On a frigid afternoon in mid-January, members and friends of our diverse Faith Community gathered in Ambler for a march proclaiming peace and justice. It’s a rather short walk from Wissahickon High School to the home of Bethlehem Baptist Church where the majority African-American congregation hosts an annual service in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy.
The ritual of the walk, hardly noticed in the neighborhood, is a rather quiet procession and a physical form of prayer. The Jewish scholar and mystic Abraham Joshua Heschel, famously said, “When I walked in Selma, my feet were praying.”
Our processions these days come without the agitation, the heated atmosphere or the danger of the early Civil Rights marches. And if some folks ask why we even bother to brave the elements in our heavy winter coats for such a small gesture of Shalom in our world — in a pretty serene neighborhood no less — it is out of principle.
Our world is far from peaceful. The continued partisanship, the deadlock in the chambers of our democracy, the inability of people to unite around fundamental human rights, the dividedness of our country and yes, violence, give us pause. At the same time, we are hopeful. Our hope is rooted in faith and fortified by every small gesture of bridge building, love, charity and human kindness. And there are many examples. We should not overlook them. In fact, we should highlight them. If we focus on the darkness too much, it will suck us in. Michelle Curtis, pastor of the Ambler Mennonite Church, brought a sign saying, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that…” How true!
A day before this service, on January 15, a man walked into a Jewish synagogue in Texas. He took the rabbi and three other congregants hostage and tried to force the release of a federal prisoner. The rabbi had shown kindness toward this stranger, had made him a cup of tea, listened to his story. And now the same man drew a gun during the Sabbath service. Flashbacks to other events are almost inevitable: The Charleston shooting comes to mind, when a black church community embraced a young white man to study Scripture with them. We know the tragic result.
This incident in Texas on January 15 had a much better ending. None of the hostages were killed. The stranger who also acted strangely, a Pakistani with a British passport, was eventually killed by law-enforcement. I mourn the events of that day, not only because our Jewish brothers and sisters have been shaken by similar events in recent years and sadly have had to beef up security measures in their sanctuaries. I also mourn it because treating strangers with kindness is an ethos we share in the faith community, across all differences. We believe in the importance of kindness and helping those who seem lost in our society, no matter their color or origin.
On that same Saturday, one of the members of our Inter-Faith Group, Mr. Shamsul Huda, who is a member of North Penn Mosque, called his good friend Rabbi Greg Marx from congregation Beth Or to offer sympathy, prayer and to express just how disturbed he was by the events in Texas. Shams is himself a Muslim immigrant and was born in Pakistan, like the unfortunate man in Texas. I know exactly how that feels. I am German. Almost 80 years after the end of WW II I am still embarrassed by what “my people” did back then.
Still, those gestures of solidarity and compassion are immensely important and encouraging. It’s the light that shines in the darkness, to use a metaphor from the Gospel according to John. Shams was also one of four honorees at the January 16 Martin Luther King Service. He was honored for his many years of bridge building and networking in our community. He is an inspiration to many of us. His humility and wisdom stand out. With people like that comes hope and light. Even when we gather in frigid temperatures in the middle of January. In my Christian Lutheran faith tradition it’s the season of Epiphany now: Let there be light
Pastor Andreas Wagner is pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Evangelical Church, North Wales, representing the Wissahickon Faith Community
