My husband and daughter were photographed during a special ceremony in our hometown, remembering the nine men and women slain in Charleston.
South Carolinians continue to remember and mourn the nine people slain by a white racist in Charleston on June 17. Our town came together yesterday on our historic downtown square to pray.
My husband and daughter were photographed by our local newspaper reporter in this tender moment as they bowed their heads to pray.
Our town was not alone in organizing events to honor the memories of those slain and to gather in unity and love. Communities across our state held vigils and prayer meetings. Will this be enough to stop the hatred and bigotry?
It is a start. We shouldn’t wait for the next tragedy. We need to come together in unity to stand against hate and racism. We need more community prayer vigils. We should make hold them at least once a month.
I dream of neighbors gathering each month outside of churches, denominations, and race to pray.
[tweetthis]I dream of a world where hateful symbols are not worshipped and protected[/tweetthis]like our state’s flying of the Confederate flag. It needs to come down and be put in a museum.
[tweetthis]I dream of a world where we teach our children to fight bigotry and hate.[/tweetthis]
I dream of a world where all see Jesus as who he was. Not a mere man, but someone who laid His life down so that all could find love, forgiveness, and heaven here on earth and in the world to come.
How do we defeat hate, bigotry, and evil? Prayer, unity, and love are good places to start. We start with our children and start by standing up for each other’s dreams. We continue by standing up for what is right and teaching our children to not tolerate bigotry and racism.
We start by taking down the Confederate Flag from public buildings in the South. I wrote more about this in my Blogher post calling for Southerners to stop worshipping the Confederate Flag. I hope you will read it and leave a comment.
What are your ideas for stopping racism and ending bigotry and hate? Where do we begin. I hope you will add your comments to this important discussion.
This post is written for these hops:
Where the prompt for this week was Dream.
and: 
where the prompt focused YOUR STORY, GOD’S STORY.
Also linking up with:
Hey Mary,
This morning in my quite time with the Lord, one of the things on my mind was the confederate flag be removed in SC. As a fellow South Carolinian, I also hate it! I wish I could have written a similar post as you today. Because our hearts and minds are one with the same theme. I also agree with you about having what I call an open prayer forum in our communities. Where we come together as one body, united for Christ! I spoke to my pastor and prayer team at our church on Sunday about this very same idea. The Lord is working in harmony within the body. I pray and ask that we will start operating in this newness and come together in unity and one accord. In whatever capacity He has planned. I also think that He wanted you and I to get connected. I am in the middle of trying to finish a book proposal and did not feel I had the time to write about the flag this morning. But it was burning in my heart. I think it was so that your article caught me attention. God has something in the works. Can you please reach out to me and lets try to get together soon? Thanks and Many Blessings, Lori
I love the picture! Your words are so right, and I am praying here in Atlanta.
Sarah Donegan recently posted…Lessons From a Waterfall
Mary, what a touching picture of your husband and your daughter. People around the country have been praying for the people of Charleston, and the church and the families who lost a loved one. Praying, Loving others . . . definitely steps in a better direction. What you said about teaching our children—that resonated. Being a model to them of loving well, of standing up for what’s right and to not tolerate bigotry and racism. A high, but necessary standard.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Jeanne Takenaka recently posted…Dream: Pursuing Dreams God’s Way
Your post is very thought provoking. My thoughts on this are pretty simplistic, but I believe we need to be beacons of love. Hatred is a learned behavior. We need to show God’s love to everyone, and somehow show others that our differences can be celebrated. These differences should not be a source of fear or anger. Thank you for sharing your heart, and I hope you have a lovely day!
I agree hatred is a learned behavior. We need to teach new ones of love, acceptance, and tolerance. Thanks for commenting.
Mary Hill recently posted…What Story Do I Dream Of?