CSLSG is a member of the

St. George Interfaith Council

SUNDAY'S MESSAGE will be VIRTUAL

for the MONTH OF JULY

Service 11:00 AM

AUGUST THEME

Inclusion in Action

Sunday, August 2nd

Joe Kovach RScP

"Let's Get Together and Feel Alright"

Facebook Live

Sunday, August 9th 

Elisha Christopher RScP

"Who Are We?"

Facebook Live

Sunday, August 16th 

Anita Schoeff, RScP

"Color Blind or Color Full?"

Facebook Live

Sunday, August 23rd 

Rev. Hannah Rothlin

"Better Together"

Facebook Live

Sunday, August 30th

Rev Julie Lobato

"We Are..."

Facebook Live

PAYPAL

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CSLSG Online Giving link

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Text-to-give number:

(435) 850-6465

The vitality of Spirit is Self-existent, Self-Propelling. As I become conscious of my Oneness with Good, I am filled with enthusiasm and a sense of energy and vitality.

~ Ernest Holmes ~

LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

Me and Inclusion in Action

The topic for our upcoming August Sunday services is "Inclusion in Action." This last month I’ve been involved in two book clubs— one using the book Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad and the second utilizing How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. Both these books tie in perfectly with our August month of Inclusion.

The third Sunday in August we will be looking at the concept Color Blind or Color Full. When I was a little girl, my mother told me that God made all the peoples of the world different colors just like He made all the flowers different colors. She said color doesn’t matter. I grew up with this race-based color blindness not realizing that to not see color, to not see a Black person as black, was naive and dismissive. It sounds like an admirable outlook, but when you look at it closer it’s dangerous. Layla F. Saad quotes Morgan Jerkins, who says, “White people think it is a compliment when they do not ‘see’ you as a black person.” Saad goes on the explain that the problems, the racism, the racists continue to exist and color blindness is simply a way to hide from the facts. It’s also a way to erase the uniqueness, the individuality of a person of color.

Ibram X. Kendi points out that the colorblind individual who fails to see race, “fails to see racism and falls into racist passivity.” I realized that while my mother thought she was teaching us to be inclusive, what the message really taught was white privilege. Peggy Mcintosh, who first coined the term white privilege, says, “white privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, code books, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear and blank checks.” These unearned advantages are systemic in nature, learned from social and cultural norms and legislated into laws. So what do these unearned special provisions look like? Things like being able to go into a store to buy a doll and know you will find one the same color as your skin, not having to teach your children to walk, act and dress a certain way for their own protection, being sure that if you need legal or medical help your race will not work against you. As a white person I have privilege just by the fact that I’m white. This is not a blame situation. It’s not my fault that I’m white and have unasked-for-privilege, however now that I’m aware of it, I’m responsible for doing what I can to level the playing field. This might look like making sure we know what legislative bills are up for election and cast our vote for those that are anti-racist. The color of my skin does not interfere with or work against my life. Saad says, “you cannot dismantle what you cannot see. You cannot challenge what you do not understand.” It’s difficult and uncomfortable to look at our white privilege, however looking at it is one of the main things we can and should do. This will allow us to be inclusive in our thought, our speech and our actions.

Becoming and being anti-racist is an on-going process, like peeling back layers of an onion and discovering bits and pieces of things we didn’t realize we thought. Rachel Naomi Remen says, as quoted in the July Science of Mind magazine, “May I be open to know my darkness and true to what light I have. May I be used as a blessing and a friend to life.” On that same page Ernest Homes is quoted: “Think of the whole world as your friend, but you must also be the friend of the whole world.” Educating oneself on how to be anti-racist, and then being anti-racist, is a sure way to be a friend to life, a friend to the whole world.

Calista Ames

CSLSG Core Council

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Center for Spiritual Living St. George (CSLSG) is an open, loving and inclusive community that supports thinking creatively and living a deeply spiritual life. We are an official chapter of Centers for Spiritual Living. Located among the beautiful red rocks, warm sunshine and blue skies of southern Utah, we welcome all paths to spirituality. Come celebrate life with us!