Day 660: 5 Minute Freewrite: Sunday - Prompt: plum cobbler
On the Sunday that marked two years since racial terrorists descended upon Charlottesville, VA and murdered young Ms. Heather Heyer, an act of resistance two years coming quietly started with oatmeal for breakfast and kept going through plum cobbler for dessert – two meals, and Christian fellowship, teaching, and singing together in between.
Eleven neighboring families – six White, three Black, one Latino, approximating the racial makeup of Tinyville, VA – banded together to form the Good Neighbors Fellowship, the nearest thing to a fully integrated church in the history of Lofton County, VA.
Among the eleven founding family heads was Ironwood Hamilton, captain of police in Tinyville.
“After all, we soon may need police protection, the way things are in Virginia,” he kidded.
The Gilligan House Burning, Tinyville's own act of racial terrorism that Captain Hamilton and the righteous men of all races in the town had firmly put down, was only two months in the past when the Good Neighbors Fellowship started, started in holy defiance of that terrorism.
Two of the visiting neighbors, devout Christian men who nonetheless had not attended organized church for 20 years, found themselves sitting next to each other and fellowshipping across a wide gap of national and family history.
“I never thought I'd sit down and worship anywhere that anyone of your line was present at, but the Spirit has told me: in Christ, all things are possible,” said Nathan Turner, great-great-great nephew of Nat Turner, leader of the country's best known slave revolt.
“Likewise,” said Henry Fitzhugh Lee, great-great-great-nephew of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. “We have peace now in Christ, the Prince of Peace. As we were together in battle against evil at the Gilligan House, and showed our allegiance to the right, so now I am glad that we can worship together in peace.”
“Were it not for the Gilligan House, I never would have believed you or any other White person in authority was a real Christian,” Mr. Turner said. “Yet God showed me your faith, and Captain Hamilton's faith, by your works against evil done by your own people. I'm not saying I'm coming here every week, but I had to show support to y'all, like you gave real support to me and the Lofton County Free Voice when we really needed you.”
“One day at a time,” Captain Lee said. “The burden of my resemblance to General Lee, and our line legacy in Virginia, lies so heavily upon me on this anniversary of racial terrorism in Charlottesville that I could not bear to be without the fellowship of real Christians. I may not come next week either – but then again, in our lines of work, we may not see next Sunday. I am glad that we have right now to fellowship around the things of Christ.”
Captain Lee called on all his family's famous courage, and the Spirit of God...
“God's people are my people, Mr. Turner. That means you are my people, and I am yours, forever.”
Mr. Turner called on all his family's famous courage, and the Spirit of God …
“I'm not comfortable with all that yet, Captain Lee. I'm not going to lie. Too much has been done and is being done by White so-called Christians even now for me to be comfortable, although I know that in Christ, what you said is true. What I can do now is not dismiss you out of hand.”
“Progress!” Captain Lee said.
Captain Hamilton sat listening, his twin baby sons Ira and Agnew marveling at the phenomenon of salty rain coming directly off their father's face...
“Lord, if those two are getting along, with all the reasons past and present that Turner and Lee have not to get along, then I know You mean for us Good Neighbors to do this thing,” he said. “Help us hold it together against the opposition I know is coming.”
A very interesting take on history again from you, @deeanndmathews. I am learning a lot from your posts. Here's you next freewrite prompt for today :)
https://steempeak.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-661-5-minute-freewrite-monday-prompt-kitchen
Thank you for reading -- got the prompt done already: https://steemit.com/writing/@deeanndmathews/day-661-5-minute-freewrite-monday-prompt-kitchen
There is an actual Lee nephew -- Rev. Robert Wright Lee IV -- who is the inspiration for the viewpoint of his two fictional cousins Captains Hamilton and Lee.
wow this is so well and interestingly written. I like Mr. Turner's attitude here.
Nathan Turner represents the post-Dylann Roof young Black Christian ... we are much less interested in integrated worship because we get tired of having to watch our backs ... this is a point of personal sadness for me because I had occasions, growing up, to be in integrated worship, and it was wonderful, but when present events of shootings and burnings of Black churches linked up with the history, a lot of that youthful joy went away for me.
STILL, Mr. Turner ALSO reflects what the Spirit of God can do in a tense racial climate even in church -- the Spirit brings PEACE, even though historical and current circumstances suggest otherwise. It also helps that Captain Lee proved his bonafides as someone for justice and freedom (see "Black and White and RED All Over", part 11), and recognizes how his family history means he will have to come humbly. Mr. Turner is acting based on those facts as well as on his faith.
I am not a religious guy at all and much due to all the craziness I see happening in the most religious countries, such as the USA and, Israel. It seems to be that religion is being used by the Governments and Corporations to brainwash people into accepting cruelty and genocide as a normal behaviour.
That's why I say no to Organised Religion. In my opinion, Organised Religion makes more Evil than Good, in this world. I wouldn't mind seeing it disappear.
A lot of organized religion, at least in the Christian sense, has to do with its being co-opted by the Roman Emperor Constantine. I'm not talking about Roman Catholicism, although that is the form it took -- I'm talking about European imperialism co-opting the public face of the faith. But, all that WILL disappear, someday ... meanwhile, there will always be those who will practice the true Christian faith, inside and outside the organized church, although they never have been and will never be in the majority of churchgoers in the world....
Truth. Nice.
He named one of his sons Agnew? That's a new one to me.
Thank you for always reading!
So, that name ... Captain Hamilton's name is Ironwood and his wife's name is Agnes. They were surprised both by the fact that Mrs. Hamilton got pregnant at 41, and delivered twins at 42. Ira was easy, after his father. Captain Hamilton had to reach deep, however, to find a male name like Agnes ... but then again, the vice president of the U.S. in the year the captain was born was named Spiro Agnew. So ...
... at least he didn't name the boy Nixon, after the president...
lol! I did think of dear Spiro when I read your piece. Do they use the French-ish pronunciation, "ah NYOO"? Spiro, now that's a good Greek name. I wish I'd thought of it when I named my middle child Nikolas.
Ag-new, after Ag-nes ... I had no idea about the French pronunciation, and it makes sense that our little twin's parents, from rural Virginia and New York City, respectively, probably would use the Anglicized pronunciation even if they knew of the French option.