Emancipation from slavery

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. This celebration was often held at churches since African Americans were many times not allowed to use public spaces. Sometimes called Jubilees, emancipation celebrations recalled those referred to in the Bible under that name.

The celebrations began with enslaved people in Galveston, Texas. Although President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in 1863, it could not be enforced in many places in the South until the Civil War ended in 1865. Even then, some white people who had profited from their unpaid labor were reluctant to share the news. (Continue reading in the Christian Science Monitor)

This Wednesday, June 19, the topic of emancipation from slavery will be covered. Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science in 1866, related her discovery to the freedom of African American slaves. She saw the need for freedom from all kinds of slavery including sickness. She wrote in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

Discerning the rights of man, we cannot fail to foresee the doom of all oppression. Slavery is not the legitimate state of man. God made man free. Paul said, “I was free born.” All men should be free. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Love and Truth make free, but evil and error lead into captivity.

Other forms of slavery in the world today cry out for healing. Divine Love is powerful to bring about human rights and destroy slavery in all its manifestations. Join us for the Bible and Science and Health readings on this subject on Wednesday, June 19th. You can join us with Zoom or in person at Brookdale, in the Roosevelt meeting room, located at 60 Nicoll Way in Glen Ellyn.

We meet every Wednesday at 7:30 pm and the community is always invited.