Purpose
Image from the U.S. Army
Our existence is purposeful. We are not here by happenstance. We did not just arbitrarily appear. Toni Morrison reflected on this concept of purposeful existence, refuting some folks’ notion that they did not ask to be born. On the contrary, Morrison suggests that our innate calling to be purposeful beings willed us to arrive here. It is, therefore, our duty to nurture and embody goodness and love — for in these, we find our life source and mission.
This Memorial Day holiday, as Community Renewal Society (CRS) reflects on lives dedicated to service, moral courage, and the principles of justice, sacrifice, and human dignity, we do so against the backdrop of present-day wars, genocide, and a culture of violence that includes poverty and racism. We are beckoned to memorialize the peacekeepers of our past by being the change agents in this very hour of world suffering and unrest. We behold lessons taught by freedom fighters like Harriet Tubman, who fought to dismantle state-sanctioned systems of human enslavement and became the first woman and abolitionist to lead an armed military raid during the Civil War.
The honor we bestow upon our heroes is not relegated by uniform, ranks, or even to a national allegiance. We honor allegiance to humanity and protection of the inalienable right for all to live freely and in peace without the fear of genocide and disinheritance. We honor the purposeful call of “E pluribus unum,” or “out of many, one,” not for the sake of colonization, militarization, or imperialism. We instead reclaim a spirit of ubuntu — “I am because we are.” Shall we see ourselves in the new citizen who arrives by plane or bus, or in worn and tattered clothing on foot, defying storms of nature and political storms to step upon foreign soil? Will we be the Beloved “Sanctuary” Community, declaring oneness in a shared struggle and oneness in the body of an inclusive, loving God?
We call upon God to show up in the kairos moment, but are we willing to meet God there? We must show up because we are the ones we have been waiting for. And we are what scholar Asa Hilliard called “ancestors becoming,” who must respond to that purposeful call to embody goodness and love. In her novel Beloved, Toni Morrison wrote, “You got to love it, you!” We must love, nurture, and embrace the full humanity of the marginalized and oppressed. We must be the love and justice we seek. Otherwise, we are wasting time waiting.
This holiday let us not simply memorialize. Let us also mobilize. We are the movement. We are the liberation. We are the body of Christ called with existential purpose — right now.
CRS’ issue areas include Police Accountability, Restoring Opportunities & Justice Reform, Just Economy & Reparations, LGBTQIA+ Faith, Race & Equity, and Healing Justice & Reconciliation. We have committed ourselves and our mission to such prophetic work for over a century. Still, we realize it is essential to build upon our history and the legacy of trailblazers like Rev. Dr. Yvonne V. Delk and those who have ascended to the rank of ancestor like Rev. Dr. Calvin Morris. That is why we are inspired by the movements across our city, nation, and world as we bear witness to the brave moral fiber of students who uphold the banner of love.
I had the privilege to participate in an ecumenical worship service at the Columbia University anti-genocide encampment alongside students and other faith leaders at the students’ request. The following day, the encampment was dismantled and several students were arrested. In spite of the false reports, the encampment felt safe, organized, and purposeful. Before entering into the encampment, one had to agree to a code of conduct of respect, peaceful assembly, and an unapologetic commitment to divestment from Israel’s illegal occupation and war against Palestine. There were tents set up for meals, health and wellness, arts, study, and devotion. We, a body of clergy from diverse faiths, were welcomed to show up alongside a body of students who convened to intercede on behalf of a race of people experiencing genocide. We prayed for freedom. We sang for freedom. We read poetry and poured libations for freedom. We showed up to answer that beckoning call even as these students risked expulsion and the threat of arrest, called by their own academic institution.
This Memorial Day holiday, as I remember great sacrifices, I will remember the students of Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Chicago State University, Northwestern University, the University of California, Morehouse University, and beyond who did what their own federal government continues to fail to do — exercise courage to be voices in the wilderness honoring sanctity of life. These students understood what was at stake when the world silently normalized genocide. They understood the contradictions of dropping food palettes from the sky and also funding bombs that are dropped on hospitals, schools, and sacred sites. These students may not wear military uniforms, but they do work as guardians of justice and they embody freedom, justice, and liberty for all. They are global citizens who follow in the footsteps of Ella Baker, Diane Nash, John Lewis, Jonathan Daniels, Ruby Sales, Ruby Bridges, Septima Clark, Miller Green, Medgar Evers, and the unknown student Freedom Riders and activists who occupied lunch counters and packed jailhouses in resistance to state-sanctioned murder, militarism, and disinheritance. These are the same issues freedom fighter and soldier “General” Harriet Tubman too faced. When will we learn?
Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Scott Dingle said of Tubman, “I have no doubt that she heard all her life with a small stature and being a woman and an African American, what she could not do. But Harriet did not let that stop her … because she knew based on the rooting and the word of God, that she had a mission in this world.” That sounds like a purposeful existence to me. Thank God Tubman answered the beckoning call with prophetic witness and urgency. Lest we forget all freedom fighters who have and those who will boldly carry us through the gale.
Amen. Ase.’
Rev. Dr. Waltrina N. Middleton Executive Director