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March. And march with us - an exhortation from Pastor Stan Morton


Ahmaud Aubery

Another unarmed black man has been killed by racists.
This is a case of presumptive profiling.
Once again black people all over this country got slammed in the gut, stirring old and new fears and reopening wounds.
How do we respond? Retaliate? Violence? Hopelessness?
How did our forefathers and foremothers respond to slavery, the KKK, lynchings, bombings, dogs, hoses, night sticks and jail?

They marched.
They marched through the pain, the barriers, the mobs, the deaths, the griefs, the despair as well as the streets.
They marched.
They marched to victories in sports, music, science, education, church, business, families and government.
From Frederick Douglas to Madam C Walker to Barack and Michelle Obama they marched.
We have always dealt with this and we will always be dealing with this.
Hatred prejudice and bigotry toward those unlike ourselves is endemic to the human condition
But we're gonna keep on marching until Shiloh comes

To my white brothers and sisters, I say: march with us.
March with us like Branch Rickey did with Jackie Robinson.
March with us like Eleanor Roosevelt did with the black military.
March with us like John F Kennedy did with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
March with us like the freedom riders did with the civil rights workers.
March with us like Randy Nabors and Craig Garriott are marching with us now.
And let us march with our Hispanic and Native American brothers and sisters

Let us keep marching until Shiloh comes.
For unto him shall the gathering of all people in the unity of beloved community come to pass at last.
And Ahmaud Aubery will not have died in vain.



C. Stanley Morton is the pastor at Crown and Joy Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Va. Prior to this he was assistant pastor for diaconal ministries and outreach at Second City Church in Harrisburg, PA.   Prior to that he was the founding pastor of New City Fellowship in Lancaster PA where he served for over nine years.  He received his BS in Psychology and Economics from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary Philadelphia.  He is also certified as a facilitator for Faith and Finances of the Chalmers Center.   He is married to the lovely Terry Morton and has three grown children and two grandchildren.

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