Walking with peace and love
Photograph courtesy of Rev. Sandra Dorsainvil
Rev. Sandra Dorsainvil
Have you ever crossed paths with a person whose walk, demeanor, and presence exudes holy calm and wisdom? Have you ever sat or been privileged to pray silently with someone whose silence and very breath touch the core of your being? As we pause to embrace peace and love today for all that the month of June represents for many around the world, for Black nations and Black siblings in Christ in the United States, I remember the gentle affirming look that I received from Rev. Dr. Trinette V. McCray at the women’s gathering held in June 2022. We, Baptist women from all walks of life, gathered to attend a conference sponsored by the American Baptist Women in Ministry at the Green Lake conference center. The theme for the conference was “Radical, Redeemed and Ready.” June 2022 was anchored in spoken words, prayers, sermons, prophetic presence, and God’s blessed new breath. Sister Rev. Dr. Trinette shared words of affirmations into me, which my heart received. These words were given with authenticity. The smile of Jesus in her heart met the smile of Jesus in mine.
As a follower of Christ, I find myself pondering on reasons why it is so difficult for some to dwell in that level of authenticity. Jesus demonstrated the true essence of relationality. All the stories we read in the Bible where Jesus spoke, sat with, taught, healed, walked with, fed, and broke bread with others, are bathed in honoring relationships and humanity. Jesus turned tables upside down in the Temple, as we read in the synoptic gospels of Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, and Luke 19:45-46, to confront transactions being performed under false premises, under the disguises of relationships. Why do humans struggle to truly value relationship?
Recently, I stumbled upon a beautiful story of a man called Luis, learning that upon his retirement from an honorable service job at a sports center, a famous player respectfully and discreetly acknowledged him for all his years of service. The famous player showed his appreciation by taking the time to be relational. He left a handwritten note for Luis, expressing his gratitude for the years of service and that Luis mattered to him. Luis worked in the background, and he was reminded in the note that he had been an integral part of the running of the place. Luis had been seen and valued. One might say that Luis contributed to the running of a machine as he made sure all was spotless and in place for the ones in the spotlight to do their work. Is there a Luis or a Luisa that comes to your mind?
Reading about this story had me trying to remember when, or if, I had ever received a handwritten note by a supervisor or head of agency on my last day of employment, stating similar heartfelt sentiments. How do we matter and how are we seen as we walk with compassion, peace, and love over the years of service we offered? Do we take time to write handwritten notes expressing words of affirmation, gratitude, or encouragement? I don’t remember the specific words I wrote in the many cards and notes I have sent throughout my professional life, but all were filled with compassion. I always trusted God’s timing. Whether or not the recipients opened them, read them, kept them or believed my sentiments, is not for me to sit with. I followed the Holy Spirit’s prompting and authenticity was etched on paper. God knows and that is enough.
Let us never cease to remember our history and let us keep walking with peace and love. May we learn or re-learn to be relational and not transactional as we encounter others along our paths.
June 2025 calls us to walk with peace and love as chaos and storms continue to brew besides us. History teaches us how to stand, walk, and breathe. Storms have existed for centuries. Names might not make annual reports anymore, but history cannot be unlived, contributions cannot be undone, and testimonies cannot be unseen.
Yes, we are living through challenging, stormy, unconceivable times and yet we remain a people of hope, peace, and love. We draw from historical lived experiences. We remember family stories told around the central fireplace, sitting under the baobab tree, or by the riverbanks. The ancestral stories are etched in our lineage and cannot be erased. Words might be censured today but history lived cannot be unlived.
I invite us, as we honor June 2025, to make intentional time to honor the footsteps of those we follow, who led the way to freedom, independence, and liberation, enabling many of us to stand tall with dignity and pride as we dared to follow a North star and live Jesus’ truths. The footprints may be hard to see on the dirt path before us, but we trust the heartbeat of the drums calling us to chant freedom songs as we move forward. We celebrate the many victories of people groups who were encouraged by a Black Caribbean nation who dared to stand and fight for its independence from colonialism in 1804. Global history cannot be unlived.
We remember the griot call to break chains of captivity that finally reached a southern state in the United States in 1865. The call cannot be unheard.
In 1990, we witnessed Madiba’s historic walk to freedom from Victor Verster Prison: a symbolic turning point in South Africa’s journey away from the atrocities of apartheid. Global history cannot be unlived.
Let us never cease to remember our history and let us keep walking with peace and love. We uphold Jesus’ call to Peter found in the gospel of John chapter 21 and to all the Peters in our midst who care for, tend to, and love the lambs and the sheep. Love crosses borders.
May we learn or re-learn to be relational and not transactional as we encounter others along our paths. May we learn to live, understand, and embrace the lyrics of this song titled Bind Us Together, sung by the Porter’s Gate. By God’s grace and led by the cloud of witnesses whose footprints have guided and will continue to guide my way, I will keep walking, standing, speaking, and breathing peace and love. There is plenty of room for all who desire to shine their light of Jesus.
An ordained minister with ABC-USA, Rev. Sandra Dorsainvil serves as a Ministry Coach and Women’s Group Retreat Facilitator with the Center for Career Development & Ministry. Fluent in English and French, she has had cross-cultural lived experiences in several countries in Africa, Europe, and North America. Rev. Sandra is a published author of three devotionals, “Walk with Generosity,” “Beacons of Hope” and “Luces de Esperanza,” as well as co-author of a leader’s guide for leaders of short-term mission teams of volunteers, “Short-Term Mission Team Essentials – Together on The Journey.”
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
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