Perspectives on Current Events

I just got finished reading some entries from the blogs of Arloa Sutter and Edward Gilbreath, both located on my list of recommended blogs. Arloa is the Executive Director of Breakthrough Urban Ministries in Chicago and Edward Gilbreath is a Christian journalist/writer who wrote an amazing book entitled Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity.

I was reading Arloa's blog and discovered a serious problem I knew nothing about: school children in Chicago are being killed. According to her blog, 24 Chicago Public School children have died this year. One of the youth in Breakthrough's after-school program was hit in the head by a brick and is struggling for his life. One youth was killed in the park at Fulton and Albany. That is the park that was right by my apartment in Chicago, one that I walked past countless times.

I may not be able to stop the violence, but there are some things I can do. I can pray. I can tell you guys so you can pray. These kids are growing up in an environment where it's not cool to succeed and do well in school. There are gangs and drug dealers using kids as runners. So, even though you don't know the people in this community, and I don't know them anymore either, I ask you to pray. And I hope that this encourages us to look at social issues within our own community and then do something. It makes me feel like I should be headed back to the city, but I am trusting God that he is going to use me greatly in the town where I'm going.

Another issue is about Rev. Wright, Obama's former pastor who has made some controversial statements regarding race and America. Both Arloa and Mr. Gilbreath wrote blogs on this issue. I have to admit, I didn't understand everything and after reading excerpts from interviews and other people's opinons, I am understanding it better. Yes, Rev. Wright said some inappropriate things, but we (myself hugely included) have failed to understand it. Rather, we've trusted video footage edited together by the media, and I'm pretty sure we all know we can't always trust the media. Maybe Rev. Wright isn't the crazy racist we thought he was. And, as Mr. Gilbreath said, this incident has opened a great opportunity to talk about race and racial differences.

These are some heavy thoughts.