art for all saints day

I believe in the communion of saints...
I believe God keeps us at the table together...
I believe God uses todays generation to accomplish
what yesterdays generation could not and would not
accomplish. In the same way I believe the next
generation will accomplish what we are not able
or willing to accomplish today.

God is patient.
God is kind.
God will not give up.

One generation dies.
One generation is born.
Reconciliation and new life become a reality one step,
one generation at a time.

There was a time in the town where I grew up
when Afro-American men were burned at the stake
on the court house lawn.
That was in 1929 in Conroe, Texas.

There was a time when my grandparents could
not imagine that racial equality would be politically correct.

There was a time when calling an
adult black man "boy" was politically correct,
sadly it remains true for some this day...
even within the walls of a church.

There was a time when water fountains, theaters,
hotels, cafes, and whole sections of town were
off limits to Afro-Americans.

My personal story is a testament to
God's power to reconcile.

For I believe in the communion of saints.
God keeps us at the table of communion.
If this is so, I stand at the table with my
grandfather who did not see discrimination
towards "blacks" a bad thing.

I believe in the communion of saints.
If this is so, then as I stand at the table
of communion tomorrow I stand with my
grandfather and the man who was burned
on the courthouse lawn in 1929.

I believe in the communion of saints.
If this is so, then my grandfather's inability
to live without prejudice has been reconciled
through my family, for at the table of communion
he stands with my son, great nephew
and great niece who are all bi-racial.

My grandfather's inability to live without prejudice
will be transformed because my
Greek-Afro-American son will be the
last to carry on our family name.

I believe in the communion of saints.
If this is so, God keeps us together at the
table of communion.

One generation does what another is not able
or willing to do and...

God patiently brings to life the fulfillment
of God's Kingdom!