Through Mary, we have been birthed into the freedom that is Christ’s gift. Last week as we celebrated Independence Day, we experienced national concerns similar to those identified by Frederick Douglass, the famed abolitionist and escaped slave when on July 5, 1852, he spoke to the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester, N.Y of what July 4th means to the slave. Identifying national freedom as “the first great fact,” Douglass acknowledged the growing sentiment that freedom is a basic human right and significant factor in the nation’s “yet undeveloped destiny.”.
Last week our celebration was marked with joy and concern. We enjoyed the ease of pandemic isolation although we were aware of virus variations. While pandemic statistics and protests against excessive police force targeting memories of minority communities demonstrated continuing inequities, the Supreme Court deliberated and upheld two Arizona voting laws, asserting that the impact on minorities was relatively minor, a judgment that weakens previously established equal rights protections. May Mary continue to companion our nation in developing its destiny in freedom and peace
