On the Road: Thank You from Detroit, and #RestIsResistance

River fountains splash joy, 

cooling God’s city,

this sacred haunt 
of the Most High.
God lives here, 
the streets are safe,
God at your service 
from crack of dawn.
Godless nations rant and rave,
kings and kingdoms threaten,

but Earth does anything he says. -

Psalm 46:5-6 (MSG)

Exactly this time last year, Darcie and I deeply felt the stirring to move to Detroit. We prayed and talked to close friends, asking God for some direction. Did not expect that getting in two minor car accidents would be helpful: but thanks to State Farm sending some pain and suffering checks, we could not only imagine moving, but doing a slow and meaningful road trip. When we calculated the total mileage for the trip, it equaled, almost to the dollar, the amount State Farm had sent, so we've tracked a dollar per mile pretty closely these past 32 days. It truly is a privilege we will not forget and we could not have done it staying in hotels or eating out every day. So first we thank God, and second we thank State Farm as our friends who suffered Katrina and Rita remind me that having a good insurance story is truly a blessing.

And: we are so very grateful for Sarah & Billy Mark, Yvette and Josh Rock, Kristin Tiffany, Marvin Wadlow, Delonte Gholston, Brooke Abbott and Valerie Abron, Arika Navy, Timmi Hicks, Andrew Paiva, Emily & Rich Jacobs, Tish Gonzales and Lenay Dunn, the Navajo woman who made room at the inn (and forgive me because you said your name at 3am and I've forgotten it), Nancy, Aleah, and Kara Degeneres, Chris and Rachel Hecker, Antonio Lucero, Emma Moore, Michael Watkins, Helen Chao, Melissa Rift, Glenn & Rita Balzer, Marie Voth (sorry I left the almond milk! No, really, sorry because I needed it!), Brian & Kara Thevenot, Jeanmarie Theine, Alex and Kathy Lee, Davon Hayes, Danielle Boyd, Dwayne Richards, Glenn Williams, Dan and Susie Selock, Kim Alvarez and Allan Basik, Amee Foss and Zach, Justin and Lizzy Bohorfoush, Emily Klein Morris, Charlotte and Anton Flores and Alterna, Justin Chambers, Chad Pittman, Pete Paulsen, Michelle and Will McCreery, Jeffrey and Janet Max, Heather Glady, Barbara Boxer, Jasmine and Rodney, Lene Tsegaye, Paula Yobp, Daniel and Mari Yobp, Alice Lee, Moses, Olavé Sebastien, Chester Stoney, Chris & Maria Taylor and Tara Webber and John & Mary Schmitt for deep hospitality and brave vulnerability.  I am still processing everything I'm learning from all that you gave, shared, and challenged us with.  But I'm pretty sure we just got a strong glimpse of the Beloved Community.  You can see all the videos of the #DismantlingWhiteousness ON THE ROAD project by CLICKING HERE.  

This truly was unforgettable and we literally could not have done it without you. We got to sit at tables across this amazing and challenging country all month long.  We got to hear your stories of love, balance, joy, and pain in the midst of our own heightened and sometimes explosive emotions within the car; the events of Baton Rouge, Minneapolis, Dallas, Cleveland, Philly, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia, Baghdad and other cities in Iraq, Bangladesh, Munich and Rio. Not to mention the name that is dominating the 24-hour news cycle, just like the bearer of that name likes....

Be sure to check out the amazing work of the Live Coal Collective.

And we got to arrive in Michigan last night at the Sidewalk Detroit festival, where several old friends, and now some new, were performing.  See below for some awesome videos of the evening's performances which serve as the final interviews in this season of "On the Road with #DismantlingWhiteousness."

Please pray for us now as we rest for a minute or two before building a new life here in Detroit by listening to how God is already working through our local neighbors.

Please also pray for Marvin and I as we launch our non-profit The Table Setters bi-coastally! For such a time as this......

Please pray for Darcie and I. The long road trip was good and hard, brought to the surface some things we need to address and work on if we are to make it in this work and this life together. We have a plan, and we need your prayers to encourage us to follow through.


And finally, inspired by my new friend and mentor, Delonte and his #RestIsResistance month, I will be going into a bit of a rest mode from social media. I will still publish blog posts here and any remaining videos from the #DismantlingWhiteousness On the Road project that trickle in, and I will need to be involved in The Table Setters online presence in our launch mode. But personally, I'm stepping back a bit for the rest of August. Thank you for following and all the prayers, jokes, suggestions, and questions along this way. We felt the love, we really did.

Pray for us as we continue to teach our girls that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.  

Peace by peace by peace,
M and D and C and R

The 12 and Under Spoken Word Stage.

CutTime Simfonica brings classical music to the streets, and they even included me in their sidewalk classical performances!

And finally, Mahogany Jones ended her show, and the event, with a cypher including everyone from the audience.  Talk about a Table Setting....

#DismantlingWhiteousness
#theTableSetters
#EndWhiteSilence
#RestIsResistance
#SidewalkDetroit