Amidst Our Neighbors
A note from Pastor Gerry:
I never knew when the first time I ate crabs. I was young and I remember people telling me how to open a crab, but exactly how old I was, I do not know. I do know that we were not wealthy so it was not a common treat. It was a very special treat and one that was usually a special occasion that we were invited to. My dad’s company had a company crab feast at Sandy Point which was circled on our calendar each year.
I do know that I grew up around people that loved crabs. When they were in front of a bushel, you couldn’t get them to move from the table. Everyone, everyone was a crab lover. So I guess I just went along with the crowd. By High School age, I was taken with the sum- mer ritual of eating crabs and I would whenever I could (maybe once a year). But there was nothing like it. A friend of mine had a wedding reception crab feast. What can I say?
In my lifetime, I saw on TV and read in the papers the “I have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, JFK assassination, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Martin Luther King’s assassination, the Baltimore riots, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and school bussing, all in the context of the Vietnam War that was very close to sucking me in.
The struggle of civil rights took on many different phases all during my life. There were times I didn’t understand it. There were times I fought with it. There are times I embraced it. But the time I learned the most was when I was a sophomore in high school and a camp counselor at St. Vincent De Paul’s summer camp in Annapolis for Baltimore City children. It was to give the poor children a summer vacation. While my heart went out to those kids, it didn’t mean I knew everything about civil rights or racism meant. I was just there.
“Amidst Our Neighbor” is to talk about these types of experiences. Just like eating crabs, our response to race has been groomed in us. For some of us that has been good and for some of us not so good. Amidst Our Neighbor is not to criticize that but to open up our heart to the stories and experiences and give us more information to head in the best direction. Please join us on Zoom on Wednesday night or on video at YouTube at Gerry Johnson.
Pastor Gerry
For more information contact Gerry Johnson Pastorgfj@gmail.com