Fellow Episcopal blogger, Chuck Blanchard, has written a wonderful piece on William Wilberforce, the British politician and inspired leader who worked to end the British slave trade. I majored in political science in college and still believe in the importance of working for justice within the political system, though it may be flawed at times and in places, we need inspired leaders such as Wilberforce in every generation in every facet of our society - even (and especially!) in goverment and law...
Here is an excerpt from Chuck's reflection on Wilberforce, you can read the rest HERE:
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A Lenten Reflection on William Wilbeforce
We have a tradition at Trinity of having members of the congregation prepare Lenten mediations on the readings for the 40 days of Lent. Today was my day, and here was my contribution:
Psalm 51: 1-10
Isaiah 58:1-9a
Matthew 9:10-17
Is not this the fast I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Last year, the United Kingdom celebrated the 200th anniversary of the end to the slave trade. The story of the hard fought battle was also celebrated last year in the movie Amazing Grace, which focused on the long struggle of William Wilberforce, a committed Christian and member of Parliament who made ending the slave trade his life’s ambition.
Given that I too am a former elected official, I have long found Wilberforce to be my inspiration. Aside from the fact that Wilberforce is one of the few (perhaps the only?) politician recognized in the Book of Common prayer with a day on the church calendar, what is fascinating to me about Wilberforce is that as a young member of Parliament, he had a crisis—not a crisis of faith, but rather a crisis of calling: ... read the rest HERE
