Dear Sunday School Sisters, et al: For those who missed class Sunday, the Christmas Cookies were bangin’ if I say so myself! We finished the last question in Chapter 5. “What can we do, individually and collectively, to re-vitalize ourselves Intellectually (Proverbs 23:7 ..as a (wo)man thinketh so (s)he is), Physically (Romans 4:17, speaking those things that are not as though they were); and Spiritually (Matthew 17:21 …but this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting)? Then we began a brief review of our commitments.
2014 has been very challenging…
We ended a full year of monthly meetings with the “Titus 2 Women”. We wanted to do more than just decry patriarchy in the church so we actually created a space for some of the older women in the congregation to share their insights, their experiences and their knowledge with us. They trusted us enough to also share some of their regrets and mistakes.
It was also a year we welcomed some sisters home….
We said a fond farewell to our dear Sis. Miller…….
And we agreed to commit to continue our 365 Day Consecration for Peace, Justice and Economic Discipline. Ours is a quintessential grass roots movement. No one famous (or infamous) is leading the charge and none of us is young any more. We have begun a long term process and our progress seems incremental but as Mandela stated “It always seems impossible until it is done.”
We began thinking about our 365 Day Consecration for Peace, Justice and Economic Discipline almost 18 months ago on Sunday, July 14, 2013. We were angry and heartsick in the wake of the Zimmerman “Not Guilty” verdict in the Trayvon Martin murder case. Prayerfully we began devising a scriptural strategy. Isaiah 58:1 “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression.” Here’s a link to our first discussion, A Sunday School Sisters’ Strategy, Part One
Next we developed the spiritual components of our strategy, namely Bible study, prayer and fasting. Mark 9:29 “ This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Here’s a link to A Sunday School Sisters’ Strategy, Part Two
No surprise, the first three elements of our 365 Day Consecration for Peace, Justice and Economic Discipline were fairly easy to commit to-daily Bible study, daily Prayer and weekly Fasting didn’t prove too much of a challenge. We are Sunday School Sisters after all….
No, our big challenge was and continues to be Economic Discipline. So we ran the numbers and looked at our car note(s), cell phone and cable bills. We examined our entertainment (video games and movies) budget and the dollars we spend on restaurants, pizza and fast food, hair care, make-up clothes and (gasp!) shoes. We calculated the impact of reducing our discretionary spending by 50% ($6,248.00!) and then projected the economic impact if other black women joined us. “According to the latest U.S. Census there are 17.8 million African-American women in the U.S….if all of those black women …each withdrew $6,248.00 annually from the U.S. economy. The total amount would be, drumroll please, $111,214,400,000.00”! If you’d like to see the numbers here’s A Sunday School Sisters’ Strategy, Part Three
We knew this Economic Discipline piece would continue to be our greatest challenge, and not just because we love shopping for shoes;) We knew the Economic Discipline piece would be our greatest challenge because while it had the potential to create the greatest long-term impact, it would require the greatest individual commitment and could generate the greatest collective resistance. But we continued undeterred and confident in the intersection of commitment and power. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” A Sunday School Sisters’ Strategy, Economic Discipline”
The safety of these delightful “gleaners” who show up religiously after class to help remove the leftover goodies are just part of the reason we Sunday School Sisters are so committed to this process. We are the daughters, sisters, cousins, aunts, wives, mothers, grandmothers and friends of a great many black boys and girls, men and women and we need them (and us!) to be safe in our own country.
We would love to hear your thoughts and read your comments so if you post some, I promise to share them with the class. But most of all we would love you to join us for this next segment of our 365 Day Consecration for Peace, Justice and Economic Discipline. We began this within our Sunday School class, but we’d love to have you on the journey with us. This grass roots movement probably won’t be featured on any 24 hour cable news cycle or any big time online blogs, so if you “Like” it, “Share” it and help spread the word. Think of how much money folks can save on the run-up to Easter, our next consumer-driven religious holiday.