Today, I am in Louisville, Kentucky.  I am a planner but I could not have seen this coming, that my words would lead me here.  But, there is certainly a since of arrival.  This is where I should be and better still, this is where I belong.

An x marked this spot on a map that I am not privy to.  I am comforted in knowing that I am going somewhere, that my soul has a destination, that I am being formed and shaped for a great work.  It is starting to make sense now.  All of my problems with race have brought me to this place and time.

Last year, I submitted a proposal to the Louisville Institute to study the social construct of race in the formation of Christian spiritual community.  It was accepted!  The project is a mouthful but the sweet joy of it all is that I have the words.  I can express what my anxiety is with race and the goal that I feel called to work toward.

This morning, I will share in conversations with twenty- four other pastor- scholars.  We will wrestle together and I pray that I walk away stronger and better equipped to tackle the challenges that race presents to Christian identity and community formation.  Now, I ask for your prayers.  Pray for ears to hear, eyes to see and openness to receive what the Spirit of the Lord would have for me.

Thank you for being guides and conversation partners and intercessors.  I am deeply grateful for you and your words, for they have quickened my step and pushed me along.  You are an answer to prayer.