The note I’d written for you this week is sitting in my writing collection, waiting to be shared with you another day. It’s a good message, I think, but its spirit and lightness feel “off” when our Minneapolis area is experiencing such pain and turmoil.
This little space here on the internet and in your inbox is intended to refresh your faith. Thank you for sharing this space with me. Most of the time, my messages bring a little humor. And there are a few times, like now, that my notes are a bit more contemplative. My faith journey has always been about questioning and trying to reconcile God’s promises and truths with life’s realities. During weeks like this, it’s a tough road.
The shooting of another young black man by a police officer has caused many of us to shake our heads in disbelief. How? Why? In my times of reflection, I’ve been reminded that it’s not enough to feel badly about horrible things like hatred, shootings, and violence. I need to respond.
How has it become so easy to react to disagreements or fear with violence? When will we stop seeing our brown and black brothers and sisters as people who need to be treated differently? Why is the first response too often to reach for a gun – in our homes, in our streets, or in our law enforcement?
Treating our brothers and sisters differently because of the color of their skin has to stop. And I’m not referring to just our justice system, which plays its own role in racism. I – we – need to continue listening. Learning. And then do something.
Our messages that say we care, and we are praying, are important, of course. They matter. And then, our words need to lead to action. We need to speak when injustices are delivered. We need to – I need to – really look at what Jesus says about how we treat and love people. How do we respond to God’s command, “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” What does Jesus mean when he tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves? Who is our neighbor? How do we actually treat each life as sacred? What does that look like? How do we live in the outrage and pain and injustice without violence? This is the journey I’m on.
Let us strive to become part of what Dr. Martin Luther King calls “the beloved community,” which requires a change in our souls and a change in our lives. Living in freedom, equality, and care for all people, treating each other with love and friendship.
Dr. Ron Bell posted these words on Instagram this week (@drronrockthebell). They call my name.
“I think you were so busy looking for a riot that you missed the gathering of the grieving.
I think you were so busy looking for looters that you missed the lament and heartbreak of a community.
I think you were so busy looking for trouble that you missed the tragedy of systemic racialized trauma on the bodies of black and brown people.
Tonight, tomorrow, and even the next day I beg of you, look again. Look again.”
