This feature is coordinated by The Post-Standard/Syracuse.com and InterFaith Works of CNY. Follow this theme and author posted Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Win Thurlow
This week we reflect on the confluence of two international commemorations[?]the Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Day for the Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery [?]with the Christian season of Lent, a time when the faithful reflect upon the sacrifices made by Jesus Christ for their sake.
In a similar vein, those who have fought against slavery and racial discrimination in this country have also made sacrifices for our sake. Their perseverance resulted in the abolition of slavery and in the great progress made because of the Civil Rights movement.
The stirring hymn "Lift Every Voice and Sing" celebrates the struggles made by those who have fought against slavery and racial discrimination: "Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod, felt in the days when hope unborn had died; yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet come to the place for which our parents sighed."
Win Thurlow is a lawyer and president of Enterprise Excellence (www.entexc.com), a firm that helps organizations build compliance structures and cultures of ethics. He is an Episcopalian and lives in Syracuse with his wife and children.