Weekly Greeting - February 6, 2026

As we celebrate Black History Month, I am excited to share a new resource with you.

This resource was compiled by my friends Jefferson and Linda Furtado who are both pastors in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Annual Conference.  They were asked by some good friends to curate resources for Black History Month, which, they said, led to some deep soul-searching about what music had shaped them and which theologians and pastors had influenced them.

This resource was born of their deep reflection.  I have been using it daily and it has been powerful.  Each day there is a text to read and music to listen to.  Each week there is a suggested movie of the week and album of the week.  This is not a cursory nod to black writers, artists, and thinkers, but a way to immerse ourselves in the words and songs that many of us do not count as formative in our lives.  This resource asks us to question why these words and songs haven’t been part of our formation — not so that we will feel guilty, but so that we will continue to expose ourselves to thinkers, preachers, and influencers who have not yet spoken into our lives.

I hope that you will let this resource shape you during this month:

BEYOND BABEL: A CALL TO SEE, LISTEN, AND LEARN

https://www.jeffersonfurtado.com/post/beyond-babel-a-call-to-see-listen-and-learn

Mary Beth

---