Imagine, you are an enslaved African. Your grandmother, your great grandmother, your great great grandmother had all lived lives of bondage on plantations. It’s December 31st, 1862, New Years’ Eve.
And then the next day, you can walk away from it all, because of a piece of paper, a proclamation written down by an Illinois lawyer who was raised in Kentucky.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation was written under the auspices of war, for increasing the number of soldiers in the Union army, President Abraham Lincoln, ordered that that all enslaved Africans in the rebellious states were to be free.
It was “the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh” for Abraham Lincoln, but for the enslaved Africans, it was the Year of the Lord’s favor, (see Isaiah 61 and Luke 4), both declaring Good News to the enslaved, and the vengeance of God–since the Civil War was the consequence of the violence done against Africans in the U.S.
For further reflection, see the African American Lectionary.
Truth and Peace,
Rod
Historical occasions such as these remind me that our country has always been plagued with darkness and major challenges. Yeah, America is going through a rough spot right now–but we’ve been through WORSE and I think it’d do me some good to reflect on all that is positive about living in this country. Who knows whether our worst or best days ahead. I need to have a pilgrim’s perspective of life on earth anyway if my citizenship is in Heaven. Anyhow, this New Year I pray that God does not let the unique opportunities I have as a free American to make a difference for His kingdom to slip away, and that He clarifies how he’d like to use me in this life.
Amen, Jennifer.