lives. We are conscience about asking ourselves what is God’s role in each encounter, each story, and each opportunity. How is God presence in the lives of those we meet and in our lives as we reach out to serve others? As we listened to each other we came to understand that even as different as we were from each other, we have a lot more in common than we have in difference. We began to look at barriers that our history, our culture, our habits, our privileges, and our self-centered needs and wants set between us. We named those barriers and we began to try to understand the hurt and sorrow that they cause. We named barriers that exist in our culture that we sometimes don’t even see until we are the targets of the oppression. We looked at how unearned privileges such as being male, being white or light skinned, speaking English, being thin and fit, being young, being tall, being right-handed, and on and on give us an unfair advantage over others in the day to day life and most importantly - how we might interrupt that privilege by standing with those who are marginalized.
We are grateful to all of the leaders and supporters who made this possible and to all of the donors who supporters us financially, including private donors, The Diocese of Mississippi, Main Street Missionary Baptist Church and the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Biloxi. We also want to express our thanks to The Museum of Science for a great afternoon of fun and learning, The Companions of the Holy Cross for providing us with such luxury and comfort at their retreat house, and for providing lovely meals, a place to play, to sing, and to pray and companionship in our journey, Our thanks also go to Youville Hospital for hosting us in MA, to St Andrew’s, Methuen, St James, Cambridge, Christ Church, Cambridge, MS Joan Cammett, St Stephens Kiswahili Congregation, and Bishop Bud for feeding us and to Holy Trinity, South River for providing a night’s rest and a delicious breakfast to send up on our way home.
This is not a one time learning. Rather it is a new way of being in community. It is a journey that began with a vision for service in the context of a youth mission trip and continues as a hope for what our society can become. BANA Fellows are the key that will open the door to understanding and empowerment. They are the leaders who will make Biloxi, Mississippi, America, and beyond a better place to be by being God’s instruments, by being the Body of Christ in the world, and by praying, serving, teaching, and leading others to bring about God’s Kingdom here in this place.
