Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church

Let Us Journey Together

January 15, 2008

I will be departing today to begin the first leg of our journey to retrace the footsteps of the Exodus of liberated Hebrew slaves from Egypt. I find it extremely interesting that this journey begins officially on Jan. 15, the actual birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It may be coincidental that while flying aboard a Delta Airlines flight to Jacksonville, Tenn., to attend the Southeastern Jurisdictional Council of Bishops meeting that I began to read the in-flight magazine, and there was an article of an interview with Andrew Young. In this article, Young recounted that Dr. King often spoke of the importance of travel in the struggle to help people on this small globe learn to live in community.

He said, “It is easy to dislike or hate people you don’t know and when you travel you discover how very much we are alike.” Therefore, Dr. King encouraged people to travel beyond their neighborhoods, beyond their regions, beyond their countries, and beyond their continents.

I find it interesting that many of those who serve in the Senate and Congress have never traveled abroad and yet make so many decisions about how we live as neighbors with others in this world. I believe it was Jesus who spoke about us loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. I find that the more I am willing to listen to my neighbor and to therefore know them, the less I see them as my enemy.

I have no clue what this Exodus Experience will bring but I am convinced that I will find some new friends and thus be in a better position to love not only my neighbors but to pray for my enemies. I wonder what would happen in our churches if we decided to take a journey a few pews over to speak to someone in our own church that we currently don’t know or just have never cared for.

We will celebrate Human Relations Day this coming Sunday with the purpose of developing better human relations. Even if you have not planned to celebrate this on the designated day, I still want to encourage you to brainstorm with others in your church as to how we can be models to our communities of how God wants us to live together. It might mean traveling a few blocks from your church or it might simply mean looking outside the doors and windows of your church to discover that those who live in that community are your sisters and brothers. Let’s begin the journey together.

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