Message from Bishop graves | Clara ester

Clara Ester, United Methodist Leader, Civil Rights Advocate, Deaconess and My Friend

Love Will Always Find a Way

My heart has been heavy since learning of the medical illness and death of my friend, Clara Ester. She was an example that love will always find a way. We often hear this phrase in our world. It sounds good, but it is not often practiced. In fact, the phrase is hard to believe in every situation, but love will always find a way.

In 2016, I was elected a bishop and assigned to the Alabama-West Florida Conference. Clara Ester was a member and part of the conference delegation. She was not happy that I had been assigned there. From her perspective, it was another white, male, traditional-minded bishop.

Over the last ten years, we have gone from not happy, to like, to love. It began with my wife, Nancy, as they developed a friendship and talked often. I began to know Clara's story, and she began to know mine. The friendship that started with Nancy and Clara became a bridge to our stories.

Clara's story of being at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis at age 19 and witnessing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. being shot was unimaginable. She not only witnessed the shooting, but she also raced up the steps and attended to him as others pointed to where the sound of the shot seemed to have come from. Clara loosened his belt and watched him die. These moments shaped her life in ways we cannot fully perceive. She was an active civil rights worker and shared with Nancy and me one night that she had hated white people.

Over our many conversations, we moved to Clara saying, "I love Nancy, and I like you." People throughout the SEJ and the UMC delighted in how Clara and I could banter with one another.

One day, she called and shared that I had recently said something that was offensive to people of color. Clara went on to say, "I know your heart, and you don't want to communicate in that way. If I didn't care about you, I would not call you."

I learned then that Clara was mentoring me and helping me be my best. To this day, I greatly appreciate her generosity and honesty. As leaders, we need to seek to get better. We need people in our lives who help us grow rather than simply overlook or repeat bad behavior, even when the conversations are hard.

Recently, Clara sent me the biography of her former pastor at Centenary UMC in Memphis, Dr. James Lawson. It has been a great read as I continue to learn how to lead in these chaotic days. Yet, it is the inscription inside the book that I will forever cherish. She wrote, "To my bishop, from my pastor that I loved, and now my bishop that I love."

My Clara Ester stories are endless. Over the last ten years, we have gone from "I am not happy," to "I like you," to "I love you!"

Yes, with willing hearts, love will always find a way.

Thank you, Clara Ester, for a life well lived and for loving me. It changed me.

Clara will be missed immensely, but what a day of rejoicing is going on in heaven. For love will always find a way for those who trust in Jesus and seek to love even in our differences. Love you, Clara!