We cannot undo the power of symbols because they touch our memory and our experience, not our reason. When our symbols collide, we must all acknowledge that we tread on one another's holy ground. And then compassion should rule the day, with the understanding that a symbol that causes pain must not be used in the public domain. As thousands gathered outside the South Carolina state capitol on Jan. 17, Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke in Wilmington and was questioned about the controversy regarding the Confederate flag. Just about everything, it seems.
Symbols carry our dreams and our nightmares, our identity and our aspirations.
Dispense with the flag, and let us use our symbols carefully to unite, to invite, but never to divide us from one another. Anne Bonnyman, pastor at Trinity Episcopal Parish in Wilmington, moved to Delaware from Tennessee five years ago.