Beach and Bamboo

This get-away spot has the best of all the worlds-- there is beach, bamboo, breezes, sun, shade at times, good food, beautiful flowers, and a few cool birds and other creatures. 

Last night on the walk back from dinner, I saw a huge toad on the sidewalk. No photo.

I have only heard the woodpecker in the bamboo until today. It flew off and went to a tree. It was a red-headed one. Look closely and you might find it.

There have been some lizards.

I have listened to the wind blow through the bamboo.  I have heard the gentle waves on the shore. 

I have heard the gentle rain and the downpour. 

It has been a time to breathe in and breathe out.

Jamaican time. It is allowing my body to rest and my soul time to catch up. 

It has offered me time to walk, play in the water, rest (even taking naps), and time to simply be.

Good coffee has been a plus, as has good food. 

There have been some hearts seen. 

Grateful for this time away.

Here are some random pics of flowers.

My time here in Negril, Jamaica 🇯🇲 along the 7-mile Beach has been good for me.

Until next time,

Peace on the journey. 

Rev. Deb

Ash Wednesday-- 2025

Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season. I was able to help with the service at Burks UMC, the church that sent me into ministry. It is always good to be able to participate and serve there.

Here is the Ash Wednesday prayer from the UMC Hymnal #353:

O God,

maker of every thing and judge of all that you have made,

from the dust of the earth you have formed us 

and from the dust of death you would raise us up.

By the redemptive power of the cross, 

create in us clean hearts

and put within us a new spirit,

that we may repent of our sins

and lead lives worthy of your calling;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This service is a special one because it allows for reflection as we enter a season of reflection. I wore my special stole given to me by a colleague and friend in Massachusetts. 

I have plans to walk and pray the labyrinth at Burks UMC this Lent, but haven't made it yet. 

A few pics from last Wednesday:

Peace, 

Rev. Deb

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL

 Part 3 of 3

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice".
 ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

The first of the three EJI Legacy Sites we visited in Montgomery, AL was The National Memorial for Peace and Justice. This site was particularly powerful and overwhelming as huge steel markers show the state and county, along with the lynched. At first you walk through them. Then, as you go downhill, they are higher and above your head. There is something to craning one's neck to read the counties that wasn't lost on me. It was a humbling experience. As one looks for counties, one hopes to not find those one has lived in or currently lives in. But I knew Whitfield county, GA was there. I didn't know about Hamilton county, TN, but it was there too. 

After walking through these, there is another set of the markers laying flat on the ground. They are a bit easier to read that way, though they look like grave covers in that position, akin to the ones I have seen made of marble in South Georgia at the church cemetery where many of my ancestors are buried.

After making one's way through these, there are some statues and then replica markers.

As you make your way back to the beginning, there is much to contemplate. 

Near the entrance/exit, there are other statues and writings to read and absorb.

The educational offering is unlike anything I have experienced, though the Holocaust museum in Israel, Yad Vashem, comes close. That place was a huge educational experience for me too-- powerful, humbling, haunting.... Just like The National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

It isn't easy to see all those markers. It isn't easy to realize how horrible our society treated people. 

But it is important to know the true history, to honor lives taken, and to seek reparative justice.

I included a link for The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in the first paragraph.

Here are some other links with information:

• Mass Group (the group that designed the Memorial)
• U.S. Civil Rights Trail
• Video from Smart History (also below)
• NPR article/recording
• NY Times article

Here are my photos:

Here are two photos taken by our group leader that show me looking up at the Whitfield county marker:

I highly recommend a trip to Montgomery, AL to see The Legacy Sites. There is so much to see, learn, experience.... so much that I didn't hear or learn growing up. 

It's time to bring peace, justice, and healing to our society. This trip was a part of me doing so on the journey.

Deb

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other two posts in this series:

• The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, AL
• The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, AL

The Whitfield Remembrance Project:

• Whitfield Remembrance Project (Facebook)
• Whitfield Remembrance Project (Website)

The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, AL

Part 2 of 3

The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park was the 2nd stop of the day. (I'm writing in reverse order.) If you click on the link highlighted, you can see some photos of the park, some quotes about it, and some information. There is also a video that I encourage you to watch. It tells about the park, the art, etc. The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park is also part of EJI-- Equal Justice Initiative-- as is The Legacy Museum that I wrote about previously.

Visitors are allowed to take photos at a few locations inside the park-- 1 at the beginning and then the rest at the end. 

As you wind around the path, much of the art is bigger than life. So many pieces remind one of the horrors of slavery. The huge ball and chain was one of those for me. There were also pieces that showed how people lived -- 2 plantation homes; a boxcar train to show how slaves were transported.

One piece that caught my attention were fingers coming out of the ground. HUGE fingers. They surrounded a tree that was tall and upright. It was as if life had grown out of that hand. 

Walking through the woman who opened her chest cavity for us to walk through was powerful, humbling. It was as if we were invited in-- invited in to her life, her pain, her story. Yet, we passed through to the other side.

The biggest piece in the park is shaped like an open book and contains the surnames from the 1870 census, the first census in which black people were included. There are over 100,000 names engraved on this monument. You can find more information on this piece-- size, background, etc.-- in the link posted in the beginning of this post about the park.

This piece was something to behold. Not only was it huge, but names were on both sides. I didn't go around to the back, but I did search for some names. In the video on the link above I learned that not all surnames were taken from connections with slave owners and families. Only a percentage. I believe I heard 40%, but would need to listen again to verify. 

There is a fountain after this and then you are back in the beginning.

There is a statue of Harriet Tubman at the visitor center and photos are allowed there also. 

There is a big computerized data base of the census inside that you can look up names. You can look them up by state and county. That was informative. I believe I saw a theater in there as well. 

OTHER LINKS WITH INFORMATION AND PHOTOS:

• News Channel 4-- March 18, 2024
• Daniel Popper-- July 31, 2024
• Whitney Washington-- August 10, 2024

There is much more information to be found online.

I recommend a visit to The Legacy Sites to learn more.

Thank you for joining me in this educational endeavor. 

Deb