Rooted in Abundance: Family

I am the daughter of the longtime stewardship chair of the church I grew up in. My home parish of St. James, Roanoke, is like a taproot for me. It’s where I went to Sunday school, youth group, and served as an acolyte. People in invested in me and gave me leadership opportunities. As an Asian American queer from the south, I never thought of God as judging me. I have been watered by living waters of people who’ve nurtured me. I pledge every year to my church because I want to tend and water others.

The legacy of family roots me in abundance. I was raised on stories of woman in my (Japanese & Korean) family who were boundary crossers. My ancestors crossed oceans because they had to. My parents were married not long after the Loving v. The State of Virginia case, so that was a boundary crossing too. They taught me that love is more powerful than racism: they showed me that you do what you think is right even when it’s hard.

I’m so motivated by wanting to do right by my ancestors. Both my family, and also my chosen/queer ancestors, some of whom died just so that I could live. Right now I work for Showing Up for Racial Justice to mobilize white communities for racial and economic justice. We don’t have to be divided by racism. Like tree roots, we can be a network of solidarity.

The prophet Jeremiah reminds me “blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.” (Jeremiah 17:7). I am rooted in God, and in the belief in an abundant creator. I would stake my life on that.

Questions For Reflection:
How do your practices of generosity come from and through your family heritage? What habits were ingrained in you?

​Grace Aheron is the Communications Director, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), former ESC intern, and cradle Episcopalian.