By Thomas Howard, Truth and Reparations Task Force Member
In a previous writing, I mentioned how I had found my very own truth and peace concerning the subject of Reparations and Repair. This enlightenment and awakening resulted from being on the first Truth and Reparations Task Force (TRTF) team. Among the benefits from this exposure came from TRTF team interactions and shared personal experiences on upbringing, community, and race relations, while also reviewing facts about our nation and the Episcopal Church’s complicity in fostering slavery, institutional racism, segregation, and obstruction of human rights and freedoms,… and in also finding comfort, solace, and assurance in Scripture verses that affirm the need for reparations and repair—to grow and thrive in that Beloved Community that God so desires for us.
However, and since that tenure, I have learned that there is even more truth, understanding, and peace in store for me to acquire and embrace. The previous lessons I learned and look to build upon:
- Our past lives with us…we live with our past and it impacts us.
- We are all affected…this affects us all.
- Historical and inherited guilt…Historical and resultant anger… Acknowledging historical truths, confessing, repenting, and reconciling and making repair(s). Remorse can be a soothing balm, response and expression for feelings of historical guilt and anger, along with intent to not allow negative remnants of the past impact our current undertakings and communal lives.
- Repairing the breach…bridging the gap that divides us…Repair is continuous and an ongoing activity and response…not meant to be a one-and-done instance.
I imagined a bridge built over a deep canyon or gorge, one that provides access and joins separated areas, and allows two-way and constant traffic over that divide. The bridge’s structure and terminals are necessarily and periodically inspected and maintained for continuous, secure, and safe crossings and daily exchange. As the bridge closes/breaches the gap to enable beneficial, two-way traffic, so also does “Repair” (Reparation) benefit each of us as both the “giver” and the “receiver” terminals in our communal lives and faith walk and witness.