Whose Law?

Mark 7:7-9 (NIV) - "They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions. And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"
     Yesterday I had the delight to be a part of the making of history as I attended the last session of a two-day working meeting of multi-faith participants gathering to develop a ‘movement’ against mass incarceration. As a member of the Social Justice Ministry of my church (Ebenezer Baptist) I am proud to know that I am working to help educate others of the atrocities of our current mass incarceration process in this country. Our scripture today clearly states the sentiments of what is happening again and has repeatedly occurred in history. Man takes God’s law which was designed to guide, teach, protect and bring justice only to mis-align it for carnal purposes – greed, avarice and power.
     Our present prison industrial complexes are designed to maintain themselves on the backs of the disenfranchised, disadvantaged, and the displaced – most of whom are poor and of black and brown hue. The system cannot operate without ‘bodies’ and the promise of ‘bodies’ can only be accomplished through mis-education, under-education, criminal system mismanagement and mass incarceration. All of these issues are plagues in our communities.
     Let us not turn deaf ears or our eyes to the ground; if it is not a family member or a friend or an associate, we all know of someone who has been arrested and prosecuted erroneously or sentenced harshly for meager acts of bad judgment. Pray for us as our team moves forward to end the senseless stripping away of members of our community to house the sweatshops of modern day slavery. Pray for us as we trust God for guidance in the process of igniting change in policies and politics. Pray for us as we move forward to do as Christ did…to set the captives free.  Pray for us!
     Every day is a good day; it is up to us to make it a GREAT day! Be blessed! Rev. Dr. JoAnn