Tuesday Monday Meeting, The Most Segregated Hour In America

Happy belated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, everyone!

The Sunday before MLK Jr. Day hosts my favorite church service of the year. I know, it should be Easter. Or even Christmas. It's not.

Martin Luther King said that the most segregated hour of the week in the United States is on Sunday:

We must face the fact that in America, the church is still the most segregated major institution in America. At 11:00 on Sunday morning when we stand and sing and Christ has no east or west, we stand at the most segregated hour in this nation. This is tragic. Nobody of honesty can overlook this. Now, I'm sure that if the church had taken a stronger stand all along, we wouldn't have many of the problems that we have. The first way that the church can repent, the first way that it can move out into the arena of social reform is to remove the yoke of segregation from its own body.

The church to which I belong employs gay ministers, has a sister synagogue, and a partnership with an African Methodist Episcopal church--which was where I was grooving this past Sunday. Can I get an Amen?

We make it a point to make sure that in that hour, on that day, our two churches are least segregated.

This past Sunday, I greeted friends that I rarely see, rocked out to an extremely moving (literally, and emotionally) church service, and understood that just by being there--just by carrying this day in my heart--I was doing something.

Not that it is enough.

How do you celebrate?

On the writing side of things, I am plunging through revisions, and attempting to make a lot of headway this week.  Has anyone tried yWriter? It looks like an interesting program.

With the help of an assistant, I am printing things out today, because, as much as I try to do everything on the computer, sometimes, I need to see the hard copy. Free waffles for all my assistants!

I threw in a few more dollars into the coffer this weekend--happily I might add. It is not too late to join us in our Resolution 2011, if you feel so inspired!!

What are your goals for the week?

Resolution 2011: Monday Meeting

Pip watches over my writing resolution calendar.

Ah, the first Monday Meeting of 2011.  There are so many things I love about the New Year. The fresh start. The excitement of the future, which is happening RIGHT NOW. 2011!! A whole new year rolled out in front of us, waiting to be filled with whatever we want.  You know, kind of like a blank page. A blank year.

I'm resolved to fill it with more writing. Even though I've never been a big fan of resolutions.

But I am a big fan of accountability (see The Practice Room), competitive writing (see the Tour De Writing), and the writing momentum of the masses (oh, if every month could be a NaNoWriMonth or WriteOnCon!).

To kick off 2011, we're doing resolutions competitively (kinda), with accountability, and with camaraderie. Jon and I came up with a plan to actually be successful with our resolution--successful even if we fail.  Intrigued?  We invite you to join us!!

1. Pick a writing resolution.  Any writing resolution.
Mine?  To write every day.  That's it.

2. Pick a charity.  Any charity, close to your heart.
Ours?  Room to Read.  Room to Read builds LIBRARIES and gets BOOKS into the hands of impoverished children.  We have a page set up to track our donations, and you are more than welcome to be a part of our Resolution 2011 over there.  We'd love you to chose our charity if you don't already have one in mind!

3. Each and every time that you don't meet your resolution, donate to your charity.
Since I'm planning on writing every day :), I'm donating $25 to start, and will finish the year with a donation as well.  Each day that I don't write, I pledge $1 to Room to Read.

4. Blog about your resolution and charity, and check out the other writers rocking Resolution 2011:

• Jon Arntson is donating to Room to Read
• Dianne Salerni is donating to Joy2theWorld
• Marisa Hopkins is donating to First Book
• Tina Laurel Lee is donating to St. Stephens

I'll keep updating the list as people post about their wonderful goals and charities.  You can join in any time!  Please email me at hegkelly at gmail dot com with a link to your post about your Resolution 2011, or with any questions.

And please join me here on Friday for an excellent and exciting Friday Feature update about Terry Lynn Johnson's newly released book, DOGSLED DREAMS. Congrats, Terry!! I will be giving away a PRIZE too!!

Does anyone know where I put my coffee?  What are your writing resolutions?  How were your holidays? Do you have goals for this first week of January?