Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Given all the news we are hearing from around our country, I have been trying to find words all day today to put into this email. Somehow, I can’t even figure out what words to put together to try to express all that I am feeling.
I can’t even imagine the pain, anger, frustration, and helplessness that black and brown people in this country have been feeling for so many generations. I can’t fathom the feelings of powerlessness that are driving the protests and riots. I can’t know the grief that weighs down the family and friends of those who have been murdered because of the color of their skin. My heart and soul are sickened by the system in this country that continues to break people in body, soul, and mind.
I am so grateful for those moments of hope that I have seen among the flames, tear gas, and hurled insults…police officers kneeling with protesters in memory of George Floyd, two police officers holding up a sign saying “End Police Brutality”, a row of black men shielding a white police officer from protesters until the officer could be rejoined by his fellow officers.
I am also grateful for the soul searching I have been doing in these days, looking into the white privilege that goes with me wherever I go, the racism that is built into the very life I live because of the system in which I live, the ways that I am part of the problem instead of part of the solution. It hasn’t been pretty, but it has been Holy Spirit inspired.
And I know exactly where Jesus would be on this Pentecost Sunday. He would be with those who have been oppressed for so long. He would be holding up those whose grief has beaten them to the ground. He would be speaking truth to the powers who are blind to the evil among us. He would be crying out in the streets where the blood of those who have been murdered because of the deep seated racism in our country. He would not be silent. And he would not wait for the next person to be murdered or beaten or crushed.
So, as a follower of Jesus, neither can I be silent. I will be at the Black Lives Matter March tomorrow (Monday) at noon. The march begins at Henderson Lawn in Blacksburg. I will be wearing my clerical collar for the first time ever because I want people to know that those who follow Jesus will not be silent when our sisters and brothers are being killed, oppressed, and scorned. I will also be wearing my mask because I want to try to be the best neighbor I can to all who gather tomorrow. I invite those of you who are able to join the march, lifting our voices in unison to cry for justice and hope.
I’m not sure what will be next after the march. I know that I will continue to have conversations with black and brown people to see how I might best support them, love them, and cry out with them. I pray that I and Glade Church will figure out how to be a part of the hard work of soul searching, of reconciliation, of justice.
In Isaiah 58, God speaks to the Israelites who have wandered far from the people God has called them to be. God says: “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and the Lord will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.”
Friends, may we be a part of this kind of fast. May we walk with Jesus.
Peace,
Susan
