Aurora Celestin - "Taking Them Along" (Sermon for February 23, 2025)

Then Rachel and Leah spoke up: “We no longer have an inheritance in our father’s house. Aren’t we regarded as foreigners, now that he has effectively sold us and used up the purchase price? […] Now while Laban was out among the herds shearing, Rachel stole his household idols” -Genesis 31:14-15, 19In this week’s scripture reading, Rachel and Leah are dragged through a drama between their father and their new husband, Jacob. Uprooted from home, survival for them means taking their household gods—the physical representation of their ancestors—with them into an uncertain future.As we return to our Souls & Solidarity series this Sunday and discuss the liberating principle of Sankofa, we are asked to consider how we can reach into the past and bring the wisdom and survival tactics of our ancestors with us. As our former vice president said, we didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree. When life gets chaotic and scary, what lessons from the past do you turn to? What do you carry with you to survive?I hope you will join us to talk ancestor wisdom and justice work for this last Sunday of Black History Month. During service, we will be treated to a few tiny testimonials from members of the community. In the spirit of Sankofa, we look back in order to march forward together.Blessings,Aurora