This week we will be sharing our own reflections on how the events over the last week have affected us and our acknowledgment of our need to confess and learn together. I am thankful for the writers’ willingness to be vulnerable and share their thoughts. We are not experts when it comes to talking about race and anti-racism, we are learners on this journey with you. I hope that you read our articles with grace and see them as an invitation to a conversation with me or any of us.
Pastor Joanna Mitchell
Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, you stir up the winds of change around us and lift up the voices of all people. We hear the cries of your people today, especially people of color who cry out about injustice. Help us to listen with curious ears and give us curious hearts so that we might learn and be transformed together. We pray this in the name of your Holy Spirit, who is guiding us forward. Amen
I was on vacation the week that George Floyd was murdered. I got up on that morning, made a cup of coffee and turned on the news like I usually do, and there it was. I watched in complete horror and disbelief as they showed it over, and over again. I had all kinds of things on my agenda for that day, but I just kept watching with tears in my eyes, somehow thinking that if I kept watching, there would be a different outcome. Thinking that this couldn’t possibly have happened. That the Police Officer holding George down with his knee on his neck would suddenly come to his senses, have a heart and remove his knee and let him breathe. But alas, that is not the way it ended for George Floyd. My mind was filled with questions. How could this happen to another human being, no matter what the color of his skin? Why did that officer hold him down on his stomach with his knee on his neck when he was already hand-cuffed. Why didn’t he stop or at least check to make sure he was ok when George was pleading with him because he couldn’t breathe? Why did three other police officers just stand there and watch, and not step up and say, STOP, that’s enough. WHY? WHY? WHY? Was it because they were afraid to confront a senior officer? Did they not care about a fellow human being? Was it because George was black? I simply cannot and will not ever understand. Surely Police Officers have training in first aid and CPR, so they all had to know that George couldn’t survive over 8 minutes with a knee on his neck.
I know that Police Officers have a very difficult job, and that they put their lives on the line every day when they put on that uniform. I know that most Police Officers are very good people who have vowed to protect and serve their community, but most often lately, we hear about the few bad ones. I know, and I taught my children to know that if ever we are in trouble, the police would be there to help us. I am very proud of our nephew who is a Police Officer. He takes his job to protect and serve very seriously, and he has a good heart. I always pray for our nephew and worry when he is out patrolling the streets, but In light of the recent tragedy that took place with George Floyd, and the aftermath of rioting, looting and burning, I worry about him now, more than ever. How will he stay safe when our world is so angry at the police right now? How? We pray! We pray for peace in our world. We pray for unity and change in our world. It’s time for all of us to do better. It’s time for all of us to come together and to love one another as God calls us to do, no matter what the color of our skin, no matter who we choose to love, no matter if we are rich or poor, no matter what our political views are. We are all God’s children. It is time for our world to change, and only we can bring about that change by the example we set for others, as Christians. God made all humans in His image, and that means EVERYONE, no matter what.
Please pray with me this prayer that I recently found:
Jesus, You see ALL people as precious and valuable. Live that truth through me always. If I’ve wronged someone and racism is the root of that wrong, lead me in reconciliation. Lord, show me my own prejudices so I can seek Your repentance. Guide me to act in ways that lead to true justice. Father God, forgive me for losing sight of the Truth that You created all people in Your image. By Your grace, help me to see hatred – whether initiated or returned – as a tool Satan uses to keep me from experiencing and sharing the richness of Your love. Help me to love the way you love and to spread kindness and mercy as Jesus did. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
