Three out of four African American males between the ages of 19 and 30 are either on probation, parole or in prison. Help save my people Fifty percent of African American high school girls will have a baby before they graduate high school. Help save my people! Many of them roughly 30% will have two. Help save my people! The median household income for African American families in the United States is $6,600 per year. The median household income for Caucasian families is $88,000. Help save my people!
Health statistics. African American males will die on an average of 7-10 years sooner than Caucasian males in the United States. Help save my people!Cease fire was here today and yesterday. Roughly 70% of deaths of those 400 and something people that Kathy talked about are African Americans. Help save my people! If I, Cyneatha, am Esther and you, the Mennonite Church, are the king, if I have found favor, then help save my people. So how am I Esther? When did I sneak in? A wonderful group of people back in the 70’s decided to be a light unto the world. They decided to be the church in action. The Fellowship of Hope moved in my community in Elkhart, Indiana and the little 7-to-8 year old Esther watched and learned and was drawn into the fold. Little did they know that the next Anabaptist leader was amongst them.
If you are the king, and I surely say that you are, you possess power and privilege, resources and intellect, compassion and more than anything that I’ve seen in any other people group, the innate ability to remain peaceful in a chaotic, violent world. I believe that God has chosen you specifically, way back when the early Anabaptists hit the scene. They walked in many cases knowing that they were walking to their deaths but they stood on the principles that they believed. They stood on what they believed God had called them to do and in many cases they lost families and they lost homes. They became martyrs in horrible, horrible situations.
For such a time as this, we are all here today – remnants of what they did and who they were. For such a time as this, we are here because we are now being called once again to step into the fold. No longer are we able to stand back and watch this world play itself out. God has created you, the Mennonite Community, the Hutterites, the Amish – He created you with that spirit of peace that can stand in the gap. He created you just for that purpose. For such a time as this, help save my people!
I thank God every day for all that I’ve learned from you. I was an odd duck in my community. I didn’t make sense to people and I found my community again. And if what you have to teach a small 7-and-8 year old girl even when you didn’t know you were doing it, who God is, then you today can change a dying world. It is waiting for you to stand up and proudly proclaim that I am a child of God and I will do whatever He asks of me to save his people. The Lord Jesus said that which you do unto the least of these, you do also unto me.
The African American community in the United States is on the bottom of every statistic you can find. Every one. If we have the highest numbers and we’re winning, it was a race nobody wanted to win.
We need your help. Our community is dying. I am speaking to you from what I know. I implore you to from this day forward, don’t add a committee for the “Save the African American campaign.” Don’t do that. You have already in your power what needs to be done. You know what it is. If the children in your community are not being educated, then talk to the school board. Create a tutoring center. Create a school. If you’re in Chicago, and they’re shooting us every day and we ourselves are shooting one another, then step in the middle and say, “Stop!” Step in the middle and say, “Stop!”
Joel told us last night that some man’s way of throwing the violence off was to go out and clown around. I remembered last night when he said that when I was in junior high school and this girl named Teresa wanted to fight a young girl named Robin. Who knows why? Girls fight for all kinds of reasons. And so Teresa told everybody, “I’m going to beat up Robin.” And so naturally, before you look up, the whole school is waiting to see this fight between Teresa and Robin. And Teresa comes up and she starts talking and Robin is like “I’m sorry; I didn’t know I did anything to you; I’m sorry; I won’t do it again.” And Teresa pushes her and Robin stands up again and says, “no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.
I didn’t know I did that to you.” Teresa pushes her again and Robin broke out laughing. She turned and laughed and laughed. Everybody froze. They could not believe what was going on. Teresa stood there dumbfounded like “what in the world?” Robin laughed and laughed and laughed and Teresa threatened and Robin continued to laugh. And before you know it the crowd was laughing at Teresa. And Teresa can no longer fight Robin. It was amazing. I was in 7th grade and I will never forget it. I will never forget that moment – I’m sure Robin and Teresa haven’t either.
It is amazing what we can do. God has given us the power. We are a little lower than angels. We can do anything we set our minds to as long as we don’t close our eyes or turn our face and pretend it’s not happening. You have power. You have privilege. You have resources. You have compassion. And love. You are truly an example of Christ in action. Help me save my people!
In his wisdom and goodness the eternal Father created the whole world according to his supremely free and mysterious purpose and decreed that men should be raised up to share in the divine life. When they fell in Adam, he did not abandon them but always kept providing them with aids to salvation, in consideration of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Before the ages the Father already knew all the elect and predestined them to be made into the likeness of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brothers.
God resolved to gather into holy Church all who believe in Christ. The Church, foreshadowed even from the beginning of the world, so marvelously prepared in the history of the people of Israel, established in these last times and revealed by the outpouring of the Holy spirit, will be made perfect in glory at the end of time. Then, as we read in the Fathers of the Church, all the righteous from Adam onward - from Abel, the righteous, to the last of the elect will be gathered in the universal Church in the presence of the Father. Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are in their different ways related to God's people.
In the first place, there is that people which was given the covenants and the promises and from which Christ was born by human descent: the people which is by God's choice most dear on account of the patriarchs. God never repents of his gifts or his call. God's plan of salvation embraces those also who acknowledge the Creator. Among these are especially the Mohammedans; they profess their faith as the faith of Abraham, and with us they worship the one, merciful God who will judge men on the last day.
God himself is not far from those others who seek the unknown God in darkness and shadows, for it is he who gives to all men life and inspiration and all things, and who as Savior desires all men to be saved. Eternal salvation is open to those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church but seek God with a sincere heart, and under the inspiration of grace try in their lives to do his will, made known to them by the dictates of their conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the aids necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet reached an explicit belief in God, but strive to lead a good life, under the influence of God's grace.
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