The unfinished work
Saturday, July 4, 2020 at 11:18AM 
And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
I’ve been on the battlefield at Gettysburg 4 or 5 times. One of those times I stood at the site of Lincoln’s address. Holy ground. The battle took place from July 1 – 3, 1863. It has always seemed significant to me that by the 4th the battle had been won, the tide of the war changed, and hope renewed for the Union and an end to slavery.
I started the day by saying Morning Prayer and contemplating. I made use of blessed YouTube. If you want to spend some time in contemplation around matters of faith, patriotism, freedom, and race—here’s what I did.
Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial
Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial
Many ways
Part of the conversation has been about how change is brought about. A needed balancing is being offered. 
Two examples: Lincoln’s role in the end of slavery vs. the action of slaves in freeing themselves and LBJs role in passing civil rights legislation vs. the Civil Rights Movement’s struggle around public accommodations and voting rights. The corrective offers a truer story by emphasizing the action of people in securing their own freedom.
In the early 70s I worked for MAP (Metropolitan Associates of Philadelphia), one of the church’s industrial missions[i]. MAP focused its attention on helping the laity of the church be effective change agents within the institutions where they worked and volunteered. We did action-research. Teams of people within the various institutional sectors (medicine, government, business, education, etc.) worked to influence the policies and practices of organizations. MAP brought them together, provided some training and support, and researched the effort.
For me being at MAP required shifting my understanding of how change occurred. Through most of the 60s I had been part of CORE, a direct-action civil rights group, and later, People Against Racism, a white anti-racist 
movement. Both worked to effect change by pressuring institutions from the outside, mostly by demonstrations and civil disobedience; to a lesser extent through education and voter registration drives. Being at MAP opened my eyes to the change role of people inside institutions. My activist heart was shocked to learn of the self-authorizing group within one insurance company working to end redlining practices and comparable efforts in other organizations. In the coming years I’d get to work with a number of alternative organizations in affordable housing, loan funds, and charitable contributions.
There are many ways to participate in changing our society.
Addressing "the unfinished work" will be part of the church’s mission until “Thy kingdom come.” As we have throughout history, the church will persevere, both as a body and in its members scattered throughout the institutions of society.
Parish development
Parish leaders in sermons, education, and in organizing people to change the society can do at least two things:
First, help them see that there are a variety of ways in which they might participate. The gifts, values, and circumstances of people’s lives effect what they are able and willing to do. A PDF on change strategies
Second, if the first is done, many may be more willing to acknowledge the necessary role of change strategies that make them uncomfortable. We can help broaden people’s understanding of the many ways in which truth and justice are advanced.
More contemplation
Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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[i] The Detroit Industrial Mission was probably the most famous of the 10 or 11 groups in the United States.
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